tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post270215050008607055..comments2024-03-28T10:10:38.940-04:00Comments on Politics and its Discontents: A Look In The MirrorLornehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-50840834603045850892021-06-17T19:36:06.772-04:002021-06-17T19:36:06.772-04:00I get it. Yabbuts will be deferred to the long-ov...I get it. Yabbuts will be deferred to the long-overdue long conversation that it's looking less likely the country may have one day.<br /><br />Thanks.John B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07402794337521523610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-28986483894525472242021-06-17T09:39:20.547-04:002021-06-17T09:39:20.547-04:00You raise some very interesting points here, Sal, ...You raise some very interesting points here, Sal, but I will just deal with your last one: "What we can control and should muster is our individual actions & choices.. Again 'the better angels' Owen mentions... and that starts in our neighborhoods, our schools & communities.. in our hearts and minds."<br /><br />There is a letter in today's Star that, I think, reflects those sentiments nicely, and I reproduce it here:<br /><br />Reading about the need to challenge and fight hate, I am struck by the fact that there is nothing mentioned about the best way to counter it: to reach out to all, to love as strongly and vehemently as the hater.<br /><br />I am not advocating hugging your neighbour, but simply and consciously creating an atmosphere that allows for “the other” to feel safe and accepted.<br /><br />Austin Repath, Toronto<br /><br />When all is said and done, it really is up to each of us to help realize the kind of country our mythology tells us Canada is all about.Lornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-84881897230145616602021-06-17T09:30:18.299-04:002021-06-17T09:30:18.299-04:00One of things I bear in mind, John, when I read co...One of things I bear in mind, John, when I read comments like those of Singh's, is the fact that as a member of a visible minority, he has experienced racism throughout his life. That is his reality and the reality of countless others in Canada, whether native-born or of foreign birth.<br /><br />Even ignoring recent events and revelations, it is not hard to uncover this unpleasant truth about our country. Even though I am white, I could tell you stories from the Italian side of my family (my mother's parents were from Italy) of terrible behaviour directed toward my mother and her sisters when they were in school from the Catholic nuns. Of course, there was also internment of Italians during the Second World War, although their incarceration hardly matched what was done to Japanese-Canadians.<br /><br />Those are but two of the reasons I cannot take issue with Singh's comments.Lornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15741324981120408977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-20141313697406825662021-06-17T06:11:54.730-04:002021-06-17T06:11:54.730-04:00.. I've reread this post several times - wonde..... I've reread this post several times - wondering each time if I have a valid comment & I'm still unsure. The broad context really bothers me. I think that's where I strand myself. So I look more macro inside myself for a seed or truth of an idea or belief.. a starting point <br /><br />Full disclosure - I am pretty certain I know and have known more about Canada's Residential Schools than 99.99999 Canadians (excluding First Nations people as I can't speak for them)<br /><br />I have a lot of trouble re Canada & Muslims. I also have trouble re Israel & Palestine<br /><br />Are you seeing a common thread Lorne ? I appear to have trouble with 'organized religion'<br /><br />When organized religion sticks its nose into the tent or the Canadian Environment I get pretty testy.. Just add money and I get really fired up. The 'holier than thou's' in Politics today really stick in my craw. Add lazy ass Mainstream Media and I'm many stages beyond outrage.<br /><br />When a punkass psycho from London goes postal whether with a gun or a truck it could just as easily been a group of Catholic school girls or 4 kids fishing by a stream. I know a fair bit about murderous rage in a completely fractured and distorted mind. We can't draw broad inferences about Canada from such a sad case.. nor can we conflate it with Residential Schools<br /><br />I have seen frightening things - I have seen the 'boogy man' and I have seen tragedy. What we can control and should muster is our individual actions & choices.. Again 'the better angels' Owen mentions... and that starts in our neighborhoods, our schools & communities.. in our hearts and minds<br />the salamanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06853337802990122289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7884128379999766348.post-64548669129450945312021-06-16T21:23:41.553-04:002021-06-16T21:23:41.553-04:00Lorne, you're being too hard on yourself.
If ...Lorne, you're being too hard on yourself.<br /><br />If we are to take Jagmeet's rants as sincere, he has obviously succumbed to the delusion that his predecessors in politics and other storytellers have used to contend a distinctive Canadian brand of exceptionalism. No group of people should be expected to live within the fantasy its leaders and opinion-shapers invent as they book their time.<br /><br />Jagmeet sounds like a man in search of a Heritage Moment, and that's okay; they were due for a revision.John B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07402794337521523610noreply@blogger.com