Ah, nice that you took the time.

I think you believe I and other Canadians are saying no USA citizens should move to Canada. I have heard a few people mention this but it’s fringe.

Refugees in particular, and that has been mentioned in this thread, well we’re readying up for that like we always have. Active dinner table discussions about how to handle an influx of trans folk and other victims of fascism, beds available, resources for support, secrecy protocols, etc.

What has changed, though? A declaration of war, and yes it isn’t official but it feels surreal and inevitable at this point. I can’t stress this enough: Canada is on fucking edge and the threat is a complete elimination of identity, mass death and suffering, and generations of oppression and resistance.

You know, colonialism.

What I think would be unreasonable to expect of anyone is to tell them they must believe in anything in order to live somewhere outside of some very basic things. On a systemic level it would be authoritarian and draconian otherwise.

Oh, basic things like being in favour of a colonial outcome? So it sounds like you are suggesting we should welcome those who hold us in contempt by hiding behind ideology. “Oh you’re just overreacting” say the US centrists.

So yes, perhaps we should be screening immigrants for their position on our pending invasion. I’m not asserting that, but I wouldn’t be surprised if security protocols are enacted at borders.

What I am talking about is reception. How any US citizen moving here will have to deal with the social reality. After 100+ years of low level colonialism from the south, we have some attitudes that you will have to deal with.

it sounds like almost like you are asking people to repent for the sin of having been born and raised in the US regardless in order to take refuge by going through a re-education program or something.

lol well statistically a large number of US immigrants do believe in original sin. However I am pointing out that it will be difficult for someone who was raised in a highly individualistic culture to take responsibility for the society they come from, and for the beliefs they carry forward. So yeah, if you come to Canada, and pretend we are just as individualistic as the USA, you’re going to feel like a hero around all these meek and diminished folk. And that has been happening my whole life, “americans” who move here and talk down while acting convivial and take over all the little ponds they swim in. It’s a type. Usually professional or middle class. Often they are “fleeing” the States… but not really. I grew up with an influx of draft dodgers, and yeah, they were welcomed, but there were problems, and here’s the thing: they are often oblivious to the fundamental cultural differences.

So when I refer to ‘decolonize your mind’ that is something we are actively trying to do as average residents of Canada, as we draw a long running genocide to conclusion. It’s a common enough phrase that you can research it yourself, cf. Freire, Pedagogy of the Opressed and related ideas.

The sharp point of colonialism wielded in our direction from the south means we’ve had to put up with a lot of bullshit.

So, to clarify, if you move here as a refugee because you object to your government, but aren’t a direct victim yet, and call yourself a refugee, expect doubt. Expect irony as your privilege is obvious. Expect to prove you aren’t the enemy in spirit, and expect to do some work shedding the things that made your country the enemy.

This includes culture and attitudes that you aren’t aware of.

Individuals are not responsible for the society they are born in and are raised in, regardless of context. People don't even choose to be born in the first place, let alone where.

That is just a bizarre conservative attitude that works well for neo-aristocracy goals. It’s destructive to other societies and we wish you wouldn’t export that unwelcome shit in your media and migrants.

So fucking tiring. The world is not black and white, yes we carry collective responsibility. It’s a matter of degrees, culture doesn’t just magically happen and society springs forth from culture. If Assata Shakur can take responsibility so can you.

Are you as a Canadian, directly responsible for the neocolonial blights in Bolivia because you are a Canadian citizen?

More than 1/40,000,000th responsible, yes. Directly, I don’t think so, I’m not aware of investments in Canadian mining. My spouse’s pension plan may be investing there, because even though they have some ethical oversight, money, uh, finds a way.

“Direct” is a bit of a false dichotomy however. I benefit from those atrocities in various ways. I pay taxes, I use government services, and the CA government enables this neocolonialism. I work for clients who have done I-don’t-know-what, I use products that are cheap because of this exploitation, and I fail to track many details of the supply chain that would help me avoid participating.

More, I have not donated to miningwatch.ca for years, I haven’t written any letters to officials about it in decades, and I haven’t even been tracking news about the problem lately.

Given that those are all choices I have made, whether active or passive, I bear a little extra responsibility above the basic citizenship share, yes. It’s a lot less responsibility than the choice I made to have children, let’s say, but it is each individual’s to some degree. My life is full of such things. It’s not a burden! It’s the bitter irony of awareness, which is a blessing.

It’s also the basis for a civic mindset that will get us through the great filter.

TL;DR: you leave a wake as you pass through life, those ripples wash up somewhere