The flipping point

The Monarchist writes a couple of tedious screeds that generally attempt to build the case for why he suddenly! discovered! Alberta! separatism!  Anyway,  the posts are very long and full of peculiar digressions with a lot of nonsequiturification, and they are followed by the predictable talk-radio me-tooing of his commenters.  So if you don't have any patience for "Tipping Point" and "Tipping Point II: Revenge of the Weenies", the executive summary is as follows: "Ontarians are poopyheads and I don't want to play with poopyheaded people."

But I guess I'll take a moment to examine a particularly delicious non sequitur that, oddly enough, forms the core of his arguments:

The Monarchist: The Tipping Point. With the events of the past two weeks, I have finally come to understand why the American people, whom I so admire, are so despised by so many in Canada. It is because people of principle and courage are bound to be despised by those who can claim neither.

This provides a fundamental insight into the psychology of Reformatory-inclined people.  Principle and courage are equated with, here, with precipitous bravado and tendency to outrage.  Those who prefer to get the job done, to see the scoundrels out in their own good time, and cater to existing need are seen instead as those who despise principle, courage, motherhood, and apple pie.

Lest you think I do a disservice to the actions of the US founding fathers, I only deride this thinking because such people as the Monarchist purport to place that mantle on their shoulders.   The founding fathers of the US republic had grievances an order of magnitude greater than that of the Alberta Aliens.  Their mail was subject to being opened by the agents of the Crown, those who expressed opposition were subject to brutal, brutal repression, and the Crown had a history of attempting to export its religious intolerance to communities that had come to America to flee such things.  They were taxed without representation. 

None of these things can be said to apply to the Alberta, let alone "The West".  None of these things can be said regarding the Liberal Party, whose sins are quite different and far worse than that of Adscam; I never saw their outrage then.  And all of these things expose this line of thinking for the transparent, opportunistic whining that it is.

Comments

[buckets]

You allude to what I think is an important point: None of these things can be said to apply to the Alberta, let alone "The West". Why is it that these people so often say 'the West' when they are talking about Alberta?

[Kevin Brennan]

Because "the West" sounds much more important than "Alberta". "The West" is a genuine region within Canada with some unique needs. Alberta is just a province.

[Walsingham]

I guess anything longer than a paragraph is tedious when you have decided in advance to disagree with a writer. And congratulations on learning a whole two words of Latin, and using them twice - sort of - in the same post.

You have probably stopped reading by now, and are probably already gleefully tapping into your keyboard a post that will twist every word I say into what you will no doubt construe as proof positive of the intolerance and irrational anger of the right - of those Alberta wingnuts. I couldn't care less. But I'll write a little more just in case some link pulls this under the eyes of somebody worthwhile.

You state that I equate principle and courage with "precipitous bravado and tendency to outrage". You also seem to criticize my late discovery of both Alberta separatism and the "real sins" of the Liberal Party. Get it straight pal: is my "bravado" precipitous, or late? Oh - and if I have been too busy working, earning a living, and - what was it you called it - "catering to existing need" - to notice the prior Liberal sins that dwarf Adscam, please do enlighten me. We'd like the further ammunition.

To accuse me of admiring a "tendency to outrage" is to have missed my point entirely. If anything, again by your own assessment I would seem, at least personally, to be rather slow to anger ("where was their outrage then"?) A tendency to outrage is not to be admired; however, an apparently total incapacity to outrage must be deplored. This - you obviously missed it - was the point of my article. If it were remotely possible to believe that the good people of Ontario were, in fact, simply preferring to "see the scoundrels out in their own good time", all would be well. But recent events have demonstrated to me, and to many others, that they are preferring, in fact, to keep the scoundrels in, no matter what - at least when the only remotely credible alternative is a party that has its pedigree in the West.

And yes - it is fair to say: "the West". If you think that Reform was exclusively an Alberta phenomenon, you quite simply do not have the faintest idea what you are talking about. Try to find out which provinces had provincial wings of the Reform Party. Here's a hint: Alberta was not among them. The issues faced by Alberta are broadly shared by Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and the Territories. I know you won't be bothered to do any actual research to confirm or deny that - your prejudice (or was "Alberta Aliens" a compliment?) serves your ends well enough. But ask yourself this: if what I say is untrue, why is the voting pattern so relatively - not perfectly, relatively - uniform across the West? Or are you going to tell me that British Columbia is a secret federal Liberal power base, poised to strike?

Before you pat yourself on the back too heavily for your understanding of the American Revolution and its causes, let me educate you. The heavy-handed measures you refer to became active during the armed insurrection itself. They were not the sources of revolutionary feeling amongst the colonists. The actual, causal provocations were measures that would no doubt be seen as perfectly reasonable today, by people like you. The Stamp Act, which was undoubtedly the biggest spark to the kindling, can barely be distinguished from Trudeau's National Energy Program if one simply swaps a few words around. The Stamp Act was the very inspiration of the claim of taxation without representation. I'd suggest you ask any Albertan how they feel about the NEP, but I know you will not do that. It's easier for you just to cast anything you disagree with as "whining".

I know you will respond to this post by torching me, with all the cynicism, scorn and personal abuse you can muster. Let me tell you in advance: I will never read it. But some Westerners probably will, so I will be content to let your continued abuse of their kind fall on their ears.

And by the way, I am an Ontarian. I do not hate myself, or Ontarians in general. I only despise Ontarians like you.

[Mandos]

"I guess anything longer than a paragraph is tedious when you have decided in advance to disagree with a writer."

This has no more content than saying that I have a political perspective and am not afraid to use it.

"And congratulations on learning a whole two words of Latin, and using them twice - sort of - in the same post."

O amice, aveo te ironiam apprehendisse...

"You have probably stopped reading by now, and are probably already gleefully tapping into your keyboard a post that will twist every word I say into what you will no doubt construe as proof positive of the intolerance and irrational anger of the right - of those Alberta wingnuts. I couldn't care less. But I'll write a little more just in case some link pulls this under the eyes of somebody worthwhile."

On the contrary, I have read every word! And I am responding to most of it.

"You state that I equate principle and courage with "precipitous bravado and tendency to outrage". You also seem to criticize my late discovery of both Alberta separatism and the "real sins" of the Liberal Party. Get it straight pal: is my "bravado" precipitous, or late?"

There is no dichotomy. It is precipitous in what you have lately discovered.

"Oh - and if I have been too busy working, earning a living, and - what was it you called it - "catering to existing need" - to notice the prior Liberal sins that dwarf Adscam, please do enlighten me. We'd like the further ammunition."

Oh, Walsingham. Where do I start? Do I start with social housing...or unemployment insurance? These have human consequences that dwarf Adscam.

"To accuse me of admiring a "tendency to outrage" is to have missed my point entirely. If anything, again by your own assessment I would seem, at least personally, to be rather slow to anger ("where was their outrage then"?) A tendency to outrage is not to be admired; however, an apparently total incapacity to outrage must be deplored."

Outrage is useless and worse than useless unless it is accompanied by a positive plan for change. It simply becomes an opportunity for opportunists!

"This - you obviously missed it - was the point of my article. If it were remotely possible to believe that the good people of Ontario were, in fact, simply preferring to "see the scoundrels out in their own good time", all would be well. But recent events have demonstrated to me, and to many others, that they are preferring, in fact, to keep the scoundrels in, no matter what - at least when the only remotely credible alternative is a party that has its pedigree in the West."

It has little to do with silly notions of "pedigree." It has to do with the fact that the "only credible alternative" is not an alternative for some people. It has not shed suspicion of its policies. In choosing the leaders it has, not only has it sacrificed its populist identity which it managed to cultivate under Manning, it has never dispelled the impression that its overt agenda, where it isn't unacceptable, is insincere. I and others have written about this at length.

Few people, these days, vote happily for the Liberals. They vote with relief. Relief that it is merely more corruption scandals to which they will be subjected. I think this is a destructive behaviour, but many people in and out of Ontario do not subscribe to my political programme either. I got over it. They are looking for Liberals who are not the Liberals. The PCPC once provided that option and now that it is needed, it does not exist. Before it could get out of the doghouse, it gave up.

"And yes - it is fair to say: "the West". If you think that Reform was exclusively an Alberta phenomenon, you quite simply do not have the faintest idea what you are talking about. Try to find out which provinces had provincial wings of the Reform Party."

Reform is an Alberta-rooted phenomenon as surely as the NDP was once a Sask-rooted phenomenon, rooted in a certain political culture with a certain worldview and certain goals that alas never gained currency throughout Canada.

"Here's a hint: Alberta was not among them."

That is because it didn't need one. It had the Ralph Squad. There is also now an "Alberta Alliance" or something. None of these other provincial rumps ever went anywhere anyway. The policy priorities in these provinces were different, the only thing in common: the desire for a relatively safe protest vote!

"The issues faced by Alberta are broadly shared by Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and the Territories. I know you won't be bothered to do any actual research to confirm or deny that - your prejudice (or was "Alberta Aliens" a compliment?) serves your ends well enough. But ask yourself this: if what I say is untrue, why is the voting pattern so relatively - not perfectly, relatively - uniform across the West? Or are you going to tell me that British Columbia is a secret federal Liberal power base, poised to strike?"

There are clear foci of Reform Party activity and a clear Reform Party core. This happens in certain parts of Alberta and has been spurred on by various slights, such as the NEP, as you youself mention. I will not deny that there are region-specific issues. I will not deny that there are issues common to the West. I have never denied such a thing. I have, however, derided the sense of entitlement to power, and the total unwillingness to honestly review the legacy of Reform and what the party stands for first and foremost: power or principle. They take the easy way out and blame the Ontario poopyheads.

There has been a clear desire for protest parties in the West. I suspect the inability of the Reform Party to gain power in Ottawa was actually a boon to its success in parts of the Western provinces. There is not in itself justification to claim that there is a uniform "western" policy programme. Let us not forget the distorting power for First-Past-The-Post systems. And I know many Westerners who would vehemently deny your "West" business.

"Before you pat yourself on the back too heavily for your understanding of the American Revolution and its causes, let me educate you. The heavy-handed measures you refer to became active during the armed insurrection itself. They were not the sources of revolutionary feeling amongst the colonists. The actual, causal provocations were measures that would no doubt be seen as perfectly reasonable today, by people like you."

This depends on where you draw the line as to where the American Revolution began. The full force of the American War of Independence was only realized after the Crown had taken rather coercive measures, and indeed measures that went on well before this period. And some of the measures, including religious insult and threats of imposition, predated the Revolution by a considerable measure of time, as can be seen on the Boston Freedom Trail if you are bored in Brookline or Braintree some day.

"The Stamp Act, which was undoubtedly the biggest spark to the kindling, can barely be distinguished from Trudeau's National Energy Program if one simply swaps a few words around. The Stamp Act was the very inspiration of the claim of taxation without representation. I'd suggest you ask any Albertan how they feel about the NEP, but I know you will not do that. It's easier for you just to cast anything you disagree with as "whining"."

You mean the hard work of the Americans put the stamps in the ground for millions of years or something TOO?!?

Seriously, though, aside from that serious flaw in the analogy, there are others. The Stamp Act was an indiscriminate tax on expression, and it was imposed without representation. These alone are enough to separate the Stamp Act from the NEP.

That you raise the NEP is quite revealing of the opportunistic basis of this outrage. I will expand on this in a later post if I have time.

"I know you will respond to this post by torching me, with all the cynicism, scorn and personal abuse you can muster. Let me tell you in advance: I will never read it. But some Westerners probably will, so I will be content to let your continued abuse of their kind fall on their ears."

Oooh! You are taking your marbles and going home!

"And by the way, I am an Ontarian. I do not hate myself, or Ontarians in general. I only despise Ontarians like you."

I know that you are an Ontarian. But you despise Ontarians for rejecting your political option: your posts drip with this. And you mask it with outrage over corruption. How dishonest.

[The Monarchist]

C'mon Mandos, I think the civil tone, intellectual honesty (of a "true right" perspective) and vigour of words that went into both "Tipping Points" invited nothing more than civil honest discourse on the part of his critiquers. But you chose to dismiss it as nothing more than the "Revenge of a Weeny". He therefore chose to dismiss you, quite properly in my view, as being not worthy of taking any further of his time.

[Mandos]

I wrote far more than that, though. And in fairness, he did respond to my other points, but he responded loudly with an intention to hit and run. Now that is silly.

Secondly, his tone was actually incredibly condescending. He would be justified if he had stopped to think honestly why people would be afraid of voting for the CPC. His post was a long characterization of the Ontario voter as sheeple.

Interesting that the Democrats do this in the US. And I am always open to the possibility that he (and they) are correct. But he failed to demonstrate it, because he started out from flawed premises in the first place. He did precisely what he accused me of doing: starting with the intention of disagreeing, and declaring that he had made a new! realization!

Until he takes the beam out of his own eye, he has no business looking down at me.

[Peter]

"C'mon Mandos, I think the civil tone, intellectual honesty (of a "true right" perspective) and vigour of words that went into both "Tipping Points" invited nothing more than civil honest discourse on the part of his critiquers. But you chose to dismiss it as nothing more than the "Revenge of a Weeny". He therefore chose to dismiss you, quite properly in my view, as being not worthy of taking any further of his time."

Amen.

Anyway, this post is such an exercise in disagreement for disagreement's sake.

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