Canadian obsession with "US vs Canada lists" (house, law school)
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I thought there was and searched but no specific thread came up about Canada beaches vs. USA beaches. There are dozens of threads where comparisons between beaches in both countries come up but they're also talking about other things too.
So why not go for it then? Let's have a new thread specifically about Canada beaches vs. USA beaches.
I thought there was and searched but no specific thread came up about Canada beaches vs. USA beaches. There are dozens of threads where comparisons between beaches in both countries come up but they're also talking about other things too.
So why not go for it then? Let's have a new thread specifically about Canada beaches vs. USA beaches.
.
We could also so a BC vs Sask alpine skiing thread!
It's quite common for young people growing up in Canada to bash the U.S. when they are searching for and establishing their identity (both personal and national), given just how ubiquitous all things American can often be in their lives.
Some people grow out of it. Some people don't.
In 1972 Richard M. Nixon visited Ottawa on April 13-14, 1972. On arrival at the airport he said in part: "While the weather may be cool the welcome is very warm."
He then addressed the Canadian Parliament, saying in part (link):
Quote:
It has been said that Canada is bounded "on the north by gold, on the west by the East, on the east by history--and on the south by friends." We hope that will always be the case and we hope it will be the case not only with respect to the United States, your immediate neighbor to the south, but with respect to all your southern neighbors--and ours--who are bound by the great forces of geography and history which are distinctive to the New World.
I visited Toronto (actually North York High School) on a band exchange program a year later, almost to the day, in 1972. I asked my billet, a 16 year old band member if Mr. Nixon's sentiments expressed the views of most Canadians on the U.S. and he said "not really." He was unwilling to explain.
Just after New Years 1979 I met a Montrealer who was Jewish and bilingual at Smuggler's Notch, Vermont. He similarly expressed Canada's superiority, as was expressed in the quoted and the opening post. I suspect that Canada feels almost apologetic about first being in Britain's shadow and now the U.S.'s. That is unfortunate since Canada is truly a great country. It may not have had the birthing pains that created demonstrative American patriotism. A bit more of that on a positive basis, rather than a putdown basis, would be a good thing.
Great Britain learned, albeit the hard way with the U.S. that subjugating a free people is an impossible and unsatisfying task. The birth of Canada, Australia and New Zealand as free countries was quieter and far less traumatic. It also did not generate the impetus for unification and national pride.
I feel, as an American that Canada has more than earned the right to the same pride that Americans feel. You earned it at Vimy Ridge. You earned it by joining WW II immediately, much to the shame of my country for abstaining. You earned it at the Canadian embassy in Iran in 1980. You earned it with your help in Miami in 1992 after Hurricane Andrew, in New Orleans in 2005 after Katrina and now in Houston. Also, Canadians opened their homes and their hearts to Americans stranded in Canada as a result of the closure of American airspace for about three days after September 11, 2001. The hospitality and generosity are unforgettable. I saw the Broadway show, Come From Away based on the hospitality in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador.
You have a great country. Time for a bit brassier pride!!!
As with most things in life, the anti-american brainwashing to which we are subjected during most of our childhood gets overturned pretty quickly by experience and reality of the States. I got rid of mine after a extensive voyage down there at 14 years of age. I remember that the cars looked newer and cleaner down there (no salt during winter) and that the interstates were a marvel of civil engineering that we'd never build in the Great White north in a million years. I also remember thinking how much better my life would be if I could live in a hut near the Atlantic Ocean.
Canada has also had a harsher environment and a less free wheeling, vigorous economy by design so in a bid to keep the slaves on the plantation, the pooh-bahs had to concoct this story that the US was somehow 'scary', more violent, and less civilised somehow...so, you better stay right here to keep the home fires burning bright. I remember reading about a dutch contingent in the late 19th century who were enticed to set up a farm in south western Ontario; after one winter, they slipped over the border never to be heard from again, their passage costs forfeited. That was quite common in the last century. The US was just a better deal back then to most immigrants both in terms of weather and opportunity.
Obviously, all this stuff serves political objectives of various factions in our country; a common spectre/rival is the best way to unite a populace behind a standard. Americans know this well with the Red Commie scare and how that enabled the Militiary Industrial complex to entrench itself in her economy and political class. Same thing here; you're just the used as the prop by our pilfering elites to make it easier to rob their subjects.
Last edited by lookyhere; 09-06-2017 at 10:26 AM..
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