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.
I’ve been treated fairly so far here when I mention I’m from Alberta.
People referring to Alberta as a whole I think the majority are cognisant that there’s not 100% maple MAGA living here. It just doesn’t need to be said every time for the sake of efficiency.
I suspect those dumb enough to write off everyone like that to be in the minority and they’re most certainly clowns.
Ontario elected Doug Ford twice. That doesn’t mean I hate everyone in Ontario.
Quebec copied our embarrassing malicious decision to charge for covid vaccine shots. I don’t hate everyone in Quebec.
I don’t hate all Albertans if it makes you feel any better.
I think Danielle Smith and her UCP is the problem, but I know that when tensions get high, some overly broad generalizations get made because in order for Danielle to be in power there must have been at least enough people that agree with her to vote for her.
I don’t think ALL Albertans are a problem, just the ones that think like her.
Québec: “Première fois?”
And as Quebec would say, 50% + 1 is all you need to be declared a shitty province.
my brother lives there and i feel bad for him
I see the Albertans the same way as I see any defined group of human beings. Some are assholes but most are good people who would help you out if you needed it.
Thats true in the real world. Just not sure its true when people can speak anonymously. And these days I dont even know if Im talking to a human or a shill from a non friendly nation.
Also consider a lot of online comments are bots designed to make people angry. Even on this site, though I don’t think it’s as bad here as some other places.
Not the government, not UCP voters, but Albertans.
Sorry, I lived too many years in Alberta to distinguish between how Alberta treats the rest of Canada, and how Albertans treat the rest of Canada. Y’all got a cultural problem out there, and I was subjected to it for the better part of a decade.
Edmonton’s cool. Calgary’s aight. But I’ll tell you that it’s Smith and the UCP who are the ones that pretend they represent the opinion of all Albertans instead of the oil coal and gas lobby. And sure, many people don’t agree with the fact that she’s taking big government steps to prevent free-market renewables from taking hold or allow the tech industry to prosper and to use the support of a neighbouring city to put mining residue into other people’s water. But the fact that this is happening under the Alberta populace’s watch reflects poorly on them.
So anyway. Nothing against you personally, but if you want a better name for your home province than Texas-north, then you have to collectively earn it. Sign that petition thing (done), organize around a general strike (in preparation) and topple the UCP government (in election or via recall petitions).
I think a lot more people here are more sympathetic for Albertans than we’re given credit for. We all watched the run-up to the Battle River-Crowfoot federal by-election, and can clearly see there are lots of people that care for their neighbours and are working hard to break the mould.
Yes, but as a person here it is a bit jarring to be labeled that way, when it does happen. And it feeds into the exact alienation that Danielle Smith won on.
We all watched the run-up to the Battle River-Crowfoot federal by-election
The ironic thing being that’s a more straight example of Alberta being a conservative wasteland. I had conversations with people from there that started with how much they hated PP, and then seamlessly moved into how to correctly vote for him, with no warning or acknowledgement of the irony. IIRC he won with 80%+.
Although that also illustrates it’s more brand loyalty than genuine regressiveness, even in the most rural areas.
At the risk of looking like a simpleton, isn’t Alberta separatism basically just a US psyop to colonize oil rich land by gaslighting Albertans into voting to leave Canada and ultimately join the US?
Sort of, it’s not about joining the US but about becoming a separate Union and having control over their resources and rights. They do have the backing of the US with this movement just because of the oil.
EDIT: I am not an Albertan, I just live beside them in a very closely politically related are, They are like our removed cousins… 🤣 Joking Of Course.
A lot of maple MAGAs in Alberta got into their heads that they wanted to join the US, I wonder where that came from…
Also, Smith et al are uncomfortably close to Trump.
All of this is conspiracy theory land for now, but it smells way too strongly of a US psyop campaign, the CIA has done this before to other countries, and Canada is not immune. The CIA has been known to mess with Canadian affairs in the past to some extent:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_activities_in_Canada
Here’s a r*ddit (ew) thread about the speculation, the linked video is food for thought and the conversation is interesting, approach the topic with a critical mind.
What do you mean by “this place”? I see more hate towards anyone conservative leaning than I do towards Alberta. I say this as a Liberal at heart too.
Don’t have much to add but sorry people were dicks to you and Albertans as a whole.
Left, Right, I think everyone is just so used to demonizing those with whom we disagree that folks lose sight that nowhere is a monolith and even the most Conservative province still has a huge number of Progressives (and vice versa.)
Thanks for pointing it out though. I definitely will casually drop a “fucking Alberta” when Smith starts shit and forget how that sounds to the million(s?) who don’t support her.
I AM an Albertan, and I have a hate boner for Albertans. The hate is 100% brought on by ourselves, and 100% deserved. The absolute manure that spills out of our legislature on a daily basis is embarrassing, and what is even more embarrassing is that a majority of Albertans keep voting for it, over and over. Don’t want the world to see you as inbred Maple MAGA hillbillies? Maybe quit acting like inbred Maple MAGA hillbillies then. Simple as.
I am Ontarioian and i have a hate boner for my fellow Ontarioians repeatedly voting in Doug Ford, a lying populist politician who thrives on corruption. We’re all in this together. The actions of the voters don’t always represent the actions or sentiment of the entire province. Vote for voting reform to have the people better represented by our premiers.
This guy Ontarioiates
“And I suggest you let that Ontarioiate” has officially been welcomed into my lexicon, and I wait anxiously for an excuse to use it.
Edit: agree with them though, fuck everyone who voted Ford back in.
All true but Ford doesn’t regularly threaten the rest of Canada. I don’t recall him giving a laundry list of conditions to the federal government, or else. I don’t think he’s threatened Canadian unity over the Ontario auto sector for example. Only one Canadian premier went to make photo ops with Trump and it wasn’t Ford. Ontario does look stupid for electing Ford three times in a row, but I don’t think we appear antagonistic towards the rest of Canada.
Alright, so despite it being clear that you specifically are against this, but still have a single minor tidbit of information I disagree with, it’s then fine for me to call you a fucking idiot because “this is brought on by ourselves”, right?
Clearly people have the ability to distinguish the “good” Albertan if they’re literally out here asking to be called names, so why do they have a hard time distinguishing that I’m not someone who supports the stuff happening here when I’m clearly in support of unions by the nature of my comments, my profile description states I have certain instances blocked for transphobia, and my linkstack is on an instance that’s queer-friendly based on the domain name alone?
Because we all know how much Conservatives and the UCP support… reads notes, unions, trans people, and the marginalised.
In BC, Rustad makes Smith look smart and diplomatic. Yet the last election had these mouth breathers losing by a handful of votes.
Foreign influence, social media, lies damn lies, and the failure to implement media literacy in schools in the 1990s led us to this. Well, add the flapping tatters of colonial settler ideology as a base layer, I guess.
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Which just means you’re not an older Albertan or a rural Albertan. WE keep voting conservative because we ARE conservative. And outside of the the two main cities, this province is radically conservative. Thats not gonna change.
Legit question: Why do you stay in AB if you hate it so much?
Great question, I haven’t convinced the other half just yet. Working on it.
I love the lifestyle and the life that we’ve built out here, but I also believe in decency and promise. Neither of which exist here anymore. I ideally don’t want my kids growing up in this place. It’s turned into fucking Utah, a place with extraordinary beauty but controlled by wackadoodle religious cults that bring nothing but misery, anger and darkness.
So you’re hating on all of us because one person generalized? Curious.
I have absolutely no stake in this, but that’s not how I read it.
They are stating it’s something they are encountering with some frequency and then they are giving a concrete example and analysis to hopefully illustrate what they are experiencing.
I’m sure you are familiar with the experience of being frustrated with someone’s behavior or actions, but then have a hard time coming up with more than a couple of examples when prompted.
I haven’t been keeping score, but everything OP said matches what I’ve noticed. I used to come here on my Beehaw account and literally couldn’t see the downvotes since Beehaw ignores them, but since I switched, the mass downvoting anytime anyone from Alberta posts is very noticeable. More broadly, people seem to largely be doing one of the shitty things I left Reddit and moved to Beehaw for: using the downvote button as “disagree” instead of what it should be: “not contributing to the conversation”.
I wish more instances removed downvoting; it just accelerates the move to an echo chamber, furthering polarization. I honestly don’t understand what they add.
If it’s hateful/prejudiced, then report it for removal. If it’s incorrect, then ratio them in the comments with your thoughtful response.
More broadly, people seem to largely be doing one of the shitty things I left Reddit and moved to Beehaw for: using the downvote button as “disagree” instead of what it should be: “not contributing to the conversation”.
This is splitting straws. This distinction never made sense anyway
Nah bruv. There’s a world of difference.
4. Upvote and Downvote Responsibly
Upvote: Content you find useful, interesting, or entertaining.
Downvote: Content that is off-topic, unhelpful, or violates community guidelines—not just because you disagree with it.
Why it matters: Misusing the voting system can lead to valuable posts being buried.What’s the fucking point of comments at all if anyone who raises a contrasting opinion is downvoted into invisibility?
Lemmy could fix this by making each of your downvotes cost you 2 upvotes. Obviously enabled by admins of instances.
The point is that the usefulness of a tool is determined by how people use it, not what it was created for. Downvotes will always be used as “i dont like this” unless their mechanics change
anyone who raises a contrasting opinion is downvoted into invisibility
Also this a great exaggeration. We’re defending contrasting opinions right now and that’s not happening.
Sorry, I thought the context of that quote was clear:
I was referring to raising a contrasting political opinion in defense of Albertans, as that’s the context for this entire discussion.
I understood the context, doesn’t change what I’m saying
I’m a middle-aged hard-left Albertan, and I don’t exactly know where to stand on this point.
On the one hand, I’ve been fighting against the UCP (and fucking Klein before that) for my entire life. I’ve marched with my gay friends in the '80s, stood against racists and transphobes on the streets of Calgary, demanded meaningful responses from my conservative MP/MLA/Councillor, tried to affect elections with information, and more - and I’m not fucking done yet! Better yet, there are MILLIONS of us in this province!
At the same time, I look at the US and think “OK, you tried and weren’t successful. Time to quarantine the entire fucking country until it grows up.”
So do I apply the same logic to my own province?
Look, we don’t deserve the support of the rest of Canada after an almost unbroken streak of shithead conservatives, but neither does Ontario or Saskatchewan or Nova Scotia. What we NEED is for people to remember the rest of us fighting, and to help us so we can help N.S. and fight against fascists EVERYWHERE!
I’m not looking for sympathy, I’m looking for someone to have my back so I can have theirs.
We’re better together. As a progressive nation. As a world leader. As a line in the sand against fascists.
Everybody loves a scapegoat.
