Discussions

Hey 1% “Freedom” Truckers…  
You have no clue what loss of freedom is .. unless you can say …  
You stood behind electrified barb wired fence, debating on throwing yourself on it. because you are so hungry and it’s a better option than going to the gas chambers, just because you have a different religion.  
 
Or ... you were stolen from your home and family, put into a residential school, beaten or murdered, if you spoke a word in your own language and didn’t conform and assimilate.  
 
Or … you were sold to a rich plantation owner, made to work in hot dusty fields all day and whipped if you fell out of line …  
 
All you accomplished was to smear your great profession, as fragile as it was already. Trucking is a lonely thankless job, and I get your frustrations, but you didn’t help your situation.  
You only managed to embarrass all the great great truck drivers out there .. I feel sadness… The organizers should apologize.  
 
You have all the freedom you need in this country thanks to the millions of people who sacrificed their lives for it … no less than “unknown soldier “  
 
I’m not so righteous to pretend like I know what all these people who lived through these horrors, experienced or the nightmares they live with everyday.  
 
But I do realize the “freedom” I have and don’t take for granted  
 
Thank you for your hardships and sacrifices  
For my. “Freedom”

I try to keep it in perspective. This to me comes across as a sort of attempt at a sort of Trojan horse to get a USA hard-right style ideology more accepted in Canada. With it would come more engrained USA-style tribal divisions where people are all but forced to take sides.  Not hard to see that that USA hard-right sees it that way with how much they've been all over this through their various platforms. 
 
It’s been really unfortunate to see fact, rule of law, traditional democratic principles, belief in experts & science and respect for the role of media in a democracy become so politicized South of the border. There’s still a chance for Canada to not go there to that extent, but this is most definitely a big test for the country and for our political parties.  
 
It’s sad to see a few very recognizable visible names in the community fall victim to the overall mindset and feel comfortable enough about it to be quite loud on social media (thankfully there are also many voices of reason). For many years these are people that I would put on a sort of pedestal for the success they’ve had and how prominent their names are in the community, but it’s a reminder that no matter how well-known the name these are still folks with the same vulnerabilities that have been going through the same very difficult two years and not everyone is going to respond in the same way. Not an excuse for contributing to divisiveness, but perhaps something to build hope around that as we get through the pandemic and minds become clearer there’s still a chance for real unity and tolerance over divisiveness and real authentic Canadian kindness and empathy over anger and fear.  
 
I believe strongly that politics that adopt that kind of ideology in Canada aren’t electable, as much as the whole thing is built on trying to make it look bigger than it is and more Canadian than it is. A few hundred thousand people are a far cry from tens of millions. A party that appeals strongly to 2 1/2 provinces is not a national party. Even if it has a chance to get a few more votes in the ballot box, encouraging an ideology that’s based on misinformation and anger isn’t Canadian just because it’s wrapped in heart and flag emojis and self-labelled as carrying the flag of a warped sense of unity or freedom.  
 
There’s more focus right now on the Conservative party just by nature of where this kind of ideology wants to fall on the political spectrum. They appear to be going through a process this week of deciding what they want their identity to be going forward or perhaps how much they might adapt to accommodate this kind of ideology. I’d be an example of someone whose potential future vote lies in the balance. I would certainly consider a traditional Conservative party with my vote when it comes to issues relating to business and fiscal responsibility. Under no circumstance would I support a party that adopts a more USA hard-right direction that plays on anger, fear and misinformation for votes. If I’m right that there are enough people like me, the end result could be sending Canada in the direction of being a one party (Liberal) country. I’d think just about anyone but the hardest-core Liberal supporter could see why that wouldn’t be a good thing either in a democracy.  

I believe strongly that Canada as a collective is a lot better than this overall kind of ideology, as evidenced by the past election where a party with a lot of common threads to what we're seeing got less than 5% of the vote despite generating a lot of attention. Real authentic kindness, tolerance and empathy are so woven into our identity in a way that allows them to co-exist within differences in how we see business, politics, religion and all of the different topics that can be seen as points for divisiveness for someone determined enough.  

I suspect a lot of folks that have read this thread and have gotten this far might find value in the video below if they haven’t already seen it making the rounds this week. The user on Twitter who created it has developed a knack for their take on some of the more serious issues of the last two years.…  
 

HOW TO TELL IF YOU’RE ON THE CORRECT SIDE OF ANY ISSUE pic.twitter.com/FgoBLzZ0iL

— Brittlestar (@brittlestar) January 26, 2022

I'm not saying the Convoy is right or wrong ... but I think there are more people supporting the convoy than just the approximately 20% of Canadians that remain unvaccinated. We can simply ignore the protestors and hope it comes to an end peacefully either through discussion or dispersion or what have you ...  
 
China seems to really be pushing this Olympics like everything is peachy in the world and western society is being unreasonable. They seem to show zero intent of de-escalating the Taiwan tensions, acknowledging/correcting any human rights issues and the list goes on.  
 
As unfortunate as it is .... it's debatable that withdrawing Canada's participation in the event might have been a better move. I get how unfair it would be to Canadian athletes ... but participating in their games feels like giving them a pass.  
There has been people tortured, put into forced labour camps, etc. by this regime. Should we really be ok with this?  
 
Edited by Brandon,Brandon, 2022-02-03 13:47:11