The not so Great Racism in Canada Thread

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

Has Rex changed or have the CBC and the LPC changed? Do you really think a 70 year-old white conservative male is welcome at our 'national' broadcaster these days?

There's no room for people like Rex in our increasingly woke, post-factual public sphere and we're the poorer for it.

I think he's demonstrably changed towards a more right-winged approach the last few years.

Here's a video of his from seven years ago on the motion for a National Hockey Day:

• Video Link
I just don't see him having the same charm, wit, and general thought as he used to.

Part of Rex's appeal was that he was a very strong writer because, as Acajack correctly points out, he was a Rhodes Scholar. How many present day pundits are going to bring up the Battle of Thermopylae and Mac & Cheese in a mini-essay about hockey?

Reading this article and it's clear he's not only lost his ability to write and construct prose but also to think objectively as well as he used to.

In saying all that, I agree that the CBC has probably shifted enough away from the right that someone like Murphy would naturally be pushed away in favour of someone else who may or may not have particular backgrounds.

[Architype]

Originally Posted by Acajack

So you feel free to pass harsh, rash judgements on people who don't correspond to your Metropolitan Anglo-Canadian norms?

If you fit the stereotype you're probably open to all cultures from all over the world (or at least think you are). Assuming that this might be a Québécois difference, why wouldn't you be open to us as well?

Oh, no it wasn't meant that way, the question I asked was legitimate, but with humour. However, living on a diverse street and knowing and interacting with people from various backgrounds is not a real determinant of racist attitudes or lack thereof. Perhaps 50% of people I interact with are non white, but that does not determine my attitudes. I grew up in a place that was 100% white protestant, and my attitudes have really not changed much.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

It's a sad fact that the number of conservative public figures in Canada one might consider intellectual could pretty much be held in one hand.

But your implication that there's nothing intelligent about conservatism is smug beyond belief. It's a consequence of our complete and total intolerance of opposing viewpoints that has left us in this state.

You misread (not the first time), probably deliberately, because you have already made up your mind that I am some woke uni prof. Perhaps that also explains your bitterness towards the post-secondary education system. Whatever it is, you have a massive chip on your shoulder, which is more befitting of Dr. rancid sauce.

Whenever I disagree with a conservative viewpoint, it is the conservatives that come out of the woodwork, claiming that there is a total intolerance of opposing viewpoints, which I find ironic. As if it is an attack on them personally.

Conservatives are the whiniest people out there, but the first to jump on anyone else that dares to complain about something. Usually ad hominem.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by vid

And of course, while Toronto just has TPS, OPP and RCMP plus the half dozen or so regional municipality police around it, while LA has LAPD, LA County Sheriff (American sheriffs take a more proactive role in policing than Canadian ones), CHP, FBI, and all the other cities and towns around it which add to the total for the metropolitan area.

And even this isn't the whole picture. The OPP and RCMP aren't really doing local policing in Toronto the way that LA County Sheriff does. Nor does Ontario have its own military force. There's also scope. Parking enforcement is a branch of TPS in Toronto. In LA, it's part of the LA Department of Transport. Take all this into account and LA is probably putting 50% more boots on the ground than Toronto.

The main point wasn't just about police spending though. It was the fact that police spending is much higher than social spending. Most US cities don't have a library or parks and recreation system like most cities in Canada. Nor do they have equitable spending on education, healthcare, mental health resources, etc. All the kind of things that contribute to stability and a reduction of negative police interactions in the first place.

https://www.washingtonpost.com./business...social-welfare-data-show/?outputType=amp

[vid]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Whenever I disagree with a conservative viewpoint, it is the conservatives that come out of the woodwork, claiming that there is a total intolerance of opposing viewpoints, which I find ironic. As if it is an attack on them personally.

Conservatives are the whiniest people out there, but the first to jump on anyone else that dares to complain about something. Usually ad hominem.

I, too, have experienced this.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by VANRIDERFAN

jag?

Ha ha. No.

[vid]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I can't believe I was called fucking Archie Bunker because I know my neighbours.

I am almost speechless.

Sir, this is Skyscraperpage.com.

[Chadillaccc]

The ongoing protest in Lethbridge has grown to over 1,000 people... in a city of 100,000 people. Stunning.

Most recent article from 3 hours ago: https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2020/06/04/anti-racism-protest-in-lethbridge-draws-in-huge-crowd/

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

It's a sad fact that the number of conservative public figures in Canada one might consider intellectual could pretty much be held in one hand.

Not just Canada.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/28/opinion/the-conservative-intellectual-crisis.html

It's a sad reality all over the West, that intellectualism is falling out of favour with the right as conservative politicians increasingly seek to pander to working class voters by feigning (or even imbuing) anti-intellectual sentiment.

It's in overdrive in the US where you have Republican politicians with Ivy League educations mocking science and facts because that's what the base (or their donors) want.

It's sad because I find conservative intellectuals tend to be among the best wordsmiths out there.

[Corndogger]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

And even this isn't the whole picture. The OPP and RCMP aren't really doing local policing in Toronto the way that LA County Sheriff does. Nor does Ontario have its own military force. There's also scope. Parking enforcement is a branch of TPS in Toronto. In LA, it's part of the LA Department of Transport. Take all this into account and LA is probably putting 50% more boots on the ground than Toronto.

The main point wasn't just about police spending though. It was the fact that police spending is much higher than social spending. Most US cities don't have a library or parks and recreation system like most cities in Canada. Nor do they have equitable spending on education, healthcare, mental health resources, etc. All the kind of things that contribute to stability and a reduction of negative police interactions in the first place.

https://www.washingtonpost.com./business...social-welfare-data-show/?outputType=amp

Most cities in the U.S. don't have library or parks & rec systems? Where are you getting that from?

LA has it's own military?

I'm surprised that police in Toronto enforce parking laws. That's not the case in Calgary. Police union in Toronto must be very powerful.

The article you linked to is comparing police spending to cash welfare. I'm not seeing any mention of other social spending. Or are you saying the U.S. spends nothing on such programs?

Saez and Zucman used data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis to reach this conclusion. It includes all federal, state and local spending on law and order (police, prisons and the court system) and on cash welfare (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, food stamps and supplemental Social Security payments).

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by Corndogger

Most cities in the U.S. don't have library or parks & rec systems? Where are you getting that from?

Sorry. Worded that poorly. Of the same quality. That is what I was referring to. In my time there, I lived in one of the highest income and wealthiest areas of the country. And yet the library was not better than the local branch of the TPL that I grew up with in my supposedly higher risk Toronto inner suburban neighborhood. I suspect there's fewer libraries per capita in the US. And public rec centres seem to offer less with fewer of them to begin with. And if that was my experience in a wealthy county in California I can only imagine what the rest of the country is like.

Originally Posted by Corndogger

LA has it's own military?

I specifically made a comparison to state/province.

Originally Posted by Corndogger

I'm surprised that police in Toronto enforce parking laws. That's not the case in Calgary. Police union in Toronto must be very powerful.

They aren't peace officers. They are parking officers. But they are part of TPS.

Originally Posted by Corndogger

Or are you saying the U.S. spends nothing on such programs?

I'm saying they spend less.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Chadillaccc

The ongoing protest in Lethbridge has grown to over 1,000 people... in a city of 100,000 people. Stunning.

Most recent article from 3 hours ago: https://lethbridgenewsnow.com/2020/06/04/anti-racism-protest-in-lethbridge-draws-in-huge-crowd/

"African-Lethbridgian Lives Matter"...?

[vid]

Originally Posted by lio45

"African-Lethbridgian Lives Matter"...?

Is that really what you got from this, or are you doing what I often do and making yourself look like a low-IQ idiot to make some kind of weird point that no one else shares?

[Architype]

Originally Posted by vid

Sir, this is Skyscraperpage.com.

Meathead.

[vid]

Originally Posted by Architype

Meathead.

Hey, out of anyone on that show, I'd rather be him.

Despite the bigotry and ignorance, Archie Bunker demonstrated that even people who had long held views of bigotry could be at the very least tempered into something more accepting. It's something that many people can't or won't do today. The name is sometimes used as a derogatory term to them, but it gets applied to people who would actually benefit from being more like Archie Bunker than they already are, so in a sense it's being used wrong. I'm not saying this in relation to Acajack (he's clearly more progressive than Archie Bunker), but it's a general opinion I hold on the comparison of other people to Archie Bunker in general. He wasn't created to represent bigoted people as they are, but to demonstrate to them and the others around them that bigoted people had the potential to become better, kinder people, all it took was exposure to other people's realities and some patience.

[niwell]

Originally Posted by vid

Is that really what you got from this, or are you doing what I often do and making yourself look like a low-IQ idiot to make some kind of weird point that no one else shares?

Don’t worry, many of us constantly struggle with this. I’ve come to a conclusion it’s taking things at the absolute literal interpretation all the time.

[vid]

Originally Posted by niwell

Don’t worry, many of us constantly struggle with this. I’ve come to a conclusion it’s taking things at the absolute literal interpretation all the time.

That's a challenge for people like myself who write things that only make sense to me and require an understanding of a third or fourth hidden meaning that only my life's context can provide to figure out the meaning of.

[Architype]

Originally Posted by vid

Hey, out of anyone on that show, I'd rather be him.

Despite the bigotry and ignorance, Archie Bunker demonstrated that even people who had long held views of bigotry could be at the very least tempered into something more accepting. It's something that many people can't or won't do today. The name is sometimes used as a derogatory term to them, but it gets applied to people who would actually benefit from being more like Archie Bunker than they already are, so in a sense it's being used wrong. I'm not saying this in relation to Acajack (he's clearly more progressive than Archie Bunker), but it's a general opinion I hold on the comparison of other people to Archie Bunker in general. He wasn't created to represent bigoted people as they are, but to demonstrate to them and the others around them that bigoted people had the potential to become better, kinder people, all it took was exposure to other people's realities and some patience.

Ah, you saw the depth and complexity in my post.

It was ground breaking at the time, the real racist tv shows were like Bugs Bunny.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

It's a sad fact that the number of conservative public figures in Canada one might consider intellectual could pretty much be held in one hand.

But your implication that there's nothing intelligent about conservatism is smug beyond belief. It's a consequence of our complete and total intolerance of opposing viewpoints that has left us in this state.



A gross mischaracterisation but then that's game you play, right? Like your earlier suggestion that Andy Ngo (A gay refugee from Vietnam) is somehow linked with 'far right' groups because he's worried about Antifa. It's dishonest and lazy.



When exactly was Rex ever any different?



First, that's completely untrue. Second, it sounds an awful lot more like you than him.





Has Rex changed or have the CBC and the LPC changed? Do you really think a 70 year-old white conservative male is welcome at our 'national' broadcaster these days?

There's no room for people like Rex in our increasingly woke, post-factual public sphere and we're the poorer for it.

I would say Rex belong on the CBC. Some of his views are wrong and I hope they reflect a minority of Canadians. That said the national broadcaster should reflect a diverse mix of positions. The CBC being "left" is a problem. It should have a combination of contradictory left and right leaning views.

Here is a list of CBC personalities. It is a fairly diverse mix. As long as Rex is a minority in an ocean of diverse views I think we are ok. That is good.
https://www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/bio

On the topic of good journalism I am just going to drop this little video here. This is the type of personality we need on one of the major networks. Someone who accepts no BS and is able to ask the difficult questions. Here is some clips of Jack Webster holding Mulroney accountable. If we have journalists like this, we may not need an opposition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G6TsQrWNCY

[Corndogger]

What grade were you in when you had your first black teacher?