BartSimpson BartSimpson:
I've seen plenty of anti-Canadianism here.
It's subtle and it's expressed in things like leftist-class warfare where some folks promote the politics of envy and want to "soak the rich" and the end result is that Canada has no large population of significantly wealthy people creating wealth in Canada.
Ken Thomson is #9 on the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest men. He is joined by 17 other Canuck with net worths of over a BILLION (that's USD not CDN BTW). That's proof that you can be wealthy here in Canada. I see nothing wrong with progressive taxation. It does not 'hurt' the rich to have them pay a million dollars in taxes on $5 million in income. Yes, they can move to the Caymans and live tax free if they desire, but I think Canadians as a whole tend to compassion and giving something back to the community.
I have absolutely NO problem with the almost $9,000 I paid in taxes last year because I know it goes to our roads, hospitals and schools, etc. For every dollar that is 'wasted' (personally I don't think so, but it's a popular right wing belief) on things like the gun registry; tens, if not hundreds are spent on good social programs like health care, education and infrastructure.
My opinion is if you don't feel like helping out those less fortunate than yourself, then feel free to move to the US. We don't need anymore selfish 'me' generation people in Canada than we already have...
$1:
The socialism at certain levels operates on the assumption that Canadians are incapable of managing their own affairs and those affairs must be managed for them by government...as if Canadians are all a bunch of children. Again, this is very subtle and the subliminal statement is that Canadians cannot be trusted to manage their own lives and if left to their own devices, would end up in personal ruin.
Plenty of people do end up in ruin when left to the whims of the marketplace. How many former Enron employees will see a dime from their pension plan? How many people are turned away from hospitals in the US because there HMO doesn't cover a certain procedure. How many people will die from lung cancer this year because an unscrupulous tobacco company hooked them on nicotine when they were young. I could go on and on...
Canadians can be trusted to run their own lives, but sometimes government regulation is necessary. I bet a lot of Californians still rue the day they deregulated energy. I know rural Albertans have gotten screwed by energy deregulation. Capitalism is in general a good thing, but capitalism run amok leads to monopolies that inevitably look out only for the almighty dollar not the citizens they serve.
$1:
The popular and fashionable anti-militarism is a not-so-subtle anti-Canadian sentiment in that what is effectively being said is that Canada isn't worth fighting for or defending. I'd state a name but you'll figure it out...anyhow, one of our lefties who is not Avro or Derby or Tman once said that he would not lift a finger to defend Canada in a war. THAT is anti-Canadianism.
It is only natural to question the loss of our men when they are placed in harm's way. People raked Mackenzie King over the coals for sending men to Hong Kong only a month before the Japanese attacked. Did that affect how we fought on D-Day? Nope.
Staying foccussed on some nebulous 'war on terra' takes resolve and not everyone necessarily supports going after the Taliban in the mountains of Afghanistan, when handing out candy and building schools in Kabul seems so much more like the the stereoype of 'peacekeeping'.
I guarantee you that if Canada was faced with a true life-and-death struggle, this 'anti-militarism' you speak of would vanish in an instant. Yes, maybe some people wouldn't volunteer to join up and fight, but they'd likely participate in some other fashion, like manufacturing or farming, or whatever. In wartime economy, there are no real 'conscientious objectors'. Most of the Canadian pacificists during WW2 worked on farms or factories helping out the war effort.
$1:
Anti-Americanism sometimes expresses a nascent anti-Canadianism. It's like the teenage girl who "hates" the pretty girl in her class at school - she's not really hateful of the other girl's good looks or social success, she's really just conscious of her own perceived shortcomings and calling the pretty girl a bitch and whatnot makes her feel better about herself without doing anything to actually improve herself. So the outward negative feelings can be a form of self-loathing.
I'm seeing less of the latter as Canada's economy improves and the CDN$ is starting to catch up with and pass the US$.
Finally, something we agree on. I have found on several occasions, that Canadian 'moral superiority' is very similar to that attitude you describe.
The thing that surprises me most about Canada is that we have a significant minority that looks to our neighbour and wishes to emulate them. This is an exception the world over.
The French don't gaze across the Channel and wish they could be more like the Brits. The Koreans aren't interested in being more like the Japanese, and the Egyptians don't wish they were more like the Libyans. Yes, many countries envy the US for its high standard of living and powerful economy and military, but I can think of no nationality that wishes they could give up being themselves and become someone else entirely.
And like I've said tons of times, if you don't like Canada because of taxes or left wing politics, move south and they are more than happy to accept you.
Now, I'm not trying to be an asshole and say get out right wingers, but being Canadian by saying, if you be more happy with less taxes and less government responsibility, then move to your utopia. If the majority of Canadians wanted lower taxes and private health care and such, we would already have it...
It's definitely NOT anti-Canadian to say I love the way the country is, please don't change it!
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