"... you're shamed by association on seeing them typed in quite that way in a forum with 'Canadian' in the header "
We all have opinions. Some posters here have voted for 2 or 3 different parties at various times, and are flexible. They think (first), they think for themselves (second) and they don't tie themselves to any ideology or party.
Others do. Fine. There's no "right" way to be, and anybody who claims to speak for the angels is deeply deluded. However there is logic, and there is (or there was) rational discussion without hatred and hyperbole.
On US SI threads, liberals and conservatives have divided themselves into camps from which the opposition is mostly excluded. When I first joined SI in '98, there was still open discussion between left and right. Now it's polarized. The other side is the enemy, somehow -- not citizens of the same country, not neighbours, not people who've fought and died for the same causes, not people who are destined to share a future. Enmity is destroying the government and the country, both.
The main reason for polarization? Zealots poison the dialogue.
No party has an "exclusive" on the right course for the country. Canada has its history of political idiocy, corruption and agendas and no party is innocent.
If anyone's interested in civil discussion, we can start a new thread -- all included -- but without the provocateurs. They'll be banned as soon as they badmouth another Canadian who doesn't share their opinion.
But they'll always have a home. They can stay here ;)
Jim |
