[A-List] The national question

["Sabri Oncu" <soncu@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Hi Melvin, and Sabri
>
> By saying that Canada is an Imperialist country, I mean 
> that its' major corporations happily participate in the
> plundering of the global "south".

Well. By global "south" if we also mean Iraq and the neighborhood, the
same is true for major Turkish corporations too. Indeed, they are the
ones who are the (cheer-)leaders of the war party back home. 

> Our Banks have a huge role in the Caribbean region, bigger 
> than their US counterparts; there are very large Canadian
> mining companies that operate worldwide, one of North 
> Americas' largest shipping companies is owned by our next 
> PM, the "honourable" Paul Martin.
> Etc.

You forgot to mention the West Edmonton Mall! The largest mall in North
America or is it still that?

> One of our Regiments is currently hunting "terrorists" 
> in Afghanistan, another is helping the former Yugoslavia 
> "adjust" to the free market. Etc.

Same goes for my country too, in both places. So, Canada is not doing
any better than Turkey.

> The neo-con agenda is also flourishing here; tax cuts for 
> the rich,pressure to increase the Armed Forces, sell-offs 
> of Public property, and our very own version of the Patriot
> Act.

You should see our version of the Patriot Act.  Not to mention the
sell-offs of Public Property, pressure to increase Armed Forces (Well!
Maybe not, since we already have the world's fourth (or was it third?)
largest army) and other similar stuff.

I think you are exaggerating the importance of your country.   

> Many Canadians would say that Canada's treatment of 
> Indian people has been "better" than that of the US; 

I don't think so!

> but ,in truth, it has simply been more British; that is 
> to say, slicker, and much more sly.....fewer guns, more
> lawyers.(in the last century and a half, that is.)

I don't want to offend my British friends but definitely they are
slicker and much slier than Americans (that is, USians), at least to my
experience. Americans are babies when compared to the Brits. Nash might
have devised his game theoretic equilibrium in the US but it is the
Brits who invented the games, even before John Von Neumann's work, not
that Von Neumann was the first one who worked on that. 


> Indian people die just as young here as they do in the 
> 'States.

Sadly, I know. I went out with my brother to deliver pizza to the Indian
customers back in those days. They were not doing well, neither the
Inuit in Copper Mine.

> And yes, our rapidly appreciating currency still features 
> Her Majesty.

Damn!

Sabri