From a recent post, commenter "Red Squirrel" comes looking for opinion:
Hey, I'm not a great fan of the US foreign policy, either. But may I ask you a different question - what is your attitude to Americans in general? Do you feel your nation has some ties with them? Do you feel the two countries are close or do you feel the US is trying to dominate over Canada? The reason I'm asking is that we're taking a class called Canadian World, and they tell us things... I won't tell you what kind of yet, so as not to affect your own reply.
Take it away, folks ...
10 comments:
Well, I'm wasting time today anyway:
What is your attitude to Americans in general?
Friendly.
Do you feel your nation has some ties with them?
Duh.
Do you feel the two countries are close or do you feel the US is trying to dominate over Canada?
Both.
Now my question: where the heck are you from, that these answers aren't completely obvious?
Now, now, Adam ... the original questions seemed within the bounds of reasonable discourse.
Yeah, I'm grumpy these days. The questions are reasonable, they're just simplistic. I have a friendly attitude to Americans in general because they're generally friendly to me. Our countries work together sometimes, and sometimes they push us around. And asking whether we have ties with them is a little silly.
And I'm curious about where this person is from.
The reason I'm asking is that we're taking a class called Canadian World...
Oh, c'mon. I really need to know on what planet people take courses called "Canadian World."
Hey, I'll give it a shot... simplicity aside, some thoughts are worth putting into words for people who really don't know.
My attitude to individual Americans? Friendly. I've never actually met an American I didn't like, with exactly two exceptions ... but that had less to do with their being American and more to do with their being nuts. Of course, I'm a bit biased, having a lot of American relatives.
My attitude toward the country as a whole is also generally friendly, with, I'll admit, some apprehension and, yes, a little bit of resentment. It's partly because they're a massive superpower, right next door, whose actions tend to affect and reflect on us whether we like it or not. It's also partly because the cultural and linguistic similarities, and the way their actions do reflect on us, make it seem more important than it maybe really is to emphasize the differences. (Someone once told me that a similar dynamic exists between Australia and New Zealand, but I have absolutely nothing to back that up.)
I don't think the US is deliberately trying to dominate Canada, at least, not more than they're trying to dominate anyone else, but given that they are bigger, wealthier, more powerful, and looking out for their own interests first (as most countries are), it's inevitable that we get stepped on sometimes. Most of the time, we work together just fine. Sometimes, we don't. Sometimes, we really don't. But, all of that aside, our similarities are greater than our differences, which is one reason that I, at least, am so interested in what goes on down there.
Those are my thoughts, anyway, as a Canadian who's spent a lot of time in the US and has a lot of family there. I can't claim to speak for everyone.
Me thinks that Canadian World is on cable....right after Wayne's World. Just a guess.
She's from Moscow:
http://beta.blogger.com/profile/10938670629853178865
I'm an ex-pat Canadian living in the US.
Once, while travelling in Russia, I met a student who knew a great deal about Canada - she was writing a dissertation on Canadian poet Pauline Johnson - most Canadians would have to look her up or might just stare blankly. My point, it does not surprise me that "Canadian World" is a course in a Russian university.
Hey, to get to your questions, I seem to have gained an automatic element of respectability because of my Canadian-ness. I can ask "dumb" political questions and am treated as "neutral" in any and all poltical debates.
Generally, I have found that Americans do not appear to think about Canada at all.
Wheaton - That's because you are "Talking to Americans" a la Rick Mercer
I wish to know more about this "Canadian World" course.
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