Rednecks , ruralites and city folk have much in common . We have a right to protest, bitch, complain, free speach, live anywhere, anytime . And we all live on land stolen from the aboriginals . The fact that ruralites have lived on their land for generations means nothing . You are not special or privileged . Many city folk are moving to the country ; bringing new ideas, evolving. Get use to it ! Or maybe give the land back .
— Lived Everywhere
This article appears in Aug 27 – Sep 2, 2009.
I’m technically a “townie” but I love the country, having spent a lot of time there as a child. One of my favourite parts about the country is, no universities. No loud screaming and hollering on weeknights, no old shitty lice couches doubling as front yard furniture, no throwing beer cans everywhere and using garbage bags as curtains. Well I shouldn’t say none – believe me, there are some real fucking junk yard entrepreneurs out there. But generally the countryside seems to be inhabited by grownups who actually take pride in their properties and do not live in their own shit.
Am I turning into my Mom or what…
Yep, we’ll give that land right back to the Aboriginals. so they can hunt and fish and cut every tree down in the province. We’ll get right on that. Remember, we were the ones that taught them them meaning of ownership. They’re now just as greedy as any white, European bred Canadian.
Ninja just summarized everything I hate about Nova Scotians
The instant the Guvment gives land “back” to the Indians, the wild animals will hire a lawyer and get THEIR land back from the Indians… They have better rights than humans, FFS!
“Ninja just summarized everything I hate about Nova Scotians”.
Ditto, intolerance, ignorance and fucking arrogance is alive and well around here. Friendly, laid-back locals my ass, we’re no better than the people we complain about from upper Canada, shake your hand with one hand and back stab you with the other.
Ninja needs to learn the meaning of tolerance.
Regardless of history we are all here now and we are all as human beings, entitled to live and let live on this planet which we all share, regardless of so-called international boundaries. Think globally. Or better yet, universally.
I have been all across Canada and seen ignorant racists in every province. Pretty sure we don’t have a monopoly on that, although, there sure is a lot of it.
I recently made a few friends in rural CB and the only thing they don’t like are people who judge them or try to make them change their way of life. Which they have done for the last so many generations and have the right to continue doing.
There are ways of moving to a small town and not causing shit. You have to respect people to get respect. So just because you have lived “everywhere” and are bringing “new ideas” to small towns all over nova scotia does not mean that anyone has to listen to you. They are still your neighbors and you still have to work together with them.
This recent round of urban vs rural bitches started with what I thought was a valid gripe, which is about city people living in the country. These are folks, and there are some tens of thousands of them in Nova Scotia, who are connected in every way that counts, including work and relationships, to the city, but physically live in the boonies. They can, in fact, be real pains in the ass to the true rural types who are unlucky enough to be their neighbours.
Having said that, what exactly *is* a true rural type? If your only qualification is that your domicile is physically located on the side of some rural road, but no aspect of your life is otherwise distinguishable from the usual routine of an urbanite, why do you qualify? I’ve lived out in the boonies often enough, and most people I’ve encountered while doing so have the same kinds of jobs as city folk do, they have the same recreational pursuits, and they talk about the same shit. What the majority of rural dwellers are *not* out doing is slopping the hogs, chopping wood, riding ATVs, hunting & fishing, fixing tractors, or anything of that sort.
In other words, as expressed by others, the huge majority of Nova Scotians, urban and rural, are pretty homogenous. They think the same way and generally share the same concerns.
This is 2009, not 1959 or 1909. Starting primarily in the ’50’s and ’60’s road improvements and the wide availability of cars have basically wiped out much of the large divide that existed between urban and rural populations prior.
The OP has a valid point that times and areas change. Remember, the only constant is change. I know it’s a big pet peeve of ruralites when city-slickers move out to the country and complain about foul smells and whatnot, but they don’t always have a good argument. They’re just going to have to accept that things change. Where would we be without change? The Halifax waterfront would still be an industrial dump, because the factory owners kept saying they were there first, so piss off. The Halifax peninsula was once all forest, so why don’t we just knock down every building and put all the trees back? Of course not. Why? Because things do and need to change. Change!
And I find it funny when Natives tell us white people that we stole their land and that we should go back to Europe. I’m of Scottish, Irish, English, Welsh, French, and Spanish descent. Where should I go? What about someone who’s of mixed ethnicity, like Tiger Woods. Where should he go? Should he spend half his time in Africa, a quarter in China, an eighth in Cuba, and an eighth in England? Also remember that most Europeans don’t want us there anyway – it’s already overcrowded enough as it is.
This argument reminds me of that Washington State tribe that made huge headlines about 10 years ago for going after Orcas for “traditional” ceremonial purposes. Did they traditionally use zodiacs & rifles? Traditionally did a large chunk of the catch end up in the hands of the Japanese?