Re: Re Look out! long hair gun loon!
Michael Lorrey (retroman@together.net)
Sat, 20 Dec 1997 14:39:32 -0500
Geoff Smith wrote:
>
> On Thu, 18 Dec 1997, Wayne Hayes wrote:
>
> > Brian D Williams <talon57@well.com> writes:
> >
> > > "A country that wants to
> > > be unarmed and free
> > > wants what never has
> > > been, and never will be."
> >
> > > Thomas Jefferson
> >
> > Obviously neither you nor Jefferson have heard of, say, Canada, or most
> > of the countries in Western Europe of late. Jefferson has the excuse
> > that Western Europe had a substantially different face when he was alive.
> > What's yours?
>
> Canada? Well, I live here in fact. Last month, a bunch of 13 year old
> girls broke another girl's legs with baseball bats (please note:
> baseball bats are sporting equipment, not weapons?) then threw her into a
> lake to drown in the small, peaceful town of Victoria, British Columbia.
> My point?
>
> a) Anything can be a weapon, you can't get rid of
> them, so there's no point in saying "it's too soon to say."
>
> b) Canada is not the peaceful little place you think it is, and the peace
> you do see is definitely not the result of a lack of guns. The only way
> you can stop people from hurting each other is if you put everyone in
> their own padded cell. Guns just make the process less painful for the
> victim. (would you rather be shot in the head or stabbed to death?)
>
> Conclusion: There will always be weapons(even if it's just a big rock
> off the ground, or your fist), ergo the only way to stay free
> is to arm yourself against those who would oppress you.
>
Having spent fair amount of time traveling through Canada, and knowing a
few Canadians extremely well, including a few former girlfreinds, I
would say that the main reason Canada is so peaceful is, and you are
going to call me racist or something for this, is because it is,
compared to the US, so ethnically homogenous. Minorities are extreme
minorities in Canada, for the most part, and have been that way for so
long that Canadians have never felt threatened or needed to feel
xenophobic, except possibly toward native Canadians, or between the
French and English speaking populations. This is changing, though, as
evidenced by the increases in the asian and islamic populations and
concurrent rises in crime in the areas where these minorities are
concentrated.
ANother big factor I can't identify in words, but it is definitely
related to the Canadian psyche and is possibly the same reason why
during the American Revolution, the Canadians did not join in the
revolt.
--
TANSTAAFL!!!
Michael Lorrey
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mailto:retroman@together.net Inventor of the Lorrey Drive
MikeySoft: Graphic Design/Animation/Publishing/Engineering
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How many fnords did you see before breakfast today?