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I remember reading that America pushed farther right due to the red scare during the Cold War, being so scared of communism that they pushed as far away as possible. Hence why ideas such as universal healthcare which is getting more common is seen as such an "extreme" idea. Like ironically they call Bernie a radical but he is probably center left overall, at most maybe between that and mid-left.
I also look at it not just from its healthcare benefits but imagine how much of a tidy source of income for the federal government the legalization and regulation of marijuana would make. It would kill the black market on the stuff and on the whole, would become much safer for the general public to use.
Legalizing Marijuana also brings in the hemp industry which has like a million uses, including subverting the logging industry. It's just a win-win no matter what.
Coming from a country who legalized it, overall pretty good.
The black market marijuana has gone down overall, though still exists. The only reason why it isn't gone is that it is a bit expensive at times in some provinces, though that is a provincial responsibility of it and not a federal issue.
The stigma around it is also getting better. Even legit smoked some weed with my mom while she was having a cigarette on a 420. It is now being more seen in a similar light as alcohol. Not as stigmatized, but use it responsibly. The first day it was legalized in the country, One... A LOT WAS SOLD! For weeks a lot was sold out as sales exceeddd what they thought. It has become normal now but still it was an instant cash machine and has created some new jobs. Two in the entire country only one arrest was made for someone driving while high and that was because the idiot lit one in his car as a police officer was near-by and the car was running.
Plus now, since it is legalized, it is easier to get better information about it and inform people of pros and cons of it without people falling into fear mongering.
If you want a literal definition of terrorism, then it is the illegitimate use of violence to promote fear for political aims. If someone uses the word terrorism, then we refer to that.
You have been deflecting everything looking at the actual protests themselves and pointing to saying "OH BUT BLACK LIVES MATTER DID THIS" and "OH BUT JUSTIN TRUDEAU LOVES CHINA!" and what we have been trying to do is point out all the issues with the protest, some of which you agreed with, but then you shift the conversation towards other things. You are also arguing a lot from a perspective of an American, and I don't mean as an insult, I mean as someone who doesn't fully comprehend Canada's own laws and features which do play a lot into this conversation as well.
P.S: Due to China's large international influence, it is a hard spot to be too critical of them in public as a world leader. hence why no country outright calls Taiwan a state/country (State in the IR definition, an political entity with a defined population, territory, political body, and domestic autonomy/international hegemony) because it is fucking hard to without repercussions so. Hence why, despite the fact that a lot of countries trade with Taiwan, and they are practically independent, when asked they go "What do you mean? Taiwan is a rogue province of China *wink*" So, even if I don't agree with it, and I wish we could do more to "stand up" and remove us from influence, I get it. But also it is no excuse to bash the Chinese people/people of Chinese descent for what their government is doing.
As for your sources SC, they are biased and aren't exactly the most legitimate. They take certain things said, and snowball them into leaps of logic and conspiracy theories, which falls under multiple logical fallacies.
You also use the phrase "Canadian Government's TV" so I assume you're talking about CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Their creation was a response to ensure Canadian content on our airwaves since they are very flooded with US sources. They also report the news and have an obvious focus on Canadian news since otherwise US news would overshadow everything. Also they have regularly shown Saturday night hockey games from the NHL that feature at least one Canadian team.
Now, they are government funded, but they are INDEPENDENTLY OPERATED It does not matter if it is the Liberal party or the Conservative party in charge, they get money and they report on the news, doesn't matter if it is favourable to the government in charge or not. They report on any Scandal related to any government. Whether it was a Senate Expenses Scandal during the Conservative's time in charge, SNC Lavalin during the time the Liberals are in power, they do their job. Are they perfect? No, but throughout my entire time in Undergrad, there were news sources my professors (people with PHDs) told us were for the most part reliable. For Canada, CBC was one of their first choices because they are not ran by the same two media corporations as most other news source is in this country and generally have good standards.
Here is their Journalistic Standards. They link it at the end of every article and they commit themselves to independence, correcting mistakes if they make them, and other things you can see here.
Finally, onto Justin, maybe I'll state my OPINION HERE on him. THIS IS OPINION BUT I WILL TRY TO MAKE SURE I STATE SOME THINGS TO EXPLAIN WHY!
I'm neutral on him, with a slight shift one way or the other depending on what is happening.
Generally, and I have said this before, I am more on the left than I am on the right and with my views, they usually fall in line with a mix of Liberal policy, NDP policy, and Green (in terms of environment). So I'm not far left, blabbing about taking the means of production or whatever, but generally it is where I fall.
Now there have been some policy decisions I have generally agreed with during the course of their time in charge. Like making all their Liberal senators non-partisan and not bound by the party line, from a Federal point of view, they have done respectable in handling the pandemic on their end being responsible for creating access to the Vaccine, having packages to support small business to try to mitigate the impact on the economy, the legalization of marijuana which was done very well in the federal side of things, creating the CETA trade agreement with Europe in 2016 being one of the more progressive trade agreements in the world, also he quite literally saved our trade deal with the US and Mexico considering Trump was threatening to tear it up and legit got him to stop by calling him and getting his attention long enough for him to forget and some other things.
HOWEVER, he has also done some dumb shit. I feel as though he has taken two steps forward, one and a half steps back in dealing with the Indigenous population, doing some things right, but falling into the same traps that have plagued countless governments before (both Conservative and Liberal), then along with the pipelines, I both semi-understand why he considered investing in them (which P.S: Alberta is the province which benefits the most from it and yet they despise him, ironic), but also believe A: meaningful consultation should have been done with the Aboriginal population before it was finalized and B: We really need to work on diversifying our energy. Then came the before mentioned SNC Lavalin in which he wanted then Justice Minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould to basically wave criminal prosecution for a company which had previously backed the party and also provides jobs in Trudeau's riding. That was heart-breaking, especially since Jody Wilson-Raybould was bright, from when I did a paper on her file I was impressed, and she was I believe one of the first Justice ministers of Aboriginal Descent. (Fun fact, during the negotiations of the Canadian Charter, when Pierre Elliot Trudeau negotiated with the Aboriginal peoples about their rights in it, the lead on the Aboriginal side was Jody's father. Things come full circle). Then I also can mention more.
But, what has kept me considering voting Liberal in elections has been a few reasons. One is due to the first-past-the-post system, it becomes harder to vote for a third party, because it feels like half the time a vote for NDP or Green is a vote for the Conservatives who I overall disagree with the second most (First is PPC, they're pretty racist). Second is that there are other members of the party that I like, one of which is my MP who I guess we have a small soft spot for because a member of her family is in the same special care home as my Uncle, and she has volunteered in the community, another is an MP in a neighboring riding who I actually have met and talked to multiple times and I have respect for.
So there! I can admit good things, but also am not blind to say he is a literal God and I can point at his short-comings and genuinely, if I could ever have a private conversation with him, I'd love to so I can point out these things which are concerning me. But the most important thing is at least I can go to sleep at night not freaking out over every little thing he does, which I guess in terms of politics I need a touch of mundane in with all the excitement.
Once again, thank you for listening to my Ted Talk.
You guys ganged up on me and high fiving each other in agreement. That's a hivemind. I didn't say it, Swamps did, and actually I agree with THAT sentiment.
We disagree on things and agree on others. And actually, even in Democrats in America, at least from whenever we looked at it, there is a mix of opinions.
Nope. There's 80% Socialists, 20% centrist democrats. Let me put it this way: THEY, in California... BLOCKED a JFK-style democrat. (When the recall was on for Newsom.)
THEY don't want centrist democrats, bro. Pelosi, Newsom, Sanders, AOC, etc.
We have center-left democrats, we have social democrats, those with a stronger environmental focus, etc. There are some who like Biden, those who like Bernie, those who have another opinion on them, and everywhere in between. But, since you mentioned a "hivemind," let me ask you this. Are these signs of being part of a political hivemind?
See, you know this. The little bit of centrist democrats? They can't fight back, or they'll be outcasted from committees, from other secret hearings. This is why you listen to podcasts. You learn something new. If I hadn't listened to MTG's discussion, I wouldn't know what goes on in the chambers of congress.
As for the hivemind question: Look at Twitter. The whole thing is algorithmicly LEFT. You can't even go outside the narrative.
Is it idolizing a politician as a God-like figure? Is it wearing merchandise related to them year-round outside of elections, holding flags and signs on your lawn outside of elections? Seeing them as doing no wrong, everything they say is right, etc? Is being literally willing to do anything for them, even storming the Capitol assembly, threatening to hang multiple politicians, with people having zip-ties to hold them hostage?
While the last example is a little too "on the nose" if you want to discuss a hivemind mentality, then I am sorry, but a more apt example of it would be a portion (NOT ALL! I WILL MAKE IT CLEAR NOW) of Trump followers. Then we can even look to some other right-wing figures like Alex Jones where he literally pawned fans of the shows to get a shit ton of merchandise and got his followers to harass Sandy Hook victim's families to the point where they moved across the country several times to avoid it and had to sue him for damages from the trauma (in which it resulted in a default ruling against Alex Jones because he refused to cooperate, which an innocent man does not do).
And hey, I won't deny that there is the possibility of it on the left. It can extend BEYOND ideology. However, looking at all of us, there is no "hivemind." We have our own views and thoughts. Some people may like Biden or Trudeau, others hate them, or neutral. But we can co-exist and have a discussion. But if even the mere existence of people who may be, *GASP* DEMOCRATS pisses you off who debate you and try to give their own thoughts which don't align with yours or point out faults in your logic, then I think not just this thread isn't for you, but I fear what will happen in other threads when someone disagrees with you.
I voted Obama in 2009... I don't hate the old guard Democrats. Looking at history, they were the pro-business politicians. These Democrats don't exist anymore.
Some people like audio, some people like text. I left a link a while back, nobody cares to read what I been saying since the pandemic started. Before Tim, I was watching others.
No, you are actually wrong. There is no reliable evidence that pot is a gateway drug. In fact, most peer reviewedd studies on this matter have proven quite the opposite. In places where pot is legal, abuse of other drugs decrease.
Pot is illegal because of racism. In the 30s, it was believed that smoking pot would make women want to have sex with black men. So it was outlawed because of this.
What moral or intellectual "superiority"? Beaves posted a long post with links, and whatnot. I posted at least 10 articles about this subject, people just waltz past it.
So, how do I convince people? By text? Only reason people respond with "i live for beaves' rants," is because they know him well. I guarantee you most of them didn't read.
The times I drink, I always smoke when I do. I’ve always been fine. Maybe I’m just a rare breed. Who knows. But I also don’t drink alot. But if I am, ya best believe my ass is high also.
I am NO fan of the People's Republic of China. But the idea that it is funding liberal governments around the world is nothing more than conservative bullshit. And Bullshit seems all that conservatives can do anymore, which makes me very sad.
People like to compare liberals to communists. This has been going on for longer than I have been alive. FDR, Truman, Kennedy, Carter, Clinton, Obama and Biden have all been called communists and not a single one of them was anywhere close to beind a communist.
The most i compare them to is the Socialists. Socialist is early-stage communism. Its more about "sharing" the means of production with someone else. Just look at Venezuela, or Cuba.
Amd you know what is funny? If you even know much about China, it's not a communist country. It's a totalitarian country, for sure, but it's not communist.
As far as I'm concerned? I call them ALL the same. Just different definitions. Socialism, Dictatorship, Communism. Just for the sake of my sanity... I'm leaving it like that. I escaped Nicaragua to get away from this crap.
I have seen Socialism in practice already in two locations. I know know what it looks like.
What moral or intellectual "superiority"? Beaves posted a long post with links, and whatnot. I posted at least 10 articles about this subject, people just waltz past it.
So, how do I convince people? By text? Only reason people respond with "i live for beaves' rants," is because they know him well. I guarantee you most of them didn't read.
Also my "I live for Beavie rants" is slightly taken out of context as I don't really care for the content insomuch as we manage to pull her out for big brain essay.
It humors me to see someone who can write essays with the same amount of passion I do myself, albeit on different subjects. So maybe I really am a sadist.
