C ([info]choffman) wrote,
@ 2008-10-01 14:35:00
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Hey. You.


Watch it and DO IT.

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[info]graymm
2008-10-02 01:04 am UTC (link)
...like one person has the power to make sure all children learn to read. O_o; I don't want my politicians doing anything but what they do best. And that happens to be working DAMN little of the time. What they do is important, but it shouldn't be telling me or companies what to do.

POLITICIANS WILL NOT SAVE THE WORLD SINGLEHANDEDLY.

And I don't want to have to trust them to.



Edited at 2008-10-02 01:05 am UTC

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[info]choffman
2008-10-02 01:06 am UTC (link)
... I somehow don't think that was the message of the video. >.>

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[info]graymm
2008-10-02 01:12 am UTC (link)
No, it wasn't, but the issues they talked about were the Democrats' platform. And they all sounded like they wanted politicians to make YOUR life BETTER.

Sure, I agree that the issues are important, but I don't think it's one guy in Washington's job to make MY life better.

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[info]graymm
2008-10-02 01:16 am UTC (link)
My statement COULD be silence, unless there were an "I don't trust either of you" option.

Yeah, ok, I'm a libertarian. ;;


Edited at 2008-10-02 01:17 am UTC

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[info]choffman
2008-10-02 01:35 am UTC (link)
I thought they all simply sounded like the hot-button topics, myself.

And yes, it was democratic leaning. So is the vast majority of youth voters. It makes quite a bit of sense to approach it from that issue, because this was targeted at said demographic- the ones who are most likely to become discouraged and abstain from voting.

Beyond that.. I dunno. I think it is a politicians job - should he or she be elected into office - to try to run the country in such a way as to "make things better". That is, serve the people rather than corporations and internal interests. There is an incredible need for reform that has been created by years and years of leaders putting off major issues because they could get away with it. (and no, I'm not saying this is just US leaders either, I'm of the opinion that we are a global culture)

I mean.. global warming and economic instability are things people have been talking about for 30 years. And only now that we're starting down the road to well and truly fucked and it's becoming undeniable does anyone in power want to stand up and admit something's off.

So yeah, I think that video was pretty valid seeing as the message seemed like "if you give a shit about how your country is being run you should probably vote".

Oh lol, I think it's pretty clear that I'm leftist, but I won't call myself a strict liberal. I've voted for conservative candidates because I agreed with their platforms more. I also believe in genetic research, so I'm not Green either.

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[info]ariseishirou
2008-10-02 04:55 am UTC (link)
One of the big misconceptions about Canadian and American politics, though, is that the Conservatives would pretty much be Democrats on the political spectrum down south. I mean, the Conservative Party is still pro-choice, pro-pubic health care, pro-government-regulated banking (*snerk*), has a plan to cut carbon emissions, only made the most token half-assed attempt to ban gay marriage and then abandoned it, etc. A "conservative" Canadian voter would probably be shocked to find him/herself quite the liberal in the US.

The policies of the Republican Party can only find equivalent in what Canadians consider extreme right-wing fringe parties, like the Christian Action Party and so on (the only pro-life party on the ballot). Their views and opinions just aren't electable here.

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[info]burn_side
2008-10-02 04:56 am UTC (link)
lol, well of course, but that comment was getting long enough as it was without extrapolation.

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[info]ariseishirou
2008-10-02 05:03 am UTC (link)
Yeah but I find that at times American voters misinterpret "I vote conservative" to mean pro-life, anti-regulation, pro-war on terror, etc., and it may well not mean that at all.

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[info]burn_side
2008-10-02 05:04 am UTC (link)
Point made. It does deserve the distinction, definitely.

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[info]ariseishirou
2008-10-02 05:10 am UTC (link)
Conversely, I know Canadian Conservative voters (especially belonging to my old church) that would look many Republican platforms and think "you believe what?"

I mean, there was the CBC poll that showed that even Conservative voters think that Tommy Douglas (dude who came up with public health care here, for any non-Canucks lurking about) was the greatest Canadian; I suspect many right-wing Americans would be appalled about that (I know Ann Coulter would, she likes to love on the "Western Canadian cowboys", little knowing that most of them support the destruction of blobs of cells and health care for the poor. Then again, Ann Coulter also thinks Canada was in on Vietnam.)

Edited at 2008-10-02 05:12 am UTC

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[info]burn_side
2008-10-02 05:13 am UTC (link)
Canada was in on Vietnam, didn't anyone tell you?

It's how I lost my leg.

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[info]ariseishirou
2008-10-02 05:16 am UTC (link)
I think our contribution to the war effort was letting your dad in to our luscious bordello of marijuana in order to escape it.

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[info]burn_side
2008-10-02 05:18 am UTC (link)
Also entirely possible. (haha, whoa, deja vu for some reason there)

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[info]ariseishirou
2008-10-02 05:23 am UTC (link)
I only wish more parties supported an end to prohibition, you know? You think our generation will be the one with the balls to do it, or do you think we'll be saying: "Oh yeah (insert name of current US President here) we totally care about your war on drugs, yes, absolutely - no this is not a joint" for the rest of time?

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[info]choffman
2008-10-02 05:35 am UTC (link)
Considering there was a decriminalization plan in place the last time I checked, with a theoretical "20 year" shift bill in the works, yeah I think our generation will be the one to do it.

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[info]ariseishirou
2008-10-02 05:40 am UTC (link)
I sure hope so. Considering the enormous waste of resources (especially in this province) that goes into cracking down on grow-ops and suppliers, and the extrordinary boost to the public coffers it would be as a taxed, legalized drug like alcohol or nicotine, our government is pissing money down the drain.

The trouble, I think, is the oldest and (unfortunately) largest voting bloc: the elderly.

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[info]choffman
2008-10-02 05:46 am UTC (link)
It might have been before, but as of 2006 the jail time was cut for possession offenses, and reduced to a fine. Trafficking is still almost the same story, but sentences have been reduced considerably as a common-practice law.

I'm sure as soon as the next non-conservative government is in place they'll continue lowering penalities and start putting the framework in place for regulation. (at least, so says the word on the street)

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[info]ariseishirou
2008-10-02 05:51 am UTC (link)
As of 2008, apparently, it was ruled in a possession case that "no offense" had occured. And I mean yeah, that's been the de facto law of the country - especially here - for years. (I'm getting this from Wiki.)

Regulation, though, that's a more interesting question.

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[info]ariseishirou
2008-10-02 05:50 am UTC (link)
Although, now that I read the Wiki article on previous cannabis-related decisions, I wonder: given that decriminalization is supported by well over half of Canadians, and the Conservative Party is making stiffer penalties for production a major part of their platform, who exactly is this for?

I mean, they can in no way claim to be representing the will of the people; the will of the people is the opposite. Costing taxpayers money out of some personal agenda is really all kinds of sweaty ballsack. It's times like these I'm glad our (often saner) judiciary can supersede activist politicians.

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[info]choffman
2008-10-02 05:55 am UTC (link)
Hahaha I'm pretty sure you know as well as I do: it's for their own self-serving moralfaggotry, man. Steven Harper is just about the least equipped person we could possibly have had in office, but at the same time I'm sort of glad we did, because it means the Liberals aren't quite the cocky fuckmongers they've been for the past ten years now.

That said, if he gets in again I will have officially lost all faith in my country and I'm getting out and moving to the goddamn USA whenif Obama gets elected.

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[info]ariseishirou
2008-10-02 06:01 am UTC (link)
I know. I can't believe them sometimes - did you see the ad about making higher penalties for youth crime? Oh sweet god, it's like they know they won't appeal to the majority of Canadians and don't give a rat's ass: they only need the 30-some-odd percent of old people/Albertans to give them a minority government, and that's all they're trying to do.

lol, I think you'd better buy your ticket to Seattle, because from the looks of the polls it's going to be yet another Harper minority. Unfortunately entirely because the NDP and the Liberals will split the left-leaning vote; if there was some sort of LNDP it would sweep the country.

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[info]choffman
2008-10-02 06:04 am UTC (link)
I don't put too much faith in polls. You never know exactly how many people are like me and refuse to participate in them, and I'm not giving up faith that we'll knock that sorry asshole out of office yet.

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[info]ariseishirou
2008-10-02 06:42 am UTC (link)
It's a bizarre and (I think) modern cultural phenonmenon that politicians will just utterly abandon trying to represent the true will of the people and instead chalk it up to the "moral majority" (read: minority of people who already agree with me). Whatever happened to asking the electorate?

Rather than "I have these qualifications, so vote for me and I will enact policies that represent the wishes of this riding" it has become "vote for me and I will enact these specific policies regardless of the wishes of this riding". Blargh. (lol check me LJ there is a question for you)

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