Prologue:
Recently I’ve been writing some new stuff but I’ve also been digging up articles I wrote decades ago just for shits and giggles. Every once in a while I come across something that is still somewhat relevant to today’s world. This one is from about 2001 and fits the bill so here it is. With a few minor changes and with tongue placed somewhere near the vicinity of cheek I present:
THE BEAVER VS. THE EAGLE
by Francis Marion
I’ve said it for years and I’ll say it again: Americans are simply Canadian’s waiting to happen. Errr… that is our two worlds aren’t as far apart as they sometimes seem. More to the point it appears that Americans may be beating us Canuks at our own game in some ways…
What? Don’t cha believe me? Hmmmm…. then you must be from the US.
Well, it’s true I tell ya. So let’s make a few comparisons and explore the similarities between our two « collectives » shall we?
Us And Them
Canada has a graduated income tax system – one of the many planks of the communist manifesto. The US also has a similar tax system backed up by a bigger, meaner and all together nastier bureaucracy: the IRS. The only difference between the two systems is degree of theft. In principle it’s all the same shit – just a different and larger pile depending on which side of the border you’re on.
Canada has a federally controlled police force (the RCMP) that does the bidding of our left-wing, socialist, juggernaught of a government. The US has the FBI, the BATF, the NSA and a whole host of other alphabet soup style thugs to do the bidding of a slightly less left-wing but nonetheless tyrannical government. Which leads me to believe the primary difference between a Republican and a Democrat may simply be spelling.
And that brings me to the fact that no matter who we vote for, in either country, we still end up with ranting collectivists whose most important platforms are based around promises to reform social security and health care. God forbid anyone mention liberty. But I digress…
Canada has nationwide state enforced, mandatory gun registration and licensing [at least it did back then]. The US has the Brady Bill, licensing for concealed carry, bans on ownership of all or some firearms in many jurisdictions and a new « gun show bill » in the works that will require all those attending such shows to register themselves in a government data base.
Private property rights are virtually ignored in both countries by all levels of government from municipal and county right on up to the federal level. Try getting the permits to build an addition onto your own house in order without going totally mad and see what I mean. It’s not just the feds who are out of control.
Both Sides Now
Both nations have a legal system that ignores the jury’s right to judge the validity of the law in conjunction with the guilt of the defendant. In both nations the concept of justice is lost in a mess of rules and regulations called a legal system. In fact I suspect it may be impossible for justice to exist in such a system at all. Which may very well be the point.
Both nations suffer from the bogus war on drugs. Arguably, given statistics on prison populations and Canada’s growing tolerance towards the use of pot for medical and recreational use, the US suffers more from this plague than its northern cousins do.
The US has truck loads of left-wing, state supporting yuppies and celebrities with budding (Nay! I say blossoming!) political aspirations and a national media bent on the systematic destruction of what little freedom there is left south of the border. Canada has the CBC, the CRTC, the Ministry of Heritage and our most challenging and dangerous opponent in the fight against collectivism in all its forms to ever exist: the Molson Canadian™ beer commercial.
Both nations, at any given time, are busy sticking their noses into some other country’s business without its permission. Canada does so under the guise of « peacekeeping » and in conjunction with other busy body states. The US does so under the guise of either « diplomacy » or « retaliation » for terrorist activities. Neither country ever formally wages war on anyone unless public opinion is firmly and fully on their side.
Both governments are busy brainwashing you into believing everything is OK by using nonsensical nationalist propaganda. Canadians are told we have a « Kinder, Gentler Society » and we’re not « Americans »(see Molson beer commercials). Americans are led falsely to believe they live in the « Land of the Free ». I’m still not sure which line of crap turns my stomach more.
Both nations are loaded with folks who believe rights are something written down on a scrap of paper and dictated to us by the courts, the legislatures and the « majority ». As a result, both nations have become places where liberty is either a four letter word or forgotten all together.
And finally, the US has Jim Carey and the Bebes. Unfortunately, so does Canada.
May God have mercy on us all.
Is jury nullification illegal in the US now?
This is great, and yes, even though it’s 15 years old, it still very much applies. It’s kinda funny, if I has read that in 2001 when you actually wrote it, I’d think I was reading the rambling a of a crackpot(which could still be true, maybe I’m just a crackpot too). Now I agree with it all. I’d have also stood up and defended America as ‘the land of the free’ too. Funny how that works. What was that carlin quote the other day, something about a cynic being a former idealist?
Wip,
Illegal in either country? Not to my knowledge. Encouraged by the justice system, acknowledged by the public as their right and in common practice? Not so much….
With the exchange rate and all… I hear an hour in Canada is only 45 minutes.
Private property rights are virtually ignored in both countries by all levels of government from municipal and county right on up to the federal level.
Call bullshit. It depends on where you live in Canada and it is up to local juristiction. I live on northern Vancouver Island in a very rural area. There is a small village nearby with lots of rules, and then there are us in the Valley. We have no building inspectors, codes, or directives on what we do. If I want to build a shed on the property line that is between me and my neigbour; the way it should be. Our local Govt representative works very hard for us on keeping it that way. Therefore: my taxes on a beautiful riverfront home is $900/year. I have another two properties, so we lose the homeowner grant on those, that are two residential ‘lots’ of roughly 8 acres each. Those properties are taxed at $700 each.
The only intrusions we have might be by the health board would be about septic systems, or if we were to put ‘stuff’ in the river, (which obviously we would never do). I used to live in a town and left because my neighbours complained about my woodstove, or if we were cooking out on a fire, stuff like that.
Policing is provincial. They merely contract the services of the RCMP for their policing needs if so desired. Some Provinces have their own police force like Quebec or Ontario. Some cities have their own. The RCMP will deal with federal crimes as that is their main jurisdiction but will do it all for a fee. Sometimes support services in the RCMP divisions are paid/supplied by the municipality.
I could go on and on, but the article is very full of inaccuracies. The countries are very very different and our handgun restrictions are nothing like anything proposed in the US. You get caught with a handgun in Canada, other than on the shooting range, you are in some serious trouble. It might take awhile, but you lose the gun immediately and will most likely never be able to own another one. If you bring it out to threaten someone or defend yourself, you WILL go to jail. It just depends on when and how long your lawyer can stall things. Sure, the criminals are shooting other druggies down in Surrey and in Toronto, but by and large it is a far more peaceful country with far fewer murders. Death by gun in the US is roughly 10X what it is in Canada.
Don’t get me started on the medical system. Last Wednesday I had a ‘scope’ and minor surgery in hospital up the old wazoo. It required a surgeon, anasthesiologist, and nurse. Cost to me? None. They phoned my wife at home when it was time for her to pick me up.
Anyway,enjoy the great day..folks.
regards
And Canada has a greater appreciation for BACON.
https://youtu.be/HgKwPrm7DYQ
@Paulo ….Re:…cost to me? None
Your surgery didn’t cost you anything? Really…I just paid more than $20000 in 2014 income taxes to the federal and provincial governments which helps pay for so-called ‘free healthcare’ and I didn’t visit the doctor once last year…If you’re a tax payer, I’m pretty sure you already paid for your no-cost-to-me surgery well in advance and many times over.
@Paulo: ” Last Wednesday I had a ‘scope’ and minor surgery in hospital up the old wazoo. It required a surgeon, anasthesiologist, and nurse. Cost to me? None.”
Cost to me? None – well someone paid for it – other people worked for that money.
Paulo,
“Call bullshit. It depends on where you live in Canada and it is up to local juristiction.”
True and not true of both the US and Canada. Property rights are an incredibly broad topic and in an essay that is an over all synopsis of the topic done in less than 1500 words how detailed how should I be? I guess I could have laid out a spread sheet and grid of NA detailing the level of intrusiveness by city, municipality, state and province but that would assume my readers are stupid and unable to already see that it is not a uniform topic. It also would have made for a pretty dull read.
I’ve lived in jurisdictions with little oversight by local bureaucracies and in some with a lot more but there is always the underlying reminder that you don’t really own what you think you do. For example – quit paying your property taxes even on northern Vancouver Island and we’ll see pretty quickly who really has title to your property. There are a lot of different angles you can view the issue from. I don’t feel obligated to explain every angle and detail in a piece like this – I just expect people to think about it.
“Policing is provincial.” Yes it is. In fact, each municipality has the option of whose services they’d like to use. The federal government’s or their own. In some instances there are provincial police forces (BC had one once upon a time). Regardless, the RCMP _are_ a federal force and all of their jurisdictions overlap. Just because the city of Abbotsford has its own police force does not mean that RCMP have no jurisdiction there. They do and they exercise it when they need to. Not sure why it would be necessary to get into detail on it in a piece like this though as the point is still valid.
“I could go on and on,”
Of course you could. 🙂
“but the article is very full of inaccuracies.”
It’s actually not. It’s a general piece that invites the reader to think about a topic rarely thought about and to fill in the blanks themselves. I simply presume that the reader is bright enough to know that within the broader topic is an entire range of narrower issues that very in degree, severity and practice. Non the less all of them affect your life and your liberty to some degree. It’s simply not within the scope of the article to fill in every blank. It would require an entire, very large and boring book to do so.
With the exception of small details the countries are not that dissimilar. We have the same roots legally and culturally. The differences between us are mostly structural and demographic. Handgun restrictions are a tiny piece of the puzzle (which I covered in last weeks article). In terms of the underlying problems we face as nations well – they are virtually identical. The primary differences from the perspective of rot arise from the fact the US still prints the reserve currency for the planet. This adds another layer of issues to both countries that are far too complex to enter into here in his response.
In terms of the level of violence between here and there I would say that this is also based by and large on demographics. But that is another very broad topic that I can’t address in a single post.
Thanks for commenting though – I like posts that challenge what I write – it forces me to think about things.
Cheers.
The Canada song is one of our all time favorite MST3K skits.
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Francis… It was/is a thought provoking article. I agree that there are probably pockets of both countries where the generalizations do not apply, but overall, I think the give a shit factor in both countries has fallen to dangerous levels.
Maggie,
“I think the give a shit factor in both countries has fallen to dangerous levels.”
Yes – the willingness of people to think for themselves beyond what they are fed in the web of propaganda they are spoon fed daily is incredibly wide spread throughout the west.
I had lunch with a close relative yesterday who was complaining about Trump and that what was happening in the US today reminded him of the rise of Nazi Germany. I asked how so? He said that after reading an article in the New York Times he finally came to realize that Trump was a misogynist and a racist.
I’m not a Trump fan – from my perspective he is a narcissist and will say anything if he thinks it will make him popular BUT that doesn’t mean he isn’t right about some things. So when I pointed out the first problem is that he was reading the New York Times – an establishment mouth piece – he replied with “he hates immigrants.” My response was that he has never spoken ill of immigrants that I am aware of and that the error in his line of reasoning is that illegal aliens are immigrants. They are not. They are trespassers who are breaking the law and that if our country’s policy was to deport them why should the US be any different?
He was speechless. He had not heard it phrased in terms of the truth and it floored him. He is a bright individual and should have been able to see through the propaganda but refuses to. Thus the problems we face today as a civilization. The propaganda has done its job too well and the population has given up its ability and right to simply think. it is far easier to regurgitate what the New York Times writes than it is to rationally analyze either the data or its source.
“the primary difference between a Republican and a Democrat may simply be spelling.”
That’s a great line.
“Both nations have a legal system that ignores the jury’s right to judge the validity of the law in conjunction with the guilt of the defendant.”
Exactly correct. Jury nullification may not be illegal exactly but it may as well be.
“Both nations are loaded with folks who believe rights are something written down on a scrap of paper and dictated to us by the courts, the legislatures and the « majority ». As a result, both nations have become places where liberty is either a four letter word or forgotten all together.”
Too true, and too sad. You’ve obviously been wide awake for quite a long time, Francis. You’re my brother from another mother. Great article and very well written.
Thanks Ed,
I think I’ve been awake, paying attention, screwing up and searching for the truth about life since I was about five. 🙂
My dad taught me from a young age to be skeptical about things, think for myself and to not care too much about what other people think of me. It’s gotten me into some trouble here and there during my lifetime but I can’t say I haven’t lived a full and rich life because of it. When my feet hit the grave I’ll go there happy knowing I was’t afraid to take risks or be unpopular. And I’ve had fun doing it simply because I did it my way…. in hindsight not always the best or right way but definitely my way….
Same here, FM. It caused me a lot of trouble in the government schools. Being popular probably ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. I don’t know for sure because I’ve never been popular.