[breek]

I know a lot of us say that americans really don't know anything about our country and americans are ignorant etc etc. ignorance may play a part in it. but did u ever think that maybe americans just dont care about canada? if i had to guess i'd say the average american could probably go an entire year without hearing or thinking about canada. meanwhile the average canadian probably can't go 24 hours without being bombarded with american culture/media. what does it say when a canadian's definition of success is not living here anymore? if our best and brightest entertainers, athletes, scientists continually move to america, then what does that really say about canada. it says to americans canada is not worth knowing or caring about.

im not defending the US's lack of knowledge of canada, i'm just trying to be realistic about the situation.

[RUEZ]

breek breek:

what does it say when a canadian's definition of success is not living here anymore?

I think your a little off on that one. I know if i look around I can find a list of succesfull Canadians that either still live here, or split living here and elsewhere. I have heard people say that Canadian entertainers aren't considered succesfull until they've been succesfull in the U.S. I think that has mostly to do with the fact that they have 280 million people in there marketplace and we have 31. If I'm gonna sell records or make movies I definately want to crack that market. I think we Canadians need to stop hitting ourselves over the head with this. Yes we are dependant on the U.S. for a lot of things, our countries have a very unique place in the world, I mean hell were almost one country in many ways. We have differences and they have differences, and we don't have to put them down to know who we are. It's what's inside us, and how we live in this world that makes us Canadians, and no matter how many American movies we watch, or products we buy were still Canadian. I for one don't worry about it, because I know where I come from.

[RoyalHighlander]

Godz46 Godz46:

Well it just shows that Canada has become a half-assed country that no one cares about. Its not just Americans who don't know shit about Canada btw. Truth is European and Asian citizens probably know even less about you guys. Believe me I've been to every continent in the world expet for Africa. And Canadians are not as "Loved" as much as the Liberal Party tries to tell you. Truth is the world barely knows you exist. You've become completly irrelevant.

he we go with your upbeat posts again godz

[RUEZ]

Hey Godz, who fuckin cares?
Only you I think.
Get over yourself.

[breek]

please dont make this into a flame thread so please halt ruez

[RUEZ]

breek breek:

please dont make this into a flame thread so please halt ruez

Excuse me? Who the hell are you.
Perhaps you'll notice this posted before mine

Godz46 Godz46:

Well it just shows that Canada has become a half-assed country that no one cares about. Its not just Americans who don't know shit about Canada btw. Truth is European and Asian citizens probably know even less about you guys. Believe me I've been to every continent in the world expet for Africa. And Canadians are not as "Loved" as much as the Liberal Party tries to tell you. Truth is the world barely knows you exist. You've become completly irrelevant.

Maybe you don't like honest discussion?

[breek]

sorry i just meant there don't need to be any personal attacks. nothing against sorry.

[RUEZ]

breek breek:

sorry i just meant there don't need to be any personal attacks. nothing against sorry.

Hmm. I looked through it all and I don't see a personal attack anywhere, maybe you could help me out and show me where I did that.

[Streaker]

Canadians shouldn't be so preoccupied with what Americans or other foreigners think of Canada. Who cares?!? What's most important is that Canada pursue a path which Canadians can live with....

And Godzilla's suggestion that Canada is now widely viewed with contempt in Europe, Asia and Australia is just ridiculous...

[dgthe3]

The problem with Canadian identity is that we constantly get bombarded with American media. When i was a little kid, around 6 years old or so,i actually thought that i lived in the States with all the comercials saying stuff like 'we have locations all over the country" with an accompanying map of the US. American culture is so overwhelming that it is unavaoidible, no matter where you go. In Canada, we do not have a fundamentally different culture than the US. So we need to define the rather subtle differences between us. In order to do that, we need to say "We are not _____, instead we are ____".

As far as the subject of american ignorance goes, there are ignorant people all over the world, and it would be ignorant( ) to think that this does not the case in the US. However, i believe that the question is of how many ignorant Americans there are. I don't think that most Americans fully realize their status, influance, and impact on the world. Undoubtably, some Americans are aware, but most are, in the purest sense of the word, ignorant of it.

[dknychic]

Don't take it personally Canada, we afford the same level of indifference to everyone equally
Lily's right. Our culture does not promote learning about the world outside of America in general. In fact, the only time we hear about what's going on in the world in our news is when it affects America directly or has something to do with a current controversy we're trying to resolve. The Americans who are knowledgable about Canada or elsewhere are the ones that either spent a lot of time outside the country as kids or became proactive about learning about other cultures as adults.

As for your entertainers moving here, it doesn't necessarily say to us that Canada is not worth knowing or caring about. All it says is that they wanna make more money is all

[xerxes]

The thing about American ignorance is that it seems, at times, to be a source of pride. Just look at Bush. He brags about how he got C's at Yale and still managed to become President.

Also, I read an article about a report from the National Endowment for the Arts (sorry I can't provide the link) that showed that reading was down across the board in the US among all age groups and education levels.

Dgthe3 is right in that there are idiots everywhere and Lily is right about how the US education system (and society is in general) is very insular and self-centered. But there is something different about ignorance in the US. Case in point: the study done during the election that showed the the majority of Republican voters still thought that Saddam was behind 9/11, that the US had found WMD's in Iraq, and that they had been used in the war. When most people outside the US hear about that, I'm pretty sure they all thing "how can Americans be so bloody stupid as to ignore basic fact?"

[SgtMills]

Lily: We think alike. The Americans do have a need be better than us. Thats why they always say they are better than us. When the Americans see us with something better they seem to feel intimidated and a need to stop us or always be better than us.