7.03.2005

the blessings of canada

John Chuckman, in "Peace, Justice & Love in the Great White North" writes:
July 1 is Canada's national day, and although the country has its share of political problems, we have a great deal to celebrate.

We are not at war in Iraq, killing and maiming for no reason. We have conservatives in our politics, but we have no commentators spewing hate like Ann Coulter or Rush Limbaugh. We have no puffed-up imperialist ones like Thomas Friedman. We have no genuinely dangerous public figures like Tom Delay or Donald Rumsfeld. . . . I'd rather have a Prime Minister who sometimes dithers - although, as a pure politician, Mr. Martin has demonstrated breath-taking skill in outmaneuvering his opponents - than a President who seems capable of nothing but lying and crying about terror while terrorizing others.
Chuckman goes on to detail some of the simple reasoning behind same-sex marriage, and why Canadians should be proud of having established it.

I especially appreciate his historical perspective on the institution of marriage. I am so completely sick of the ignorant assertion that monogamous, heterosexual marriage has been around since the beginning of time. Most people repeating that bullshit probably don't know any better. But of course if you repeat something enough, it becomes true.
Only a few days before the national holiday, with the passing of Bill C-38, Canada became just the third country in the world, after Holland and Belgium, to expand human rights by giving gays the same right to marry as others. Any person aware of history and the gradual expansion of human rights over the last few centuries understands that this is something that will come eventually to all advanced countries (Spain became the fourth the next day), but it is nice to be in the forefront of progress and decency.

Contrary to the harsh uninformed preaching of fundamentalists mainly in the United States, the fully-formed modern idea of marriage only appears in the twentieth century. [Read more!]

. . .

There is simply no reason, other than blind prejudice, for gay people to be denied the rights, satisfactions, and responsibilities of modern marriage. Many may never consider marriage. That too is their right. What is wonderful is that Canada's legal acceptance of their equal status in marriage will gradually work to wear away any remnant of regarding gays as something corrupt or immoral. That is always how it is with social change: change occurs in notable events, almost little revolutions if you will, and gradually all of society alters its attitudes. A number of men, including preachers and newspaper editors, swore up and down, saying many ridiculous and embarrassing things, when women were given the right to vote in the early part of the twentieth century. It's not easy giving up privileges and prejudices.
I'm at risk of copying the entire essay, so just go here to read more.

Thanks to Allan, as always, for his diligent web-surfing on my behalf. I am off to ancient India and Pakistan. Where, by the way, people collected many husbands, wives, and lovers of various genders.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a terrific essay. Thanks!

barefoot hiker said...

Have you seen this story yet?

Toyota to build 100,000 vehicles per year in Woodstock, Ont., starting 2008

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I saw that. I think people out in my area are already getting in line for jobs to try and beat the Woodstock people to the punch. Same guys who camped out for weeks on end to get StarWars tickets, if I'm not mistaken.

laura k said...

I also saw that story. Now explain to me why you're talking about it...?

Anonymous said...

The factory will cost $800 million to build, with the federal and provincial governments kicking in $125 million of that to help cover research, training and infrastructure costs.

Several U.S. states were reportedly prepared to offer more than double that amount of subsidy. But Fedchun said much of that extra money would have been eaten away by higher training costs than are necessary for the Woodstock project.

He said Nissan and Honda have encountered difficulties getting new plants up to full production in recent years in Mississippi and Alabama due to an untrained - and often illiterate - workforce. In Alabama, trainers had to use "pictorials" to teach some illiterate workers how to use high-tech plant equipment.

"The educational level and the skill level of the people down there is so much lower than it is in Ontario," Fedchun said.

In addition to lower training costs, Canadian workers are also $4 to $5 cheaper to employ partly thanks to the taxpayer-funded health-care system in Canada, said federal Industry Minister David Emmerson.

"Most people don't think of our health-care system as being a competitive advantage," he said.

laura k said...

Thanks!

Very sad commentary on the state of things in the US. People here are so used to blaming unions (i.e. paying people a living wage) for factory jobs going elsewhere. This is a nice bit of truth-telling.

Good news for Canada.

barefoot hiker said...

I also saw that story. Now explain to me why you're talking about it...?

I refer the honourable member to the title of her thread, if not necessarily the substance of its content per se.

laura k said...

Gotcha. I had only seen the story in the NY Times - once I read the Canadian perspective, I understood.