Protesters’ selfish vanity is hurting others with their actions
By Lethbridge Herald on February 4, 2022.
Editor:
It was particularly distressing to see the “demonstration” in Ottawa and at the Coutts border crossing. If the demonstrators could have stuck to the idea that some of the provincial and federal rules and mandates have been applied inconsistently, they might have had been able to exert influence.
But they didn’t.
They crossed over into anti-vaccine territory.
They attracted delusional fools who thought they could actually dissolve Parliament and force the Prime Minister to resign.
They danced and urinated on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They waved Confederate and Nazi flags. They took the Canadian flag and placed it upside down on the statue of Terry Fox.
Tracking some of them on social media shows me that they live in their own clickbait tunnel. When you simply state facts back to them, after about two messages they block you.
Some of them actually felt Sunday morning was a “glorious day” and they were proud of what they did.
My parents lived through the Depression and six years of World War Two. They knew about sacrifice. My son died from osteogenic sarcoma, the same cancer Terry Fox had.
I know about suffering. These people have some legitimate complaints – we all do – but they live in a world of selfish vanity that hurts other people.
Instead of a glorious beginning, January 29 will be remembered as a dark day that will hurt their cause.
Allan Wilson
Lethbridge
14-13
Well said Allan. While these mindless fools created a nightmare for the 90% who didn’t support it the ignorant Albertans who supported it helped raise the cost of our living and these phony Conservatives who showed how stupid they are will be kicked out in the next election like their buddy Erin O’Toole was.
Time for the police to get out of bed with the unvaccinated truckers and idle farmers, change from their pajamas into their big-boy uniforms and enforce the law. The Critical Infrastructure Defence Act.
Remember Kenney saying, referring to antivaccers, ‘there’s no point having a law if nobody is going to obey it’? Well, there is no point having a law if you are not going to enforce it against whitey truckers.
oh dear, another act of racism, and the herald overlooks it. moreover, the entry comes with support. so, the covid vaxed that believe they get to control the bodies of others support racism. what a sick lot.
If you find the term jarring, maybe you need to invest some reflective thought into it. As I’ve already said, systemic racism begins with invisible privilege – like shutting down a border crossing and the police delivering them cupcakes.
it includes using derogatory terms, like :whitey:, and it includes stereotyping such that we hate on an entire group, ie white males. we will get nowhere sowing hate and division, just more of the same old. by all means call out the unacceptable behaviour of individuals, but do not hate on groups. we know better than to fall for that, and to fall to that level.
you used a racist term, and then you defend using it.
https://www.aclrc.com/myth-of-reverse-racism
omg – what a twisted, convoluted mess of rubbish 🙂
let us agree there is hater-speak, or whatever one wishes to label it; derogatory remarks about groups, to put it another way. ignorant labeling does not at all reflect well on the person so uttering, and it further contributes to divides, stupid stereotypes, and backward, limiting tribalism. cbc has a black musc, by blacks for blacks show – that is the ad for the podcast or whatever that airing of ignorance is. outside of “country,” is there really a white music show by whites for whites? would it be allowed to fly – should it be allowed to fly? – if a show glorified white music by whites for whites? it is pathetic, especially given that one area where blacks have had plenty of air time is with regard to music.
people of colour?! haha! everyone, except white folk, who must then be transparent, invisible. white folk, the only people without colour?! it is as laughable as it is stupid as it ignorant. and, it is as provocative as it is divisive and derogatory, all the way around. just a whole lot more of the “us and them” (great song, and great lyrics).
the greater point is that we will never get along and play nice with each other if we keep on finding ways to stoke differences, divisions, tribalism, and the consequent distrust, fear and insecurity that comes with such ignorance. i will take it a step further, still. we would be best to allow each to move beyond the shackles and chains that confine us each to the stereotypes and expectations of our “colours and ethnicities,” which are conferred upon us via social conditioning.
that is to say, because one is white, or black, or brown, or yellow, they must act and be a certain way, or at least, remain and be seen to be within certain societal expectations. ditto that for every ethnicity. we should each be free to explore and experience whatever aspects of culture, religion, ethnicity that we find interest in, never to be shut out of expanding into and expressing our desire to know and feel and be the ways we choose (of course, always limited by being mindful of the rights of others). it is a further insult to us each that whenever a person is of mixed “race” involving “white,” they are defaulted to the non-white status. it is an egregious assault on the core essence of our collective humanity.
from where we originate is a mystery, but i feel it is a good bet we all come from the same place, and return to that same place. we are not – even remotely, and in no way – our physical body. we are energy, and in the universal, will present in an entirely different way than we do here, in the material. i believe we are here to learn, grow, and evolve, toward the divine love and light from whence we came.
now, however else one sees existence and purpose, it still remains that it is disgusting, immature, and demeaning that we celebrate tribalism to the extent of trying to present as superior to another, and exclusive to another. to hear or see the term whitey is as ignorant and abusive and repulsive as are any other similar derogatory terms, whose purpose is to demean and enslave and divide. the in group, the superior group, the exclusive group, and, the disenfranchised: how well has that approach to one another worked? and, over the millennia, no less.
Good link showing the false equivalency.
Myself, being raised in a right wing, calvinist religious household, am well aware that what drives many of these Coutts/other Alberta location protesters, is that they worship money more than God, and yet they call themselves christians. Imagine, $100s of millions in business being negatively affected by the Coutts blockade, let alone human suffering. Are they that well off financially with entitled attitudes with their $millions in trucks/equipment/assets, etc. that they are immune to the financial business loss of others in the $multimillions? I no longer attend, but we used to joke that there should be a $dollar sign on the wall behind the pulpit instead of a cross with regard to this phony, hypocritical religious realm.
It also makes me wonder if there is any insight into other forces driving these blockades, i.e. racism, white supremacy, supporting ultra right wing neo-liberal Trumpism-style politics, the hatred of Trudeau….what, oh what would Jesus say? Jesus might dump over their money tables.
You have my sincere condolences and my admiration for slipping the noose. As with neoliberalism, with whom it is so fittingly allied, political religion gets and maintains its power from either slipping in the back door or hiding in plain sight (UCP style.)
In this case though, we’re not seeing many signs of religion at all. Maybe it’s considered a “given” when we’re in the presence of such automatically heroic guys riding in on their weaponized “big rigs,” or maybe because the fanatical, algorithm-stoked hatred of Trudeau has just swamped their overtaxed brains.
trudeau has been taking public money and giving it away to the ultra wealthiest, by the bag full, since he took office, just like harper before him…and on and on back we go, electing corrupt after corrupt, liar after liar. your position is as bad as the cons: it is tolerable, acceptable even, so long as it is the party name you align with. you and the still too many are in a sad state of denial.
So “both sidesism” now eh? I couldn’t care less about the party name because I’m not tribal; all I want is the people who can adapt best to what’s coming our way, which is any and all combinations of progressives but completely excludes conservatives who don’t accept science of ANYTHING, starting with the fact that homosexuality does exist. They’re not even THERE yet!
actually, i am not on any side. i know the system is rotten, and the best way forward is to change it.
btw – at least you see some of what is wrong with the idea that govt owns one;s body: that was the basis of laws against homosexuality. govt determining what a consenting adult may or may not do with their body. ditto abortion. ditto laws that criminalise drugs. ditto mandates that disenfranchise and force people to ingest stuff they do not want to ingest.
Oh they can choose not to “ingest” an effective vaccine during a pandemic, no one’s going to hold them down despite how you make it sound, but to simply refuse protection is SO irrational in the scheme of things that it leads one to wonder if these people aren’t just terrified of getting “the jab?” SO down a rabbit hole are these people that they deny that a pandemic exists, period. But for a lot of them there IS a GOD. On the news this morning there’s a Christian group in the States that has donated much to the GoFundMe campaign, now shut down. Irrational behaviour always seems to come back to humanity’s primary mass delusion doesn’t it? Oh what tangled webs we weave….
So among us who recognize that the virus is the real enemy here, not “the system” or “big pharma” or “karma” (?!) there has been some real comfort in vaccine mandates; they basically weed out the crazies. If we’re honest, I’d say most of us would like to see the entire freedumb contingent hop in their trucks and drive south to where there are roughly as many unvaccinated people as the total population of Canada. Again, their/your cohort….
Ok, here comes the religion again, full on, as the new source for funding being tapped after GoFundMe recognized the danger to its reputation is an American Christian organization known to have funded the January 6th insurrection.
No ,Allan,you don’t see it right.All they want is freedom from tyranny.
Their ‘freedom’ is ochlocracy. It is a perversion of entitlement.
New word for me, and the right one.
Freedom from tyranny by embracing and becoming the embodiment of tyranny?
Very strange and dangerous logic reflective of Germany 1933 – 1945.
how else does one react to govts obfuscating one’s right to their body? it is interesting you reference nazi germany, because the similarity in the use of lies, propaganda, creating a privileged group and a disenfranchised group, and stoking hate and division is quite remarkable.
Yeah, I saw the same “logic” in this newspaper today on the conservative reaction to this unprecedented occupation: that it’s TRUDEAU who has been stoking division this whole time, this from the obsessively obstructionist “party of NO.” Your cohort now.
No leg biff. Context is all.
trudeau is a massive part of our issues, as was harper etc. time to let go of a system that is corrupted, broken, undermines the planet, and is run by psychopaths. btw – the libs have held power for the vast majority of of time…how do they not get to take the credit for the mess this land is in. is it also not noteworthy that whenever the cons have taken over, they, too, have been as corrupt and unfit to govern. get out of your box – the lack of air seems to be getting to ya.
and here we have “net support” for the status quo, even though it is so obviously broken and corrupt. keep making the same mistake hoping for a better outcome. insanity.
If you do not support the truckers, IT’S OKAY because:
If mandates get lifted I would like to remind you…. you can still stay home. No one will rip the mask off your face, no one will force you to dine in at a restaurant, you can drop your children off at their leisure activity and wait in your car, you can still say no to family gatherings and events, you can live within your 4 walls and NO ONE will stop you. We will not judge you for your choice – we will just be glad you have one. That is the point of FREEDOM of choice! While you’re comfortable where you are we are also comfortable moving on with our lives.
🇨🇦
Sincerely
A member of the small fringe minority with unacceptable views 👌🏼
reads just as well the 2nd time.
None of you people seem to even remotely grasp the concept of “public health.”
“A member of the small fringe minority with unacceptable views” — Self awareness will set you free, my Brother.
I think buckwheat is more of a ‘work will set you free’ sort.
Picking up on one point, I didn’t agree often with Don Cherry but when he said that hockey parents should drop their kids off at the rink and then leave so their kids to have fun without screaming lunatics in that stands, I concurred.