Zeitgeist

The touching folksy stuff with letters from soldiers to Don Cherry is all wiped out. It’s not a matter of diversity either. I think the Punjab broadcasting was super cool. Women are of course doing well in hockey. It’s the shunning of the shinny on the frozen pond and total ignoring of Canadian expansion by Betman that killed it for me. It’s like the Americans are trying to recreate a Hockey Night In Canada that the Canadians killed. We couldn’t accept that an older guy like Cherry might miss the boat on a few politically correct views. We couldn’t overlook a few of grandpa’s elderly faux pas. The revolution has zero tolerance.

I just find my pride in the country is damaged, perhaps irreparably. I wish I felt differently but the thrill is gone. I feel like either a political sea change must unfold or it’s time to seek greener pastures. Without such prospects for improvement, I think a kind of resigned disengagement of the populous is inevitable. I actually think that’s pretty much the mood in Canada these days. I believe it’s essential to make our own inspiration in our work, relationships, and leisure. A healthy state encourages self-actualization and local expression. An unhealthy one imposes a way of thinking and being. It doesn’t trust the citizens upon which government is supposed to rely for support to make decisions for themselves. It’s called government creep or overreach.

I think the US answer to that problem has been to admit that everything is political, so now even the judges and sheriffs are elected. I used to believe that Canada actually had a close approximation of “justice is blind” and a fairly apolitical bureaucracy, until I realized the level of cronyism. Canada has become a country of sucking up to win sinecures.

That’s the sad reality that makes me think about getting citizenship for my kids in the US.

At least in the US there’s a public debate and some states are preventing pseudoscience and discrimination in classrooms. Not so in Canada.

It’s like we’re refusing to make the necessary amendments and learn from our mistakes. Chrétien understood the importance of standing up for Canada by producing the Clarity Act. That was a reaction to the existential threat posed by separatism. What checks do we have on the kind of overreach that brought us the Emergencies Act, freezing of bank accounts, and public humiliation/removal of right to protest of political opponents? We have political party supporters in charge of the committees assigned to investigate the very same governing political party. All democratic values are suspended in the name of compliance in Canada. If that’s the Canadian way going forward, I worry for the next crisis. I’m also looking at my kids’ prospects living in an “actively genocidal” country (as described by our government) that is getting too unaffordable and dictatorial.

I’ve tried not to make this about the American way versus the Canadian way but rather to seek to reform problems within the Canadian system. I do think we may be approaching a point where we need to ask whether this Canadian way is worth sustaining as a distinct enterprise. I was all for it when there was something of substance worth protecting that looked like values, freedom, and prosperity, with an appreciation for our founding cultures and bilingual aspects. I’m not sure much of that is being upheld by our governments anymore. Are we simply UN Jurisdiction North of 49?

Sadly that may be the conclusion of many more Canadians about their own country. The ideologues running our governments have made the mistake of ignoring some facts and turning fictions into truths. The Soviets and Maoists did this too. Persecute people for being honest and soon there will be only liars to turn to. Pseudoscience and strong opinions are what count when politicians use power to consolidate their power. The hope for genuine reform fades.

I’m not sure they’ll be given a chance. The Liberals dominate media, courts, and boards of directors. It’s a de facto one party system. I guess one can only hope.

Sometimes in the fervour of wanting to be right, we can lose our humanness. I’ve been guilty of that.

If Canada is nothing more than a genocidal, racist place to make a fast buck, where the decisions are already made about how you should live and what you deserve based on superficial traits like skin colour, that’s not a country I want for my kids. Unless governments start being fair and honest about what has made Canada one of the best places to live, I can’t respect our leaders. The shit-kicking to this country by phoney virtue-signalling politicians has to end. The pandemic was bad enough.

I don’t worry about whether someone is considered fringe or mainstream. We’re all on a continuum, constantly shifting our perspectives depending on many factors. I try to call out excesses as I see them. “Moderation in all things”, said the Oracle at Delphi. I do think that as one experiences disappointments, it’s easy to become cynical. The important thing is to keep speaking up and learning rather than throwing in the towel, even if it’s hard not to see such actions mostly as distractions with little impact. If we think that nothing we do matters, that’s really the end of hope.

You’re right. He’s probably a decent fellow. I think just about everyone on here is trying to figure things out. Seeking to understand is important. So is humbleness and forgiveness.

I’m just trying to shift our politics back to sanity since the insane woke-green-public safety revolution took hold of all our institutions.

The PM appoints the Gov General. You make a good point. Is the monarch really a reliable check on our government anymore? I do think the Senate plays a necessary role.

You’re just another lost Marxist-Nihilist who calls him or herself a centrist. Centrism has largely disappeared in Canada. The Conservative Party might be called centrist but they will lose future elections once the Liberals stoke fear and paint them as “alt right.” I’m barely conservative and have always considered myself centre or slightly left of centre. I haven’t changed. Canada has shifted radical left. The Liberals moved left to steal the NDP votes, and the identity politics and radical leftist activists have been given free reign. That’s reality. I wish Canada could be turned around, but I’m honestly not sure. China is actively influencing policy here. We’re beholden to multiple UN and ESG agreements. Canada is over a barrel unfortunately.

You probably can’t explain why you disagree with anything that I say, because if you could, you would. I want to learn and grow. I’m happy to have my mind changed and to be refuted by a solid argument. Unfortunately most posters on here simply don’t know history and can’t support the views they put forth. I’d actually like to hear from you what it is that you think I promote, because I don’t think you know. If you did, you might actually agree with much of what I have to say. Dougie and I had brutal disagreements in the past, but I saw his true character when our government started mistreating people during the pandemic. It became pretty clear who were decent and who were cowardly in those discussions. Anyone who has been on this forum more than several months knows that I have spoken up for Canada and its policy differences from the US and other countries until I was blue in the face, but over the past couple of years Canada has entered a very strange and worrisome place. We’ve come to accept a whole range of policies passively because we’ve been trained not to think for ourselves, but rather to let government decide how we should think and live. Instead of free speech and pluralism we have compelled speech and unacceptable views. We have been taught without clear evidence that Canada is genocidal, actively so, and we’ve been told to accept a range of beliefs that run counter to people’s religious and/or ethical and/or philosophical and/or political beliefs. Canada is now one of the most permissive countries on assisted suicide, abortion, “gender affirmation”, and hard drugs. We’re also heavily involved in a new proxy war. We also have a government that enacts martial law and freezes bank accounts of political opponents largely due to government incompetence. My concerns are not with the Canadian people and this beautiful land, but rather with how it is being governed. Canada has shifted radically to the left and it’s arguable that it has has entered totalitarian territory.

“Snake” huh? You just revealed yourself as the low person I suspected you were. You’re exactly what many posters on here, myself included, see as the real threat to democracy going forward, because you’re self-righteous AND quite ignorant. You can’t win arguments, so you settle for this kind of lead inquisitor identity, wherein you are judge, jury, and punisher. Of course, I doubt many people would want you to represent their interests. Why don’t you try to use arguments and evidence instead of pretending that you know what is moral and that you’re righteous enough and equipped to call out the baddies and get them in trouble. How babyish. Ever consider that you might be perceived as bad? You can’t handle open debate and probably need to return to your safe space.

Ah you’re such good people.

Who on here believes that people should be treated differently based on their race, gender, “intersectionality”?

I trust Biblical morality, which did evolve throughout the Old Testament and New, over your 5 year-old experimental morality. History is instructive. We haven’t seen the social impacts yet, for example, of transhumanism. Sometimes the Bible provides what appear to be mixed messages. “Thou shalt not kill” isn’t just a suggestion. Equality under God isn’t just a suggestion. Nevertheless, not “anything goes.”

Shallow. If Leviticus is in and around 3000-3500 years old and captures a people’s struggle for survival, including the establishment of rules that such people deem essential to their survival, there may be arguments beyond, “It’s the patriarchy, man.” There are multiple stories of how a decline in morality leads to cultural dissolution and vulnerability. Sodom and Gomorrah is one example. Of course though, people kept posting inappropriate “patriarchal” views on social media 3000 years ago and it took us this long to take down the culprits. Do you think a homosexual society could reproduce and propagate itself 3000 years ago? Was Huxley writing about the state using tech to take over reproduction 3000 years ago? Enlighten me, Socrates.

Dougie already answered. Why do you think Leviticus said this, Socrates? I’m not pretending to know the answer. I want to see if you can conceive of a context for such an opinion. I already know the 2023 Vanity Fair morality that you endlessly tout. Teach me something.

This interview is well worth watching to understand the battle between equal treatment under the law based on merit versus race/gender/identity-based categorizations of people into victims and oppressors.

Ha, that system is being actively destroyed.