“Translation? The government wants a bigger piece of our pie here.”

30 Replies to ““Translation? The government wants a bigger piece of our pie here.””

1. Very good, well done … BUT …
   Until our side can reduce these very well done commentaries down to quick, CONCISE, “highlight reel” sound bites we won’t generate much interest in our issues.
   We live in a world where 3 hour sports events get condensed into a 90 second highlight on TSN’s Sportscenter … we all live in a “time famine” and few can donate 10 minutes to listen to a well constructed argument.
   We’ve GOT the policy and the facts on our side, but our team need CRISP, CONCISE COMMUNICATORS to win, and I can count those on the fingers of one hand … we need MANY more.

2. “Translation? The government wants a bigger piece of our pie here.”
   The Layton version is “Gimme all of your pie and then if I decide you are worthy, I might give you little piece back”
   Because Progressives are so much smarter than us peons.

3. @Davers, agree with you. I always said that our side needs a charismatic dude that can put the right ideas in the 30 seconds lyrics of a catchy song.

4. I found this on facebook and thought worth sharing:
   So the election is tomorrow and we have a choice. Should we vote for a party whose vision is based on 19th century class warfare (NDP) ? Or the party whose vision is borrowed from the 19th century class warfare with the 1960’s solution to everything, more government (Liberal). Or shall we vote for the party whose ideas go back to the enlightenment Equallity and Freedom (Conservative).

5. The guy in this video is teaching basic Civics. I learned this in high school circa 1970s. I shudder to think what’s in the curriculum today. Whatever happened to critical thinking?

6. Can we all do our part to spread this word?
   I believe it is our responsibility.

7. Critical thinking died the day standardized testing stopped in the high schools. In Saskatchewan that was accomplished by the STF and their protectors the NDP. We need to put critical thinking and standardizied testing back into the schools along with a competitive spirit. To do this we need to wrestle control from the STF and give it back to the parents of the children the system is supposed to educate.
   Also the reason that todays generation wants everything in 90 second soundbites is that is what they are getting in school, they no longer analyze anything in depth, they are given the cliff notes and not expected to read the book.
   The individual in the video presented his ideas succintly and if people cannot give 8 minutes and 50 seconds to listen to a reasonabbe point of view then they deserve to be serfs of the state.

8. rs: Civics is no longer taught in our schools. Why educate the people you’re trying to turn into sheep?

9. Jack Layton is old enough to have gotten a civics class and it seems to have had no positive effect on him.
   I think it would be better to teach basic classes in household budgeting, book keeping, and financial planning.

10. The “Road to Serfdom” is paved with good intentions (Liberal and NDP platforms).

11. My son had Careers/Civics a couple of years ago in the Catholic Provincial system here in Ontario. Suffice to say, the emphasis is on leftie talking points like “Equality”, Canada is a “mixed” economy, blah blah blah. Anytime my son questioned the Liberal dogma the teacher didn’t do anything—the rest of the students in the class heckled my son for his “redneck” views.

12. As John Wayne once said: “Life’s tough. It’s even tougher if you’re stupid.” I can’t imagine how tough it must be for the 30%.

13. It’s good to see a guy I can relate to, somebody who actually produces something tangible.
    Unfortunately,”Davers” has a point. The kids today are being taught to take the easy way out, and a sound bite carries more weight than a carefully considered argument.
    I meet so many young people today who think there IS a free lunch,and when Layton promises one,they’re ready to line up for theirs.

14. As far as the STF is concerned, I would suggest one read the post Tammy Robert has on “Scene in Saskatchewan”. Teachers want to go one step further and not even grade kids, let alone have standard tests.
    ‘Animal Farm’ comes to mind: Everyone is equal, Jack and his buddy’s are just MORE equal…

15. This was written to me by a retired school teacher last year.
    “Critical reading is an essential skill that is not taught well in school. There is a terrifying number of people who do not understand what they read and aren’t even smart enough to care! We don’t teach “language arts”; we teach literature appreciation, which emphasizes psychology much more than critical reading. There is a lot of work to be done!”

16. Teachers are the problem. And “critical” theory is the new codeword for instilling socialist values.

17. To answer the “what is being taught in our schools” question:
    Mark Steyn’s 10 year old son came home from school last week and announced that he’d gotten the role of the “uterine lining” in the school play.
    True, that was in “live free or die” New Hampshire, but I doubt Canadian public schools are any different.

18. And actually? Life is even tougher if you’re smart, because then you KNOW that everyone else is stupid and are forced to live with them.

19. A very well done motivational speech and thanks for that Kate.
    Remember to GET OUT THE VOTE tomorrow. Every little bit counts. Maybe our very lives depend on it.

20. It comes down to personal responsibility and self education.
    Our society today is well credentialed but does not seem well educated. Many seem to possess a Potemkin education.
    We need to rebuild our society from the ground up, one citizen at a time.
    Education is our personal responsibility; don’t let the socialist system indoctrinate your kids & turn them into credentialed cynics & twits.

21. Several have already commented on the role of public schools in teaching socialist dogma. Have a look at this article from today’s Ottawa Citizen. It describes a grade 10 lesson in an Ottawa high school where it was necessary to vote NDP/liberal or else everyone in Canada will be allowed to carry hand guns and other similar nonsense.
    http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/decision-canada/Classroom+survey+misses+mark+federal+politics/4704726/story.html

22. Crisp, short lessons in socialism?
    Socialism in Spain.
    “Zapatero said, “We have made mistakes.”
    “Earlier this month, embattled Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced he would not seek a third term. Elections are due by March 2012.
    For months, Zapatero’s Socialists have trailed in opinion polls behind the main opposition conservative Popular Party.”
    “In announcing his decision on April 2 to Socialist Party leaders, Zapatero said, “We have made mistakes.”
    …-
    “Spain’s jobless rate tops 21% as all major sectors lose jobs”
    http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/04/29/spain.unemployment/index.html?hpt=Sbin

23. DennisK writes: “Critical thinking died the day standardized testing stopped in the high schools.”
    I’m afraid not. The kind of standardized testing embodied in the old provincial examinations had almost nothing to do with critical thinking. Even the “essay” questions required students simply to commit to memory the results of other people’s “critical thinking”. And standardized testing has returned across Canada in a big way; it has many benefits, but promoting critical thinking is not one of them.
    Critical thinking is hindered by three major deficiencies in our schools: 1) students (and most of their teachers)have no knowledge of basic logic or scientific method; 2) most things students are asked to do in schools involve lower order skills (understanding and committing to memory what other people tell them); and 3)what most teachers present as “critical thinking” involves looking for ways to critique ideas, arguments, or policy decisions that they don’t like.

24. There is no impetus on anyone in this country to work or even be a good person. The harder you work, the smarter you are, the more you are penalised to serve the more vain and stupid. We could go on with personal examples and stories until we drown in our own tears. Smarts, hard work and scruples carry civilisations. Some people just don’t care.

25. Kathy Shaidle said a mouthful: “And actually? Life is even tougher if you’re smart, because then you KNOW that everyone else is stupid and are forced to live with them.”
    Freeman Dyson, who worked on the atomic bomb, invented an atomic powered spacecraft called Orion and who invented the Dyson Sphere said the same thing. To paraphrase, being smart doesn’t make you feel smart. It makes feel that everyone else is stupid.
    The great curse of high intelligence is seeing the problem, knowing the solution, and having to SHUT UP because if you say anything three things will happen.
    A) You’ll be accused of being a non-team player/disruptive influence/inappropriate/wise guy, told to shut the hell up and get back to work.
    B) You’ll most likely be fired if you do it a couple of times.
    C) Some imbecile will end up doing it your way, usually after a huge crisis/accident/catastrophe makes it impossible to carry on as before.
    Its really frickin’ hard to pretend to be one of the herd. This is why most Canadians of high intelligence end up working for or running American corporations. Canada has a real hard on for the old Japanese idea of hammering down the nail that sticks up. They probably learned it from us.
    On the bright side Kathy, a little adversity seems to sharpen up even the dullest hoe. I don’t hear much pro-socialism chatter in Arizona like I’m hearing in Ontario. Losing job, house and car in the same year seems to increase Joe Sixpack’s IQ by about 20-30 points

26. Here is an abbreviation for you using everyday logic.
    Firstly, here is a quote that we all know to be true.
    “With freedom comes responsibility.”
    – People who want others to be responsible for them vote for socialism.
    – Therefore … Logically … People who vote for socialism do not want freedom.
    – People who are not free are slaves.
    – Slaves do not have a standard of living, nor quality of life.
    – Further … they don’t own property businesses, homes or guns.
    – And they have NO MONEY of their own.
    – Most of them will not even have jobs.
    Is that short and sweet enough?

27. To further amplify what Abe stated at 10:10-
    Today’s youth are indoctrinated with all sorts of “good” things about their rights… they are however not taught a thing about their responsibilities as a citizen of this country. The net result is a young adult who will base their voting decision on their perceived entitlements without realizing that they get to pay for them.

28. This is a great video and anybody who has ever been in business can clearly understand. Unfortunately there are too many people who have been brainwashed into thinking there is a free lunch and the big bad companies are too blame.

29. To achieve brevity, you just have to go back to the Presidential election of 64:
    “Any government big enough to give you everything is also big enough to take it all away.” – Barry Goldwater

30. This video demonstrated a weakness in the CPC campaign that I have railed about for over 5years. PMSH should appoint this guy to his cabinet and create a ministry of ‘civics’ for the lack of a better description. Like many posters here have observed the youth of today have little exposure to fiscal responsibility. They don’t know how it works!
    As a former riding association CPC director it became apparent that the party had little motivation for political education. The biggest challenge the party has is educating citizens to understand basic financial tools like budgeting. To a degree, making tough political decisions resulting from a balanced budget is an education in itself.
    Layton’s appeal to many people is a simple promise to do their thinking for them. People abdicate responsibility for their lives as quickly as they change their socks, unfortunate but true.