Originally Posted by plasticcanuck (Post 11821856)

Oh just go back to your grocery pricing and rent collecting.

Originally Posted by dave_j (Post 11821721)

Well said.

Of course it isn't all doom and gloom, at least not here, yet.

Even the poorest in this country can reasonably expect to wake up in the morning with all four limbs attached and unless you have other needs you can still expect to go to bed without an empty belly.

If you spend any time at all watching, what for some reason broadcasters call the 'News', then you could be forgiven for thinking that humanity is on the verge of extinction.. but that's not to say things are great.

I've always argued that a thin veneer of civilisation exists in most developed countries and you don't have to dig deep to scrape it away. The eight year old kid who grew up in the seedier side of most cities would run rings around me if what we call society ever collapsed. It's the civil structure that prevents this from happening, and where this breaks down you transfer from national culture to a gang or tribal one.

Don't be fooled into thinking it couldn't happen here, it'll only take a small push to allow some of the more aggressive groups in our society to seek dominance over others.

We sit on the head of a pin, any slip in one direction or the other and we topple.

We would do well to study the lessons of history, and politicians most of all, should seek to become less radical, that way lies the dark side. But as we are becoming increasingly aware, moderate politicians lose their appeal when voters become irrationally fearful. Remember one Adolf Hitler was legally given his position even after he'd told people what he was likely to do. Could people like Trump do the same? And the likes of Netanyahu, who would seek to maintain a racist state would do well to realise, as PW Botha did, that apartheid systems don't last forever.

But in comfortable, moderate Canada we should enjoy the present.

Happy New Year.

Originally Posted by dave_j (Post 11822066)

...effectively killed this thread stone dead...

Originally Posted by dave_j (Post 11822066)

Proud of yourselves?
This squabble has effectively killed this thread stone dead.
I don't contribute to many threads, only those I feel have substance.
Grow up.