It is distressing that some sectors of the government turn a blind ear and eye to anyone who would seek to explain our desires, wants, or needs, and simply bull ahead with their own agendas. It often appears they only wish to exercise power for its own sake. I am sure that is true in some cases (and depending on the individual, sometimes in most cases).
OK, well, alot of that is easy to understand and agree to, but I‘m suddenly curious about soldier politics. For instance, on just about every Canadian army forum, including this one someone or other seems to bring up the Canadian Alliance white paper, and then you have a whole lot of people (albeit not all of them soldiers....or so it would appear) start badmouthing the Liberal government, and claiming that they vote conservative.
So here‘s a question for YOU. Do you, as soldiers, really think that it would be worth having a better equipped military in exchange for Canada‘s social programs? I mean, that IS what the cost would be.
(I say "better equipment" because everybody else says that; truth be told, I have no idea the state of your kit....yet.)
It just seems to me that slandering our leaders seems to be a Canadian tradition, that the military seems all too willing to carry on. **** , most of you openly slam Chretien; were this a US army forum board, and one of you started slandering Bush, you can sure as **** bet that people would start flaming, even though Bush deserves the harsh critisism oh so much more.
(Ok, raise hands, how many of you want to start grilling me for saying that about Bush, even though he is a foreign leader?)
The next step from never voicing out against the gov‘t is a fascist state where it is illegal to do so. I‘m proud of my country and part of that comes from the fact that we have the freedom, regardless of political views, to be heard.
gate_guard, how many times have you had someone who was in no way associated with the military, and not "in" per se, start openly bashing the CF? Doesn‘t that aggravate you knowing that that person is going to influence other people, that that person is going to use their uninformed vote to choose the next government who in turn will make your decisions for you? Just look at how many Canadians try to take the fifth amendment, or claim that Canada is a republic. Do you like the thought of those people being on the same level as you? What about the crazy person who lurks in back alleys, biting the heads off rats? Do you think he should be heard? I don‘t know...I‘ve always believed that political power should be centralized, not spread out or shared. Couldn‘t you define a facist state as one where things get DONE, where those most fit to wield power end up?