oneofthemladygoats

Brazeau is an interesting example, because he has engaged in some advocacy for vulnerable populations in recent years (e.g. warning labels on alcohol, pushing for research on male suicide). Does not absolve him at all of his past shenanigans, but I'd say he's not lock-in-step the same as Duffy or Beyak and that ilk. Seems like he's learned a little bit about what public office should be about.

This asshole, on the other hand... Senators should absolutely face sanctions, at the very least, for supporting seditious fuckwads and saying their voice matters over the everyday citizens that make up most of the population of Ottawa.

The Lufa model needs to spread across the country. They have a handful of urban greenhouses in Montreal, so a lot of the produce I buy is actually grown in the city, and everything else that they can't grow themselves is procured directly from the producers/farms, not from a re-seller.

(although, fuck their labour practices, I very much wish they had competition in the city so they would be pressured to clean up their act in that regard, I hate that I feel like I have to compromise my values in some way in order to buy local and direct)

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but no, no greedflation here

aha, this comment makes your position a bit more clear for me. reading your initial response had me feeling a bit kerfuffled because, for me and for the progressive people I know, the line is pretty clear as to what's acceptable and what's not- it comes down to whether someone is making an attempt to dehumanize others or defend those actions in others. there's SO much effort being made to paint the position of "the left" as anything and everything else, but it really does boil down to standing for the humanity and dignity of others. when our poorest, weakest, most vulnerable members of society can thrive, we all thrive. it's important to recognize beliefs that are trying to masquerade as that when they're really something else altogether.

in other words, I think it's important to really get at what a belief is about. I wouldn't call that automatic pushback against men's rights and supporting men progressive or left wing, tbh. you're so right that there is a ton of automatic pushback on the part of a lot of people because they assume men's rights = the typical MRA misogyny. misandry is woven into so much of that response and people don't necessarily consider how they're hurting others in an extremely similar way when they embrace that narrative. the conversation around how to support men does get so toxic so quickly for a few reasons, yet it's not the zero-sum game many people treat it as. the reality is, men can be subject to things like domestic violence and rape too, and they deserve support just like anyone else in those situations. at a fundamental level, supporting men in these situations isn't the threat to women and others that a ton of people treat it as in their knee-jerk reaction to the topic. these hard topics deserve discussion and consideration too, but often the reactions we're talking about, that pushback, doesn't come from a place of offering respect and dignity. and that's not very "left wing", so to speak.

I think because I'm queer, pan specifically, there's a sort of odd sort of advantage in this regard in being exposed to situations where calling out regressive beliefs that masquerade as progressive happens a bit more frequently. there are pleeeenty of examples of this in queer spaces- misogyny from gay men, misandry from gay and bi women (honestly, in my experience the latter has been MORE problematic in that regard, but I'm keenly aware that's my own experience and maybe not that of others), TERF & LBG-but-not-the-T groups, and bi erasure are all queer examples of this that are encountered, sadly, not infrequently. Pride is meant to be a radical celebration of people living their life to the fullest as their true self, and it's so often not, instead bogged down by division, othering, and sometimes downright hatred. There are unfortunately a lot of people out there who treat their own queerness as a zero-sum game where breaking the mould and being different is seen as a threat to their own existence because that's just how their belief system works. People don't necessarily want to think of themselves as regressive in their beliefs, but when they're pushing a narrative of misinformation or hate, it's so, so important to recognize and call out that bullshit for exactly what it is- it's not left-wing, it's not progressive, it's a defense of a status quo that harms others.

Outside of queer spaces, you might not get as much exposure to digging at problematic viewpoints like that, to the pushback that happens to that reaction you're talking about. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking "both sides" when you have these anecdotes of harm, but when you really dig into the beliefs, it's really not both sides, at all. It's important to call out regressive beliefs for what they are, it's important to identify a hateful belief as such, and it takes so much courage to do that when those voices are screaming at you and over you from different directions. I hope you know, this queer gal sees you and what you're advocating for when it comes to supporting men who face harm, and supports you in that.

You seem to be under the impression people are complacent as workers and don't want to own their own business. I offered my own anecdote as a counterpoint and an example of the barriers that drive people away from entrepreneurship in Canada today- you don't see the direct relevance, really? Your response is to handwave it away as irrelevant and say these are not opportunities that are meant for someone in my position, when your complaint in the first place was that people lack ambition and drive and that is very much not true, for so many Canadians. "You have to start somewhere" were your exact words, and that is not a reflection of the reality for most people, at all.

What exactly are you trying to communicate, if it's not the implication that the working class is lazy and complacent? If people have to be homeowners for you to be willing to consider their experience, why aren't you willing to recognize that just a few decades ago, the proximity of the working class to the middle class was quite close and had an appreciable level of overlap that no longer exists as a direct result of wage suppression?

... excuse me? Because my wages are surpressed, I deserve to live in poverty and don't deserve access to opportunities like home ownership or entrepreneurship and to work for social stratification and to live a good life, am I reading you right here?

Personally, I've been trying to start my own business for about two years now. But that takes money that I don't really have. My estimate right now is at best, I'll be launching in about a year and a half. The products I design aren't even all that expensive in terms of supplies, but when I'm using all my funds to cover my personal bills, restocking supplies to create more inventory isn't even an option.

And that's not even considering how businesses often actively work to suppress the earnings potential of low-wage and essential workers to ensure they stay where they are. For example, one employer I was at years ago (a certain national poutinerie chain) stole our tips the entire time I was there, registered individual corporate locations as separate businesses to avoid paying OT if you were scheduled across locations, and, most egregiously, would outright ask interviewees about their financial position- they wanted to hire people too desperate to quit. My current job regularly messes with people's hours and bonuses so a stable level of income is a luxury, and the whole industry I'm in right now is like that so it's not even like things will get better if I leave. If you're self-funding your startup and you earn a low wage, you really don't stand a chance. And BDC isn't really all that helpful for anything other than advice, unless you already have the money you need to launch.