Two stephens and a gerry

The Terrible Sweal · August 6, 2004

Stephen Hachemi insists that Canada is not doing enough to secure justice for the killing of his mother Zahra Kazemi in Iranian custody.

Stephen Lewis insists that Canada is not doing enough to alleviate AIDS in Africa.

Gerry Caplan insists that Canada is not doing enough to prevent atrocities against civilians in Sudan.

Numerous people insist that Canada is not giving enough away in foreign aid to every third world hellhole out there.

I'm tired of such utter crapola. Before we accept even a stitch of such criticisms we should demand of these polemicists what premise they allege which engenders such obligations. Unless and until they do so, Canada has no obligation in any of these cases. Charity is not a duty. These do-gooders who want to recruit our action should have the decency to treat with us in a fashion which respects our ethics as they exist not as they want them to be.

Slavik44 · August 7, 2004

Stephen Hachemi insists that Canada is not doing enough to secure justice for the killing of his mother Zahra Kazemi in Iranian custody.
Stephen Lewis insists that Canada is not doing enough to alleviate AIDS in Africa.

Gerry Caplan insists that Canada is not doing enough to prevent atrocities against civilians in Sudan.

Numerous people insist that Canada is not giving enough away in foreign aid to every third world hellhole out there.

I'm tired of such utter crapola. Before we accept even a stitch of such criticisms we should demand of these polemicists what premise they allege which engenders such obligations. Unless and until they do so, Canada has no obligation in any of these cases. Charity is not a duty. These do-gooders who want to recruit our action should have the decency to treat with us in a fashion which respects our ethics as they exist not as they want them to be.

1. well considering Kazemi is canadian i would say we have obligation in this case to find out the truth.

2. Well as long as there is Aids, you will not be doing enough, the real questions is what can canada realisticly do, and are we doing that? In this case we have an obligation to do what we realisticly can, and we amy well be doing it, I don't know.

3. Again it is a matter of what we can realisticly do, I think on the news they said if troops were sent to Sudan, canada could supply 400 soldiers. All we really can do is play follow the leader, with the U.N as leader, and try to pitch in where we can. I think the real problem is that this has been going on for over a year, perhpas a quicker reaction tiem coudl ahve avoided this, then we wouldn't have had to do so much.

takeanumber · August 8, 2004

Kazemi is a Canadian. I think Sweal's problem might be that Kazemi wasn't white, because if she had been, every single anglo-saxon religious group would be outraged and demanding the Iranian ambassador flogged.

When it comes to Sudan, same logic. If those were white people being slaughtered by Arabs, we'd be all outraged. Since it's black people, the majority of Canadians (who are white), don't really care.

Same logic with AIDS.

I'm not suggesting that Sweal came out and said any of this, but s/he certainly implied it with his attitude.

If those were white people, it would be a different story.

August1991 · August 8, 2004

Kazemi is a Canadian. I think Sweal's problem might be that Kazemi wasn't white

I never thought of you as naive, TalkNumb. You may think of Kazemi as Canadian but no one in the outside world does, and certainly no one in Iran. For them, she was an Iranian.

The US was the first State to attempt treating its citizens indifferently. This ideal has fortunately rubbed off on Canada (despite so-called multiculturalism). The rest of the world does not hold to this ideal.

We in Canada might want to think this through however. A Canadian passport abroad is no longer the document it was even thirty years ago. In a tight spot, I think Finnish or Norwegian would be less suspect than Canadian.

Lastly, should my tax dollars be used to post bail/hire a lawyer/send a dipnote for some Canadian fool who winds up in some god-forsaken prison abroad? Why?

Slavik44 · August 8, 2004

Kazemi is a Canadian. I think Sweal's problem might be that Kazemi wasn't white

I never thought of you as naive, TalkNumb. You may think of Kazemi as Canadian but no one in the outside world does, and certainly no one in Iran. For them, she was an Iranian.

The US was the first State to attempt treating its citizens indifferently. This ideal has fortunately rubbed off on Canada (despite so-called multiculturalism). The rest of the world does not hold to this ideal.

We in Canada might want to think this through however. A Canadian passport abroad is no longer the document it was even thirty years ago. In a tight spot, I think Finnish or Norwegian would be less suspect than Canadian.

Lastly, should my tax dollars be used to post bail/hire a lawyer/send a dipnote for some Canadian fool who winds up in some god-forsaken prison abroad? Why?

because ti si the right thing to do, and if it happend to you, you woudl want the same thing done.

takeanumber · August 9, 2004

Lastly, should my tax dollars be used to post bail/hire a lawyer/send a dipnote for some Canadian fool who winds up in some god-forsaken prison abroad? Why?

You really are that selfish, arn't you?

Unbelievable.

We look after each other in Canadian society.

It's a basic Canadian value.

If Canada is so miserable, why don't you just leave? Because from where I sit, you don't even subscribe to the basic Canadian values of human rights and collective security.