Do guns protect you, or simply cause violence? (Page 113) davidk1: Liberators of the Netherlands in 1945, today Canada's Armed Forces are eclipsed by Dutch military https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-canadian-military-preparedness-netherlands-liberation-1.5548372  Campion: david --- I read that too --- it is a fact that as a former officer I have long lamented. Canada has a very professional and extremely well trained military but it has been starved of both manpower and funding. Our best are as good or better than any military in the world but there are precious few of them and they are frequently working with obsolescent equipment. (Edited by Campion) davidk1: . So what happened to the Canadian Armed Forces? Why are they starved of manpower and funding? . Campion: Decades of both conservative and liberal governments have other priorities for the tax monies and as a result the military is starved.  kittybobo34: Canada is larger than the USA, but with a population the size of NY state. Funding a world class military on that would be difficult (Edited by kittybobo34) davidk1: .  Kitty, you need to check before you post. New York State has a population of 20 million. Canada has a population of 36.3 million, about the same size as California. There is no excuse for Canada to have a poor military. For example, Israel has 5 million citizens, 7 times fewer citizens than Canada. Israeli has 170,000 active, 445 in reserve and has a military second to none. USAID to Israel for domestic and military spending equals $3.8 billion a year. In 2018 Israel spent 4.4% of its GDP or $16 Billion on its military. Canada spends less than 2% of their GDP or $16.6 Billion for a population almost 8 times the size of Israel. There is no reason that Canada's military should be in such poor shape. None. The USAID program gave Canada 28.4 million dollars. Not much. But they only spent $47,000 on security. Canada did not request any additional aid which does not need to be paid back. davidk1: . And...Canada does not have any real adversaries to be afraid of since the US basically protects Canada. .  zeffur: re: "Campion: Decades of both conservative and liberal governments have other priorities for the tax monies and as a result the military is starved." Given your proximity to the US & military alliance with the US, most of your top leaders probably know they don't need much of a military when the gorilla of militaries is just south of your border & has no intention of invading you. You just have to keep an eye out for the bear (Russia)... It's wiser to use your money else where in your country. Rest assured, the US wouldn't allow any nation to invade you--one phone call & we'd have your back faster than you can say Molson Golden. (Edited by zeffur) zeffur: re: " kittybobo34: Canada is larger than the USA, but with a population the size of NY state. Funding a world class military on that would be difficult" Actually the population of Canada is almost 2x the population of NY state. kittybobo34: I am not surprised, that statistic was from a long time ago, Canada has had tons of immigration since then. zeffur: Not from what I see in the statistics. It looks like the average annual Canadian immigration over the past 20 yrs was less than 300,000 per year. It also appears the total immigrant population in Canada is less than 7M. src: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-630-x/11-630-x2016006-eng.htm New York has always been a hot spot for immigrants in the US, but I can't find the same type of annual immigration statistics online. Although, it also looks like lots of people are leaving NY state in the past 5 yrs: https://nypost.com/2019/12/30/new-york-is-losing-residents-at-an-alarming-rate-report/ Which doesn't really surprise me as I've heard lots of comments about how high the cost of living & taxes are there. (Edited by zeffur)  btrickinya03: Well lets see if a gun is in a room with out a human....whats gonna happen? More like whats not gonna happen. Placing the blame on guns or whatever else will certainly only perpetuate this delema.  ghostgeek: Stand two mortal opponents ten feet apart and arm one with a knife and the other with a gun. Which one is more likely to act violently? zeffur: If they are mortal enemies, then they will both likely act violently towards each other on sight. At 10 ft apart & given equal skills with their weapons, it isn't likely that the one with the knife will be able to kill the one with the gun as it's quicker to fire a gun (pistol) than it is to throw a knife or to lunge forward for the kill. btrickinya03: Neither weapon would play a part in the responsibility of the act. You could use a spork and a shoelace and still create violence... ghostgeek: This is just my opinion, not having put it to the test, but I think the one with the knife would more likely slink away than try any heroics. On the other hand, the one with the gun might try his luck. btrickinya03: I would go with the gun 9 out 10 times only you never said whether it was loaded or not lol a throwing match between a gun and a knife is one of the rare times id rather be the one with the knife kittybobo34: Remember the Magnificent 7, James Colburn threw that knife faster than the gunslinger could draw and fire. ghostgeek: Would you risk your life on the possibility that you could throw faster than somebody could pull a trigger? ghostgeek: Things are really starting to swing again in the States. The Rev. Carl Day knows he's taking a risk every day he walks the streets of Philadelphia, where at least one person has died violently every day this year, mostly from guns. Known as the "Pastor in the Hood," Day, who leads the Culture Changing Christians church, talks to young drug dealers and gang members, asks them "why are you out here? Who will look after your kids if you die? What needs to change?" And something needs to change: As of Aug. 14, Philadelphia has seen at least 262 homicides this year, 30% more than this time last year. [ https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/08/15/shootings-chicago-denver-and-across-us-bring-new-wave-violence/3364812001/ ] ghostgeek: Philadelphia is just one of dozens of major U.S. cities plagued by a horrifying increase in gun violence this year, from New York and Milwaukee to Los Angeles and Denver. Experts say systemic reforms are needed to reduce the violence, not just more police officers on the streets. The violence — from nine people shot at a family picnic in Denver last weekend to three fatal shootings Wednesday in Indianapolis — comes amid a backdrop of nightly protests against police brutality, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent economic devastation caused by widespread unemployment. Chicago alone has seen at least 432 people shot to death as of July 29, a 40% increase over this time last year, according to the Chicago Tribune's shooting tracker. Nationally, at least 11,047 people have died in gun violence so far this year, excluding suicide, compared to 15,208 in all of 2019, according to the Gun Violence Archive. At that rate, it will easily be the deadliest year for gun-related homicides since at least 1999, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. Experts say other major crimes are flat or even down. [ https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/08/15/shootings-chicago-denver-and-across-us-bring-new-wave-violence/3364812001/ ] | Politics Chat Room 78 People Chatting Similar Conversations |
