Good. May we piss them off more!
China has an abhorrent, dictatorial record as a human-rights abuser and deserves to be called as such.
Someone has to stand up to China. The Liberals don’t want to, the NDP is makes minor mutterings about human rights concerns but still focuses on good relations, and now even Harper’s realized he needs to suck up to get the Chinese money.
How many people need to go silent before we take notice?
Update: It looks like Harper will do the right thing and continue to press for human rights from other regimes:
“In relations between China and Canada, we will continue to raise issues of freedom and human rights, and be a vocal advocate and an effective partner for reform, just as we pursue the mutually beneficial economic relationship desired by both our countries,” he declared.
Now, if only he would stand up for those rights within his own empire-lite.
]]>For the record, NDP Leader Mason stated:
Mr. Mason: Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. This government is proposing a bill that gives them unprecedented power to control all activities on any land in the province it designates, and it would lock them in jail if they protest. Joseph Stalin would be proud. To the Minister of Infrastructure: why is your government implementing a policy that tramples the rights of rural property owners? [Emphasis added]
And in a letter from the NDP’s caucus Chief of Staff to the Journal and a Point of Order in the Assembly, they further clarified:
Point of Order
Factual Accuracy
Mr. Mason: Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. I rise under Standing Order 23(h), when a member “makes allegations against another Member,” and 23(i), “imputes false or unavowed motives to another Member.” The Premier used words to the effect that I had called him a Stalinist. This came out of the question that we just dealt with
from Calgary-McCall. It was a bit of a diversion; the Premier wanted to stand up and talk about something that happened quite some time ago. The Premier was quite wrong in suggesting that I had called him a Stalinist. I’ve got the Hansard here of March 9. I said, “Rural Albertans are furious that a rural Premier and his cabinet would propose such a Stalinist law. To the Premier: why won’t you admit that this policy tramples the land rights of rural Albertans?”
I did not call the Premier a Stalinist, but I called the bill such. This was actually subject to a public clarification in the form of a letter to the editor in the Edmonton Journal on March 27 written by the chief of staff for the NDP opposition caucus. It states there:Mason absolutely did not accuse Premier Ed Stelmach of being a Stalinist. Mason characterized Bill 19 as such, for its authoritarian provisions allowing government to trample the land rights of rural Albertans without compensation or defined right of appeal.
Mr. Speaker, I will always stand up when someone puts words in my mouth and says that I said something that I did not actually say. Now, having said that, the Premier has also stated that those comments caused him personal hurt. You know, this might be a bit of an unusual situation, where I’m standing up making a point of order to insist on my right to be quoted accurately and correctly and, at the same time, to make an apology to the person whom I’m raising the point of order against. It was not my intention to cause the Premier or any other member or any other person personal pain or hurt as a result of that statement, and I want to apologize to the Premier for doing so.
You know, when I feel an apology is required as a result of my behaviour or what I say, I don’t need to be compelled to do it, but I do ask, Mr. Speaker, that you recognize, in fact, that I’ve been again misquoted by the Premier and had words ascribed to me that I have not uttered. You know, I want to reiterate that I find that unacceptable.
I believe that it’s contrary to the rules of this Assembly, and I think that the Premier needs to deal with that appropriately.
Thank you.
The Speaker failed to grant Mason’s request for a misquotation.
But let’s dig back a bit, and see who else has been called a Stalinist or Soviet in this Legislature.
From Dr. Kevin Taft (Liberal) in reference to Bill 27, the Research and Innovation Act:
There’s also, of course, the whole idea – and I think it’s kind of ironic that this comes from a government that seems so consistently committed to the marketplace because the marketplace is all about decentralized decisions. You know, there’s a sort of famous case study on how it is that people in Edmonton, for example, can go to any number of grocery stores in the middle of January and get fresh tomatoes. How does that happen? Well, when you look at that, it doesn’t happen because there’s a minister responsible for fresh tomatoes. It doesn’t happen because there’s some centralized structure. It happens because there’s this tremendously decentralized structure, and a whole series of marketplace decisions that seem to occur on their own lead to us having fresh tomatoes in Edmonton.
You know, the comparison was the old Soviet system, where there was central planning. I don’t know how fresh the tomatoes were in Moscow in January, but I don’t suppose they were that great. [Emphasis added]
Or what about from Mr. Stelmach himself, seeing as he is the Ukrainian immigrant whose family suffered at the hands of Stalin and the Communist regimes (which he makes a point to bring up at every possibility in the Legislature – he even brought forth Bill 27 in late 2008 to recognize Ukrainian Genocide and Famine Memorial Day), he has clearly personally suffered trauma at the hands of Stalin’s Communists, and would be above making ad hominem attacks like the other parties, right?
(In reference to calls for managed growth in the oil sands):
Mr. Stelmach: Obviously, now we see the true colour of the Leader of the Opposition. He sure as heck isn’t a capitalist, talking about managing growth through the government. Sounds more like what they were doing in the former Soviet Russia. [Emphasis added]
And if we go back even further, we can find tons of back and forth comparing both the government and both opposition parties to Soviet/Stalin/Russian Communists.
So you know what Edmonton Journal? Do your homework and don’t accuse just one party that you may have it in for of playing unfairly. They’re all dirty in this province.
]]>And if that’s not enough to keep you reading, follow me on Twitter where I try to post most of these short links.
]]>I’m not sure he’s out there to win, but dammit if he wants to get his message across.
The heart of his message: we are in a dire democratic deficit (hey alliteration nuts), and our wealth needs to be controlled by us, the people.
At the first forum, he talked a bit too much about monopolies and the “big business parties,” but at the Garneau United Church forum he was more eloquent and focussed on building a stronger democracy.
I should also point out, King’s University College was arrogant enough to not invite him to their forum. I urge you to email King’s at [email protected] and complain about their attempted silencing of democracy.
So, to help him and his often under-heard message, I have pledged to repost their pretty slick ad (quicktime mov, click if video doesn’t appear), which gets very minimal and abysmally late air times from the CRTC.
]]>
I just finished the epoch by Marx and Engels, although that word is deceiving because all-in-all it comes in at a mere 42 pages. My opinion: things have changed a lot since they wrote this manifesto.
The first major problem I encountered was that they assume this diametrically opposed class war. It’s the “us versus them” mentality that has led to many conflicts throughout time. The communists (I’ll use this word to denote the position taken by the manifesto) argue that the only way for the working class to ever gain anything is to destroy the current system. It’s a hugely false dichotomy now, however, may have rung truer in another time.
Today (in Western culture), there is no proletariat-bourgeoisie class rivalry. There is essentially a spectrum of wealth from the homeless to the worlds richest – and most are above the poverty line today.
To give a clear example of how things have changed consider property ownership. One key argument the communists bring up is that the majority (they claim 90%) do no own property, and because of low wages they never will. However, today in Canada about 70% of people own their own home (many own condos). Yet even if today a minority were still property owners, that would be a good argument for increased wages, not outright class warfare.
This brings me to another issue. The manifesto isn’t entirely clear on the action they are recommending. Some parts read as a call to violent revolution, while others suggest a democratic upheaval first. They talk in one section about coordinating to win elections, but then hint that something more may be necessary to take property away from the rich. However the manifesto ends with a line like:
“[Communists] openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible overthrow of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at a communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win.
WORKINGMEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!
I should also point out that the use of the all-caps and exclamation marks typically decreases your integrity and ability to claim rational arguments.
One thought that ran through my head as I read the manifesto was that nothing could have pushed me further from the label of communist than the actual manifesto itself.
I do have to credit it with a few things: it advocates briefly for universal education and an end to child labour, also for minimum wages and working conditions, the nationalization of roads and communications, and it gives decent arguments about how communism doesn’t destroy individuality – unless individuality is solely determined by what you can buy and sell. They also point out that the system of the time clearly provided little incentive for the poor, since they could never make enough to own property, yet they kept on working, however he neglects the fact that needing to put food on the table is a damn good reason to work. However, the communists also calls for an even distribution of people across the countryside as opposed to grouping in towns and cities, which makes no sense in today’s society, and likely little at the time in industrializing nations.
All in all I have to say I was somewhat disappointed by the Communist Manifesto. I was hoping that Lenin truly bastardized it and Stalin furthered the destruction of the ideas, however it’s all pretty much in there. And with a modern middle class and social welfare net, I think we can safely declare that communism is dead.
[tags]communism, marx, engels, Communist Manifesto, books, economics[/tags]
]]>