I want to say this loud and clear in a post here for everyone to see, but there is an issue here with people having this giant hate boner for Albertans. Not the government, not UCP voters, but Albertans.
It doesn't matter if you're politically on the same side as people elsewhere in the country, it doesn't matter if you present facts to people who are provably wrong on the most basic of things they say, it doesn't matter if you treat them with dignity and respect by mentioning things with good intentions and not insulting people. You will still get labelled as the bad guy for the very fact you're Albertan.
I made a response to a comment on this post in the community. My comment was responding to someone who called Albertans "HUGE pussies" for "giving up our rights".
In my response to said comment, I basically said that the notion that we're "simply giving up" is completely false, using the following facts:
- Students have been staging walkouts:
- CBC: Calgary students among thousands across Alberta taking part in provincewide walkout
- Global News: Alberta students walk out of class in support of teachers forced back to work
- OkotoksOnline: High River students walkout in support of teachers
- The AFL (Alberta Federation of Labour) has stated that they will retaliate against the back to work order with a "general strike if necessary"
- Global News: ‘General strike if necessary’: Alberta unions declare intent to bring down UCP government
- CPAC: Alberta Union Leaders Respond to Smith Government’s Back-to-Work Legislation
- CityNews Calgary: No general strike yet as Alberta labour unions mobilize against Smith government
- The UCP has faced a dip in the polls resulting from the back-to-work order
- CTV News: Majority of Alberta Gov’t Report Card respondents feel province headed in wrong direction
- Angus Reid: Teachers’ Strike: Most Albertans side with teachers as they criticize UCP’s handling of education
- Calgary Herald: 'Reputational challenges': New poll shows public support for Smith, UCP has dipped amid teachers' strike (Yes I know it's PostMedia, it's still relevant and correct in this case)
I went ahead and said that statements like this that blanket Albertans as lazy, dumb, and inept do not help relations between the province and the rest of the country, especially when the actions being taken showcase the exact opposite.
For this, I was labelled as a conservative myself when I'm registered with the NDP provincially and federally, had myself and those around me insulted, and was told I was uneducated by someone who spewed blatantly incorrect information as they did so, and I was the one looked down upon in the entire interaction simply for where I'm from.
I suggested that in order for the NDP or Liberals, or anybody to win over Albertans, they need to address issues here. I gave the example of canola farmers suffering, and how the feds can tariff imported cooking oils to encourage consumers to choose a domestic alternative and/or have marketing campaigns to support canola farmers by increasing their domestic sales.
For this, someone insinuated that I am dumber than them simply based on what they assumed to be the school system I attended. The very same person who said this confidently made another comment where they claimed that the NDP was in charge for a "long time" before Peter Lougheed, and that Lougheed ran on diversifying the economy, and ditched the effort afterwards.
This is provably false. The NDP formed government for the first time in 2015, it was the Social Credit Party who came before Lougheed's Progressive Conservatives. Lougheed also established the Heritage Fund , which was made specifically to save money for investments in other sectors of Alberta's economy, the disaster of the fund came with the following leaders.
However, calling someone out for getting their facts wrong, and showcasing a current example of tariffs working to protect domestic goods gets you downvoted if you're Albertan, with the very people insulting your intelligence getting upvoted as they spew their nonsense.
Apparently explaining working-class issues and what left-wing parties can do to better reach those who normally vote Conservative is treating Alberta as "special" and forcing "everyone else to adapt" to us. Clearly the "majority" of people in Alberta are "hateful morons" and "insular xenophobes" .
Why do people continue to blanket me with the thoughts of a few bad apples they met? Are they more prominent here, sure, whatever, I can agree to that. I can agree that people here can be some of the worst you've met, I would know, I live here.
But me and the good, well-meaning people I know, especially those here who are marginalised or among the over 750,000 people who voted for the NDP the last election, do not appreciate having blanket statements made against us simply because we live here. I am pro-abortion, I am pro-immigration, I am pro-expanding healthcare, pro-creating public alternatives, pro-trans rights, anti-privatisation, anti-separatist, and yet sure, I'm a Conservative tip-toeing a line because my thoughts slightly deviate from the norm.
Hate the government, hate the jerks, do not hate me simply for where I'm born and the fact that I live here. I do not do this to you, I do not insult people for where they live or were born, and don't make blanket assumptions about the entire population of an area based on who's in power where they live. Why then is it seen as acceptable for this to happen to me?
I am an Albertan who doesn't want special treatment, but for fuck sake, it is reasonable to want to be treated with respect.
Edit: I don't know why the numbered lists are showing all as 1's, I have them properly numbered in the text of this post.
Alright, so because of what you just said, I went back to look at the thread you posted again... and, I tried to read through your responses and what was said to you... and tbh, I wouldn't really have your back.
I don't see where anyone is specifically "calling you stupid because you're Albertan." I might have missed it though, I found it to be a really annoying read from both sides and mostly skimmed it. That said, you seem to be taking people talking shit about the "majority of Albertans" and "conservative Albertans outside Calgary and Edmonton" as a direct insult. You seem to be trying to distance yourself from that current majority, so I'm not sure why you're taking it as an insult. They're insulting the people from which you're trying to distance yourself (I think, correct me if I'm wrong) so why are you insulted by it?
Also, you're responding emotionally and then claiming you're just giving facts, and then you're completely discounting what everyone else says as insults, even when there's actual substantive arguments (but unfortunately also insults) just because they're wrong/you disagree. That's not how debate works. Just because they're wrong/you disagree, you can't just discount what they've said completely. Then you're responding to insults and blanket statements with insults and blanket statements. I'm sorry, but you're just not going to get a lot of sympathy by doing that.
Saying that (quoted loosely) "the rest of the country just shuts its brain off and says Albertans are stupid Conservatives" is not any better than the people you're arguing with saying Albertans are pussies or that it's a joke province.
You're coming in angry, responding with clear emotion, and antagonizing people by insulting everyone in the country, then getting upset when you get downvoted. I'm not sure you're going about this argument in the best manner possible.
Except I am giving facts? The guy said that the NDP was in control of the province for a "long time" before Lougheed was premier. The Alberta NDP never held government before 2015, the Social Credit Party was the ruling party in Alberta for nearly 40 years before Lougheed was premier. This is something that can be easily found through a Google search. He also claimed that Lougheed ran on diversifying the economy, and did nothing to do so afterwards, which is also provably false. The Heritage Fund was founded by Lougheed's government to save money for investment in sectors, and it was following premiers that squandered that fund to the infamy it holds today.
So in the midst of implying my intelligence is lacking by stating that the schoolboards here have somehow failed me because I made a simple comment he disagrees with, he also spouts outright misinformation. I gave facts. I gave facts about the current state of affairs in regards to the teacher's strike in response to someone falsely accusing people here of doing nothing, followed up with my opinion on what can be done, and then was greeted by further insults by someone who was blanketing Conservative views on me from the start for the very nature of where I'm from because they met some people that hold those beliefs.
Me saying "the rest of country turns it's brain off", may have been a little more loaded than I realised, I will take accountability for that, honest mistake on my part.
That’s healthy. But if you can be this generous with yourself, try doing it for others too.
I'm not saying you're not giving any facts. I'm saying you're also loading you're arguments with emotion and insults. That's the problem. You're upset that they are loading their arguments with insults, but you're doing the same.
You're being very selective with which parts of other people's comments you're responding to and taking offense to.
For example, you're upset that the person who said that the NDP was in control etc. etc. was getting up voted, but that specific comment is (currently) in the the negative. But you're still fixated on it. Their other comment which was upvoted was about the tariffs and I guess something that you're taking as an insult about your intelligence. I didn't read it that way originally, but I can see how you might interpret it that way. It's hard to say if people are up voting the tariff part or the insult. In any case, you're very fixated on that and blaming a hell of a lot of other people for it making you feel that way.
And I'll point out that there was another person you were arguing with who made a whole bunch of points, offered what they considered a solution, and finished with a dumb insult. You ignored everything but the insult and said they weren't offering any arguments or solutions. (this one sorry not sure how to link comments properly.)