3 ms·

Bill 96 does look like segregation to me, but comparing it to apartheid or Nazism might be a slight exaggeration. I just don't think these issues are as simple

Bill 96 does look like segregation to me, but comparing it to apartheid or Nazism might be a slight exaggeration. I just don't think these issues are as simple as "good or bad". At the end of the day, English overtaking French is a real phenomenon. Are they supposed to just sit there and let it happen only to end up with a possibly more divided society where half the population can't communicate with the other? I'm not saying the solution they came up with is right (actually I think having to pass these types of laws is just a sign of weakness) but at the same time I refuse to think that it's fuelled by xenophobia.

jleyank 4y ago
No, not Nazism although there are resemblances to the Nuremberg laws. Apartheid, however, is a reasonable label in that the in-group is creating a (hostile) set of rules that enforces their world view in spite of others. They know it's discriminatory. It's against various UN and country level guarantees of freedom, and the sole justification is "it's supported by the majority". Hell, lynching black folk were "supported by the majority" in the US back then. Might still be, based on where you look. Change-or-leave isn't a terribly even-handed approach when you expect it to NOT be applied to yourself when outside of Quebec. And as others have said and written, if you have to take such aggressive measures to preserve one's culture, it's already dead. Trying to make the internet be something other than English or Mandarin is a fools errand. I would think it's being driven by the boomers who have spent their lives in pursuit of a goal. They'll accept the scorched-earth "victory" independent of the cost, as otherwise their adult lives were mis-spent or wasted. Their counterparts had 'Nam to deal with, or the wars of the 80's and 90's. They could have tried to make the situation positive and played along with the rules of civil society. But they chose not to and Montreal (again) will pay the price. The rest of the province couldn't care less.

jleyank 4y ago

No, not Nazism although there are resemblances to the Nuremberg laws. Apartheid, however, is a reasonable label in that the in-group is creating a (hostile) set of rules that enforces their world view in spite of others. They know it's discriminatory. It's against various UN and country level guarantees of freedom, and the sole justification is "it's supported by the majority". Hell, lynching black folk were "supported by the majority" in the US back then. Might still be, based on where you look. Change-or-leave isn't a terribly even-handed approach when you expect it to NOT be applied to yourself when outside of Quebec. And as others have said and written, if you have to take such aggressive measures to preserve one's culture, it's already dead. Trying to make the internet be something other than English or Mandarin is a fools errand. I would think it's being driven by the boomers who have spent their lives in pursuit of a goal. They'll accept the scorched-earth "victory" independent of the cost, as otherwise their adult lives were mis-spent or wasted. Their counterparts had 'Nam to deal with, or the wars of the 80's and 90's. They could have tried to make the situation positive and played along with the rules of civil society. But they chose not to and Montreal (again) will pay the price. The rest of the province couldn't care less.