Rage: It's what's for breakfast

[yuuago]

Gods damn it, I really need to stop reading the local newspaper.



"This is trying to push an agenda to enforce social programs that Canadians might not need or want..."

... In an article about the right to food and making sure that everyone in the country gets enough to eat.

What the ever-loving fuck? It shouldn't even be a question. Common fucking sense - everyone should be able to have something so basic as getting enough to eat, and if they aren't able to do it themselves, then yes, the government needs to step in and put up programs for it if they don't exist already. This is so fucking basic, it's a question that shouldn't even have to be asked. Common sense: The less people have to worry about where their next meal will come from, the more energy they will be able to put into being productive citizens and working (or finding work if they don't have it already). Especially these days, when work is a little shaky and a lot of people are without jobs - it's a big concern. Goddamn.

And it just floors me that they'd publish this tripe at all. But I guess it shouldn't surprise me, considering some of the other crap that gets published in it as well (articles about how "women hate other women and it's just natural" and other such bullshit - yeah, that was in today's paper too). Not to mention, well. The local paper is owned by a tabloid company. And this province is super conservative. I shouldn't be surprised - not at all. But it figures - just when I thought that the bullshit that I come across couldn't get any more stupid, I see that.

It just makes me so fucking angry - I mean, both the idea that the government doesn't need to look after the people of the country (that we don't need to look after each other) and the stuff the paper publishes - and wow, I didn't realize before that this is such a hot-button issue for me, but since I'm so damn mad about it, I guess it is.

Maybe it's because if I weren't fortunate enough to be able to live with my parents, I would be really badly off, and I'd probably need to use government programs myself just to keep myself afloat. And I hate, hate, hate when people aren't able to see beyond their own little bubble, and I'm caught between hoping it's just ignorance - maybe they don't really realize that there are people out there that do need help - and having to admit that part of it might be malice - because a lot of people hate those who aren't as fortunate as themselves, for some reason I absolutely cannot fathom. Jesus fucking christ.

Yeah, so. Not exactly the most pleasant way to start my morning. All through breakfast I was so angry I could've spit nails, but now that I've had a rant about it and donated some money to the local food bank I feel a bit better. A bit. But damn, I'm not going to read that newspaper again. It isn't good for my blood pressure. I tend to look through it every now and then just to see if there's anything going on in the city, but yeah, no. Not any more. Nothing important happens here, anyway - I won't be missing much.



On a lighter note, it's raining. Good. Maybe things'll start to brighten up around here, finally.

Comments

[kainoliero.livejournal.com]

It's a somehow a really scary idea that there would be people in Canada of all places who would have to wonder if they're going to eat the next day. I don't know why but the country has such a good reputation it's hard to believe that sort of ideas would have any foothold over there. D:

[yuuago]

Heh. You'd be surprised about some of the things that happen in Canada. Or... maybe you wouldn't. Even places that have good reputations aren't perfect.

It's a good place to live, don't get me wrong. But we do, uh, have problems we need to work on, like everyone else.

This is why you should cross the mountains

[katierox342.livejournal.com]

Where it's rainy all the time, and apparently everything is socially acceptable. As a prairie girl, I'm STILL getting used to BC three years later.
And after reading your rant I feel the need to go back to my sociology books and write an essay on the stupidity of the human race.
However that would take time and I also feel the need for sleep, so it probably won't happen. Common sense is a lacking element in the gene pool though. I wish I could help more on the dumb newspaper front, but all I can really suggest is perhaps writing a letter to the editor, and see if it gets published?
Or maybe troll them from within the company.
Then again, studies have shown that overexposure to tabloid levels of stupidity...and that's me bullshitting XP But yeah, it would be a dangerous undercover mission if you were to pursue it.
I'm going to go to sleep now and hope that the Harper government hasn't done anything TOO dumb by the time I wake up.

~Katie

I would! But I can't! Yet!

[yuuago]

Sigh. Living here makes me miss Nova Scotia. Sure, there was a bit of ignorance back there too, but nothing like what I encounter here in my home province (especially now that I'm old enough/aware enough to take notice of it). Though I guess it doesn't take much to be less ridiculous than Alberta. :|

Writing a letter to the editor might be worthwhile. I wouldn't be able to put my real name on it (I can't risk it having an effect on my employment - or family life, for that matter) but still... Hmm.

I dunno'. Argh, is it the whole country that's going to shit, or is it just my province? Sometimes I can't even tell.

Re: I would! But I can't! Yet!

[daughteroffall.livejournal.com]

*butt in*
I feel like it's all the world, you know? I feel like there is an international phenomenon of extremism on both sides of the political map, and that's bring out shit like that. Not that it didn't exist before, there were always extremists everywhere, but much less. At least, I feel a definite extremism here, and I read that it happened in other places too - some of Europe (if not all), the USA. So it is not surprising it happens in Canada too. I guess the reason for it is a combination of a few things - definitely the international economic crisis, the massive emigration, the unstable political state in the Arab world... today every country connected to other countries and almost everything that happens somewhere in the world will have some effect on many other countries across the world, so...

I know I'm somewhat a pessimistic with these things, but I really feel like the world is heading toward a crisis... there is just such restlessness in the world lately... I just hope it won't be a very big crisis, and that humanity will be able to deal with it with minimum victims and destruction :(

Re: I would! But I can't! Yet!

[yuuago]

Yeah, maybe you're right. I dunno'. It's definitely worrying.

Though the kind of attitude that I'm talking about is nothing new in my part of the country; it's always been a conservative province. It's just that now that I'm a little older, I notice it more, I think.

Regardless, let's hope that the world doesn't go to hell in a handbasket. Things are tense enough as it is.

Still haven't gotten that far east

[katierox342.livejournal.com]

I don't think anyone ever puts their real name on letters to the editor unless they WANT their name to be known. It makes total sense though that you would want to keep your employment in mind when writing. You never know, it could be the chance for a debate in the news, that could give other people with an opposing opinion the chance to stand out for what should be common sense.
Tell me how it goes if the paper prints the letter and replies to it ^^
Aaaaaaaaaaaand, yeah I didn't vote for Harper.
I guess I would have to watch the national news more to see how the rest of the country is faring.

~Katie

[daughteroffall.livejournal.com]

I agree with you completely. Maybe I don't not come off like that in tumblr, but I'm actually a big favor of a certain amount of socialism. In my opinion, every citizen should get a few basic things - food, a place to live in, a basic medical treatment. If, by any reason, he/she can't get it himself/herself, the government should step in and help this person get that. To me it seems so elementary... I mean, human rights declare the right of every person to live... in order to live you need food, a roof over your head and medical treatment. So yeah, if it means we have to pay more taxes because of that, so be it. We have to do it, as a society. Anyone, anyone could get into a situation like that, even the most capable person might one day get into a situation that he'll need help to get by. Just, I don't know. It's so elementary. Especially food. Food is also the cheapest of it all, what the hell.

And yeah, we are on the same boat here... if I didn't live in my parents house, I don't know what I'd have done. With the money I make now I can hardly afford a room in a rented apartment with three more people and food... :\

[yuuago]

Yeah, you're right. It seems so basic and common sense. Yet, at the same time, I hear people going on about how these things shouldn't be provided, blah blah blah, they should just pull themselves up and get it on their own power (never mind that they CAN'T, and that's the whole problem we're addressing, arrrrgh). Ignorant and selfish attitudes like that make me feel really down.