Posted on 08/02/2005 10:27:42 AM PDT by quidnunc
"Why do you think Canada is breaking up?" This perfectly straightforward question from a reader took me aback. What appears obvious to me, may not appear so to others; and vice versa.
The short answer is, because there is nothing left to hold it together. Anything that was particular about the country — not about regions but about the country as a whole — has been obviated by government legislation, or put quite purposely into disuse. We are no longer a Dominion; we have a Queen only on paper; our system of Crown-in-Parliament has been negated by the quasi-presidential rule of a succession of "federaste" prime ministers from Quebec. Our history is no longer taught in schools.
We are reduced to waving a Canadian flag — and that is itself an imposture. The current Canada is something that was invented from scratch, in Liberal party advertising agencies, and dates approximately from the invention of that flag, in 1964. But successive Liberal governments could think of nothing with which to replace the old symbols. Hence, a "new Canada," defined by a bunch of nothings.
Ask a Canadian who is waiting for a bus — or more likely for a CAT scan — what Canada means to him, and he will say something like "multiculturalism" or "tolerance" or "universal health care." These are nothings. There is nothing Canadian about any of them. Every postmodern country has all these things, and none of them are worth having.
But this is old news, dating back to Pearson. The late Pierre Trudeau made no secret of his contempt for Canada and Canadians as a national group, and instead put his faith in universal abstractions. We got what we deserved by repeatedly electing him.
-snip-
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
Thanks.
As for you, Snowyman, damn straight. On D-Day, Juno Beach was the only beach taken properly. And in the battle of Kapyong in the Korean war, (a battle which a friend of mine's grandfather still has yet to forgive the U.S. forces for), all the Allied forces but the Canadians ran. The Canadians (Princess Patricia Light Infantry) held at all costs: it came down to bayonet fighting, and the Canadians even called down artillery barrages on their own positions to clear the Chinese. The Americans thought they had been wiped out, so when they got a call from the Canucks, they thought it was an enemy agent. The PPLF got a presidential unit citation for it from the U.S.
Canada was once a great place, and it can be again. G-d knows hundreds of thousands of Canadians didn't die for what we have now.
Disrespecting the Red Ensign of Canada, our battle flag - we took pride in needing no other - was Pearson's opening salvo at destruction of the old in pursuit of building the New Improved Progressive Trudeaupia we've all come to despise.
Short of a revolution, I do not think it possible for either the old flag or the old Dominion to return.
The Canadians I've known I've had a lot of respect for. If you can't fix things up there you are more than welcome down here.
Lots of us have been considering it. I'm looking at Colorado or Montana for myself; just in case I decide to move to the States after I finish getting all the degrees I want to get. I want a good conservative (with a strong libertarian bent) state with solid values, good moral standing, good cold winter weather, lots of nature, northern environment, good hunting and decent, friendly people.
I think you're looking in the right spots. Actually, northern Pa would meet most of your criteria but for Harrisburg.
Oversimplification ... it is not the entire Canadian identity that is based on being against everything American, it is the liberal Canadian identity. Being Canadian doesn't mean you're liberal.
Cool.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
In a nutshell ...
My Canada does not resemble that which the libs would have you believe.
My Canada is the Canada of old ... and one which we will hopefully see again. My Canada fought alongside its allies and did not look for faults. My Canada pulled its own weight ... militarily, economically and morally. My Canada fought for the freedom of others, not for the self-interest of the criminal governing party. My Canada could be depended upon by its populace and other nations.
My Canada is many things ... many things that we, sadly, don't see today.
I was thinking about this later, and thinking about what I had said in post #9... "A nation requires a shared culture, and shared loyalties. In simple terms, people have to love and admire one another or there is no nation."
We've been talking about the likelihood that Canada might break up as they lose whatever glue it is that holds them together, but it occurred to me that based on that same standard, Canadians, Americans, Aussies, the Brits, are practically one people. There is a great store, still, of genuine affection for one another. While the magic of cable, and Canadian news, exposes me to Canadians I find deeply annoying, they are no more annoying than the Americans that American news brings to my living room. The Canadians I've actually worked with and know personally, both here in the US and abroad, have all been admirable people for whom I had a natural affection.
The same with Aussies, for example, there isn't an American alive I doubt who hasn't felt the same bond with them.
As for Canada herself, she will hold together as long as Canadians love one another. And they generally do.
We all just have to get a little smarter about a few things. Immigration should serve the nation's interest, it should not be used to change the nation. We should be admitting people who admire us and want to be us. We shouldn't be using immigration to alter voting patterns, or modify labor costs, or any of the technical reasons that might drive unlimited immigration of people who have no interest in becoming "us".
Culture is not the end-all and be-all, culture is a medium which carries and transmits certain truths and principles. We shouldn't make a fetish out of culture, but we should always hold high those truths and principles that make any culture, and ours in particular (since that is the subject of this conversation) worthy. Too much focus on the extraneous trappings of a culture can actually obscure the underlying principles, and in extreme cases can descend into racism. But fail to uphold the underlying principles, the ones that matter, and the bonds that hold people together, and make people who are not like us want to be us, and any country will begin to unravel.
If we have ever been shy or timid about upholding the values that drive us, now is not the time. Despite the insanity of what I call the Empty Left, there is still a good reservoir of moral strength in our collective nation. Its easy sometimes to forget that, and to despair, but it is still there. We just have to be a little more bold about speaking up for who we are and what we stand for. There are moments that demand boldness, and I think this is one of those moments.
Your points on culture are well received, even if I disagree (to a point at least). Ultimately, I believe it is the shared culture that defines the success of a group. It is therefore important that our culture upholds values that lead to success and that will continue to lead us to success. However, I do agree that culture is a medium that transmits truths, principles and values. When we discuss multiculturalism, for example, we must make sure we distinguish between big banner multiculturalism and true multiculturalism (which necessitates cultural relativity).
For example, you stated that Canadians, Americans, Aussies and Brits are practically one people (and IMHO, you left out Ireland). Well, that's far from true if you look at it with a certain eye. On the surface, these groups appear to be nearly identical. They are (or seem to be at first) predominantly white, Christian, Anglo-Saxon and Protestant. They share a similar culture. Except that they aren't. There are vast numbers of Catholics in all of these countries (particularly Canada and the U.S.) There is a comparatively tiny but disproportionately contributive and influential in building the culture. There tens of millions of proud Americans, Canadians, Brits and Aussies of all colours and creeds. Look at how these different countries were founded. Look at their politics.
Now look at the differences in, artistic culture, values, etc. Some of these countries are more religious than others. Some are more liberal. Some are more conservative, or libertarian. There are major differences. And they are far from one people.
But they do share two important things. They are part of the Anglosphere (even if the people are not vastly predominantly Anglo-Saxon Protestants anymore) and they do share a common meta-culture. And what I mean by meta-culture is though they differ in makeup and individual culture, and they contain within them strong subcultures (Irish, Jewish, Hispanic, Black, Italian, Southern, Queenslanders, Scottish etc.) But these subcultures support and uphold the main culture, each in their own way, and the main cultures still clearly are similar to one another-since they stem from the meta culture: they have similar values, principles, heroes, villains, goals and ambitions, artistic communities and political positions.
They share Judeo-Christian moral principles, and British classic liberal political values. They share a shared plan/vision/dream/hallucination of progress, of improvement and a better world. They preach of freedom, of the ability of each true American/Canadian/Brit/Aussie to become whatever he or she wants to be with hard work, ingenuity and a little luck, regardless of colour and creed. They share a commitment (or at least they used to...Canada...I'm looking your way) to defending these values, no matter the cost.
And ultimately, so long as someone upholds these values and passes them on his children, these countries will never die. Because in 200 years, maybe most Americans won't be white. In 400, maybe most Americans will have 12 fingers. And in 1000, maybe most Americans will look down upon those who don't have a fifth arm. But its our values and cultures and tales of what they inspired us to do that are immortal. Few people know how the ancient Mycenaean Greeks looked, and fewer still are sure. But few have not heard of the courage and honor with which they fought in the Trojan war. Or forget the laconic speeches of the 300 Spartans who went to die in a now eternal mountain pass, to stop the invading easterners from enslaving their wives and children and destroying their culture. Or how Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon. Or of the zealotry of a small family of backwater hick Judean priests called the Maccabees.
Few people know how Moses or Christ looked. But the Western world still looks to them and their teachings, one way or the other, religious or atheist, for guidance.
Maybe Robin Hood and King Arthur never even existed. But their examples live on.
It is therefore important that our culture upholds values that lead to success and that will continue to lead us to success.
I will disagree only on emphasis. You said that although we appear on the surface to be similar, there are in fact great differences, which is of course true. But you go on to say that we do in fact subscribe to a common meta-culture, and that the various diverse cultural strains have tended to support and uphold that metaculture, and I think that is the important point.
They share Judeo-Christian moral principles, and British classic liberal political values... They share a shared plan/vision/dream/hallucination of progress, of improvement and a better world. They preach of freedom, of the ability of each true American/Canadian/Brit/Aussie to become whatever he or she wants to be with hard work, ingenuity and a little luck, regardless of colour and creed... And ultimately, so long as someone upholds these values and passes them on his children, these countries will never die.
Well said. I think this is what I am trying to say.
Our nations are a blend of ethnicities and nationalities-of-origin, but it works because our DNA is not biological but spiritual. People of a hundred nations make up our peoples but they came because they wanted to be a part of us. They accepted the principles that undergird the culture and so whatever their background they are fully American/Canadian/Aussie/Brit.
We are having problems now because we have a growing population that no longer believes in these things, immigrants who do not want to be "us" and our own home-grown fellows who no longer believe in what it means to be "us". This isn't a racial issue at all, it does however reflect a loss of cultural confidence. It reflects a poverty of spirit that has afflicted a certain segment of our populations. Hence the need for a certain boldness and renewed confidence on the part of those of us who do believe.
Not worry, but boldness.
(My people came in part from Ireland, so you're right, I should have included them in my list... I doubt there is an American alive without some Irish blood in his veins...)
By the way, you're an excellent writer.
Thank you very much. And yeah, there are few 'white' people in America and Canada who don't have any Irish in them.
"Our nations are a blend of ethnicities and nationalities-of-origin, but it works because our DNA is not biological but spiritual. People of a hundred nations make up our peoples but they came because they wanted to be a part of us. They accepted the principles that undergird the culture and so whatever their background they are fully American/Canadian/Aussie/Brit.
We are having problems now because we have a growing population that no longer believes in these things, immigrants who do not want to be "us" and our own home-grown fellows who no longer believe in what it means to be "us". This isn't a racial issue at all, it does however reflect a loss of cultural confidence. It reflects a poverty of spirit that has afflicted a certain segment of our populations. Hence the need for a certain boldness and renewed confidence on the part of those of us who do believe.
Not worry, but boldness."
That's a perfect way of putting it. My ancestors came to North America to find a better life, to build a better world and to be a part of something great, where before they had been only outcasts and pariahs. And I think that's true of most North Americans (and many Australians), especially Americans. We're the original country of rebels, sharing a spiritual and political DNA. Sweet Lady Liberty, and the corresponding figures in the other countries mentioned took the castoff dregs of the world's nations and nurtured them and united them into the most powerful and prosperous nations in the world.
We're losing that now. But it's not hopeless, and we can get it back. We need immigrants again who are hungry not just for economic success, but for freedom and the American way.
And I include Canada with America when I say "the original nation of rebels". Canada was founded by the rebels of the rebels. ;)
-OR- too stupid to get out of the canoe and do the deed on dry land..
Did you ever consider run for office?
You program sounds good to me (looking from the democratic republic of Maryland)
I will; if I don't move to the American mid-west first. Or, more realistically, I'll start a think tank or political movement. I don't think a Jew is going to be elected Prime Minister anytime soon. And especially not as a Conservative.
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