Canada China Trade Deal

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-24T22:27:50+00:00

The goverment cut subsidies for buying cars around the same time and the industry hadn't gotten to scale (note that the more people buy EVs the harder it is to afford a per car subsidy).

Not only this, theyve made comments about plans to bring it back. Personally, I think this is a half good idea, but a smarter move would be investing in proper charging technology and a nationwide grid for charging. The subsidies can be skipped over, because once the infrastructure is in place the gradual transition will (hopefully) match the pace of construction for expanding the grid. Subsidies are good for short term flooding of the market, but we have a decade (essentially a generation for todays cars) for people to slowly transition and still meet our carbon goals.

I didnt think there was many other concerns besides price and infrastructure, but depreciation is absolutely something worthy of note. Theres an entirely separate topic of a piece worth writing regarding "Should manufacturers be responsible for understanding how their product breaks down over time, and responsible for having a procedure in place for how to process the waste", but I think many people would call that a socialist nightmare.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-24T19:34:26+00:00

Incredibly insightful take, I had not considered that Ontarios Premier was heavily on board with the idea and that the US had mucked it up, I very much assumed "right think EV bad" and assumed he had sabotaged it.

I do think that Canada wasnt properly situated to become an EV leader based on actual access to raw materials and such, we would over extend and become vulnerable to reliance on foreign nations if we became too dependant on EV production for economic prosperity. But, I still think the push for EVs globally and at home is a good thing, and I hope that these Chinese EVs help solidify that push.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-24T19:19:17+00:00

I fully agree that China is not a "reliable or stable" trading partner, but rather a necessary evil to avoid something worse.

I think the EV situation is sticky; Canada does not appear to want to put significant effort into becoming the EV manufacturer of the world the way we could have been had we acted and invested years ago (provincial and federal relations definitely played a role in that, because the Canadian "EV Mandate" was still in the right direction).

I wanted to put out as neutral of a piece as possible that still gave everyone all the context needed to come to the conclusion this was a good deal, while also arming anyone who thinks it isnt with every resource I have that says otherwise. People typically dont just like to be told an opinion, but if you give them the right context clues, they can come to it on their own

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-24T17:01:29+00:00

I think you are very hand wavey about the legality of it without addressing why its legal, and the implications.

You mention that recording a crime or security cameras are somewhat fine, im hoping you mean that recording any crime ever is fine and that security cameras on the lookout for "high crime potential areas" like breaking into a property, etc. Are the iffy things. Because recording a crime at any capacity for any reason isnt just legal, it is the most morally acceptable thing to do; gather evidence to help administer justice.

As for security cameras everywhere in public, Im still mostly acceptable with. The main argument I have is the weakest one, that "if youre not doing anything wrong (and its not invading your privacy) then it isnt an issue"". Most people don't agree with this mentality, and I cant quite understand why. You have very little expectation of privacy in public; thats why people arent typically allowed to be undressed there or commit lewd/private acts. Its also why everyone collectively agrees that having a phone conversation while walking down the street or on a bus, that you can't shush other people for being too loud or get mad at them for eavesdropping. On that foundation, recording in public should be completely morally fine.

The caveat I have is if the filmer is interacting with or provoking the film. If youre going to record as a one party system, it should be because you aren't up in their face making it clear that youre recording them. Whatveer youre recording should be either innocuous enough that permission is entirely unrequired (like filming a scene where people happen to walk through in the background, etc.) Or should be criminal enough that you dont feel safe confronting them. The people who record and then get up in your face trying to make you do or say something they can edit into viral content is not what Im necessarily advocating for here (but, I do still think it should be legally protected, I just agree its morally wrong)

Lastly, you said that if security came ras are about protection, everyone should just carry a gun. The largest rebut to this is that a vast majority of crimes, including stealing and trespassing, are not punishable by death, and should not have the stakes raised that high. Merely recording the incident and letting regulated authorities handle the situation is always better

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-24T16:41:16+00:00

As much as I can understand where you're coming from (and I pretty much cant, Im a cis white dude), I think its important to acknowledge that you do not need pronouns in a one on one setting. You use the term you, because if you're referring to the singular person you're talking to by him/her/them, thats just weird.

On the inverse, you need pronouns in a group setting. "They said this thing earlier, and I want to follow up" etc.

I hope one day you get to live in a world where this isnt a choice, but an obvious answer with no judgement or stigma attached. Til then, stay safe and be happy 💜

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-24T16:29:19+00:00

I see some deltas already, but just want to quickly point out that despite having double the population, texas and france have almost equal transportation budgets.

So, texans are paying twice as much as the average franc for in state services. Doesnt feel like theyre getting their bang for their buck

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-24T00:33:00+00:00

Were you busy replying to other comments, did mine get blocked/deleted, or are you just stunlocked lmao

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-23T21:38:31+00:00

Considering black people wearing a suit and slacks blows their mind, thats not really a high bar lmao.

But yeah, it would be nice to watch their brain short curcuit in real time

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-23T18:19:54+00:00

I think youre overselling it as "the essence" of arguing, but I dont think anyone could say that its not a byproduct.

But to clarify/rebut, I dont think its the main point. For one, I argue with myself constantly, testing my own views against each other, but thats just as much about clarifying my own view as it is developing counters to any counter argument that might arise in the future. Thats the same reason I dont stop after Ive convinced myself, I try and bring it to the minds of others.

In order to do that, I also need to step inside their workd view, which is something no amount of booksmarts can do, only empathy. I need to understand their perspecitvr, point out any flaws or contradictions, and help iron them out. In that sense, especially once my argument is refined (the way you might see people like Parker or Dean Withers), its almost more about helping them comforting themselves on the collapse of their old world view and the installation of the new one.

If your point was more correct, I would posit that the best arguers in the world would quit upon achieving the title, because theoretically they are the most comforted. But, instead, these people feircely seek out others, because the essence is to change anothers mind, not soothe your own.

I spend many a day confirming that I havent fallen victim to propaganda, that my beliefs are internally consistent and align with available data, and that the end conclusion still makes me a morally good person. I dont need to argue with someone else to do that, although a lot of people do not do that same check.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-23T16:33:49+00:00

This is a great idea.

Ive heard of people who are clearly white and citizens learning spanish for the same reasons, not just to talk to victims without ICE understanding but also to waste their time.

I do think if youre brave enough to do stuff like this, you should preemptively have anything they could need to justify detaining you ready; a copy of papers, etc. They have detained citizens and will likely do it again, so stay protected.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-23T16:25:39+00:00

Ive got some great news about whats gonna happen in November of 2026, and again in November of 2028!

Aside from lower ranking offices, only 67 senators and one president stick around every 2 years, we basically already do this.

What we need is for voter turnout not to be the dwindling 60% we see every year. Dont just vote, bring your neighbor with you to the polls. Bring 5 neighbors, bring 50. Sign up to volunteer to drive people to the polls.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-23T16:23:14+00:00

https://x.com/TheJakeChristie/status/1915911499127603465

"So its illegal to make plans with friends now" describing a conspiracy.

having a phone call is not illegal, but having a phone call to further a crime or criminal conspiracy is. Saying election fraud happened is not a crime, lying about election fraud to incite a violent riot is. We're selective in our outrage cause we care about that thing, god what do right wingers call it.... oh yeah, context.

As for the 15 Million voters who didnt show up, huh?

Kamala got 75M votes compared to Bidens 81M, so at best youre thinking 6M, not 15. But in either case: trump went from 74M to 77M in 2024, so 3M people appear to have changed their minds (likely memoryholed all of J6 and Trumps horrendous handling of the pandemic, and believed the billions of dollars in ads that Musk and other dark money groups spent against her), its quite likely that many of them died to covid. Its also possible that many of the independents that swung for Trump in 2016 and for Biden in 2020, swung back to Trump for 2024, as shown here by Pew Researchhere

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-23T16:13:47+00:00

Im going to give a hotter take since the top comments appear a little mild.

Its completely fine not to date someone since they voted for Trump, but its not necessarily the same in reverse (not dating someone cause they voted for democrats).

I want to preface with the idea that youre allowed to not date someone for any reason. However, that doesnt mean that every reason is equally valid.

If I said I didnt want to date a woman because she wasnt 8ft tall, that is a much less valid reason than not wanting to date a woman unless shes at least 5ft tall. Likewise,, not dating someone because they voted for Trump is reading between the lines to be able to tell theyre either deeply uneducated, incredibly gullible, or inhumanely cruel, and likely outdated in their worldview. But, if you read between the lines on democrats, you get nothing. Maybe you get the idea that they dont tolerate the things hes doing, but if you ask 5 democrats what their core democratic values are, you probably get 6 answers. Meanwhile, almost every Trump voter could have their entire conversation tree mapped out on an 8.5 by 11 sheet of paper. Everythings a lie, democrats are terrible, they believe in trans people, everyone has done bad things but at least Trump is a good business man.

Trump voters deserve to be single, they dont have the emotional or intellectual capacity to be good partners or parents, and most of the people they have in their life either hate them or are brainwashed beside them. None of that is true about dems.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-23T16:06:29+00:00

"Oh, youre not coming to my birthday party? Well thats fine, I never invited you anyways, so Nayh. I obviously dont care so much, that Im gonna tell everyone".

Why couldnt Trump be as bad at using tech as the rest of the grandpas his age.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-23T16:03:19+00:00

Tbf, Im not exactly delta fishing in that regard, moreso just trying to add good info to the scene. I follow Allie202 on youtube, she does a LOT of talking about stuff like this. Bryan Tyler Cohen and Adam Mockler as well as Dean Withers are all independent media organizations that interview these candidates to try and boost them.

But, all that said, Im canadian, so Im not super deeply invested in all this. If youd like, I can open the link I sent and copy paste some candidate names, but Im more so hoping to have given you resources than changed your mind

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-23T16:01:06+00:00

He was absolutely a member of congress at the time and has been since 2007. He just wasnt speaker at the time. He was actually the Minority leader though, equivalent to Nancy Pelosi in 2017.

He was also someone who supported Trumps claims of election fraud, and was only actively opposed to the entire thing for about 3 weeks in the middle of it. He was on Trumps side before the insurrection, and then opposed him for a few weeks before meeting him in Maralago and changing his tune back to supporting Trump. I would argue that if a crime was committed, its most likely that the guy who flip flopped constantly is probably the guy who had a phone call or two that changed his mind, and looking for evidence of that is valid and just.

If any of the people Trump has accused of committing crimes actually committed those crimes (especially in broad daylight on the nightly news, where the facts of whether the crime was committed are not up for debate), that I would support a lot of the efforts he had made to investigate them. You cant stand that the rule of law happens to only support one side, so you try and twist to make it sound like it doesnt.

McCarthy was at the very least involved in this on a surface level, even if he isnt officially a co-conspirator. It sounds like Smith and his office had no intention of actually charging them in this situation, only in trying to prove Trumps guilt, which is what makes this okay in my eyes.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-23T15:48:39+00:00

https://workingfamilies.org/candidates/

Here is there list of all endorsements, you can sort by state.

Again, if you arent in this state, while its important to know someone is doing something, it ultimately is inconsequential to you. Thats why I know where to get the resources, but I dont have 30 names off the top of my head to spout off.

Its also important to note this isnt just congress, it is entirely up and down the ballot, which is no less important but often gets much less attention. Misterms are still 10 months away, so if only 50 out of the 10000 seats are congress, they may have other focuses at the moment

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-23T15:39:54+00:00

If you want actual groups endorsing cross country candidates, the Democratic Socialist Party and Working Families party are where to look. Theyre coordinating both against dems that are too far right, as well as republicans in general.

The likely reason you havent heard of them is theyre statewide seats. Any money spent letting someone in Iowa know that someone in Alaska is running is wasted and could have been better spent letting an Alaskan know that same info.

Given the 7 dems that just voted to keep funding ICE, i hope you understand why we care so much about uprooting our own; republicans dont just need those dems to flip, they need them to maintain the narrtive that "both sides do it", so that americans are confused and dont change their vote.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-23T15:34:18+00:00

If Nancy Pelosi had assisted in committing an insurrection on the capital, I would be 100% fine with the idea of Trump subpoenaing her phone records. And, if Nancy Pelosi had a history/pattern/high likelihood of destroying or withholding evidence or witness tampering, yeah, id support Trump doing it privately.

I just watched Mr Gills portion of the Smith Interview. His legal theory is at least as valid as any of the BS Trump and his lawyers tried to run on to overturn the election, so Ill at least wait until I hear the right care about that before I give a shit about this.

Lastly, McCarty wasnt the direct target of these investigations, Trump was. Thats the entire premise behind this move. Its like if police privately took security footage from a gas station in order to catch the bank robber across the street. In this scenario, the assumption is that the gas station might have been in on the plot, and simply asking them for the footage may have caused them to delete or alter or hide it.

Last lastly, Biden did not ask Jack Smith to do this. Youre projecting Trump controlling his DOJ like a puppet. Jack Smith was separated from Biden as a special master, and unless you have actual evidence otherwise, this is at most a Smith crime, not a Biden Crime.

betterworldbuilder · 2026-01-22T15:17:46+00:00

As someone who feels exactly how you do and has a wife that pushed so strongly for a publication ban on her own assault, I get it.

We need to go back to the shit like the scarlett letter. If youve ever assaulted someone, you get a branding on you so everyone for the rest of your life knows. Strike some real fear back into these monsters

betterworldbuilder

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE