Why is There So Much Apathy and Laziness in Canada ?

This here writer contents that human beings by nature are not basically lazy. Look at babies and little children. They are energetic and curious, and full of life. Human beings by nature have a willingness to work, and do things. 

Then why oh why is there so much apathy and laziness in the nation of Canada ? There is a stunningly high level of public apathy here. Why have too many in Canada fallen into a collective lethargic, apathetic stupour ? You see it everywhere. Obesity is a growing concern. Yet look at all the empty sports fields - empty ball diamonds, empty tennis courts, that a person sees constantly. Where are the people - are they too busy to go out there and throw a football, or kick around a soccer ball, or play games with the kids - or are they just too damn lazy or what ? 

Voter turnout in elections particularly at the municipal level are very low. In the last Alberta provincial election in 2008 there was only a 41 % voter turnout. Are too many Canadian voters simply too apathetic, and lazy to keep up with the issues, and take a few minutes to vote ?  Are most Canadians political illiterates and proud of it ? 

You see it on the job site - there are too many who just want to get a soft, easy job - and leave the heavy lifting to others (who probably in their opinion are too dumb to get a soft job like them). There seems to be this all too pervasive attitude on the job site by way too many, of trying to finagle themselves into a soft cushy position, or trying to manipulate things so they get the easy work. Taking advantage of others on the job, and getting them to do the hard work - while these same people smirk and silently laugh at those who are willing to do the hard jobs - and consider such persons as being dumbbells. Why is it that those who do the hard and dirty jobs in Canada are too often labeled as being dumb, or uneducated ?  Why do so many look down upon those who work with their hands, and are prepared to get a little bit dirty and sweat a bit ?   Why are too many hard workers in the workshops of Canada being taken advantage of by fellow employees and employers ?  Why are such persons labeled as being stupid ? Since when was it stupid to be diligent, and be an energetic, hard worker ?  Well in the Canada of today in 2008 that is where we are sadly headed. 

If you don't believe me regarding the work ethic of too many here in Canada (and I'll remind you I do live in Calgary, Alberta and we here are certainly not exempt from this problem) then would you believe the comments of the former Premier of Quebec and former leader of the Parti Quebecois - Lucien Bouchard. He made some interesting comments concerning his home Province, but I feel much of what he said could apply to a large percentage of Canada.

Quotes by Lucien Bouchard:

''We need to work more. We don't work enough. We work less than Ontarians, and infinitely less than the Americans,''  Lucien Bouchard told the TVA network, adding that Quebecois are creating a difficult future for themselves.

''What I said is that Quebecers work less than Ontarians and Americans, and that the best way to create more resources to sustain the social programs we are so proud of, is to work more.

''If you told me I'd soon be pushing my last breath, I'd take the opportunity to say what I said because it is the truth. You can't escape the truth, and I like Quebecers too much to not tell them the truth.''

“Here in Quebec, it's like being in this big plane,” he said. “It's warm, comfortable and flying smoothly with no problems. But when you look out the pilot's window, there is a mountain there at 20,000 feet in altitude. . . . We are going to hit the mountain. It is certain we are going to crash into it.”

“It isn't because Albertans own oil that they pay cheaper gasoline prices than others at the pump,” he said. “Here we have Hydro-Québec buying electricity for 10 cents and then selling it to us for 10 cents. Come on, that doesn't make sense.”

Too many Canadians are not even willing to make the effort to keep the birth rate up - instead they rely upon the government to increase immigration. Are there too many women and men who are just plain too lazy to even make the effort to get married, get mated and have sex and reproduce ?  Isn't it a natural instinct within normal human beings to reproduce ? Why are abortion rates so high - are too many Canadians simply too lazy to rear children - too much work or what ?  Is killing the kids just the easy way out, or what ? 

We are living in a nation which claims to be Christian, yet most Canadian adults are Biblical illiterates. Are they simply too lazy to read their Bibles or what ?  There are no shortages of Bibles you know. Too many are Biblical illiterates and proud of it. Proud of being uneducated ? 

This here writer is prepared to be generous (this may be one of my weaknesses you know) - and say that the overwhelming majority of Canadians are not lazy by nature. Instead I feel the problem has something to do with the nanny state and socialism. Canada is a socialist society. 

The Problem Is Socialism - and the Nanny State

Every nation or distinct society has a collective orientation. Some nations like Canada are more diverse, while others like Japan for example are more homogeneous. 

So within such a diverse and geographically enormous nation like Canada - there can be more than one overriding collective orientation. This here writer in his humble opinion believes that there are two overarching collective orientations within the larger society in Canada and these are specifically the following:

1. Money and material goods.
2. Socialism

There are subcultures within such a huge and diverse nation like Canada, but it is not within the scope of this article to deal with these today. Instead we shall within this article concentrate specifically upon one of the main orientations of the collective Canadian society - specifically socialism. 

The Collective Canadian Societal Disease of Socialism

Socialism in Canada has robbed too many Canadians of their initiative, robbed them of their independence, robbed them of their willingness to work, robbed them of their taking personal responsibility for things, and robbed them of their dignity and self-respect. Socialism has robbed them of their pride, because socialism doesn't approve of individual success. Socialism instead approves of the mediocre middle of the road dull gray. Sticking out and being different is frowned upon. You can even see it in the colours of the clothes the people wear in public in Canada - gray, blue or brownish are the norm - not the bright colours. Not anything that really stands out too much. 

Socialism in Canada has caused too many Canadians to always look to Big Brother and the Nanny State to solve their problems, and to take care of things - from cradle to grave. 

Socialism is destroying Canada and Canadians. 

In a socialist system individual success is not valued - in fact it too often is frowned upon. For example at school during gym classes (at least where my daughter goes to school) - they too often frown upon keeping score in sports activities during regular gym classes. Why on earth would anyone play a sport or game without keeping score ? Well in a socialist society - keeping score might offend those who just are not very good at the game. Therefore such a system tends to kill personal initiative, and destroy the personal initiative of our best and brightest. In a socialist system the best and brightest - the gifted - have few places to go. They are often bored to death, and may just tune out. A good number may leave and go to other countries like the United States - where excellence is still supposedly rewarded (that is what they say at least). Personal individual excellence is not encouraged enough in a socialist system, which values more things like getting along, and working together with others harmoniously. So being too bright or too competent, or too smart - offends too many in a society, which tends or gravitates towards the bland and mediocre.  

Socialism and the nanny state has practically destroyed most of the native people in Canada. Too many natives have this attitude of entitlement, and the attitude of always blaming others like government and the white man for their problems. Instead of taking responsibility and ownership of their problems, too many aboriginals on reserves and elsewhere look to government to solve their problems. And they are supported in taking this approach by a vast array of so-called experts - like social workers, lawyers, social scientists, and political leaders - who feed upon the natives and get their living off of the stunningly expensive and complicated bureaucracy that surrounds, imprisons and feeds off the aboriginals. 

Socialism in Canada is a very serious impediment or obstacle to tackling so many problems we face. This is because the socialist system tends towards viewing social problems as being caused more by the society, and social environment rather than caused by individual behavior.  Therefore the socialist nanny state doesn't encourage too much individuals taking ownership and responsibility over problems.  Instead the system encourages people to look to government and big brother for solutions. Sure ones environment does have a big influence over us when we are small and vulnerable and not in control of anything much. However, people do grow up, and they can change. We are not helpless victims of our past, once we grow up and are adults. We can change for the better, and we can take control over our lives. One way we can do this is by resisting actively the intrusive, controlling nanny state, and fighting for individual freedom. 

To illustrate the fruits of socialism gone mad take the great left wing socialist sacred cow of socialized medicine in Canada - namely the Canadian  Medicare System. Too many Canadians  look to the Health Care System to take care of their health - rather than taking ownership and responsibility for their own health. Sure we need public health care in serious matters where we as individuals cannot care for ourselves, and can't afford the costs personally of access to the specialized equipment, and specialized caregivers  - like when involved in serious accidents, cases of serious diseases and so on. However, the system does not really encourage or support a preventative based approach to Health Care here in Canada. Today in 2008 the costs of the socialized Health Care System in Canada are out of control and unsustainable. It just cannot continue - something has to give. 

Another illustration is a recent tragic incident that happened in Saskatchewan. I will relate the story to you first, which describes how the tragedy unfolded. Then I will give you some comments on the matter. I have gotten the details from over the internet, and do not have any personal involvement with the story, or in reporting it. This is a terribly heart wrenching, sad story. 

The RCMP say an aboriginal Father - Christopher Pauchay was taking his daughters, ages 1 and 3, to another house on the Yellow Quill First Nation reservation on Tuesday night January 29, 2008 in extremely cold weather (in the -30's) when due to drunkenness he blacked out. He was found and taken to a hospital, but it wasn't until about eight hours later he mentioned his kids.

The 1-year-old's body was found hours later and the 3-year-old was found Wednesday. 

The children's grandmother, Pearl Pauchay, said the girls belong to her 25-year-old son and his common-law wife.   "He was carrying them. But he was drinking and he must have blacked out," she said. "That's what he said when we went to visit him in the hospital."

Christopher, 24, was drinking heavily Monday night, his elder sister, Bernita Pauchay, said. His wife Tracey stormed out after a fight earlier, and Pauchay was left home alone with the kids. The day before he had purchased a case of beer and two bottles of whisky.

"My brother was so intoxicated," Bernita, 35, said. "I don't know how big the bottles were, but when he drank whisky he would get real loaded."

That night, something happened with Santana that scared Christopher. She may have been sick, Bernita said, or something else may have gone wrong.

"I'm not sure what happened with the baby but he said something was wrong with her," she said.

This apparently caused Mr. Pauchay to try and run through the snow to his sister's house, maybe because he wanted to get a ride down to the hospital in Kelvington, and had no phone in his house. He never got there.

His tracks were left in the snow.  "You could tell he couldn't see where he was running because he was running right through high snowbanks. You could see the times that he fell,"  Bernita said.

"He remembers carrying both of the babies, but he was so intoxicated he doesn't really remember anything else," she said.

"He remembers holding both of the babies in his arms and falling all over in the snow. At some point he must have fallen so hard that he dropped one of them and he kept running with the other one, and he was just so scared that he just kept going. He didn't realize that he had dropped one of the girls."

He lost the other girl as well. Four hours later, around 5 a.m. Tuesday, Pauchay crawled through the snow to a neighbour's front step. His hand frozen, he banged on the door.  He was incoherent, the neighbours told his family, suffering from hypothermia and frostbite and still under the influence of alcohol. They called an ambulance, whose crew called the RCMP, and Pauchay was brought to Kelvington's hospital by 5:30 a.m.

It wasn't until eight hours later that anyone noticed his daughters were missing. At 1:30 p.m. Pauchay asked hospital staff if his children were all right ! 

Later that afternoon, a tuft of dark, curly hair was spotted in a snow bank on the reserve. The RCMP recovered the body of little Santana that day. With the cold and blowing snow it took another 24 hours to recover Kaydence's body, which lay about 45 yards from the spot where her sister was found.

" The entire reserve was in mourning Wednesday,"   Yellow Quill Chief Robert Whitehead said.

Media vehicles streamed out of the reserve after Chief Robert Whitehead decided it was time to dim the national spotlight on the story to give his community time to grieve.  He asked journalists to stay away until four days after the funeral.

Earlier in the day, there was an emotional plea from Nippi, who is one of the children's grandmothers.  She told reporters her daughter and son-in-law were "the best parents" and have not been treated fairly in the media.

"They've been 'misportrayed,'" she said. She also said the role of the community should be looked at.     "We don't guide our children enough. We don't guide them because they get into alcohol, they get into drugs, they get into pills. You know, it's a community problem, not just one. It's everybody's problem here."

Nippi also said she should take some responsibility herself for what happened.
 
"I feel sort of to blame a little bit 'cause I didn't guide my daughter enough when she needed me the most," she said.

Guy Lonechild, a vice-chief with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, said it was distressing to hear the desperation in Nippi's voice, but he hopes the entire country pays attention to her words.

"I think there's time for voices to be heard and I think all of Saskatchewan really needs to stand together with the families," he said.

"I was worried about my grandchildren. I did not want them to leave this world in vain," Nippi said, her slight frame trembling against the cold. "I hope there's change now that happens - a lot of changes like no alcohol and counseling and stuff to be brought in here. Our old teachings should be brought back."

Concerns are being raised about alcohol use on reserves after the frozen bodies of two little girls were found on Saskatchewan's Yellow Quill First Nation.

June Draude, the province's First Nations minister, said Thursday there are a lot of questions to be answered about the deaths of Kaydance and Santana Pauchay.

Ms. Draude said Yellow Quill is a loving community but she acknowledged that there are several social issues, including addictions, that have to be dealt with on the reserve.

My Comments 

Well obviously the family has suffered severely here, especially the poor two little girls - now dead and gone. 

This tragedy is just being quietly coved up, and it shouldn't be.  This is a national shame, and should not be quietly laid to rest, like the two poor little girls have been - in a far, far too early grave. How utterly tragic and senseless. Just imagine how much suffering these children went through struggling in the deep snow and terribly cold weather, with only very light clothes on. 

I notice very little personal responsibility being shown by anyone here - except maybe the Grandma Nippi. Of course I am not privy to all the details and players, and I'm just going by the few articles I read on the subject, and on some of the things I heard on TV. I am not up to date on recent developments if any on the case. 

This tragedy portrays in glaring, stark terms the evil fruits of the Canadian societal orientation around socialist and the nanny state - where individuals are not encouraged to take personal responsibility for their actions. Instead there is the same old tired out, ridiculous call for more social programs, more government intervention, more treatment programs for alcoholism, more counseling by more parasitic social workers, and there is the implied message that somehow the white man is responsible here. 

You know I am a so-called white man (but I regard myself just as much and big a native of this land as any aboriginal) and I never in any way forced Christopher Pauchay to drink all that booze, and get drunk out of his mind - so damn drunk that he does something so bloody stupid as taking his half naked toddlers out into -30 degree temperatures. Who is forcing these people to drink that stuff ? You know I used to drink a lot myself, but I could handle it. I have stopped drinking alcohol now for about 12 years (except for some wine on the Passover), because I felt the beer was harming my health. I just went cold turkey and stopped. People like Christopher Pauchay can do the same thing - just take personal responsibility and stop drinking booze - if you can't handle it, if it is harming your health and relationships, and if you can't stop until you are dead drunk. Just do it - just stop drinking booze period. It may be a tough addiction to handle, but basically people who for whatever reason cannot handle booze - my suggestion is to just go cold turkey - just stay away from it if you can't handle it. Take personal responsibility - you don't need a bunch of social workers, or government intervention, or for your reserve to ban the stuff. Just do it yourself and stop. 

The overarching problem is Canada's orientation around socialism, and the promotion of the nanny state. Like I told you dear reader - socialism is robbing Canadians of their taking personal responsibility for things, and robbed them of their dignity and self-respect. There is this attitude among too many natives of always blaming others like government and the white man for their problems. Instead of taking responsibility and ownership of their problems, too many aboriginals on reserves and elsewhere look to government to solve their problems, or they play the blame game.

Christopher Pauchay was recently sentenced in early 2009 to a jail term - I believe a three year one for criminal negligence. There was a native sentencing circle first - and the recommendation was he not be jailed, but required to do service within the community. However, the court has the final say here, and there was a trial and Pauchay is now behind bars. He apparently displayed little remorse and did not seem to be willing to take full responsibility for the tragic death of his two daughters. 

Another illustration is the recent (early April 2008) strangling death of a Calgary toddler, two-year-old Preet Dhami,  after she was choked by the dangling window blind cords in her family's home. 

The girl at the time was at home with her uncle and grandparents.

"You can expect parents to have a certain amount of responsibility, but you need society to provide protection," said Dr. Louis Francescutti, an emergency room physician at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton and a professor at the University of Alberta's faculty of medicine.

"You have to transfer the responsibility back onto society. We're Neanderthals when it comes to children's safety," Francescutti said.

My Comments 

Once again the parents have suffered a great deal, but especially the little girl - now dead. 

Dr. Louis Francescutti was reported as saying that society is to blame for the death of this toddler. I am part of this society, so according to Francescutti I am partly responsible for the child's death. This is ridiculous. I do not even know the family yet alone the child. So how am I to blame ?  

This is just another example of the evils of socialism. You know if everyone is responsible - then no one is. If everyone owns it - this means no one owns it. This is just a convenient out - blame society - individuals are not held accountable - if society is to blame. 

In a socialist, over regulated, over governed, and bureaucratic country like Canada (where big government and big business reign)  it can be socially dangerous to display too much personal initiative, and free thinking. Socialism represses free thinking. Socialism punishes you for thinking creatively , and for thinking outside of the box. Socialism encourages collective, herd like, lemming like thinking. Therefore socialism by its very nature is a self-defeating destructive system, because it prevents people from coming up with creative innovative solutions to our problems. Instead it encourages citizens to keep banging their collective heads against the same old problems, and keep looking to the nanny state to solve our problems. Therefore the constant and tiresome call for more government programs to tackle social problems, which just mean more and more taxes to feed a ever growing government bureaucracy. 

Socialism is destroying initiative in Canada, because it effectively punishes you for working hard. The more the ordinary worker makes - the more taxes they pay. So it gets to the point where it doesn't even make any sense to work more or longer hours, or work overtime to get ahead - because then you will just fall into a higher tax bracket, and have much of your hard earned wages stolen from you through higher taxes to feed the ever growing bureaucratic nanny state. I personally know a guy who told me he used to work very much overtime at his job site, but has stopped doing so. Why ? Well he calculated that after he factored in all the extra taxes he was paying - he was really only making about  $ 1.00 an hour. So why put in all that extra work, when the socialist nanny system siphons off most of it just to feed the insatiable maw of the bloated socialist nanny state ? 

Socialism in Canada is repressing and suppressing the natural instinct of most normal human beings in Canada to reproduce and have a family. Many adults in Canada have consciously decided on not having children, because they can see how intrusive and meddlesome the nanny state is here in Canada towards families. They can see how the nanny state wants to be the parent, and how the nanny state works to undermine the authority of parents in regards to their children. So why open yourself up to government meddling - why expose yourself and make yourself vulnerable to an intrusive bureaucracy, which has the power to seize almost any child in Canada they want - for any kind of hatched up bogus reason they can think of ?  Why put yourself through the mental anguish of possibly exposing yourself to the corrupt government officials at Child Services - when you have children ?  Why have kids when there is almost no incentive within the socialist system to have kids ?  Little wonder birth rates in Canada have fallen to record low levels in recent years. 

Socialism in Canada encourages too many men to be sexually irresponsible. Therefore too many men (especially black men) have taken the irresponsible approach of " Lov'em and Leav'em " in regards to women. We have had a large increase in the numbers of single mothers in Canada in our recent history.  These so-called men jump in the sack with one loose woman after another, and then don't have the gumption, gonads, and courage to take care of the children. They  often just leave when the woman gets pregnant.  Such male creeps and bums receive little sanction from anyone - and the nanny state too often just picks up the costs of rearing the children through various social welfare programs. Socialism doesn't hold individuals accountable for their actions enough, but instead tends to look to society for causes of individual behavior. You know the phony socialist slogan  " It takes a village to raise a child "  so there is little incentive in socialist Canada for the man to stick around and care for the child, since it takes a village to raise a child, and all they figure they need do is the copulation part. Then let society take care of the kid. 

On the other hand it is an entirely different story for sexually responsible men.  Such Fathers in Canada are too often treated just like junk - just as penises and wallets. In socialist Canada the system supports feminist ideology, which is in conspiracy against Fatherhood. The courts, particularly the Family Court is stacked against men - the system especially hates a  genuine Christian Father, who believes in following the Biblical laws regarding family. The sexually responsible male is an easy target for the intrusive nanny state, since they stick around, and make commitments. So the system comes down on them with both boots, while the irresponsible male creeps and bums just go their merry, shiftless ways - looking to society to foot the bill for their irresponsible behavior. 

Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms and Fundamental Freedoms (from the Canadian Constitution) " The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: (a) freedom of conscience and religion; (b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; (c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and (d) freedom of association. "

This web site built, designed, and owned by Ray Wegner 

31/05/10     Back     

" Apathy can be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can only be aroused by two things: first, an ideal, with takes the imagination by storm, and second, a definite intelligible plan for carrying that ideal into practice. "

quote by Arnold Toynbee - British Historian 1889 - 1975

"Apathy is a mental state in which the sufferer lacks the desire, will or energy to engage in any activity, whether intellectual or physical. It is variously called indifference, boredom, lassitude, languor, listlessness, laziness, lethargy or inertia. It may be a symptom of mental disorder. It is first alienation of the self from the world and then self-alienation. Finally it is withdrawal from all participation in the care of others and care of oneself. Collectively, apathy may be expressed in social, economic, political or ideological paralysis, with all the available energy for change locked up in the institutions, systems and structures of society."

Definition of Apathy

Apathy can be defined as an absence or suppression of emotion, feeling, concern or passion. Further, apathy is an indifference to things generally found to be exciting or moving.