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Ah, the annual Maclean's issue. You'd never see the same in the US because Americans feel it to be self-evident.
It's a combination of cherry-picked surveys, some true statistics and hyperbole. Is William Shatner really a national treasure? Canada is better at special effects because of...tax breaks?
One revelation to me was that Seth Rogen was from Vancouver.
Dominating hockey is like saying that the US dominates baseball.
Whistler IS good, but saying it trumps Vail based upon the numbers is idiotic. In addition to Vail you get Breckenridge, Steamboat, Buttermilk, Crested Butte, Telluride, etc. all just in Colorado alone.
If the annual Maclean's feature makes Canadians feel better about themselves then that's great. Maybe there will be an inventor series on the snowmobile and poutine?
Well put Mark. Some of us don't like the constant navel gazing comparisons to the Americans. It makes Canadians look a provincial people, which in truth many of us are. People wonder why Canada is looked upon as little more than an underachieving attachment, well the the jealous of my neighbour mentality that shown in this article is exactly why.
Well put Mark. Some of us don't like the constant navel gazing comparisons to the Americans. It makes Canadians look a provincial people, which in truth many of us are. People wonder why Canada is looked upon as little more than an underachieving attachment, well the the jealous of my neighbour mentality that shown in this article is exactly why.
Oh and around and around we go where we stop - well we won't stop
Keep in mind Canada is a much smaller population than the U.S spread over a similarly sized area with a lot of immigration. About 250K new people come to the country every year. For a country our size that is a big deal so if the media here posts stuff like this it might help to give them some information.
Of course Canadians know that the country is a dominant force in Hockey etc. That said it doesn't really matter and its not really a big deal is it that Maclean's would publish this. Its media and certainly media doesn't 'represent' Canada or Canadians so I think you should put it in perspective.
Btw - There is more to B.C than Whistler and that is just B.C lol..
It's not a big deal but it's symptomatic of a well known inferiority complex. Canada is like the kid who wants to be cool, so in order to do that he goes around telling everyone about how cool he is. It totally has the opposite effect.
One particular difference I've noticed on the boards is how often Americans talk about their individual freedoms and how fearful many of them are about their freedoms being taken away from them. I rarely see Canadians expressing concern about their freedoms and I think that in general they may be more willing to temper their freedom with their sense of social responsibility. I'm not saying that one approach is better than the other, just that the approaches are different.
On the other hand, someone could argue that Canadians never really had these freedoms since our country was essentially created by the British and told in no uncertain terms that this is our future. We didn't have any real choices about joining federation or shaping the future of the country. The US is a self built project and Canada is like a birthday present from the British who apparently were gracious enough to bestow our questionable independence. Those are two very different scenarios. Canadian freedoms more so than American freedoms are whatever the government decides they are, for better or worse.
It's not a big deal but it's symptomatic of a well known inferiority complex. Canada is like the kid who wants to be cool, so in order to do that he goes around telling everyone about how cool he is. It totally has the opposite effect.
I don't agree about the inferiority complex as you know. That said I wouldn't miss these lists that the Canadian media seem to pepper us with. I don't think Canadians are asking for them as much as the media is spewing them out. As for effect, I hardly think these lists will make much of a difference on the 'coolness' factor with outsiders regardless.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PBeauchamp
On the other hand, someone could argue that Canadians never really had these freedoms since our country was essentially created by the British and told in no uncertain terms that this is our future. We didn't have any real choices about joining federation or shaping the future of the country. The US is a self built project and Canada is like a birthday present from the British who apparently were gracious enough to bestow our questionable independence. Those are two very different scenarios. Canadian freedoms more so than American freedoms are whatever the government decides they are, for better or worse.
I'd imagine you'd be better off living about 175 years ago in the past. I think the world would have given you more satisfaction back then than it does now.
??? I took a lot of the points in the article to be tongue-and-cheek not bragging.
These lists having been going on for years though.. Perhaps a moratorium on them for awhile wouldn't be a bad idea, they are getting a tad 'old'. Of course they aren't a big deal but will give some a reason to draw infinitely unrelated and fundamental links to them that just aren't really there. Meh it is what it is Irene.
I don't agree about the inferiority complex as you know. That said I wouldn't miss these lists that the Canadian media seem to pepper us with. I don't think Canadians are asking for them as much as the media is spewing them out. As for effect, I hardly think these lists will make much of a difference on the 'coolness' factor with outsiders regardless.
I'd imagine you'd be better off living about 175 years ago in the past. I think the world would have given you more satisfaction back then than it does now.
I don't think I am the first guy to mention that Canada has this cultural condition. As children many Canadians both anglophone and francophone start off with jealousy as they consume every American product in sight and wish they could live in a warmer climate, and then as they grow older and they realize that they aren't part of the club that jealousy grows into something more bitter and resentful.
But with anglo Canadian culture it is taken to a hilarious level. The high sensitivity to any criticism, the overly defensive reactions, the passive aggressiveness and the constant need for some reason to defeat the US in the most arbitrary categories while the Americans could care less. These are symptomatic of the penis envy that are essential to anglo Canadian culture. It seems like something is always trying to be proven, and the Americans are too busy to notice that we are begging for attention.
Ask yourself why do so many foreign observers and even Quebecois make this exact same observation?
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