Most Canadians say Canada is Broken

[Nefarious Banana]

On 11/25/2019 at 8:32 AM, DrYouth said:

Canadian provinces are stronger together than they are apart as any effective team or organism is when it integrates differentiated parts well. Together we are greater than the sum of our parts. When one province is going through transition, the other provinces lend it a hand. When another province is strong it supports its fellow provinces, knowing that some day it can expect the same in return. This is true of any functioning team. Of course teams can be riven by jealousy, or by free riders... I think for the most part Canada has weathered it's serious storms. We are more resilient for it. This latest Wexit storm seems pretty weak by comparison.

Nice utopian dream . . . . too bad it's not reality.  The reality is that Quebec isn't interested in contributing anything to hold this country together. Always got their hand out for other folks money, and bitching about it.  Want them to separate, want them to leave.  Want them to stfu.  Canada's cancer . . . Quebec.

[Argus]

55 minutes ago, Iceni warrior said:

Germany was never part of the Soviet Union. Germany would be the red line.

Depending on if the leaders of France and Germany had balls. What do you think the odds are on that? Think they're gonna launch nukes at Russia to save Germany?

[Iceni warrior]

47 minutes ago, Argus said:

Depending on if the leaders of France and Germany had balls. What do you think the odds are on that? Think they're gonna launch nukes at Russia to save Germany?

You think Putin's going to risk it?

[cannuck]

On 11/25/2019 at 7:27 PM, Argus said:

Another example of how Canada is broken comes from our lack of productivity improvement and our deteriorating living standards.

While other parts of the country have seen housing prices soar due to rampant real estate speculation, the reality is that all that activity has done absolutely nothing to improve the plight of the average Canadian. According to IMF data, Canada has experienced a lost decade with our GDP per capita three per cent lower than 2010 levels while our neighbours to the south have experienced a 35 per cent increase over the same period. In particular, there has only been a slight six per cent recovery from our 2015 lows compared to a whopping 50 per cent increase in the U.S. It certainly doesn’t help that outside of housing, Canadian capital growth has averaged only 0.8 per cent since 2015, its weakest run in nearly six decades.

Sadly, our living standards have also taken a hit deteriorating nearly six per cent from 2007 compared to an average two per cent gain in the OECD, as cited in a recent report by the Business Council of British Columbia.

“Canadians have seen the largest deterioration in living standards relative to peer countries over 2007 to 2018, according to OECD data. This is primarily because peer countries have increased their productivity by more than Canada,” the Business Council wrote.

 

This is all typical of what happens when Casino Capitalism replaces genuine capitalism.  Giving money to Wall/Bay Street instead of investing on Main Street is  the cause.  It is aided by government taxing the shit out of created wealth and going very light on speculative gain (wealth re-distribution).  Simple to pull off when banks own the political process lock, stock and barrel.

Edited November 27, 2019 by cannuck

[Moonlight Graham]

7 hours ago, Argus said:

The rest of NATO probably wouldn't get the chance as Putin would simply roll west. There is nothing in Western Europe to get in his way. The German army is a pale shadow of itself and their air force is mostly on paper.

Russia has some power but isn't as powerful as Putin tries to make out. He's a lot of bluster and sabre rattling, the country's economy struggles.  He can't beat NATO.  2019 Russia isn't the USSR.

[Argus]

17 hours ago, Iceni warrior said:

You think Putin's going to risk it?

If the United States did not exist? Dunno. He'd certainly take back former USSR countries and perhaps the old 'eastern bloc' countries, as well. From then on it would only be a matter of time given the innate weakness and corruption in western politics and media. 

[Argus]

12 hours ago, Moonlight Graham said:

Russia has some power but isn't as powerful as Putin tries to make out. He's a lot of bluster and sabre rattling, the country's economy struggles.  He can't beat NATO.  2019 Russia isn't the USSR.

And NATO 2019 isn't NATO from the cold war either. There was a report out last year that Germany had just 4 fighter planes that were militarily operational. Most of its tanks and APCs are old and rusting, and its army is badly under-strength. The rest of NATO isn't much better and in some cases worse. Canada's military is a joke, with forty year old planes and ships and a few thousand infantry who need to use buses and trucks in their exercises because they don't have enough functioning armored vehicles.

[Argus]

14 hours ago, cannuck said:

This is all typical of what happens when Casino Capitalism replaces genuine capitalism.  Giving money to Wall/Bay Street instead of investing on Main Street is  the cause.  It is aided by government taxing the shit out of created wealth and going very light on speculative gain (wealth re-distribution).  Simple to pull off when banks own the political process lock, stock and barrel.

The problem with your argument is it fails to take into account the far more robust growth in productivity, wages and living standards of every other country, including the US.

[Guest ProudConservative]

3 minutes ago, Argus said:

And NATO 2019 isn't NATO from the cold war either. There was a report out last year that Germany had just 4 fighter planes that were militarily operational. Most of its tanks and APCs are old and rusting, and its army is badly under-strength. The rest of NATO isn't much better and in some cases worse. Canada's military is a joke, with forty year old planes and ships and a few thousand infantry who need to use buses and trucks in their exercises because they don't have enough functioning armored vehicles.

What's happening? Why are we so broke? We barely spend anything on the Military, yet we're in a record amount of debt.

[Argus]

Just now, ProudConservative said:

What's happening? Why are we so broke? We barely spend anything on the Military, yet we're in a record amount of debt.

Well, to start with, almost half the population pays no income tax even while enjoying generous social benefits. We have a large public service at all levels, from cops to teachers to cubicle-bound bureaucrats which is pretty much the best paid in the world - millions of them. We've cut corporate taxes in keeping with our competitors. We impose huge bureaucratic costs on business, and huge delays and costs on resource development and transportation.  And we have a lazy private sector which is rarely interested in innovation. They prefer to thrust their palms out for government handouts whenever they're having problems. We're also bringing in millions of people from the third world with few skills and little education. Even where they do have skills and education we do little to integrate them or ensure they speak the local language well enough to be properly paid for their skills and education. We also have ten very small countries*, which make it harder to profit from economies of scale.

*Canada has huge trade barriers between provinces

[Guest ProudConservative]

10 minutes ago, Argus said:

Well, to start with, almost half the population pays no income tax even while enjoying generous social benefits. We have a large public service at all levels, from cops to teachers to cubicle-bound bureaucrats which is pretty much the best paid in the world - millions of them. We've cut corporate taxes in keeping with our competitors. We impose huge bureaucratic costs on business, and huge delays and costs on resource development and transportation.  And we have a lazy private sector which is rarely interested in innovation. They prefer to thrust their palms out for government handouts whenever they're having problems. We're also bringing in millions of people from the third world with few skills and little education. Even where they do have skills and education we do little to integrate them or ensure they speak the local language well enough to be properly paid for their skills and education. We also have ten very small countries*, which make it harder to profit from economies of scale.

*Canada has huge trade barriers between provinces

I would argue that our school system underminds students, by teaching them that a garbage truck driver is pathetic... Canadians have been told that working in office is pristine, while anything to do with physcical labour is crule and outdated... In Asian countries there are told to work with their hands, instead of BS with their minds. Asian discipline teaches hard work, but you can't make students do any physcial labour in the schools. It's seen as a form of Child abuse.

To make western societies great again... we should spend the same amount of time teaching students to value hard physical work, as we do training them to become office workers. We need to get students out of the classroom. We have students in grade 3 doing some work in the factories... We need to build up their tolerance to hard psysical labor.

If we do that, we can change our values, and learn how to become competitive with the world.

Edited November 27, 2019 by ProudConservative

[cannuck]

21 hours ago, Argus said:

And NATO 2019 isn't NATO from the cold war either. There was a report out last year that Germany had just 4 fighter planes that were militarily operational. Most of its tanks and APCs are old and rusting, and its army is badly under-strength. The rest of NATO isn't much better and in some cases worse. Canada's military is a joke, with forty year old planes and ships and a few thousand infantry who need to use buses and trucks in their exercises because they don't have enough functioning armored vehicles.

While this is the wrong thread for this comment:  THIS is one of the reasons I hate Liberals/liberals.  Wife and I are army brats and we were both civilian employees on base when Trudeau senior and the incredibly flakey Paul Hellyer did their very best to destroy the armed forces.  It was turned from a highly respected military operation to an experiment in social engineering.  This was in B&B times before multiculturalism was the virtue signalling buzzword.  NCOs (non-commissioned officers) were canvassed to find who was francophone and those people were offered chance to become commissioned officers - essentially with no regard to their ability, skills, experience or even mental stability.  Later "unification" was the final Liberal assault on a force and society that none of them could understand (in fact, there really wasn't and is not much at all that they DO understand to this very day).  They have moved on from destroying SOME of the institutions that defined Canada to assaulting ALL of them and our values.

[DrYouth]

On ‎11‎/‎26‎/‎2019 at 2:25 PM, Nefarious Banana said:

Nice utopian dream . . . . too bad it's not reality.  The reality is that Quebec isn't interested in contributing anything to hold this country together. Always got their hand out for other folks money, and bitching about it.  Want them to separate, want them to leave.  Want them to stfu.  Canada's cancer . . . Quebec.

Is Quebec actually not contributing anything?

It's definitely not our star player right now.

Seems to me it was a pretty strong player in getting the country started.

A bit of an entitled whiner... this might be true.

But I like Quebec. Montreal is an amazing city... probably one of the best urban centres in this country.

Quebec City has a lot to be proud of. Quebec French culture is a lot of fun...

Personally I think it makes Canada more interesting. Economically they have some shit to work out.

No doubt. They need a kick in the pants and a bit less catering to.... but it should work out in the end.

[marcus]

Sounds like a bunch of whining "Make Canada Great Again" crowd who think Canada is broken without looking at facts.

Overall, Canada has never had it better:

 

Poverty Line 

 

Income per capita

Life expectancy

 

Unemployment Rate

 

 

[Nefarious Banana]

41 minutes ago, DrYouth said:

Is Quebec actually not contributing anything?

It's definitely not our star player right now.

Seems to me it was a pretty strong player in getting the country started.

A bit of an entitled whiner... this might be true.

But I like Quebec. Montreal is an amazing city... probably one of the best urban centres in this country.

Quebec City has a lot to be proud of. Quebec French culture is a lot of fun...

Personally I think it makes Canada more interesting. Economically they have some shit to work out.

No doubt. They need a kick in the pants and a bit less catering to.... but it should work out in the end.

So you like Quebec . . . good for you.  Too bad that a very large and growing segment of the population/provinces are seeing Quebec for what it is.  Quebec is a parasite.  

[dialamah]

2 minutes ago, marcus said:

Sounds like a bunch of whining "Make Canada Great Again" crowd who think Canada is broken without looking at facts.

Overall, Canada has never had it better:

 

Poverty Line 

 

Income per capita

Life expectancy

 

Unemployment Rate

Yeah, and aren't the people who declare Canada "broken" generally the same ones claiming that immigrants want to come here because its so great?  Just because someone don't like the current governance doesn't mean the entire country is destroyed, what's up with that hyperbole anyway?  

[Charles Anthony]

Folks,  

Reduce the volume of your quotes.  Please review the following threads: 

Using the [ Quote ] Feature: - 2005

NEW RULE! - Trim Your Posts - 2006

Trim Your Posts and Quotes - 2006

If your reply takes less space than your quote does, then you quoted too much. 

[taxme]

On 11/26/2019 at 8:07 PM, Moonlight Graham said:

Russia has some power but isn't as powerful as Putin tries to make out. He's a lot of bluster and sabre rattling, the country's economy struggles.  He can't beat NATO.  2019 Russia isn't the USSR.

Do not ever try to underestimate Russia. Russia does have a big military, and is ready for NATO if they try to ever attack Russia. NATO will never take on Russia. They know better than to try that. Nobody wins if NATO and Russia tries to duke it out with one another. As i keep saying here? Russia is not the West's enemy. It is China. As the old bible says; beware of the yellow race. Today, we see that we must now be beware of the yellow race. Communist China is on the march to world dominance, if they can and are allowed to be able to do so. Our tech globalist social media giants like Twitter, Youtube, Google and Facebook appear to enjoy dealing with communist China.

I wonder why this is so? 

[Guest ProudConservative]

45 minutes ago, taxme said:

Do not ever try to underestimate Russia. Russia does have a big military, and is ready for NATO if they try to ever attack Russia. NATO will never take on Russia. They know better than to try that. Nobody wins if NATO and Russia tries to duke it out with one another. As i keep saying here? Russia is not the West's enemy. It is China. As the old bible says; beware of the yellow race. Today, we see that we must now be beware of the yellow race. Communist China is on the march to world dominance, if they can and are allowed to be able to do so. Our tech globalist social media giants like Twitter, Youtube, Google and Facebook appear to enjoy dealing with communist China.

I wonder why this is so? 

Wouldn't you like to see China take over?... I mean they build 600kph MAGlev trains. They design gorgeous botanical gardens, and super slick skyscrapers. The dictatorship is extremely efficient, and China is an extremely affordable place to live. They don't have narcissism, junkies or degenerates. They don't have any political correctness, or transgender culture. This is a $200 a night hotel in Guangzhou.

 

 

Edited November 28, 2019 by ProudConservative

[DrYouth]

11 minutes ago, ProudConservative said:

 They don't have narcissism...

They seem a little think-skinned about criticism...

I'm gonna challenge the lack of narcissism assertion.

Other than that... I think you got the rest down.

[Argus]

57 minutes ago, ProudConservative said:

Wouldn't you like to see China take over?... I mean they build 600kph MAGlev trains. They design gorgeous botanical gardens, and super slick skyscrapers.

They put you in prison on the slightest pretext. They watch everything you do and punish you if you return your library books late or get a traffic ticket, or say something they don't like or buy a book they don't approve of get fired from work or don't pay your debts. If they really don't like you they'll throw you into a labour camp, and maybe use you as an involuntary organ donor.

So no, I really wouldn't like China taking over.

[marcus]

5 hours ago, dialamah said:

Yeah, and aren't the people who declare Canada "broken" generally the same ones claiming that immigrants want to come here because its so great?  Just because someone don't like the current governance doesn't mean the entire country is destroyed, what's up with that hyperbole anyway?  

You'd think so. By the way, Canada is doing a lot better under the current regime than we were under the previous.

[marcus]

2 hours ago, taxme said:

Do not ever try to underestimate Russia. Russia does have a big military, and is ready for NATO if they try to ever attack Russia. NATO will never take on Russia. They know better than to try that. Nobody wins if NATO and Russia tries to duke it out with one another. As i keep saying here? Russia is not the West's enemy. It is China.

I would agree that China is more of an economic foe. But China should not be looked at as a threat. They would not survive if trade stopped happening with the west. They rely on the status quo and would not want to rock the boat. Of course, they will do what they can to have economic advantage over others. One of few things that I agree with Trump is that China has slowly created an unbalanced economic playing field with the protectionist policies. I would also be concerned about adopting their technology. But of course, as Snowden has confirmed, it's not only China who wants to spy on people. The U.S., through different tech companies, is doing the same thing.

2 hours ago, taxme said:

As the old bible says; beware of the yellow race. Today, we see that we must now be beware of the yellow race.

C'mon! Stop that shit. 

[dialamah]

6 minutes ago, marcus said:

You'd think so. By the way, Canada is doing a lot better under the current regime than we were under the previous.

Yeah, I tend to think that how we're doing is less about the regime we're under than what's happening in the rest of the world.  I'm sure tax policies have some effect, but I've never experienced anything that's made my life significantly better or worse, and things seem to truck along more or less the same regardless of the claims, promises or accusations of politicians.

I think climate change fallout will result in considerable change, but how much can be controlled by Liberal or Conservative leadership is the question I think.

[marcus]

Just now, dialamah said:

Yeah, I tend to think that how we're doing is less about the regime we're under than what's happening in the rest of the world.  I'm sure tax policies have some effect, but I've never experienced anything that's made my life significantly better or worse, and things seem to truck along more or less the same regardless of the claims, promises or accusations of politicians.

I don't remember the East Coaster having the same "sky is falling" attitude when the fishing industry started to disappear. There wasn't that much of a blame game either. Same thing goes for the dwindling BC forest industry. 

I'm dealing with two Albertan companies at the moment and their businesses have, for decades, been around the energy sector. They're adapting. They're transitioning to the tech sector and are doing well. 

Just now, dialamah said:

I think climate change fallout will result in considerable change, but how much can be controlled by Liberal or Conservative leadership is the question I think.

For sure. It's already happening. The BC government does not have enough money allocated to the increasing forest fires. We also have many towns and cities near the rising waters and rivers and that's going to cost billions.