Go Ahead, Move to Canda!: Did Someone Say "NEW ONGOING SERIES"?

In the establishment's perpetual search for power, they have used many a tact in suppressing dissent, and suring up their base. Though it is possible to imprison or murder the dissenters, that takes time, money, lives, effort, etc. There are also risks. The imprisoned or assassinated victims can become martyrs, and blowback occurs. (Though you can never forget about intentionally cause blowback to increase the disorder and chaos in an area to create grounds for heavy force.) Well, one of my favorite ways to get rid of dissent is to offer the dissenters a way out.

I was recently watching the movie "The Unbearable Likeness of Being," with the badass Daniel Day Lewis and the juicy Juliette Binoche. In it they play a brain surgeon and budding photographer living in Prague in 1968. A gold star for the first kid who said, "Isn't that during the Prague Spring?" This is where the Communist, sorry, evil Ruskies came marching in and took control with an Iron Fist. Demonstrations, riots, and general public dissent ensued. Juliette Binoche even took a couple pictures of excessive Russian military practices. Of course it didn't take long for the "secret police" to find her and her pictures, and start making her life difficult. What to do, what to do? Stay around and fight the oppression? Stand your ground and fight for you and your fellow man's rights? Naw, fuck that, they left. They packed up and left. There was then an important scene. Instead of there being a difficult process of escape it was simply a matter of heading to a Russian sanctioned border checkpoint and waving to the soldiers as they headed to Switzerland.

Now the first thought that popped into my head was, why the hell are the Russians letting all of these, though dissenting, talented, valuable human resources leave? If they are so evil, why give them a chance to live in the happy free Switzerland, where the trains only run on time because they made the watches. Well then it dawned on me, and really put domestic events into perspective for me. They let them leave because they are trouble. They were making their occupation easier by getting rid of the people who give a shit.

Let's look to America at this time. A quick Wikipedia check will show you that...(I am actually doing some minor research for a blog, woo is me) 100,000 American men went abroad to avoid service in Vietnam, with 50,000 - 90,000 going to Canada. Initially, Canada didn't want a bunch of American immigrating into their country (we should be able to empathize with concerns about southern border immigration.) However, Canada eventually welcomed them, probably after the US told them we will allow them back in at a later date. Oh, and sure enough we did.

So, America was waging not only an unjust war abroad, but at the same time, the establishment was being fought with over many issues, namely civil rights. Forcing people into service, or anything for that matter, who really don't want to do it can incite rebellion. What better way to quell any serious threat to the establishment than to "allow" 100,00 pissed off young men (all fit for service) to leave. And then someone had the great idea to invite these people back, because not only are they a valuable human resource, but they are sure to be pretty tame now that the man "showed them kindness."

Every member of the counter culture or urban radical out there has heard someone say "I'll move to Canada when shit really hits the fan." As if Canada is some sort of magical safe fallback option for when America really becomes fascist. Hell, I bet there are a ton of ex-pats who have left already, to Canada or Europe, because they think America already is an oppressive state. It is to these yellow-bellied, selfish, all talk no walk, used to be but no longer am dissenters that I dedicate this NEW ONGOING SERIES:

Mark Emery, the Prince of Pot, is founder of the BC Marijuana Party and successful marijuana seed distributor. In 2005, he was arrested by Canadian law enforcement, under pressure from the Yanks, along with two others for selling these seeds. It is almost an never enforced law in Canada (to Canada's credit) though there are some laws on the books. The U.S. wanted him extradited to our country to face our stricter anti-drug legal system. A recent plea deal in the case means that Emery, but not his two compatriots, will serve 5-10 years in prison. Though Canada did not blindly hand him over to the U.S., they did allow a foreign agency to interpret their own laws, dictate the resources and actions of their police, sway the Canadian judicial system, and spend Canadian tax payer dollars all to enforce a victimless crime for political reasons. Emery may still do some of his prison time in the U.S., but that is yet to be determined.

Canada, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. I liked you, I really did. But you're no better than u.s. You give in to the bully. You question your own values. You are willing to hurt an innocent human for what? And to you people out there wanting to move to Canada, where will you move when Canada and the U.S. have the same laws and law enforcement under the banner of the North American Union; when you could spent this whole time fighting the establishment instead of spending all that damn time packing and unpacking your fucking dishes you got from Pier One.

From My Cold, Dead Hands

http://www.channel3000.com/news/14916807/detail.html

If you parents are having such problems raising your children to be non-violent, or at least not criminal members of society, maybe you should try a different tact. Allowing or asking for the government to regulate what your children are exposed to is not going to ameliorate the very influences that you consider worst for your child. Instead, I would recommend that you talk to your kids and find out what they think about the things that you're trying to keep them from. Instead of categorically banning an activity, as that is not likely to work, talk to your kids and then if they have mistaken notions or are confused about something, you can view it as an opportunity to be a good parent and give your children a bit of truth that the schools won't give them.

In regulating ethics, government policy is a poor panacea for the perceived ills of society. If the government had any say into what you do, then the things that are declared illegal would actually not be committed because of the fear of the results or because of the respect an individual holds for the government. Usually, though, the most important consideration into doing something that is considered illegal, is whether or not you will get caught.

Of course, during an election year, it is easy to grab headlines by attacking a small fraction of society that, because of its very nature, does not have any effective organization to meaningfully resist attempts to oppress them for political points. Gamers are, at turns, obnoxious, profane, and passionate, but they are citizens of the country who are not deserving of this discrimination.

Furthermore, I would go so far as to say that this proposed legislation from Sen. Jon Erpenbach is at best misinformed or misguided. I admit that it would be a good idea to move 17 year criminal offenders as the juveniles that they still are, but I think it is rather dubious that a simple tax on video games is going to raise enough money to cover the proposed expenses. Personally, I see this as a problem of definition. In this case, the definition of what is, exactly, a non violent offense. For instance, how much would the cost go down if, instead of holding children for having a small amount of Marijuana, why not confiscate their pot and take them home to their parents? Instead of having the state teach a lesson, why not let the responsibilities of parenting fall upon the parents?

Besides, this tax is just going to pull money out of the state coffers, as people will just go online, to amazon.com and such, and buy their video games without an extra insipid tax.