Monday, January 23, 2006
canada
so this is a big day for canada: election day.
Ccanadians elect 1 parliamentary representative from their district called a riding. whatever party has the most seats in parliament gets to pick the prime minister. so there are not separate legislative and executive elections.
the conservatives have made a very strong push and are likely to take the election. this has set up a difficult quandry for many canadians about what it means to be canadian. It seems to focus on a degree of socialist egalitarianism which is typified by the healthcare system. (These ideas are related to minorityist anti-americanism, but more on that later). You knw, everyone is equal and should get taken care of. pretty nice thought. however, in a global age where we use economics as an immutable and all encompassing logic http://www.mindfully.org/Industry/2005/Evangelical-Economics1may05.htm, it has become increasingly difficult for canadians to embrace their goodnatured socialism when it appears to be set in contrast to a system which equals growth, power, and wealth south of the border. Conservatives want to align more closely with the US, liberals want to continue the socialist ways, and the two smaller parties NDP (students and hippies), and bloc quebecois (secessionist Quebecers).
add to this cocktail the fact that the liberal party has several black eyes from corruption scandals, and canadians are facing a polarizing split about what they want "canadian" to mean in the near future.
many of the smear adds by the liberals against the conservatives have aligned stephen harper (prime minister if the conservatives win a majority) with George Bush in the hopes of driving people back to liberal out of fear of this association. Canadians, as you might imagine, don't like GWB very much.
The canadian relationship to the US is an awkward one. During a game of PS2 hockey in which america (me) was playing canada (someone else), a drunken female spectator shouted out "I hate americans; I just hate them." a curious land up here. a popular t-shirt for young women read "you can't get this in the states" across the chest. In a sense they are an continental minority, and I view their antics as one from a dominant ethnicity views the understandable anger of racial or religious minorities.
N.B. Said female spectator also hates the Maple Leafs, and had to consider for 45 seconds whom she would root when I posed a hypothetical matchup between America and the Leafs. She decided on the Leafs.
Ccanadians elect 1 parliamentary representative from their district called a riding. whatever party has the most seats in parliament gets to pick the prime minister. so there are not separate legislative and executive elections.
the conservatives have made a very strong push and are likely to take the election. this has set up a difficult quandry for many canadians about what it means to be canadian. It seems to focus on a degree of socialist egalitarianism which is typified by the healthcare system. (These ideas are related to minorityist anti-americanism, but more on that later). You knw, everyone is equal and should get taken care of. pretty nice thought. however, in a global age where we use economics as an immutable and all encompassing logic http://www.mindfully.org/Industry/2005/Evangelical-Economics1may05.htm, it has become increasingly difficult for canadians to embrace their goodnatured socialism when it appears to be set in contrast to a system which equals growth, power, and wealth south of the border. Conservatives want to align more closely with the US, liberals want to continue the socialist ways, and the two smaller parties NDP (students and hippies), and bloc quebecois (secessionist Quebecers).
add to this cocktail the fact that the liberal party has several black eyes from corruption scandals, and canadians are facing a polarizing split about what they want "canadian" to mean in the near future.
many of the smear adds by the liberals against the conservatives have aligned stephen harper (prime minister if the conservatives win a majority) with George Bush in the hopes of driving people back to liberal out of fear of this association. Canadians, as you might imagine, don't like GWB very much.
The canadian relationship to the US is an awkward one. During a game of PS2 hockey in which america (me) was playing canada (someone else), a drunken female spectator shouted out "I hate americans; I just hate them." a curious land up here. a popular t-shirt for young women read "you can't get this in the states" across the chest. In a sense they are an continental minority, and I view their antics as one from a dominant ethnicity views the understandable anger of racial or religious minorities.
N.B. Said female spectator also hates the Maple Leafs, and had to consider for 45 seconds whom she would root when I posed a hypothetical matchup between America and the Leafs. She decided on the Leafs.
# posted by 8yearoldsdude @ 1:08 PM 
