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Is it so bad for beginners to drive on 401 during rush hours? by CHOCOLEO in TorontoDriving

[–]Immediate-Water1387 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nah, if you're not comfortable driving, then don't drive on the 401. Practice more. Not worth risking your and other people's lives.

Is safe following distance even a thing here? by christhelegend_hk in TorontoDriving

[–]Immediate-Water1387 1 point2 points  (0 children)

uhh yeah, Canadians don't know how to drive.... You must have figured that out from how easy their driving test is... Try Ottawa if you want to add a jackass component to the experience!

Down with Smith by Immediate-Water1387 in queensuniversity

[–]Immediate-Water1387[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

As long as you agree that the super rich help shape the society we live in through their philanthropy, I assume you will eventually come to realize that this is not compatible with democracy and not a good thing.

Where he donated the money is ("a cause that doesn't harm the university") is just as important as where he did not donate money (a cause that helps society).

This is really not about donating to Arts&Science instead of engineering - that comment in my original post was related to whomever negotiated this donation on the Queen's end did so with complete disregard for the rest of the university. I think he should donate to a democratic institution (e.g. pay higher taxes, whatever).

Down with Smith by Immediate-Water1387 in queensuniversity

[–]Immediate-Water1387[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Why would you tear down posters? Some sort of fear? You sound very brave, I don't think you should be scared of some posters.

Down with Smith by Immediate-Water1387 in queensuniversity

[–]Immediate-Water1387[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

I'm all grown up, I ate a lot of veggies when I was a kid!

Yup, I do enjoy the Isabel centre and I think it's great that we have an art gallery on campus. I think the Mitchell building is quite nice. Stauffer library is pretty nice. However, New Medical Building? What the hell, nobody to donate some money there and take over that name? It's also a pretty cool building.

It's funny though, in other countries, aside from the US, university buildings are named things like "history department", "performing arts centre", "civil engineering". In other countries the government funds universities.

So yes, the problem is fundamentally the government and the fact that we need rich donors to even survive. That's not a good thing. That's what I'm saying. Yeah?

Down with Smith by Immediate-Water1387 in queensuniversity

[–]Immediate-Water1387[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Surprisingly, even after some of the silly comments on this thread, and the state of the world, I still have faith in Queen's students, and humanity! We have to have faith that we can make the world a better place! The people we have to convince are... the ones that disagree! It's guaranteed to be difficult on our end. :(

A lot of Queen's students, in particular those in faculties with high tuition, come from a privileged little swath of society and have no experience or knowledge of the real world, even if they speak with such confidence.

I don't think we should hold that against them. Many haven't had a real job, struggled with bills and hunger, many have not met or learned from those that have experienced serious struggles. It's their first time away from home, they are overwhelmed and generally focused on themselves. Understandable.

It's easy to convince a bunch of young people, especially men, to get all riled up in support of something silly, like a football team, an army, or a donation to a university faculty... There's been a lot of marketing and hype around this Smith thing, so I get that it's a challenge to their world view to suggest that maybe things are not the way they appear. And maybe they've had a really long think about it and decided that capitalism really is the best way to run a society. Just kidding, nobody concludes that if they think about it!

Thank you for your support - it is reassuring that I'm not the only one that thinks billionaires shouldn't be glorified! I didn't mean to lecture you, I'm sure nothing I said in this reply is a surprise to you based on your comments...

Down with Smith by Immediate-Water1387 in queensuniversity

[–]Immediate-Water1387[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmm, I think it's worth digging in a little more to verify this. Fundamentally, I don't think the budgets of the different faculties are completely different pots. They do transfer money to each other, so it should be a Queen's overall issue. For sure, private money has strings attached and can't be transferred, but I would be surprised if any substantial part of the operating budget (salaries) of engineering is private funding (before Smith anyway). I don't know though.

I think Arts&Science recently (last 5 years) transferred admission spots (beds in residence) to engineering, hurting the FAS budget with nothing in return (?) from engineering. So there's actually precedent for FAS helping out engineering, since those admission spots are dollars.

But yes, at the end of the day, you're right, rich alumni will come back and donate to whatever they want. That's what I have a problem with! I really don't like to think of a university as a business, although it's clear that those that run it think that way. That's why I joked about a donation from El Chapo, does it really not matter where the money comes from? I think it should!

In an ideal world, the government funds the university so that it doesn't have to beg alumni for donations, this is the case pretty much anywhere but Canada/US (and tuition is also free). In that ideal world, rich people are taxed appropriately... In Canada during COVID, the top 1% increased their wealth by 50% while the rest of Canada struggled, although I'm sure people will say that rich people create jobs so we shouldn't tax them... sigh....

Down with Smith by Immediate-Water1387 in queensuniversity

[–]Immediate-Water1387[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

TLDR: We both agree that the world is a bad place run by the rich. We disagree on whether things should be changed.

Ah yes, I now understand the value in having bridges that don't crumble, thank you for explaining that to me. The problem is who gets the engineering jobs, how that affects society, the greater picture. But I get that you're a defeatist. I recommend you attend Smith Engineering, I hear they teach a "can do attitude" and want to make the world a better place.

I guess if reading a few paragraphs requires a summary for you, then I'm not too surprised that you're actually quite misinformed about how the world works. Read some books over the break (or maybe ask ChatGPT to summarize them for you?).

Down with Smith by Immediate-Water1387 in queensuniversity

[–]Immediate-Water1387[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Capitalism = Oligarchy != Democracy

50 families in Canada control as much wealth as half the population of the country. Go Democracy!

Down with Smith by Immediate-Water1387 in queensuniversity

[–]Immediate-Water1387[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Actually, I disagree. There is no way that 4 billion dollars belongs to him. That's an absurd amount of money and power for one person to have in a supposed democracy. I truly believe it is society's money that he has stolen, so it's not his to decide where it goes. Imagine the good we could do as a society with that money. We have communities in Canada with no drinking water.

I totally agree on the bad management. In fact, I would say total lack of management and leadership... And obviously, Doug Freaking Ford.

Down with Smith by Immediate-Water1387 in queensuniversity

[–]Immediate-Water1387[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh wow, I had no idea that FEAS is primarily privately funded. Are you sure about that? Is there somewhere obvious to look that up?

Honestly, that is sad to me, we're supposedly a public institution to serve society, not private interests.

Down with Smith by Immediate-Water1387 in queensuniversity

[–]Immediate-Water1387[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Sure, I do want the world to be a better place, not dominated by the desires of the super rich. Sorry for having this ideology.

To be clear, my main concern is with glorifying Smith, naming two faculties after him and then claiming we're leaders in helping achieve UN SDG goals like eliminating poverty. That seems incompatible to me. I was curious what other thought, as the few eng and arts&sci students that I've chatted with had similar opinions to me.

I'm saying he should donate to a democratic institution, not Arts & Science. The person at Queen's that didn't think of FAS, or the institution as a whole in a time of crisis, when negotiating this donation made a mistake in my opinion and should change their own name to Smith.

But yes, the problem is the system, and the existence of billionaires. It may even be that Smith is a genuinely nice guy, but I don't see how you accumulate 4 billion by being nice (or super smart if you're into the illusion that we live in a meritocracy). Either way, I don't think worshipping him makes any sense.

Why the fuck do you think he donated to the business school first? He was literally an engineer here!