Quote:
Originally Posted by jayswin
There's always a segment of our population that just arbitrarily applies American problems/culture to Canada and then jumps on board with American hysteria/movements. It's so weird.
I always figured on a deeper level it's because human beings long to fit into groups and be part of tribes/teams so they justify themselves into movements that gain huge traction on TV/social media, which by and large are American. They just want to be for things and against things and more importantly part of the groups that represent fighting for and against things.
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You realize that also describes Canadians who are freaking out about Trump, right? Canadians who are deeply immersed in American pop and political culture, who get all their current events from Daily Show, Colbert Report, and SNL, and feel the need to take a side in another country's political divide.
I'd like to see these t-shirts made in Canada:
Not My President
Seriously... not my president. We have our own issues to worry about.
Quote:
Originally Posted by gargamel
Agreed. Racism and xenophobia were definitively bigger factors than sexism.
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It's easy to dismiss fears about globalization as xenophobia and racism. It's also a mistake.
I personally support continued high levels of immigration. I also have liberal (in the traditional sense) attitudes about international trade. That doesn't mean I regard everyone who is worried about the effect of immigration and the outsourcing of industries on their jobs and futures as morally defective pigs who secretly harbours dark motives that they won't come out and admit to.
Look at the UK and Brexit (as big a story globally as Trump's election). The Labour party has torn itself apart over the issue, because the educated urbanite Labour supporters are happy with an open borders policy for workers and business, while the party's traditional core supporters among the working class outside London are against. Branding them all bigots proved to be a singularly ineffective strategy that has wrecked the country's leftist party, maybe for a generation.
People in democracies, left and right, need to stop doubling-down on moralistic, tribal, us vs them hate-mongering. That kind of polarization can wreck a democracy, which is exactly what Putin (and maybe Trump himself) want to see.