Lunchtime Ranting.
Let's put one up by the parliament buildings.
There are two parties that have the glorious idea that, should they get into power, they will dot Canada with 10,000 windmills.
Diseased
So, I know I said that I wasn't going to express more opinions…but I can't help it. It's a serious, earnest disease. What can I say? I was born with opinions, and they just keep growing. And I tried to keep them inside (I really did) but that last entry made me want to keep doing it. It's a drug, and I'm addicted. Hello, my name is sarah and I have a problem. I'm an ornery opinionaholic.
So, my irk of the moment is this: since when do Canadian parties get to out and out lie in their campaigns? I'm not talking about campaign promises -- I stand behind what I said before; they ALL promise you the moon, and every party makes promises they can't keep. But I'm talking about the liberal smear campaign. The latest ad says that Stephen Harper "would not respect a woman's right to choose". Which isn't true.
You know what Canada's abortion laws are right now? No, it's not that anything after first trimester abortion is illegal, that's the US. And no, it's not that you can only have abortions after the first trimester in serious and grave cases where the life of the mother is threatened. We have no abortion laws. Now. Despite what you believe about abortion, you at least have to agree that there should be something regarding it --it's not something that can be ignored entirely. You want to know why?
Take the example of the ontario lady who, a few weeks (or days, I can't remember) before she was due to give birth took a pellet gun and shot into herself, in hopes of killing the baby. She didn't. She gave birth to a severely brain-damaged baby with bullets lodged in his brain. She was charged with attempted murder (I think. Or something -- but she WAS charged), but could not be convicted because the baby was neither a baby nor a person. That is, I can see you arguing, a rare case. Alright, then. I know this. Also the facts of partial-birth abortion absolutely horrify me. This is what is done for a third-trimester abortion (maybe second, I don't know). Labour is induced. The baby is almost delivered, but before it gets out into the world a hole is made in its' head, the contents sucked out and the skull collapsed. The baby IS fully developed, and in most cases could survive birth (I know I was born early). The Conservatives have NO plans to limit abortions, but has not ruled out a private members' bill on the subject. Ideally it would provide some sort of perameters, so the next time the baby is born with the bullets in his brain, something can be done in his defense. And how, pray tell, is that a BAD thing? And how many women know that if you have an abortion before you have a baby the odds are very high that you won't be ABLE to have a baby? Or about the emotional scarring that occurs? Or the fact that not all babies that are aborted actually die when they're 'supposed' to, and that there are actual abortion survivors? You can't make an informed choice if you only know half the facts. (Besides. We're a socially liberal country. Anything like that will get shot down in FLAMES. So don't worry about it.)
Ethical…?
Michael Moore recently praised Canadians for their "ethic". He encouraged Canadians not to vote in the conservative government, saying that we "[didn't] want to go the way the Americans [did]".
What a load of crap.
The fact of the matter is that Canada will never, EVER be America. We will NEVER be American, despite the fact that we have american media, clothes, food, cars…cameras…everything (please. Who actually watches Canadian TV? Other than Canadians, I mean.). We are JUST as proud of being Canadians as the Americans are of being American. So why would we just miraculously relinquish our Canadianisms? It annoys me that people think our culture is so weak that just because we do one thing that is (debatably) similar to the States that somehow we will follow exactly in their footsteps. Because our governing system is different. Our attitudes are different and our values are different. And if Canada should choose the conservatives? That does not mean that we will somehow miraculously lose all of the good parts of our society. Is America any less American since Bush got in(and if you're going to answer that question, please provide reasoning.), and will it be more American if/when Kerry gets in?
With this terror of being "not American", I really think that we're losing so much of what made us Canadian. The Canadian ethic has become to not take a stand on anything. We live in a society where it is not politically correct to declare any absolutes. A country's people live by laws and rules, which allow personal freedom AND protection to everyone.
We don't HAVE any clearly defined lines anymore. Canada has become this vast shade of gray. What does it say about Canada when you see that child pornographers can get away with what they do? Because exploiting children has some sort of "artistic merit". That we think a man should get away with savagely beating another man because it's "part of the game" (yeah, maybe boxing -- not ice hockey, buddy). No. The government should NOT be religious (though Canada was formed on a Judeo-Christian heritage, something people love to forget), yes I absolutely believe in the separation of church and state. While progress has been made on some fronts, it just seems that letting it go too far on others. Being too permissive. The idea of raising the age of consent to 16 has been met with opposition. So, when does it stop? How much damage can we do to ourselves and our children before we realize that this is not a good thing?
Please don't get me wrong. I absolutely adore Canada. I think it is, hands down, the best place in the world to live. I love our history. I love our strong past. I love going away from Canada, and pretending that I actually speak french fluently, and am a lot more in touch with that part of our culture than I am. Because I'm proud of it. I love that we have THREE national languages, and that we almost won the Stanley Cup this year (go Alberta!). When I got home from overseas I almost cried as I was getting off the plane because I love Canada.
I didn't really intend to go in this direction when I started this post, and I don't know what set this off (I read the article a couple of days ago…). I don't have a clear way to end it. I can't say that my morals are better than yours, that my ethical standards are somehow are higher than yours. They're not, and it wouldn't be fair for me to make that statement. Hm. Who knows. Maybe we need to stop worrying that by doing act [x] we will become more American and instead focus on the issue at hand. Stop letting that factor into our thought process. And if we happen to make a choice that makes us a little more like our neighbours to the south? Well, they're not all bad you know. Chances are if we stop obsessing about being "not American" we'll probably become even more Canadian; more unique and happier overall, because then our choices are made on what WE believe, agree with and want.
That, or we can just change our name to "Not the United States" and leave it there.
Let's put one up by the parliament buildings.
There are two parties that have the glorious idea that, should they get into power, they will dot Canada with 10,000 windmills.
Diseased
So, I know I said that I wasn't going to express more opinions…but I can't help it. It's a serious, earnest disease. What can I say? I was born with opinions, and they just keep growing. And I tried to keep them inside (I really did) but that last entry made me want to keep doing it. It's a drug, and I'm addicted. Hello, my name is sarah and I have a problem. I'm an ornery opinionaholic.
So, my irk of the moment is this: since when do Canadian parties get to out and out lie in their campaigns? I'm not talking about campaign promises -- I stand behind what I said before; they ALL promise you the moon, and every party makes promises they can't keep. But I'm talking about the liberal smear campaign. The latest ad says that Stephen Harper "would not respect a woman's right to choose". Which isn't true.
You know what Canada's abortion laws are right now? No, it's not that anything after first trimester abortion is illegal, that's the US. And no, it's not that you can only have abortions after the first trimester in serious and grave cases where the life of the mother is threatened. We have no abortion laws. Now. Despite what you believe about abortion, you at least have to agree that there should be something regarding it --it's not something that can be ignored entirely. You want to know why?
Take the example of the ontario lady who, a few weeks (or days, I can't remember) before she was due to give birth took a pellet gun and shot into herself, in hopes of killing the baby. She didn't. She gave birth to a severely brain-damaged baby with bullets lodged in his brain. She was charged with attempted murder (I think. Or something -- but she WAS charged), but could not be convicted because the baby was neither a baby nor a person. That is, I can see you arguing, a rare case. Alright, then. I know this. Also the facts of partial-birth abortion absolutely horrify me. This is what is done for a third-trimester abortion (maybe second, I don't know). Labour is induced. The baby is almost delivered, but before it gets out into the world a hole is made in its' head, the contents sucked out and the skull collapsed. The baby IS fully developed, and in most cases could survive birth (I know I was born early). The Conservatives have NO plans to limit abortions, but has not ruled out a private members' bill on the subject. Ideally it would provide some sort of perameters, so the next time the baby is born with the bullets in his brain, something can be done in his defense. And how, pray tell, is that a BAD thing? And how many women know that if you have an abortion before you have a baby the odds are very high that you won't be ABLE to have a baby? Or about the emotional scarring that occurs? Or the fact that not all babies that are aborted actually die when they're 'supposed' to, and that there are actual abortion survivors? You can't make an informed choice if you only know half the facts. (Besides. We're a socially liberal country. Anything like that will get shot down in FLAMES. So don't worry about it.)
Ethical…?
Michael Moore recently praised Canadians for their "ethic". He encouraged Canadians not to vote in the conservative government, saying that we "[didn't] want to go the way the Americans [did]".
What a load of crap.
The fact of the matter is that Canada will never, EVER be America. We will NEVER be American, despite the fact that we have american media, clothes, food, cars…cameras…everything (please. Who actually watches Canadian TV? Other than Canadians, I mean.). We are JUST as proud of being Canadians as the Americans are of being American. So why would we just miraculously relinquish our Canadianisms? It annoys me that people think our culture is so weak that just because we do one thing that is (debatably) similar to the States that somehow we will follow exactly in their footsteps. Because our governing system is different. Our attitudes are different and our values are different. And if Canada should choose the conservatives? That does not mean that we will somehow miraculously lose all of the good parts of our society. Is America any less American since Bush got in(and if you're going to answer that question, please provide reasoning.), and will it be more American if/when Kerry gets in?
With this terror of being "not American", I really think that we're losing so much of what made us Canadian. The Canadian ethic has become to not take a stand on anything. We live in a society where it is not politically correct to declare any absolutes. A country's people live by laws and rules, which allow personal freedom AND protection to everyone.
We don't HAVE any clearly defined lines anymore. Canada has become this vast shade of gray. What does it say about Canada when you see that child pornographers can get away with what they do? Because exploiting children has some sort of "artistic merit". That we think a man should get away with savagely beating another man because it's "part of the game" (yeah, maybe boxing -- not ice hockey, buddy). No. The government should NOT be religious (though Canada was formed on a Judeo-Christian heritage, something people love to forget), yes I absolutely believe in the separation of church and state. While progress has been made on some fronts, it just seems that letting it go too far on others. Being too permissive. The idea of raising the age of consent to 16 has been met with opposition. So, when does it stop? How much damage can we do to ourselves and our children before we realize that this is not a good thing?
Please don't get me wrong. I absolutely adore Canada. I think it is, hands down, the best place in the world to live. I love our history. I love our strong past. I love going away from Canada, and pretending that I actually speak french fluently, and am a lot more in touch with that part of our culture than I am. Because I'm proud of it. I love that we have THREE national languages, and that we almost won the Stanley Cup this year (go Alberta!). When I got home from overseas I almost cried as I was getting off the plane because I love Canada.
I didn't really intend to go in this direction when I started this post, and I don't know what set this off (I read the article a couple of days ago…). I don't have a clear way to end it. I can't say that my morals are better than yours, that my ethical standards are somehow are higher than yours. They're not, and it wouldn't be fair for me to make that statement. Hm. Who knows. Maybe we need to stop worrying that by doing act [x] we will become more American and instead focus on the issue at hand. Stop letting that factor into our thought process. And if we happen to make a choice that makes us a little more like our neighbours to the south? Well, they're not all bad you know. Chances are if we stop obsessing about being "not American" we'll probably become even more Canadian; more unique and happier overall, because then our choices are made on what WE believe, agree with and want.
That, or we can just change our name to "Not the United States" and leave it there.
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