A good read, while pouring PQ maple syrup on my Red River cereal with Tree Island yogurt and thinking about my Metis parents who thought it in their children's best interest to forget who they were.
"The Good, whatever it is, requires self-sacrifice, and compromise. And these altruistic tendencies rarely emerge unless we’re willing to put our petty self interest aside in service of something greater than own individual nonsense; our families, our communities, our faith-based groups, and, ultimately, our countries and ideals."
Exactly. There's a lot of talk about whether it's appropriate to celebrate Canada this year, but describing it as "celebration" seems to me beside the point. Canada Day is an opportunity to strengthen our feeling of being connected to 38 million other Canadians as a national community.
If we didn't feel a degree of responsibility for Canadians beyond our immediate circle of family and friends, why would we be willing to pay for any public programs (like CERB) that didn't benefit us directly? Why would we care about the tragedies of people that we don't know and will never meet?
The Covid crisis really demonstrates the importance of social solidarity, of being willing to make sacrifices for other people. There's huge challenges ahead for Canadians, including reconciliation with Indigenous peoples but also recovering from Covid, building more housing, pushing back against inequality, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to climate change (there were nearly 500 sudden deaths in BC's heat wave this week), dealing with China's newfound aggressiveness, and many others. Together, all of these challenges will push our national solidarity to the limit.
Hoping that race to the bottom regionalism can be kept at bay long enough for our country (and planet) to make productive use of the advances in communication and consensus building that modern tech has opened the door to.
Best (most idealistic) case scenario: blockchain helps us to usher in a new era of direct democracy federalism. Worst case: we follow the mediocrity of our current decision making processes into oblivion
The question I'd like to ask supporters of renaming, removal or cancellation is how and when we should remember other parts of our heritage and our culture.
How and when do we commemorate our family connections and histories, our cultural, scientific and international contributions to the world, in short our sense of who we are? That's what I think a lot of people are commemorating on Canada Day. They're just as much a part of Canada as its racism and violence.
Historical figures ranging from John A. Macdonald (nationally) to Vital Grandin (locally) had large roles in making those things possible. How do we remember those parts of their legacies? Or do we just forget them or dismiss them as relevant?
Too bad it seems these days that if you want to wave your flag you automatically support the residential schools, whereas if you want restitution and reparations to Indigenous people you hate the whole concept of Canada.
Apparently you can't support restitution and reparations partly *because* you want to wave your flag with pride.
A good read, while pouring PQ maple syrup on my Red River cereal with Tree Island yogurt and thinking about my Metis parents who thought it in their children's best interest to forget who they were.
What a way to sum it up: "everyone wants to be King Shit of their own Turd Island"
Reminded me of Dr. Seuss' "Yurtle the Turtle" or should it now be amended to Turdle?
"The Good, whatever it is, requires self-sacrifice, and compromise. And these altruistic tendencies rarely emerge unless we’re willing to put our petty self interest aside in service of something greater than own individual nonsense; our families, our communities, our faith-based groups, and, ultimately, our countries and ideals."
Exactly. There's a lot of talk about whether it's appropriate to celebrate Canada this year, but describing it as "celebration" seems to me beside the point. Canada Day is an opportunity to strengthen our feeling of being connected to 38 million other Canadians as a national community.
If we didn't feel a degree of responsibility for Canadians beyond our immediate circle of family and friends, why would we be willing to pay for any public programs (like CERB) that didn't benefit us directly? Why would we care about the tragedies of people that we don't know and will never meet?
The Covid crisis really demonstrates the importance of social solidarity, of being willing to make sacrifices for other people. There's huge challenges ahead for Canadians, including reconciliation with Indigenous peoples but also recovering from Covid, building more housing, pushing back against inequality, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to climate change (there were nearly 500 sudden deaths in BC's heat wave this week), dealing with China's newfound aggressiveness, and many others. Together, all of these challenges will push our national solidarity to the limit.
Hoping that race to the bottom regionalism can be kept at bay long enough for our country (and planet) to make productive use of the advances in communication and consensus building that modern tech has opened the door to.
Best (most idealistic) case scenario: blockchain helps us to usher in a new era of direct democracy federalism. Worst case: we follow the mediocrity of our current decision making processes into oblivion
The question I'd like to ask supporters of renaming, removal or cancellation is how and when we should remember other parts of our heritage and our culture.
How and when do we commemorate our family connections and histories, our cultural, scientific and international contributions to the world, in short our sense of who we are? That's what I think a lot of people are commemorating on Canada Day. They're just as much a part of Canada as its racism and violence.
Historical figures ranging from John A. Macdonald (nationally) to Vital Grandin (locally) had large roles in making those things possible. How do we remember those parts of their legacies? Or do we just forget them or dismiss them as relevant?
Too bad it seems these days that if you want to wave your flag you automatically support the residential schools, whereas if you want restitution and reparations to Indigenous people you hate the whole concept of Canada.
Apparently you can't support restitution and reparations partly *because* you want to wave your flag with pride.
Alberta Separatism becomes more legitimate with every grave found and with every Canadian cultural elite how is "embarrassed to be Canadian."