Crisis for Canadian conservatism

Individualist Individualist:

One things that’s easily forgotten in a media (social and otherwise) landscape that celebrates the extreme viewpoint is that Canadians are not sorting themselves into fascist and communist camps. The vast majority of conservatives are neither white supremacists not anarcho-capitalists, and the vast majority of progressives are not neo-Stalinist SJWs. If we’re settling into opposing camps, it is those who believe private enterprise is a necessary evil versus those who see government as a necessary evil. The key word in both cases is “necessary”. We are still arguing over the ratio of a mixed economy within a democratic society, and debating the amount of state intervention that should be utilized in trying to create a fair society and soften the sometimes sharp edges of a market economy. The majority of us have more in common with each other than with the fringes on either side.

Another great post. I would add that it’s the new/alternative/intern based media that highlights and caters to extremism. The traditional media sometimes does while chasing ratings especially the US and 24-hour news channels but not nearly to the same degree as online media.

BeaverFever BeaverFever:

Individualist Individualist:

One things that’s easily forgotten in a media (social and otherwise) landscape that celebrates the extreme viewpoint is that Canadians are not sorting themselves into fascist and communist camps. The vast majority of conservatives are neither white supremacists not anarcho-capitalists, and the vast majority of progressives are not neo-Stalinist SJWs. If we’re settling into opposing camps, it is those who believe private enterprise is a necessary evil versus those who see government as a necessary evil. The key word in both cases is “necessary”. We are still arguing over the ratio of a mixed economy within a democratic society, and debating the amount of state intervention that should be utilized in trying to create a fair society and soften the sometimes sharp edges of a market economy. The majority of us have more in common with each other than with the fringes on either side.

Another great post. I would add that it’s the new/alternative/intern based media that highlights and caters to extremism. The traditional media sometimes does while chasing ratings especially the US and 24-hour news channels but not nearly to the same degree as online media.

I honestly believe Sanders, an honest to goodness social democrat, could have beaten Trump in the land that produced McCarthy. Hillary was the worst possible candidate to put against Trump. Because she’s Shooter McGavin (“Let’s get one thing straight, this is Shooter’s tour. I’ve worked hard my whole life, paid my dues, and now it’s Shooter’s turn.“), which allowed Trump to be Happy Gilmore (someone who wanders into golf/politics from a completely different sport). And who did people cheer for in that movie? The US presidential election was neither a victory for the right nor a loss for the left. It was the dysfunction of a cronyistic and out of touch US political system coming to a head. And when the Canadian public stop finding Trudeau’s identity politics obsession and high school cool kid act endearing, we may well end up at a similar crossroads here.

Makes even more sense when you consider that most Trump supporters come across like they've got a six-inch nail embedded deep in their skulls. That ain't Shooter's fault either. :lol:

And then of course there’s Kathleen Wynne in Ontario - “It’s still Shooter’s turn. Shooter’s not done yet.”

Shooter is now being beated to death by the mob of lowlifes after trying to steal Happy's gold jacket. :mrgreen:

The fundamental question that has been presented to voters in Canada, and on a smaller stage in Ontario is “How much arrogance, sleaze, economic mismanagement and authoritarianism are you willing to put up with to preserve activist/interventionist government?” The answer for a majority in both cases seems to be “quite a bit”.

All they have to do is yell out "HARPER!" whenever confronted with evidence of their own corruption & arrogance and they'll get another pass from the Laurentian corridor. Ford-Nation might stymie their plans in the Ontario suburbs but urban Toronto/Montreal/Ottawa will stay steadfastly loyal as usual. Wilson-Raybould could produce recordings of her being told personally by Trudeau & Butts to lay off of being too mean to SNC or else it's curtains for her, and it wouldn't matter the slightest in those ridings. The Big Red L is their favourite racehorse of all time and they'll ride it until the rest of the country puts it out of it's misery.

"HARPER!" is also something that hasn't run past it's due-date either. Odds are that the squishes will still start quaking in terror at the mere thought of him for at least one more election cycle. Y'know, because he was a true-blue earth-raping anti-gay anti-women fascist and all that. :roll:

The Conservatives can win in October. It’s in their grasp. Andrew Scheer can position himself as the square but ethical adult in the room cleaning up after the McGill frat boys. But the Conservatives need to make peace with the welfare state. You can get elected by promising not to mess with it, and get re-elected by not messing with it. Stop acting like your mission is to choke out big government. The economy has become too precarious for many Canadians to feel secure, and there are only so many of us who are so committed to individualism that we’re willing to risk being run under the wheels of capricious markets. The old trick of cutting taxes to create a revenue crisis which then justifies cuts in social spending used to work, but people are wise to it now. The Laurentian Consensus was never as much about govnerment intervention to help ordinary Canadians as it was about intervention to protect the connected and preserve regional power imbalances, and the recent SNC Lavalin crisis exposes Trudeau’s and Butts’ sunny ways as scummy ways. You can still challenge and defy the Laurentian elites without drowning the social safety net they built in a bathtub. Austerity and laissez-faire economics won’t make us a country of self-reliant individualists. People need to feel that they’re playing a non-rigged game and that their lives aren’t the stakes. Clean up the game, and preserve a basic safety net, and people will start taking more risks, even Canadians.