Re: Not that I intend to start another retarded political thread
Posted: 22 Jul 2010, 23:00
just want to point out that most people are making interesting comments and responding to each-other in a civil manner. <3.
canada is a country of immigrants. we dont have the long history of israel ...(unless you want to count the native americans) our oldest buildings are generally about 250 years old... which is quite a few generations, but pales in comparison to the amount of time in which european and middle-eastern countries have had people living there in an organized society. we are the noobs of the world.
since people are immigrating from everywhere constantly, it wouldn't make much sense to bring pre-existing beef with you. say you moved here, and it turned out a palestinian was your next-door neighbour... it wouldn't be "canadian" to turn around and start getting angry with him and call him your enemy, because you are no longer israeli, you are a canadian. hell, if people brought their prior beefage with them to canada and then acted on it, we'd just be a smoking crater right now.
example : when the bosnia situation was going on, we had a TON of people move here from serbia and croatia. some immigrants felt uncomfortable living in a new land, as anyone would, and formed their own small communities and groups. i remember the serbian kids all arriving one year, and they all hung out together because of the common language... i started to see gang signs on the walls (white power symbol with serbja written beneath)... but then, a few years later, where did all these dudes go? they must have realized that "ok we're all in the same boat" and were amalgamated into the society as a whole. years later, i sit with these dudes and have a beer and chat like old friends... i doubt that would have been possible when they first arrived, due to the difference in mindset.
the same shit is going down currently with somalian immigrants... after the recent genocide, we had a ton of immigrants, which resulted in pocket communities and gang activity. i just feel like when people come here there's a certain point that they get to where they realize "hey, this country is actually pretty awesome, nobody is out to get me because of my ethnicity or culture" and then the next step of course is to actually start thinking in a canadian manner. someone tells me something horrible about their past in another land, and my response is invariably "thats gnarly, im glad you're safely one of us now"
and yeah, it is pretty naive of me to say "why cant we all just get along" because clearly we can't, but at the same time, this is what i've been shot full of in my formative years, and quite frankly i LIKE to like everyone.
as far as canadian soldiers abroad goes; they are there as "peacekeepers" for the most part. i would march to ottawa in protest if they started pulling shit like the USA or england (and others ofc)
as far as my own perspective, a line of a song comes to mind...
go ahead and label me an asshole 'cause i can
accept responsibility for what ive done but not for who i am
sure i dislike people, and i get in conflicts with them, even physical ones sometime, but it's just ingrained in my brain that i should judge people by their own individual actions rather than their culture or ethnic group or something else from the past that they have no control over.
someones grandpa killed my grandpa in a war long ago? i can forgive it, it has nothing really to do with me. someone spills a drink on me at the bar? they're getting a knuckle sandwich
well, im not in disagreement with you... and it's not like im a particularly mellow and peaceful person either, lawd knows i rage quite often, sometimes even on this forum... but i'll do my best to explain my own spin on things and where i stand.saying conflict is stupid and why dont you just make peace?is a bit naive since it has always been a part of human history.Have you ever had a conflict with someone?are people getting killed in canada due to crime..It is in essence the same thing
canada is a country of immigrants. we dont have the long history of israel ...(unless you want to count the native americans) our oldest buildings are generally about 250 years old... which is quite a few generations, but pales in comparison to the amount of time in which european and middle-eastern countries have had people living there in an organized society. we are the noobs of the world.
since people are immigrating from everywhere constantly, it wouldn't make much sense to bring pre-existing beef with you. say you moved here, and it turned out a palestinian was your next-door neighbour... it wouldn't be "canadian" to turn around and start getting angry with him and call him your enemy, because you are no longer israeli, you are a canadian. hell, if people brought their prior beefage with them to canada and then acted on it, we'd just be a smoking crater right now.
example : when the bosnia situation was going on, we had a TON of people move here from serbia and croatia. some immigrants felt uncomfortable living in a new land, as anyone would, and formed their own small communities and groups. i remember the serbian kids all arriving one year, and they all hung out together because of the common language... i started to see gang signs on the walls (white power symbol with serbja written beneath)... but then, a few years later, where did all these dudes go? they must have realized that "ok we're all in the same boat" and were amalgamated into the society as a whole. years later, i sit with these dudes and have a beer and chat like old friends... i doubt that would have been possible when they first arrived, due to the difference in mindset.
the same shit is going down currently with somalian immigrants... after the recent genocide, we had a ton of immigrants, which resulted in pocket communities and gang activity. i just feel like when people come here there's a certain point that they get to where they realize "hey, this country is actually pretty awesome, nobody is out to get me because of my ethnicity or culture" and then the next step of course is to actually start thinking in a canadian manner. someone tells me something horrible about their past in another land, and my response is invariably "thats gnarly, im glad you're safely one of us now"
and yeah, it is pretty naive of me to say "why cant we all just get along" because clearly we can't, but at the same time, this is what i've been shot full of in my formative years, and quite frankly i LIKE to like everyone.
as far as canadian soldiers abroad goes; they are there as "peacekeepers" for the most part. i would march to ottawa in protest if they started pulling shit like the USA or england (and others ofc)
as far as my own perspective, a line of a song comes to mind...
go ahead and label me an asshole 'cause i can
accept responsibility for what ive done but not for who i am
sure i dislike people, and i get in conflicts with them, even physical ones sometime, but it's just ingrained in my brain that i should judge people by their own individual actions rather than their culture or ethnic group or something else from the past that they have no control over.
someones grandpa killed my grandpa in a war long ago? i can forgive it, it has nothing really to do with me. someone spills a drink on me at the bar? they're getting a knuckle sandwich