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US-Canada border library gets new Quebec-only entrance

bbc.com

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Re: US-Canada border library gets new Quebec-only entrance

#131

Post by greggoB »

lmm wrote: post #98
greggoB wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Europe has open borders and this hasn't facilitated any increase in xenophobia that I'm aware of, despite many countries having many immigrants. South Africa by contrast does not have open borders, and is currently going through another bout of violent xenophobia. I don't think these two things are specifically related.

> hasn't facilitated any increase in xenophobia that I'm aware of Then you haven't been paying attention. > South Africa by contrast does not have open borders, and is currently going through another bout of violent xenophobia. Arguably a legacy of the time when it did.

> Then you haven't been paying attention.

I live here, I think I'd notice if events like the current Belfast riots happened on a more regular basis.

> Arguably a legacy of the time when it did.

I'm from there, so I'd be interested to know what time period that would be?

Re: US-Canada border library gets new Quebec-only entrance

#132

Post by greggoB »

engineer_22 wrote: post #74
greggoB wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Europe has open borders and this hasn't facilitated any increase in xenophobia that I'm aware of, despite many countries having many immigrants. South Africa by contrast does not have open borders, and is currently going through another bout of violent xenophobia. I don't think these two things are specifically related.

> hasn't facilitated any increase in xenophobia that I'm aware of My friends in Europe describe the situation differently

Where would they be located?

Re: US-Canada border library gets new Quebec-only entrance

#133

Post by greggoB »

snowpid wrote: post #124
greggoB wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Europe has open borders and this hasn't facilitated any increase in xenophobia that I'm aware of, despite many countries having many immigrants. South Africa by contrast does not have open borders, and is currently going through another bout of violent xenophobia. I don't think these two things are specifically related.

"Europe has open borders and this hasn't facilitated any increase in xenophobia that I'm aware of, despite many countries having many immigrants." My guess you are naive but intra European racism was always a thing (easy example was Hitler). The EU tries to combat it and reduced definitely thanks to Erasmus, better weath of East Europe, well open borders but oh boy it still exists.

So taking your premise on face value, how has open borders specifically augmented/facilitated this racism exactly?

Re: US-Canada border library gets new Quebec-only entrance

#134

Post by nubinetwork »

BobaFloutist wrote: post #113
stuxnet79 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Believe me an open border would do nothing but increase xenophobia. Canada is dealing with its own immigration crisis with a ton of newcomers DDoSing the overextended healthcare system and real estate market.

I don't understand, why have some of the newcomers become builders and doctors?

Historically, the doctors come here for training, and leave for the US, where the pay is better.

Re: US-Canada border library gets new Quebec-only entrance

#136

Post by mothballed »

greggoB wrote: post #133
snowpid wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Europe has open borders and this hasn't facilitated any increase in xenophobia that I'm aware of, despite many countries having many immigrants." My guess you are naive but intra European racism was always a thing (easy example was Hitler). The EU tries to combat it and reduced definitely thanks to Erasmus, better weath of East Europe, well open borders but oh boy it still exists.

So taking your premise on face value, how has open borders specifically augmented/facilitated this racism exactly?

Not sure about them, but having lived or spent time in a many other cultures and countries, I found that I'd often start off with a cheery or neutral view of them but then when I get to know them and actually live with them there were points of cultural contention that were a lot less tolerable up close than at an easy distance where they were not my concern and that can often show up as projected as "racism." This doesn't mean they do things the wrong thing, it's just annoying to have to pick up a bunch of new and often incompatible new cultural systems to accommodate immigrants. If you're going to them, that's one thing and comes with the territory; but when they're coming to you and maybe you're already exhausted with johnny keeping you up all night and working enough hour to pay rent that extra effort to accommodate 10 extra different cultures 9 of whom might be unhappy if you treat them all the exact same could obviously be exhausting.

Then you start thinking maybe your mental or even physical burden could be lessened if you just had to deal with one cultural system or at least the previous number of ones you had to deal with. You start thinking maybe something like 1000 new Afghans would be a bit harder to deal with for you than 1000 new Frenchman. I don't think there's much stronger way of bringing about racism than actually getting to know and see other cultures, at a distance you can gloss over about anything as "we're all equal humans who should sing koombaya" but the rubber meets the road when your kid is trying to sleep for school and the local arabs have set up blaring calls to prayer at 2am.

Re: US-Canada border library gets new Quebec-only entrance

#137

Post by recursivecaveat »

buckle8017 wrote: post #38
nemomarx wrote: post #5

It's not an unfair reaction to the main entrance being closed, but it is a little sad. The northern border used to be so much more flexible and I don't see any real benefits from doing all this.

Canada allowed millions of temporary foreign workers in. Unfortunately the border actually needs to be more sealed.

You realize that the library is not like a portal right? It's just a building that happens to be on the invisible line. If you wanted to cross the border you could just travel to any point along the countless miles of uninhabited wilderness outside the town and walk across.

Re: US-Canada border library gets new Quebec-only entrance

#138

Post by bluGill »

throwaway27448 wrote: post #119
bluGill wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Midterm elections are coming up.

When you figure out how to leverage a vote to get something, let me know. Last time I tried this I was screamed at for electing a fascist for withholding it.

You will be screamed at no matter what you do. So don't let that get in your way. It is important to vote. Remember when people are screaming that at least you're sending a message because votes even for third parties are counted and when third parties start to get a lot of attention that does change what the major parties do. So don't worry about so-called wasted votes. They're never wasted. Sometimes you don't have a good option, but you can pick the best option you have.

Re: US-Canada border library gets new Quebec-only entrance

#139

Post by lmm »

greggoB wrote: post #131
lmm wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> hasn't facilitated any increase in xenophobia that I'm aware of Then you haven't been paying attention. > South Africa by contrast does not have open borders, and is currently going through another bout of violent xenophobia. Arguably a legacy of the time when it did.

> Then you haven't been paying attention. I live here, I think I'd notice if events like the current Belfast riots happened on a more regular basis. > Arguably a legacy of the time when it did. I'm from there, so I'd be interested to know what time period that would be?

> I live here, I think I'd notice if events like the current Belfast riots happened on a more regular basis.

The island of Ireland has had pretty low immigration (not to mention not even having open borders in the sense usually meant by "Europe has open borders", other than between a pair of neighbouring countries with very strong cultural ties), if that's where you mean by "here" you may have been insulated from it. Where I was, while it didn't spill out into rioting (mostly) there was a palpable uptick in xenophobia when Romania and Bulgaria were admitted into the EU, and another with the 2015 migrant crisis (which ultimately lead to many of those open borders being closed, temporarily or "temporarily").

> I'm from there, so I'd be interested to know what time period that would be?

Pre-1902; one could haggle over the exact date depending on what one considers an open border.

Re: US-Canada border library gets new Quebec-only entrance

#140

Post by GJim »

throwaway27448 wrote: post #121
GJim wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That fatalistic attitude is why your democracy is in peril. Get off your arse and take lessons on protesting from the French.

> Get off your arse and take lessons on protesting from the French. Sir, I'm fleeing this country. The time to protest was 30 years ago. Or 70 years ago. Either way, it is well in the past. This country will need to crash and detox from its addiction to money before it can become a real democracy.

> Sir, I'm fleeing this country.

Where to?

Because unless you become a citizen of the country you are fleeing to (a process that, *IF* it is open to you, will take years), you will have even less rights to vote and protest than you do now.

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