We’re easy marks, we grow up with no real identity to be proud of, no real connection to a canonical past, very little in common with our white neighbours. It’s very easy to make us blame tall women or ethnic and racial minorities for our problems, people who don’t line up with the fairy tale we’re told. We elect the folksy white guy who is looking out for himself and his rich friends, and when we can’t find a home we can afford or have to wait 4 hours in the ER, when we aren’t the center of the world, it’s easy to blame someone near us but superficially different, who we probably don’t even talk to because we are looking at screens 20 hours a day.

but we’re all in the same meat grinder together, except for the people turning the crank

Oil companies tend to be fairly multinational, and are perfectly able to spawn shell corporations or even hire local authentic corporations to push their aims. As an example, you can look at Lauren Chen, who operated Tenet Media, essentially a shell company to pay north americans to push a certain narrative to advance the aims of another group.

Would it be a huge shock to find out some conglomerate like Koch Industries or ExxonMobil were involved in an astroturf campaign in Alberta, or maybe the western cape, or other similar oil rich areas?

what are we even doing in this country dude?

I’ve been singing along in the car every time it comes on since last year. I am that much of a dork. great tune. Most of his work is a bit folky/bluegrassy for my taste but it grows on you

I don’t claim to have the most sophisticated view on this.

There are some attractive aspects to being a part of the EU at the moment, but they could become less attractive, after building a major dependence on them, at which point leaving would be extremely harmful and difficult. In some ways, a bit like being so close with the USA, but moreso. And while Canada’s voting could help to mitigate that in theory, the chairman of the IDU being Stephen Harper and our mass export of freaks like JP or Lauren Chen suggests we’re not unlikely to fuck it up (wish it were not so, it’d be almost like giving Florida EU membership).

I think what could make sense is having a very strong relationship with the EU, including some bilateral regulations, maybe even some pooled funding for shared purposes, without necessarily being fully managed by the EU, and without necessarily having undue influence within the EU.

clearly the greatest province in Canada

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I am opposed to antisemitism, I’ve seen people spewing some vile shit, and we don’t need to tolerate hate speech, especially that which is amplified on Twitter.

But we don’t need to conflate criticism of Israel or the violent settler colonialism with anti-semitism, and we don’t need to pretend it’s something other than what it is. If we did, what would that say about our own commitment to truth and reconciliation?

Everyone who can vote in the byelections in Toronto should try to keep them from having a majority, so that there’s more room to compromise a bit between labor and business

you just wrote a long shpiel about AI datacenter jobs none of us want in response to a topic about cuts to soft power and preventing the spread of an epidemic that killed millions in the 1980s

I think there are a number of tangible benefits, from public health to promoting Canada’s image and creating good will with trading partners. It’s also good for Canadian morale, where we can see ourselves as producing positive change in the world.

That said, we do need to invest in ourselves and create more positive change within our own country too, and maybe prioritize it more. But just because the US abandons soft power and diplomacy doesn’t mean we should too.

“we want a diplomatic solution! you know, the kind where you kidnap and sentence their leader to death, or just outright blow them up, and then extract any precious resources theyve got while propping up a corrupt west-friendly government after tearing up previous diplomatic agreements! you know, diplomacy!”

I feel a certain kind of way towards Canadians who are willing to take foreign money to promote separatist views that would be used to extract from them. I feel a certain kind of way towards Canadians who would work with our enemies against us and sowe pointless division between us

In order to benefit from their promotion, it requires registering for their checking account, which itself requires agreeing to their terms and conditions, which include language about collecting and selling information like where you shop, or what you buy, or how much you spend. Which, I’ll admit, is likely an issue with every bank. But it needs to become less of an issue, this should not be permitted. We should not be allowing ourselves to be profiled like this.