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Originally posted by Bend it like Bourgeois+May 3 2005, 05:17 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Bend it like Bourgeois @ May 3 2005, 05:17 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
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Originally posted by Agamemnon@May 3 2005, 08:59 AM
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Originally posted by Bend it like Bourgeois@May 3 2005, 03:56 PM
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@May 2 2005, 08:42 PM
So Albertan separatism is in the same vein as Quebec's?
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At a basic level, yes. Ultimately both groups of people see themselves as a different group than the rest of Canada, whose dreams and ambitions are not being - and cannot be - realized within the structure called Canada.
The 'cannot' part is I think where you become a separatist. Not many Albertans are there yet I don't think.
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I think this is BS.
As I said above, many, many people in this province aren't even 'Albertan'.
I do _not_ see our culture as _fundamentally_ different than Sask, BC, NWT, or even Ontario. We wear the same clothes, speak the same language, watch the same TV, and political parties accross Canada actually get decent representation in most regions (Conservatives DO get votes in Ontario, Liberals DO get votes in Alberta).
Quebec is a different story. They speak a different language (and due to that) watch different TV, and have a history of desperately maintaining their truly unique identity.
Alberta Separatism does not = Quebec Separatism.
You can't base Separation on Greed, it will never fly.
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The greed argument is a pretty weak statement for a pretty smart guy.
For the sake of argument, I'll lump myself into the class you're calling 'greedy'.
I don't like the fact that 35% of my labours go to Ottawa, where they primarily spend it on things other than Health, Education, Welfare, Job training, and the things that I would consider to be important government functions.
I don't like the fact that our government literally lost a billion dollars or so, wasted a few billion more by their own admission, and dipped their own hand in the cookie jar for a few hundred million more simply because they could. And I really don't like the fact that most canadians don't care.
To write that off as greed isn't even arrogant, it's just plain lazy.
But, I'm not a seperatist, just disenchanted.
To become a separatist I'd have to conclude that my priorities will never match Ottawa's. That in fact the rest of canada isn't just out of step with what I want, but marching in an entirely different direction. In short, that I'm fundamentally different than the rest of Canada.
Your argument about clothes and language and TV could be said about Canada vs. the US. Are Canadians not different than Americans? Of course they are. So maybe there's something deeper than that. If you want to understand where the separatists sentiment comes from, start there. If you want to prove to the separatists that they are right - that in fact they are fundamentally different, keep dismissing the notion as 'greed'. [/b][/quote]
Well, since you've gone ahead and re-stated your reasons for separation (or disenchantment, or whatever) along the lines of 'its my oil, i'm keeping all of it', I don't have much choice but to revert to simple greed statements. 'Labours' is not a euphamism for 'oil'. A government without waste is utopian thinking. Get used to it, it happens everywhere, all the time, and when they get caught, its time for a change in parties.