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Originally Posted by Metro-One
Thanks for providing the perfect example of what I was talking about... oh wait, your serious!
That type of nihilism actually doesn’t encourage others to unite in your causes, many of which are real, but instead just makes people roll their eyes. It seriously comes off as someone who is suffering from depression and has chosen this avenue to exercise their demons (trust me, having suffered from depression for decades I know how it focuses in on a topic and can make someone nihilistic).
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I'm sorry, are you seriously suggesting that people who are aware of and would like to dismantle abusive systems are merely choosing to be depressed?
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If you seriously can’t see anything to celebrate about Canada, well then I don’t think you will find personal comfort in any past or present nation, community or tribe. Every existing country today can be solely interpreted through its atrocities. Indonesia, Malaysia etc... weren’t always Muslim... Taiwan wasn’t always the Han people... The Turks sure got around... Them pesky Romans sure did a colonial number on Northern Europe... Modern Day Egyptians largely aren’t the same as those there thousands of years ago... Serioisly the list could never stop. Did you know that the last true war fought in North America was actually between two native tribes on the North Coast of BC? The Haida Gwaii were actual lit quite notorious for invading other tribe’s villages and capturing slaves. Therefore should they no longer be proud of their tribe’s heritage?
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That's great... anyway if you look at what I said, I did say there is nuance to these things. Just because other civilizations did bad stuff does not make Canada doing bad stuff ok. But I am very tired of Canada cleverly branding itself as this benevolent polite nation when foundationally, that isn't really the case. It's very akin to the Japanese rebrand of being 'kawaii' after their previous atrocities during the Second World War. I think a lot of the issues with Canada are swept under the rug, so I don't see why there is harm in bringing it into the spotlight.
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And let’s not talk about gay rights, woman’s rights, income equality, etc... in other places around the world.
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Depends on what you mean by gay rights. The mainstream generally sees marriage as the be all end all. But, sure, you could say that, generally, a gay man will have an easier time in Vancouver than Nairobi. That doesn't mean things are necessarily amazing either. There is still a lot of misogyny and inequality re: women's rights as well, even if it isn't as extreme as other countries. As for income equality, well, the biggest corporations have profited into the trillions over the pandemic while workers are faced with less opportunity and increasingly precarious situations.
It's easy to say "well we've solved this issue" because gay men can get married now. It isn't that simple and ignoring ongoing issues because you're simply tired of hearing about it is unhelpful.
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So does everyone have to hate their cultural background / home country now?
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I mean, nationalism is bad. See: the Nazis.
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Is it wrong for the Japanese to have national pride? Seeing their gender equality and acceptance of homosexuality is less than Canada, and of course their colonization during WW2, especially in China and Korea, and their displacement of Japan’s natives (that’s right!) long ago?
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I don't think it's good. It also requires a suspension of disbelief in the idea that everyone within arbitrary borders is somehow part of a shared, imagined community based on the same beliefs, especially in a country as nebulous as Canada.
I'm sorry - where did I indicate I needed your sarcastic pity?
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Oh, and my grandparents were the peasants you seem to be a savior for now, and Italians were on the bad side of the racial list in those days for discrimination, yet that doesn’t stop me from loving my country!
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You do realize that there was a racial hierarchy, wherein certain European ethnicities were below others, but were still above Indigenous, mixed race, Black, Asian, and anyone not from Europe basically, right? There was a very deliberate coordination of settlement in the Prairies spearheaded by Clifford Sifton in the late 19th century to bring in so-called "lesser" Europeans (notably Slavs) because there weren't enough WASPs that wanted to settle in the Prairies despite massive incentives (see Dominion Lands Act). They turned to these other Europeans to take up land and stake out Canada's claim to the territory, forcing out First Nations and Metis communities. Even if a specific settler to Canada wasn't aware of the various processes underway and the ideological structures underpinning it all, that doesn't mean they weren't happening and were not benefiting from such a system. Immigrants were specifically utilized so Canada could enforce its claim on the land despite Indigenous groups not agreeing to it and despite there being a treaty in place (on the Prairies, at least).
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Also the rapid fire systems of information we have today, well, they just didn’t really exist back then, so I am sure poor migrants weren’t as caught up to date as you are on your social justice movements today. Just some context people should keep in mind when judging those from over 100 years ago.
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I'm not judging your family. I'm merely stating the facts of the matter. Again there is nuance to these things. Even if they weren't aware of the processes underway, that doesn't mean they weren't happening and weren't benefiting from such processes.
But, like, enjoy your mountie pride I guess?