Canada, a once fledgeling nation, had a competitor, The United States of America. We had on our side the British Empire. The one thing
that our founding fathers and the British Empire wanted to avoid was the vision
of the US leadership that was expressed as Manifest Destany – a single North
American Country. This reality gave rise to the need to propagandize against The US and so came into being – Anti Americanism. To this day, Canadian leadership
persist with fomenting a series of negative perceptions of the US in the
interests of cultural differentiation. I am a proud Canadian, proud of my Scottish
/ Anglo heritage and proud of my and my family’s extended relationship with the
British Empire. That being said, I find few things more inspiring than the US
constitution and the extraordinary success the United States of America has
become.
So I ask those spewing Anti America rhetoric, what are you
objecting to? Is it human rights? Is the right to life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness – or security of the person in Canada’s case? The United States was
born out of enlightenment values – freedom of religion, speech, association, -
are we wanting to throw these things away? Would you throw away the Westminster
parliamentary system, common law, the independent judiciary or the three pillars of government?
Would you dismiss the separation of church and state? Thomas Jefferson said, in
the pursuit of democratic/secular values “if a man neither picks my pocket
nor breaks my leg, what do I care if he has one or a hundred gods”. The comment
neither excludes nor enhances my pursuit of a monotheistic faith; it is recognition
that another’s truth can be as valid as my own – I dare say, that few would
have the courage to make this statement today.
I hear the “post-capitalism” crowd slamming the American
dream as a fraud. While the British Empire languished under the yoke of
decadence from the mid-1800s onward, the American Dream gave the US the eye of
the tiger, the US raced to world dominance and the British Empire crumbled and
disintegrated. The US is the Constantinople equivalent to the British Empire –
the successful offspring. The people slamming the US are doing so having gained
unparalleled prosperity under US hegemony. In many ways, the US and its
modalities of governance are the very best expression of British governance. No
single entity, with all its foibles, has contributed more to the cause of
freedom than the United States of America.
I live in fear when I witness widespread relinquishment of
core values within the US. I live in fear when I witness full-scale attacks on
the United States’ key elements of prosperity and freedom by political, national and international actors. I have no challenge reconciling my being Canadian, having evolved
out of the British Empire to a member a secular society and extending unwavering
support for the cause of freedom as expressed by the core values in the United
States Constitution – the same core values expressed in our own Charter of
Rights and Freedoms. In Canada, at this moment in time, we live at the pinnacle
of human existence, the most prosperous people ever, that has happened under United
States hegemony and much of our prosperity is bought and paid for by the US. To
those that cheer at US misfortune, the insecure/sour grapes brigade, be very
careful what you wish for or lockdown may end up being your permeant reality.
I for one, attempt to be a secure Canadian, to take pride in our humanity, and
at once, support the US to do as it has done and to evolve as they always have
done.
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