[Jesse]

Thank you for demonstrating that the Australia/NZ relationship is errily similar to the USA/Canada relationship. We constantly have americans on here saying how ineffective and useless Canada is.

(note: I have met many Aussies, and they have all been wonderful people. I'm commenting on the similarities in the relationships, and am aware there are many differences as well).

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Your mantra has been your opinions are stifled due to their contrary nature, when they are actually stifled for being without perceivable foundation.

[Dave Ruston]

Equality does indeed promote liberty for all! If the rich are only free then their form of administration can only be oppressive. To concentrate the majority of wealth in too few hands takes away freedom from the majority!

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Dave Ruston

[The Saint]

Did I fall asleep sometime ago only to wake up in a time where Austrailia was actually an important country in the world? Since when did Australia become a world player with the capabilites of affecting international politics and world history?

"They do the right thing when they see it, regardless of whatever the USA is doing. If there is a problem in their own back yard (say East Timor for instance) they roll up their sleeves and go fix it."

Really now? So you guys waited twenty five years after the Indonesian invasion of East Timor and after hundreds of thousands of East Timorese were killed in a genocidal program on par with the holocaust? So you "Aussies" decided to do the right thing after the Indonesians decided to pull out due to many years of international protest. Must be the Aussie way. Wait until the coast is clear then move in and take all the credit.

I see whats going on here. The guy is talking in his sleep. Dont wake him everyone. He seems to be content dreaming of a world where Australia matters.

[The Saint]

Don't worry. In time the outback will devour what's left of Australia and turn that country into the world's sand box. And before you know it these "men with bark on" will be swimming across the ocean to live in New Zealand (or elsewhere).

[The Saint]

What does it mean to be Canadian? That's like asking what it means to be Dutch. Or German. Or Swiss. These are modern states populated with modern and diverse people. How do you define modern peoples when they share so many commonalities with those in other countries? The French language aside, we see that Quebecers are not as unique and distinct from the rest of Canada.

It seems we need to rely on stereotypes to form an identity and this is very racist. But this is how multiculturalism in Canada works now doesn't it? And this is why Canada is having a hard time coming to a definition of itself because Canadians cannot be so easily stereotyped. Multiculturalism also aruges that the Canadian does not exist and this is why multicultualism is an enemy to Canadian identity and unity. If we want to reach an understanding of what it means to be Canadian we must first abolish this multiculturalism BS because it is blinding Canadians from seeing their unique selves.

[Guest]

>>>Did I fall asleep sometime ago only to wake up in a time where Austrailia was actually an important country in the world? <<<<

Are you deluding yourself into thinking that Canada has an equivalent international standing? I guess you have been asleep, you are still dreaming.

>>So you guys waited twenty five years after the Indonesian invasion of East Timor and after hundreds of thousands of East Timorese were killed in a genocidal program on par with the holocaust?<<<

Sounds like you have been fed BS insted of News or history. "Many years of international protest??" Do you think the Indonesians give a damn about your "international protest?" Or anyone else for that matter?

>>I see whats going on here. The guy is talking in his sleep. Dont wake him everyone. He seems to be content dreaming of a world where Australia matters.<<<

You seem to be under the impression that that pathetic, passive aggressive whining and throwing little hissy fits is actually making Canada internationally relevant some how. The only people you have the guts to assert yourselves with are the Americans, your closest allies.

[Guest]

Hey OZZie, don't tell these guys that "Australians are men with bark on." You are talking to a bunch of “tree-huggers”… In more ways then one if you know what I mean…

>>In time the outback will devour what's left of Australia and turn that country into the world's sand box.<<<

That probably sounded like a great retort in your head didn’t it.


Lame….

[Guest]

It is not the equality in itself but the apparatus required to create and maintain it (i.e. the redistributionist state) that squashes liberty. It requires an ever greater concentration of *power* in the hands of the government. Economic equality is not a natural condition. It requires significant intervention in order to achieve (if it really can be achieved at all).

And it's not just the process of redistribution itself the places power in the hands of politicians and bureaucrats, but also the heavy-handed social engineering required to create a "culture of equality".

One does not have the freedom to succeed without the possibility of failure. I think it was Will Ferguson who identified the Canadian Dream as being "success without risk".

[Guest]

"All of my statements were meant to represent the average opinion across the countries; I am certainly aware that there are regional and personal differences in both."

And to further Brother Jonathan's point, not only are you comparing the means of two bell curves, you're comparing two bell curves with a big standard deviation.

But the problem with defining these two countries by these differences in "average opinion" is that these averages don't mean a whole lot, particularly when you look with a regional lens. I reiterate. *I* value liberty over equality. Michael Moore believes in the reverse.

If you're going to use statistical tendencies in terms of ideology as a defining and differentiating characteristic of Canadians vis a vis the US, then you have to acknowledge the significant overlap. And this begs the question - am I "less Canadian" in your mind because I'm a free market individualist? Is there a continuum of "more or less Canadian" among people who live in this country? Does admiring the US make one "less Canadian" than a Linda McQuaig, a James Laxer or a Robin Mathews?

[Guest]

There is that envy again, but this time it's not directed to the U.S.

[Guest]

If you were rich, would you be oppressive?

[DL]

Your pet ticks are showing Down under Don.

[DL]

Way to go Dave. That is a dream of mine too, a family trip across Canada, or part thereof, depending on how well the wee ones travel. Maybe in two parts. The great Canadain tour, a Canadian right of passage. Seeing what you haven't seen before whether it's the Rockies, the Ocean, the Highlands will tell you without words what it means to be Canadian and a patch in the quilt we call Canada. Sorry for the sap, but when I was young we made the trek, and I still remember the depth of awe when I first laid eyes on the Rockies, and it was only the foothills.

[Guest]

>>That is a dream of mine too, a family trip across Canada,<<<

Can't afford to go to Cuba?

[The Saint]

"Are you deluding yourself into thinking that Canada has an equivalent international standing? I guess you have been asleep, you are still dreaming."

I never made mention of Canada's international standing. You're the one make assumptions here and deluding yourself into thinking your country of 20 odd million matters in the world. Aside from sun, sand, and surf no one really pays much attention to Australia. We don't like to listen to your goofy accents.

"Sounds like you have been fed BS insted of News or history. 'Many years of international protest??' Do you think the Indonesians give a damn about your "international protest?" Or anyone else for that matter?"

No. The Indonesians only care what Australians think. Guess that's why Indonesia pulled out of East Timor. Aussies got bored of surfing and getting eaten by great white sharks and decided to do something in their own back yard. All the while how many East Timorese died while you "men made of bark" decided to do something? Or were you all passed out on bar room floors after a game of Aussie rules football?

"You seem to be under the impression that that pathetic, passive aggressive whining and throwing little hissy fits is actually making Canada internationally relevant some how. The only people you have the guts to assert yourselves with are the Americans, your closest allies."

I guess Canada should follow Australia's lead and shove our noses up Uncle Sam's butt as a way to becoming internationaly relevant. But I'm not sure there is enough room seeing that John Howard has shoved more than Australia's nose up America's rear. Canada may be pathetic but at least we are not that pathetic.