"I'm pleased to hear that Canadians are starting to break out of their 'little Canada' attitude and I have always been puzzled why some Canadians have an inferiority complex," she said.
It's a cultural inferiority complex that is not without its merits.
March 31, 2003
Why anti-Americanism is as Canadian as maple syrup
We Canadians have a serious inferiority complex
by W.T. Stanbury
Deputy Prime Minister John Manley put it this way:
"I think it is a sign of our insecurity, that sometimes we feel that we have a moral conviction that we are somehow or another superior [to the U.S.]" (National Post, Dec. 4, 2002). The weak gain a perverse satisfaction from verbal barbs directed at the strong. The strong are inhibited from administering a physical or economic response. The weak see these barbs as "free" ? they will not result in retaliation.
In stark outline, here is my theory of the bases of the wide streak of anti-Americanism among some Canadians. The root cause is those Canadians' appreciation of their weakness, a serious inferiority complex if you will. Feelings of weakness or inadequacy ? even if inchoate ? generate a sense of insecurity and even of fear. Insecurity and fear, in turn, generate hostility to the country against which Canada is so evidently weak ? the United States.
The sources of Canada's weakness are several. First, the U.S. has a population of 287 million to Canada's 31 million. Yet Canada's area is slightly greater than the U.S. More importantly, the real per capita GDP of the U.S. is over 20 per cent above that of Canada. This reality breeds resentment and even loathing by some Canadians.
The weakness of Canada is also partly due to its dependency on the U.S. in economic terms. Canada has long been dependent on the U.S. economy and this dependency has grown under the FTA and then, NAFTA. CanWest News Service (owner of the National Post) (Nov. 28, 2002) put it this way: In 1970, 65 per cent of Canada's exports went to the U.S.; today it is 87 per cent. That amounts to over 40 per cent of our GDP. "We trade more with the Americans than with each other," referring to inter-provincial trade. While Canada is the No. 1 export market for U.S. products and services, the relative dependency is highly asymmetric. We need them far more than they need us.
Second, the U.S. is now the only superpower and this fact alone is threatening to many Canadians. Such power is seen as immoral in itself and so its exercise is also immoral in the eyes of many of the critics of the U.S. Prime Minister Chrétien, for example, believes that the United Nations must play an important role in constraining the power of the U.S. Christie Blatchford (National Post, Feb. 14, 2003) quotes Prime Minister Chrétien in a speech in Chicago on Feb. 13, 2003: "The price of being the world's only superpower is that its motives are sometimes questioned by others. Great strength is not always perceived by others as benign. Not everyone around the world is prepared to take the word of the United States on faith." He clearly implied that Canada was one of those nations.
Being a superpower comes with many burdens and painful decisions. American taxpayers pay a big chunk of their taxes each year to support their military forces. For them, Canada is seen as a carping, free-rider benefiting greatly from the U.S. defence umbrella. Even Canada's role in peacekeeping has shrunken greatly. Jonah Goldberg, writing in the National Review in November, 2002, noted that, "Today, Canada ranks number 37 as a peacekeeping nation in terms of committed troops and resources, and it spends less than half the average of the skinflint defence budgets of NATO."
The third source of weakness lies in the easy acceptance/strong desire for U.S.-made products of pop culture by Canadians. For example, U.S.-made shows account for over 70 per cent the TV viewing of English-Canadians; American movies account for over 95 per cent of box office receipts in Canada. The export of U.S. cultural products is seen by Canadian cultural nationalists as a form of "cultural imperialism."
Fourth, the feelings of inferiority and insecurity that prompt expressions of anti-Americanism stem in part from a terribly weak sense of national identity among English Canadians.
so just humor them, it's really themselves they don't like, deep down, they envy you, but are not strong enough to admit it publicly, instead they will deny that and attempt to insult or denegrate Americans in some way......
It's a cultural inferiority complex that is not without its merits.
March 31, 2003
Why anti-Americanism is as Canadian as maple syrup
We Canadians have a serious inferiority complex
by W.T. Stanbury
Deputy Prime Minister John Manley put it this way:
"I think it is a sign of our insecurity, that sometimes we feel that we have a moral conviction that we are somehow or another superior [to the U.S.]" (National Post, Dec. 4, 2002). The weak gain a perverse satisfaction from verbal barbs directed at the strong. The strong are inhibited from administering a physical or economic response. The weak see these barbs as "free" ? they will not result in retaliation.
In stark outline, here is my theory of the bases of the wide streak of anti-Americanism among some Canadians. The root cause is those Canadians' appreciation of their weakness, a serious inferiority complex if you will. Feelings of weakness or inadequacy ? even if inchoate ? generate a sense of insecurity and even of fear. Insecurity and fear, in turn, generate hostility to the country against which Canada is so evidently weak ? the United States.
The sources of Canada's weakness are several. First, the U.S. has a population of 287 million to Canada's 31 million. Yet Canada's area is slightly greater than the U.S. More importantly, the real per capita GDP of the U.S. is over 20 per cent above that of Canada. This reality breeds resentment and even loathing by some Canadians.
The weakness of Canada is also partly due to its dependency on the U.S. in economic terms. Canada has long been dependent on the U.S. economy and this dependency has grown under the FTA and then, NAFTA. CanWest News Service (owner of the National Post) (Nov. 28, 2002) put it this way: In 1970, 65 per cent of Canada's exports went to the U.S.; today it is 87 per cent. That amounts to over 40 per cent of our GDP. "We trade more with the Americans than with each other," referring to inter-provincial trade. While Canada is the No. 1 export market for U.S. products and services, the relative dependency is highly asymmetric. We need them far more than they need us.
Second, the U.S. is now the only superpower and this fact alone is threatening to many Canadians. Such power is seen as immoral in itself and so its exercise is also immoral in the eyes of many of the critics of the U.S. Prime Minister Chrétien, for example, believes that the United Nations must play an important role in constraining the power of the U.S. Christie Blatchford (National Post, Feb. 14, 2003) quotes Prime Minister Chrétien in a speech in Chicago on Feb. 13, 2003: "The price of being the world's only superpower is that its motives are sometimes questioned by others. Great strength is not always perceived by others as benign. Not everyone around the world is prepared to take the word of the United States on faith." He clearly implied that Canada was one of those nations.
Being a superpower comes with many burdens and painful decisions. American taxpayers pay a big chunk of their taxes each year to support their military forces. For them, Canada is seen as a carping, free-rider benefiting greatly from the U.S. defence umbrella. Even Canada's role in peacekeeping has shrunken greatly. Jonah Goldberg, writing in the National Review in November, 2002, noted that, "Today, Canada ranks number 37 as a peacekeeping nation in terms of committed troops and resources, and it spends less than half the average of the skinflint defence budgets of NATO."
The third source of weakness lies in the easy acceptance/strong desire for U.S.-made products of pop culture by Canadians. For example, U.S.-made shows account for over 70 per cent the TV viewing of English-Canadians; American movies account for over 95 per cent of box office receipts in Canada. The export of U.S. cultural products is seen by Canadian cultural nationalists as a form of "cultural imperialism."
Fourth, the feelings of inferiority and insecurity that prompt expressions of anti-Americanism stem in part from a terribly weak sense of national identity among English Canadians.
so just humor them, it's really themselves they don't like, deep down, they envy you, but are not strong enough to admit it publicly, instead they will deny that and attempt to insult or denegrate Americans in some way......
