Category Archives: Armchair Philosophy

Who is Ethnically Canadian?

By Adam Snider | Published: March 21, 2011

Last week, I wrote an open letter to Canadian politicians (and everyone else) who insist on referring to non-white Canadians as “ethnic.” I wrote that using the word “ethnic” as code for “non-white” or “immigrant” is not really politically correct. Although people who use the term probably don’t mean it to be offensive, it’s actually [...]

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On Smartphones and Outdated Nomenclature

By Adam Snider | Published: March 17, 2011

Most of us (and by us, I mean anyone who is able to connect to the great series of tubes through which this data is travelling) carry devices in our pockets and purses that we call cellular phones. Many of us have gone one step further and started to carry smartphones. Frankly, we need to [...]

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On the Matter of “Ethnic Voters”

By Adam Snider | Published: March 16, 2011

An open letter to politicians (and everyone else) who keep referring to non-white Canadians as “ethnic.” Dear politicos, It seems to have become quite common for you to go around touting how awesome your numbers are among “ethnic Canadians.” You don’t generally do this publicly, but you certainly talk about it within your parties. You [...]

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On Public Drinking

By Adam Snider | Published: October 7, 2010

On my afternoon coffee break, I decided to go for a walk down Jasper Avenue. It was a nice day—exceptionally nice, given that it’s 20C+ in October—and a walk seemed like the thing to do. As I walked along, I decided that I’d stop in at the Jasper 105 Sobey’s Urban Fresh location and pick [...]

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On the Tories’ Contempt for Knowledge

By Adam Snider | Published: August 17, 2010

Only in Canada have expertise and ideas been so brutally cast aside. On the level of principle, this is appalling. A society that holds education and expertise in contempt, no less than one that disdains commerce or entrepreneurship, is dying. To whip up popular hostility to intellectuals is to invite the public to jump on [...]

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Let the Children Guide Us

By Adam Snider | Published: July 31, 2010

I was at the medicentre today, getting the stitches removed from my thumb (in a story not told on this blog, I nearly chopped off the tip of my thumb while making breakfast last weekend). While I was there a guy walked in with his young kid. There was nothing particularly notable about this father [...]

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Opening Your Mouth and Removing all Doubt

By Adam Snider | Published: September 3, 2009

I was reading this week’s issue of Maclean’s and came across a hilarious letter to the editor. The letter is in reference to an article called “Store refuses to cover up tobacco wall,” from the August 24, 2009 issue. It goes to show that, just because you have an opinion doesn’t mean that you should [...]

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