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familyagrestefanblog · 1 year ago

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Clarification I definitely should have done ever since season 4 and the Ladynoir conflict started escalating, but hey, let's just get it out:

There are reasons why I'm harping down so badly on Miraculous' Girlboss feminism and defend Adrien as much as I do.

To get the feminist (in-universe) explaination out of the way first:

I would be lying if I said that I like the direction the show has taken Marinette's character and the story in general. But regarding her specifically I simply have to say that most of my problems with her are how she is written as Ladybug, Guardian, and especially leader & partner. Not in her civilian self. Hence why you won't find that alot on my blog, only when it contributes to the overarching double standards problem from s4 I take issue with.

I simply cant deny it, Ladybug is a kind of leader I just came to not be able to respect alot anymore in how she operates most things bc she doesn't really ever look passed how things look & stand for herself, and what SHE needs & wants. Marinette is a very low empathy person in the sense that she struggles putting herself in other people's positions, or remembers considering that at all.

But that's not the reason why I can't respect her as leader. I have ADD, that would be really hypocritical of me.

What leaves me unable to respect her as leader though (& honestly kinda even wanting Alya to take her position) is the fact that the show doesn't see much wrong with Maribug doing that.

They don't properly depict this as flawed leadership she actually NEEDS to grow out of by making up for her shortcomings by, for example, making other people her official co-leaders. Instead the show since s4 (& kinda s3) will proceed to put it's feminist foot down if Maribug isn't actually in the end 100% correct and "totally girlboss justified" in any given case - with CN & authorities specifically - no matter the context. Ergo she's barely ever truly improving her weakpoints in partnership skills for example & continues doing the same mistakes over n over.

like she genuinely would benefit from having Chat Noir as her co-leader too, not just Rena Rouge. But no. The neurodivergend low-empathy girl can't have a high-empathy boy co-leader bc apparently thats misogynistic now, huh ?

Again, I have ADD and I'm also a woman. In fact, I actually have alot in common with Maribug (hence why it hurt so much once s4 took her away from me), so forgive me when I still say: I am NOT going to lower my standards of my believe that neither of those aspects get to be an excuse on everyone else's expense regarding LEADERSHIP (which I do also am in the position of in my life).

And I repeat: LEADERSHIP. Not Marinette herself as a person necessarily & esp not her civilian life.

People always say that her critics wouldn't be so hard on her if she were a man, but I strongly disagree. In my experience, if Marinette were a boy people would actually draw a line nowadays and call out that Mariano is too stuck in his own head to be a good leader (& partner). And maybe even demand that he shouldn't be in that position anymore either at all or until he's in a better head space.

Bc with male characters people are actually drawing lines now in important factors when it comes to power & the accountability coming with it, bc in the end being in change means it ain't about you

Hence why e. g. Steve Rogers (Captain America) was then a fucking fugitive from the law when shit got real in the MCU. They had to do that bc of his leadership morality not being able to exist well within a corrupted & complex law system under fire and attack. My man's an amazing battle leader, but the MCU did VERY well leaving taking care of all kinds of social & political matters to Tony Stark. This kind of nuance ain't Steve's strength. Marinette & Steve are actually a EXTREMELY similar type of leader and it's interesting that I don't exactly vibe with him too much either in that regard, but like him as person the way I did Marinette. So for me it's definitely an issue with their type of leadership.

But the mainstream female leader characters are often still "too female" to get held to the same regular standards bc telling a female leader character in a complicated and not entirely beneficial situation & position 'yeah, it's sucks but you're not the center of the universe'' is now more often than not still "too mean/ sexist"

again, Steve was made an outlaw for a reason and you can bet if he had been a Stephanie people would have made all her struggles about sexism & called the 'outlaw leader' route after Civil War misogyny, merely bc "society doesnt respect women". This is whats happening with Maribug & it clashes with her leadership style.

Hence why there AREN'T ALOT of mainstream female leader characters. And if we get some, most of them are narratively defined by how powerful & in control they are for THEIR OWN BENEFIT and it being depicted as 100% right & just in general (like with Marinette) which goes against what a normal leader should be, so alot of people don't like them (ignoring the actual sexist people for a sec)

The first Wonder Woman movie for example was so well-received for a reason. They did it RIGHT (& may I please also recommend Wakanda Forever? Fuck, that movie was GOOD)

But yes, it's notably how Maribug treats Chat, who is supposed to be her partner and friend, that I take alot of issues with.

And yes, I would say the same if LB were male and CN female. Ladynoir is so rooted in toxic femininity that this "partnership" (or just the entire LS) the way it is could NOT exist today in gender bend. S4 and the s5 finale in particular are unthinkable in gender bend and they sold it as "justified female empowerment" & "unparalleled loving treatment" from Ladybug's side Chat Noir needed to learn to be GRATEFUL for.

All while, and I will never stop stressing this: the show has never stopped writing Marinette to treat Chat Noir as if he basically just spawns into existence once he puts on the mask. He's HALF a human being. Even once she falls in love with him in s5.

This is the fundamental and deep seeded problem of where my issues come from here. It never stands in question if Adrien views Marinette and Ladybug as full human beings, but the other way around that very much is the case. In whatever way it's depicted. Yes this is a line I draw, especially because of the whole Sentihuman thing.

I personally am alot more like Adrien regarding Friendship and partnership (or what his character initially started out). They are heavy & meaningful topics for me. So seeing Marinette being utilized to girlboss all that into the ground with Chat Noir, esp in s4, while she apparently barely ever even noticed anything wrong with how she treats him in the first place as she literally replaced him with Alya/ Rena in everything but name

cause buring him under a wall of secrets & lies meant she can still 100% benefit from his eternal devotion by letting him believe she's too alone to be a partner anymore AT ALL. (Kuro Neko onwards and then NEVER stopped letting him think she's just as alone as he is. NEVER. She's still doing it in s5 while leaving him 100% isolated which was then his demise in the s5 finale.)

and gives Alya the deluxe partnership entirely on his expense, while barely ever sparing him even the most basic thought in anything; & by "Risk" then literally having them switch status. Rena is her actual partner she fully treats that way and he's merely her favorite temp hero with no rights, which Rena was previously.

And the only reason why Chat was treated with something resembling to fairness or dignity again in season 5 (& finally wasn't a rag doll for her every little mood anymore...) was because Maribug plainly had no other choice and had her team & position of power taken away by force while Alya renounced for her own safety. And yet she's still treating him as half a human being even by the end of S5. AFTER her character development. He's Chat Noir and that's where his existence ends in her leadership & friendship. CN and Alya in s5 are literally 2 halves of ONE PARTNER.

All that was painful to watch to say the least. Bc it's imo honestly a disgrace to friendship and partnership. I can't put into words how ashamed I would be of myself if I treated someone the way Marinette treats Chat Noir (again, HALF A HUMAN BEING).

Much less a friend I claim to love dearly and don't want to loose (another thing the MCU did better regarding Steve's fall-out with Tony over Bucky... I should really make that comparison post why Steve works for me & Marinette doesnt)

Just the mere fact that Marinette in "Elation" even told Chat "It doesn't matter who's underneath your mask" is honestly outrageous.

Because thats simply what it is for me. If s4 & 5 Marinette were portrayed from a similar morality angle to Emonette in the Paris special I would have much less issues with her. Cause thats ironically an angle female characters barely get & is mostly used to redeem the broken bad boys with a hidden heart of gold™.

Double irony: s1-s3 actually DID put civilian Marinette often into that angle, hence why I really liked her, but then s4 suddenly said "well, her methods & actions really dont matter. She's wrong, but actually not really; ergo she should get rewarded in the end. Always. But with a few exceptions. Here n there she loses to claim otherwise. But actually the world just needs to learn how right & amazing she is."

She makes countless mistakes but often either doesn't really learn from them anymore or they just don't "count" bc that's 'what makes her quirky & loveable', so having any issues with her now means you hate women. And she's a very flawed leader but actually never did anything wrong. Ever. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

I will be VERY blunt now: The moment you put a female character into the leader role the FEMALE aspect is supposed to be of secondary importance. And a leader, by the nature of the position, ALWAYS has to be questioned morally wise in my opinion bc of the fatal blindspots that will automatically occur in every leadership.

And it happened here too: Chat Noir's treatment. But they demanded that her being the (female) leader means she's OWED to treat him badly & gets to keep him as blindspot on HIS expense bc she doesn't like thinking about him existing as civilian person.

A leader is ALWAYS somebody who is NOT going to sit well with everybody regarding their approach. That's a normal instinct, and in fact it would be highly dangerous if that wouldnt happen at all. So if I, or other people, don't respect her as one that simply means she has an opposition the way every leader has & is being held to normal standards a leader should be held to, regardless of gender.

Sorry if you think thats sexist, but in my opinion that's a YOU problem. I personally respect female leaders too much to not acknowledge them as anything else but the potential threats they are. The same way I do with male leaders.

You're leader first, woman second. If you can't handle that get out of the leadership position (yes, oc that also applies the other way around). Feminism was about making sure that women cant be excluded from e. g. position of power just bc we're female. The goal wasn't to have yet another group of people stomp their foots, now claiming that they are OWED power once they wanna have it to feel powerful. But that's what Marinette was used to teach an entire generation of children, especially girls.

The last thing you will EVER get me to do is accept that I should be holding women - specifically for equality, female empowerment and leadership - to LOWER (moral) standards as I would the men in her position.

Buddy, I am NOT gonna fucking do that. Just the thought is pissing me tf off, and has ever since s4, cause it directly plays into the misogynistic thinking of:

"Women can't be given power, status or even too much focus as human beings because they're too irrational and immature to be able to then lay proper priorities & take rightful accountability for their shit like a man in power could; and not just scream and cry while playing the oppressed victim card the moment things don't work out & they aren't being given the special female treatment to let them mostly off the hook consequences wise.

Leading to everyone around them, especially the MEN, having to step up, do the work & basically babysit the women like children - while still having to give her the credit as person in charge - turning the women more or less into toddlers wearing a queen's crown"

Which, by all means, Adrichat in every dynamic of the love square by season 5, Gabriel at the end of "Recreation" and even Luka & Félix (& "thankfully" Alya too since s4) had to do for Maribug in alot of ways.

Pick up all of her slack in several major areas & catering to her while simultaneously having to still give most of the credit to HER or else they would be "mean to the female lead" (it's also telling that Alya is treated the best here, & goodness dont get me started on Su-Han...).

And with that out of the way, a few more meta reasons:

1) I'm NOT watching a damn documentary. Marinette is NOT a 14 year old, she doesnt exist & isnt based on a real person or story. She's a fictional main character and narrative tool, so forgive me for approaching this differently than a real life case.

and 2) in everything I watch I automatically look out for the narrative's blind spots and victims of the writings' favorites. I take it this seriously because this is career related for me.

Hence why I have barely ever liked a main character and ironically Marinette/ Ladybug was once one of the few exceptions (alongside Korra from Legend of Korra and Blitz from Helluva Boss)

Look, when I for example watch Helluva Boss or a Yugioh show I will automatically pay extra attention to how the female characters are being treated bc they are obviously treated worse by the writing and much more neglected and scapegoated than the male characters.

Meanwhile when I watch Miraculous and She-Ra, I do the opposite and pay attention to how the male characters are treated bc now they have the gender-biase against them.

And when I for example watch Avatar the last Airbender or Legend of Korra [and She-Ra, that show is great], then I actually get to be mostly fucking happy for once in my life jfc

I'm not going to elaborate too much more on this because I already named by my main point in the beginning: Chat Noir's - not even Adrien's, I mean CHAT NOIR - sometimes honestly awful treatment being the biggest moral and narrative blind spot of the entire show, and honestly where most of Maribug's problems then are also rooted in. Hence why I started focusing so much on Chat Noir since season 4. I look at the overall narrative and circumstances and look for the blind spots that needs to be solved to get to the core of the problem of this whole mess, to get effective results.

And that was and even by the end remained the fact that Adrichat is treated so badly, scapegoated in every possible way in the name of "feminism" and kicked out of the story where HE is at the core of most everything going on, just so the show can force Maribug into everything, make things about her that have no business being about her

Just so she can then be made to constandly turn around and scream, cry and stress about problems - and go about them in the least effective way - that wouldnt be there in the first place if she wasnt the main character of a story that isnt hers.

Mate, I dont know what to tell you here, but the fact that we are following Marinette Dupain-Cheng ,who has nothing to do with anything besides being the cool action girl, is and will always remain of the of core problems of this show. I WISHED that wasnt the case. But for the love of everything, Kagami would have made so much more sense as the female lead, but no.

Anyway, I will leave it at that now cause I already elaborate much further than I initially wanted to, I just wanted to finally have all this stated.

This Blog is not a full representation of how I lay priorities in (feminist) media in general, my view adjusts to the piece of media I'm watching.

And unfortunately, ever since season 4 Miraculous turned into a full blown extreme case and has only gotten better somewhat recently. So I will continue doing what I always do: focus on the fucking VICTIM whose bad treatment pulls down the whole show's quality, and here that's plain obviously Adrien Agreste/ Chat Noir.

And with all due respect: Die mad about it.

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bartsugsy · 7 years ago

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sorry but can't help but dislike some Robert lines referring to baby as changing everything like I thought Aaron did? and saying he didn't care until baby like which bs what about Aaron and Liv like smh, and saying holding baby was best feeling ever like what about meeting/marrying the love of your life referring the product of the biggest mistake as all things thought Aaron was to Robert hurts tbh might sound harsh but can't help it like I hate this sl

i actually think they’d benefit from having more parallels between the baby and aaron personally, bc…

OK I HAVE HALF-FORMED META ON THIS AND I’M HUNGOVER AND SLEEPY SO I CAN’T REALLY MAKE MY BRAIN WORK WELL ENOUGH TO EXPRESS IT TODAY BUT I’LL JUST DUMP MY THOUGHTS HERE ON U

yes, the baby is a product of rob’s biggest regret (WHICH, INSANITY THAT HIS BIGGEST REGRET ISN’T THE DAY HE ACCIDENTALLY KILLED HIS SISTER IN LAW BUT HERE WE ARE), but it’s also his son and he has developed this instant love and attachment to the little squidge

aaron is obviously the love of robert’s life

and between aaron and baby squidge, we see the two people now who essentially mean the most to robert in the world (according to robert)

that’s not a bad thing, love isn’t a finite source lmao

and it’s his son - aaron would fuckin be so disappointed in robert if robert didn’t love squidge enough. god, i feel like rob being a shitty dad would be the biggest thing that would actually drive aaron away, in all complete honesty. so, to aaron, although the baby is a representation of their problems, i don’t think aaron could support a rob who ran away or didn’t try to be a dad

but look, i’ve said this a million times over, but if the baby didn’t exist they still would have fallen apart at some point - ROB LITERALLY SAID IN THE SCRAPYARD SCENE ON FRIDAY THAT HE BLAMED THE WHITES FOR HIM LOSING AARON BUT THAT HE KNOWS NOW THAT HE HAS NO ONE TO BLAME BUT HIMSELF - THIS WAS SOMETHING ROB DID

AND ROB AND REBECCA HAVING SEX WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN AS HURTFUL TO AARON AS IT WAS, HAD ROB NOT SPENT MONTHS PLAYING REBECCA IN AN ATTEMPT TO GET MORE MONEY AND POWER

AARON AND ROB ALMOST BROKE UP IN JANUARY AND SHOULD HAVE DONE THEN AND THERE - YOU DON’T ALMOST BREAK UP THE DAY BEFORE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO ELOPE, GET MARRIED TWO MONTHS LATER OUT OF FEAR ABOUT PRISON AND THEN GO INTO YOUR MARRIAGE EXPECTING TO NOT HAVE SOME SERIOUS ISSUES

THEY NEVER RESOLVED THE JANUARY FIGHT, NOT ONCE

THEY WOULD HAVE BROKEN UP EITHER WAY

THIS BABY IS A PRODUCT OF IT, BUT IT’S NOT THE CAUSE AND IT’S NOT WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE FOR THEM TO WORK

THE BABY COULD BE REVEALED TO NOT BE ROB’S TOMORROW AND MOVE OUT OF TOWN AND AARON COULD GET BACK WITH ROBERT AND THEY WOULD STILL HAVE PROBLEMS

BECAUSE THEIR PROBLEMS EXISTED LONG BEFORE THE BABY DID

and ok anyway, back to my point - rob loves this baby and more than that, knows that if he is in squidge’s life, he’ll have a direct influence over the way squidge turns out, as a human being. and rob truly believes that he destroys everything he touches.

so now here he is, trying to be in the baby’s life because aaron refused to let him run away

horrified that his own dad is right and that he’ll mess up the baby’s life too

but also determined to be a better person for the sake of lil squidge, because he needs to be, because he doesn’t want squishy to grow up to be as miserable and as messed up as he is, or to ever hold his own child and only feel ashamed

SO OK, THAT’S ROB’S CURRENT RELATIONSHIP WITH BABY SQUISHY COVERED

ROBERT LOVES AARON MORE THAN FUCKING LIFE ITSELF, WE KNOW IT, ROB KNOWS IT, AARON KNOWS IT - i don’t need to go over this, rob loves aaron

but rob as he is now is no good for aaron - rob can barely keep his own life together, rob still kissed rebecca bc he saw an easy way to make some money, rob lashes out and causes hurt to people he loves, rob makes awful, awful decisions at every turn

but the thing is, there was a time where, more often than not, rob was so so so good for aaron. during the abuse sl, rob was genuinely vital to aaron, one of the biggest and most important pillars of support aaron had. rob is the reason aaron found liv. rob stopped chas from fucking things up. rob took aaron to hospital, made him feel safe enough to talk, put aaron’s well being as his highest priority and never asked for anything in return and aaron, at that time, needed that.

and this, coincidentally, happened directly after robert was shot. robert’s shooting was ultimately the start of rob’s redemption - and if you look at rob’s actions between finding out aaron didn’t shoot him and the start of the abuse storyline, you see rob in a place where he, more than anything, wants to be back with aaron. but he’s plotting - he tries to buy the pub, he helps aaron with doug, he’s still sort of… he’s got the best of intentions, but he’s definitely still a lil scheme machine

but anyway, rob is (mostly, not always), hyper focused on aaron’s well-being during the abuse sl and then it’s all over and they get together properly and things are good and naturally, rob doesn’t have to be quite as I HAVEN’T SEEN AARON TODAY IS HE OK HOW IS HE DOES HE NEED SOMEONE TO SIT NEXT TO HIM QUIETLY BC I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE, yk? aaron is doing better and they have liv to deal with and that’s fine, they’re trying to find their footing as a couple and things return to normal, sort of

and they argue constantly

and there’s rarely a moment where rob’s not doing something that aaron is inevitably going to yell at him for

rob leaves larry to die, tries to murder chrissie with a tree, vows revenge on the whites for andy and then, once andy’s name is cleared, keeps going because he’s found an opportunity to line his pockets some more and rob loves money

my point, in describing all of this (which obvs u already know) is that here we have present day rob, with a new little human who he suddenly feels an incredible amount of love for, and rob is vowing to change, to be better and suddenly he’s allowing himself to be ashamed of his actions, knows he needs to stop tormenting the whites - hell, larry offers him shares and rob’s instant reaction is “oh fuck”. the rob of two weeks ago would have done the most evil smirk in the world and then tried to up the share percentage somehow tbh.

and u have rob, pledging to squidge, that he’s gonna be a better man - something that rob spent so long trying to do with aaron during the abuse sl

and i think making the comparison between who rob was then and who rob is now with sebastian is important because these are the two people rob loves most in the world - aaron and squidgy - and rob’s idea of love at this level is sort of insane

if rob loves you, he’d do anything for you

anything except actually, really, genuinely change the way he needs to, because he doesn’t understand how to yet

so rob pledging to aaron that he would be better was from the best place within rob, and he meant it and he tried and on some level he did succeed, but it wasn’t enough and it wasn’t permanent enough

and the words he’s saying to sebastian are the same - they’re not enough, he doesn’t know how to change when so often his instincts are still bound to chasing money and power and making horrible impulsive decisions

ALL THIS TO SAY

I THINK THERE’S SO MUCH VALUE IN COMPARING THE WAY ROB LOVES BOTH AARON AND SQUIDGY AND THAT LINE ABOUT HOW SQUISH CHANGED EVERYTHING WAS SO GOOD BECAUSE

WELL, ROB SAID IT TO AARON RIGHT BEFORE HE ACCIDENTALLY PROPOSED

AND THEN ROB SLOWLY DESTROYED THEIR RELATIONSHIP

AND NOW YOU HAVE ROB SAYING IT TO SEB

KNOWING THAT IN TWO MONTHS, ROBERT IS GETTING HIS REDEMPTION STORY

NOT NOW

IN TWO MONTHS

SO IT’S JUST…

IT’S NOT THAT ROB LIED TO AARON ABOUT HIS FEELINGS, IT’S NOT THAT HE HASN’T MEANT EVERY ROMANTIC OR CRAZY EPIC LOVE-RELATED THING HE’S EVER SAID TO AARON, BECAUSE WE KNOW HE HAS AND WE KNOW THAT ROB LOVES AARON, THAT AARON IS THE LOVE OF ROB’S LIFE AND THAT HE DID, IN MANY WAYS, PROVIDE THE BEST IMPETUS FOR ROB TO CHANGE

BUT ROB HAS TIED HIS CHANGES TO AARON AND NOW TO SQUIDGE

AND THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS

BC WHEN HE LOST AARON, HE THREW THOSE CHANGES HE MADE AWAY TOO

AND NOW… IF HE LOOSES SQUISHY TOO? WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO HIM

IF ROB IS GONNA CHANGE, IT NEEDS TO BE FOR HIMSELF

IT NEEDS TO BE

ROB AND AARON ARE NEVER GONNA WORK OTHERWISE AND ROB IS NEVER GONNA BE ABLE TO BE THE DAD HE WANTS TO BE, IF HE EVEN ENDS UP GETTING THAT CHANCE

so yeah… more aaron/baby squidgle parallels would be awesome tbh

last thing but (and i’ve said this before too) i love that the three people rob spoke to about his feelings were aaron, squishy and jack - the three absolutely most influential men(/boys) in his life. there’s a reason why rob’s relationship with jack is being so heavily drawn into this - just as there’s a reason why the birth of squishy brought aaron back into rob’s orbit. these are three people who rob has wanted to change for, for good reasons or bad.

idk, i just really like it as a storytelling piece. but that’s just me.

#meta #long post #here i go again....#but honestly i love this #ALL THE AARON SQUIDGEBASTIAN PARALLELS #rob x aaron #rob x seb #spoilers #answering anons

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genx3791 · 4 years ago

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Here are 51 reasons why Alberta & Saskatchewan would enjoy better lives as citizens of a U.S. state.

1. No more French language

Say goodbye to French on signs, products, government documents. No more French taught in schools. No more being greeted in French when you speak to customer service.

2. Free to travel to sunny states for as long as you want

Want to live in Florida, Arizona, or Maui for a while without raising eyebrows with U.S. border patrol or risk being double-taxed by IRS & CRA?

3. 2nd Amendment rights

The right to bear arms is an inalienable right ingrained in the U.S. Constitution, which can't be taken away. In Constitutional Carry states, you can even carry a concealed firearm without permits or red tape. In Canada, you will just have to watch your family get mowed down by bad guys.

4. Donald Trump

You get the ultimate leader of the people, a non-stop machine who works for you 20hrs a day instead of Trudeau who uses you to fund his vacation. You get an alpha male leader you can be proud of & truely loves his country instead of a sissy.

5. Protection from US military

You get the full protection of the Pentagon and its 1.3 million active duty personnel.

6. Safety of US dollar

You'll be earning US dollars which are the world's stable, standard currency and a safe haven of investment.

7. 1st Amendment

The right to free speech is ingrained in the U.S. Constitution. You are free to speak your mind without being fined or jailed for offending people.

8. Benefit from economies of scale

320 million people create a lot more buying power than 35 million. That's why prices of consumer goods and services tend to be better in the U.S. That's also why the U.S. has better infrastructure.

9. Better postal service

USPS is thriving in the digital age while Canada Post is cutting services to stay afloat. Order something cross country and USPS has it to you in 3 days or less at a fraction of the cost of Canada Post.

10. More banking options

You get a multitude of banking options rather than being stuck with Canada's banking oligopoly.

11. More phone & cable plan options

You get more choice of carriers and greater coverage in the States. Plans are usually cheaper as well.

12. More electronics, lower prices

There is so much more competition in the home electronics/appliances industries that it keeps prices lower in the U.S. than in Canada.

13. Cheaper car insurance

Car insurance tends to be about 40-50% lower in the U.S. than in Canada. Again, it's probably due to a larger economy of scale.

14. More famous restaurant franchises

You favorite U.S. restaurant chains will be more eager to operate north of the 49th when they're not faced with Canada's over-regulation of food, language and labor.

15. More affordable air transportation

How come you can fly from Phoenix to Las Vegas for $50 but flying from Calgary to Vancouver (same distance) is $200?

16. Better quality groceries, more choice

While Canada only has two big grocery companies that control 90% of the market, the U.S. has a multitude of options. With greater competition comes better quality and more options. Also, many great food companies in the U.S. won't export to Canada because of the cost of complying with Canada's food and labelling regulations.

17. Don’t pay duties for online shopping

Let's face it, all the good stuff online is shipped from the States. Then it gets dinged for up to 35% by Canada Customs when it comes in. This won't happen when Alberta is a U.S. state.

18. Won’t get made uncompetitive by Carbon Tax

Canada's obsession with climate change has mandated a carbon tax that is about to render its industrial output unable to compete with countries that haven't fallen for this hoax.

19. Won’t get made uncompetitive by new US import taxes

Trump is going to play hardball on trade. When he has leverage, he will use it to the advantage of the USA. He will start making Canada pay for the protection it gets from Uncle Sam, and if Canada won't pay, he'll make it up on increased tariffs.

20. Tougher justice system

The prime minister of Canada doesn't even think terrorists should lose their citizenship. Canada is a very liberal country that is soft on criminals in hopes that they can be rehabilitated. Meanwhile, very bad people are walking our streets.

21. Fewer refugees

Trump is proposing a total, temporary pause on refugees coming into the US until they figure out a way to vet them properly. Canada is simply an open borders country that will invite in as many refugees as it can to prove a point about how liberal it is.

22. Melting Pot, not Salad Bowl

The United States with its melting pot culture encourages immigrants to assimilate into English-speaking American culture. Canada encourages immigrants to maintain the cultural identities and customs of the home countries. This creates a lot of tension and a lack of shared identity in Canadian society.

23. Military industrial complex creates jobs

There is no arguing with the fact that the U.S. military industrial complex, with its world-leading innovation and massive productive capacity generates a tremendous amount of jobs and economic output. Canada's is nearly non-existent by comparison.

24. More diverse economy than Canada’s oil & health

Canada has put all its eggs in the oil and health care industries. This lack of diversity is very risky, as witnessed after the fall of oil prices. All the brightest minds in Canada who aren't working in oil or health move to the States to work in other industries.

25. Get to vote for President, not just watch

No longer will Albertans have to just sit on the sidelines and watch Americans elect the leader of the Free World.

26. Get a national culture & identity (vs “post-national”)

Americans have a strong sense of shared identity, cultural practices and values. Canada's leaders have declared it a "post-national" country, having no single shared identity. This encourages Canadians to stay in their ethnic cliques rather than work together like Americans do.

27. America first vs. globalism

Alberta will become part of America; a country now lead by those who put American priorities ahead of matters abroad. Canada is becoming the last bastion of globalism and makes domestic matters take a back seat to "virtuous" acts of saving people in faraway lands.

28. U.S. conservative values align with Alberta's

Canada's political spectrum is sharply to the left of the United States. The Conservative Party of Canada would be to the left of the Democrats if it was part of the U.S. Alberta keeps voting conservative which means it belongs in a more right-oriented political system like the U.S.

29. No more monarchy

Americans had the balls to evict the Crown 240 years ago, while Canada is still appeasing the Royals.

30. Access to better quality health care

You probably know at least five people who have had to go the the U.S. for serious health procedures. Most affluent Canadians go to the States for procedures. Why would any good doctors want to work in Canada's socialist health care system, when they can live in the States, make more money and work with the best technology?

31. Shorter wait times for operations

No more waiting days in a hospital corridor to get your rupturing appendix removed!

32. Might get an NFL franchise

Sure, you love your CFL teams, but wouldn't it be more exciting if your local franchise was NFL?

33. Help MAGA

You get to apply your energy to making America great again, instead of being trapped in a socialist country where your blood, sweat, and tears (and tax dollars) go to a leftist government that makes terrible decisions which work against you.

34. Be proud of your country again

There has never been a better time to be American. Those who support MAGA are walking with pride as their country is rebuilt, while Albertans walk with hunched shoulders, not proud of the country that mocks and exploits it.

35. Don’t have to feel second class around Americans anymore

You will be a first class, American citizen rather than being teased about being from wimpy Canada, eh?

36. Earning $USD, you can go to BC and shop/vacation in CAD pesos

When Alberta becomes part of the U.S. and Albertans are earning $USD, they will be able to go to BC for cheap cross-border shopping and holidays because the $CAD will be worth less than $0.50 $USD.

37. Elected Senate

You'll get to elect your senators rather than having them appointed by the elites.

38. State that treats you like grown up, not a nanny

Albertans are freedom-loving people. Why should they be over-regulated and talked down to by a government that thinks it knows what's best for its people and treats them like babies? The American society treats you like a grown up by default.

39. No more CBC

No more of your tax dollars going to support the government-backed Canadian Brainwashing Corporation.

40. No more forced CanCon

You will no longer be forced to ingest watered down versions of Netflix, Pandora, iTunes or having to listen to Nickelback, Bieber, or Alanis 50% of the time by law. No more government-funded shows like Little Mosque on the Prairie.

41. No more draining equalization payments

Less of your hard-earned dollars will go to buying beer and cigarettes for unemployed Quebecers.

42. No more government in absentia

The ruling government in Ottawa currently only has 4 MPs from Alberta. Alberta voted conservative and now has almost zero representation in government. This is complete political alienation.

43. Lower corporate tax better for small business

Trump is proposing dropping corporate tax to 10-15%. This will give American small business a major boost and Canada's small businesses will be unable to compete.

44. No longer lagging 8 years behind the US

Isn't it frustrating to have to repeat the same historical mistakes as the U.S., 8 years later? Canada elected its Obama (Trudeau) just on the eve of America rejecting him.

45. Lower gas tax

Gas taxes are lower in the U.S.

46. Lower liquor tax

Liquor is taxed at a lower rate in the U.S., too. Why pay more tax if you don't have to?

47. Won’t be trapped in Canada by a plunging Loonie

When America steps up their economic & trade games to a whole new level, the Loonie is going to be driven down by so much money flowing from Canada to the U.S. This will hurt Canadians' ability to buy vacations, real estate and consumer goods from the US.

48. Your children will have more job opportunities

America's economic diversity, military industrial complex, and world-leading innovation provide orders of magnitude more opportunity than Canada's narrow oil & health focus. By the time your children are old enough to join the workforce, Trump will have made America even stronger with even more opportunities, which will dwarf Canada. With Alberta part of the U.S., your children won't have to leave to get jobs.

49. Your children will have more education options

As U.S. citizens, your children will benefit from having the choice of hundreds of great American colleges and universities where they can make great connections with the leaders of tomorrow, rather than being marginalized nobodies who graduated from some unknown Canadian school.

50. Cheaper to heat your home with no CO2 tax

No more having to choose between heating vs. eating in the frigid winter months.

51. Never be ruled by another Trudeau!

Nothing needs to be said about this one.

Feel free to copy n paste, I did.

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