One Canadian's Opinion? US Canada Relationship.
- Thread starter jensonj
- Start date
Trudeau compared Canada-US relations to a mouse in bed with an elephant.
The mouse can claim all the sovereignty he wants. But if the elephant even moves the mouse has no alternative. The mouse cannot win. Therefore the mouse has to show an inordinate amount of intelligence -- something lacking in our present day Adscam politicians.
http://tinyurl.com/66l75
I believe the average Amerikansky doesn't realize just how dependant they are on our resources. If we pulled all exports America would slow to a crawl. Half the Eastern seaboard wouldn't have lights, half their oil would disappear, not to mention food.
Hell, an American will get Canadian grain cheaper than a Canadian.
These are the issues that irk me when America casts the cold shoulder
'cause we can't accept the role of warmongers.
Hell, an American will get Canadian grain cheaper than a Canadian.
These are the issues that irk me when America casts the cold shoulder
'cause we can't accept the role of warmongers.
RE: One Canadian's Opinio
Here's something I haven't read in this string. Something to think about that most Canadians don't get.
Most Americans don't think about Canada....ever! They don't care about what Canadians think about America or anything else for that matter, don't care about Canadian participation in a missle defence system (I happen to be an expat living in the US and Martha Stewart made MUCH bigger news than Canada did), and usually have to think real hard to remember one fact about Canada. The fact they remember usually has something to do with strong beer, hockey, or ending a sentence with "eh."
For that matter, most Americans don't think about any other part of the world unless they happen to be at war with it or doing business with it. They usually have a very simplistic view of the world, like assuming all French people are snobs and don't shower, all Japanese people work themselves to death, and so on. This is the average American on the street, mind you, not the politicians.
The reasons for this is pretty clear to anyone who has lived in the US. The average person can immerse themselves in American culture, watch American sports, American movies, American TV, listen to American music (many think Alanis and BNL are American, even if they're not), watch American centred news, and so on. So, Americans, as a whole, could care less if Canadians, or anyone else, disapproves of their policies.
Trust me, the average American on the street isn't "stunned" or "upset" that Canada or Canadians have done anything. They wouldn't care unless it impacted their lives. Canadians, living in a relatively small nation right next to the world's only superpower, don't have that luxery of ignoring the neighbours.
The long and short of it is that Americans don't care what foreign citizens think. 9-11 gave them an "us or them" mentality. If you're with America, then great, we could use more troops to kick Muslim ass... If not, screw off because we can kick Muslim ass without you. That's the way it is, and there's not much to be done.
Here's something I haven't read in this string. Something to think about that most Canadians don't get.
Most Americans don't think about Canada....ever! They don't care about what Canadians think about America or anything else for that matter, don't care about Canadian participation in a missle defence system (I happen to be an expat living in the US and Martha Stewart made MUCH bigger news than Canada did), and usually have to think real hard to remember one fact about Canada. The fact they remember usually has something to do with strong beer, hockey, or ending a sentence with "eh."
For that matter, most Americans don't think about any other part of the world unless they happen to be at war with it or doing business with it. They usually have a very simplistic view of the world, like assuming all French people are snobs and don't shower, all Japanese people work themselves to death, and so on. This is the average American on the street, mind you, not the politicians.
The reasons for this is pretty clear to anyone who has lived in the US. The average person can immerse themselves in American culture, watch American sports, American movies, American TV, listen to American music (many think Alanis and BNL are American, even if they're not), watch American centred news, and so on. So, Americans, as a whole, could care less if Canadians, or anyone else, disapproves of their policies.
Trust me, the average American on the street isn't "stunned" or "upset" that Canada or Canadians have done anything. They wouldn't care unless it impacted their lives. Canadians, living in a relatively small nation right next to the world's only superpower, don't have that luxery of ignoring the neighbours.
The long and short of it is that Americans don't care what foreign citizens think. 9-11 gave them an "us or them" mentality. If you're with America, then great, we could use more troops to kick Muslim ass... If not, screw off because we can kick Muslim ass without you. That's the way it is, and there's not much to be done.
Hatred Haunts
By
James Bredin
Hatred can unite us against those others,
It doesn’t matter that they were once brothers,
Or that they could be brothers again if things changed,
Not if special-interest types have things arranged.
Those with hatred in their hearts and hidden agenda,
Point the finger and pump out pious propaganda,
They want more power so use hatred a lot,
Hitler did it to the Jews and look what he got.
While those who should unite us remain silent,
Indifferent pretending this is not violent,
And the left wing socialists have a field day,
Claim the Bush Administration has gone astray.
Pompous politicians make innuendos and remarks,
Like hidden agenda of Lenin, Stalin or Marx,
But of course you say this could never happen here,
We have a Charter for same-sex crowd and the queer.
And that Adscam stuff is all just a passing phase,
As the dozy status-quo crowd walk around in a daze,
And farmers whose land is turned into green belt,
With no property rights just love where they dwelt.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
E-mail the guy who wrote it...
james_bredin@msn.com
RE: One Canadian's Opinio
Most Americans do not know there is a whole big world outside of America.
Most Americans do not know there is a whole big world outside of America.
Relations with Canada in flux as Bush faces political storms
A teaser:
WASHINGTON — It's been a spectacularly jerky ride for America's cowboy-in-chief.
From top-level scandal to furor over Iraq, huge budget problems and a disastrous hurricane response, President George W. Bush has been dumped on his keister time and again.
And despite recent polls suggesting the dramatic drop in his popularity is easing, Bush's political woes seem destined to dog him into 2006.
That may not be good news for Canada or the future of cross-border relations, but the view from south of the border on that is mixed.
A preoccupied president with diminished clout in Congress has less ability to address Canada's concerns, some say. Others maintain, however, that Bush's problems will force him to work harder with key allies like Canada at a time when he most needs friends. [/end of teaser]
The picture at top of article is pretty funny.
A teaser:
WASHINGTON — It's been a spectacularly jerky ride for America's cowboy-in-chief.
From top-level scandal to furor over Iraq, huge budget problems and a disastrous hurricane response, President George W. Bush has been dumped on his keister time and again.
And despite recent polls suggesting the dramatic drop in his popularity is easing, Bush's political woes seem destined to dog him into 2006.
That may not be good news for Canada or the future of cross-border relations, but the view from south of the border on that is mixed.
A preoccupied president with diminished clout in Congress has less ability to address Canada's concerns, some say. Others maintain, however, that Bush's problems will force him to work harder with key allies like Canada at a time when he most needs friends. [/end of teaser]
The picture at top of article is pretty funny.
RE: One Canadian's Opinio
I'd say that he's about done. So is the Republican dominance in Congress.
I'd say that he's about done. So is the Republican dominance in Congress.
RE: One Canadian's Opinio
To be honest, Canada has done very well to keep itself as far away from US thinking as they have, the UK on the other hand, after all we've done, all our history, we've rolled over and mr Blair has taken us like blind mice into a war that is completly unjust.
funny, we should have declared war on the IRA and it's backers in ROI after they bombed many train stations and countless civilians, and then seen how the US reacted...probably give the IRA some more money I expect.
As I say, Canada has done well to have the bottle to stand up to Dubya, we on the other hand have not.
To be honest, Canada has done very well to keep itself as far away from US thinking as they have, the UK on the other hand, after all we've done, all our history, we've rolled over and mr Blair has taken us like blind mice into a war that is completly unjust.
funny, we should have declared war on the IRA and it's backers in ROI after they bombed many train stations and countless civilians, and then seen how the US reacted...probably give the IRA some more money I expect.
As I say, Canada has done well to have the bottle to stand up to Dubya, we on the other hand have not.
Re: RE: One Canadian's Opinio
thanks a bunch. :thumbleft: It ain't an easy task..... to maintain one's autonomy, identity, and independance from the heavy handed aggressors next door to us. ....... :roll:
Daz_Hockey said:
thanks a bunch. :thumbleft: It ain't an easy task..... to maintain one's autonomy, identity, and independance from the heavy handed aggressors next door to us. ....... :roll:
RE: One Canadian's Opinio
i think it has to do with US size. I think the sheer mass of the country and it being a superpower leads to them ignoring Canada. Have any of you ever been to a major city like New York or Chicago, you almost look at the world from a different point of view down there. (NYC metro is not far behind the whole population of Canada)
Americans tend to be a bit ignorant to the rest of the world, because everything is focused on them even if decisions made in America affect the rest of the world.. I have read newspapers from London, Rome, and others and they all seem focused on the US be it the stock market or US companies. You will be hardpressed to find anything about Canada.
Canadians kind of live under the umbrella the US casts, and therefore we show anti americanism or other defiance tactics so we can stand out more. this is sometimes necessary and other times childish.
i think it has to do with US size. I think the sheer mass of the country and it being a superpower leads to them ignoring Canada. Have any of you ever been to a major city like New York or Chicago, you almost look at the world from a different point of view down there. (NYC metro is not far behind the whole population of Canada)
Americans tend to be a bit ignorant to the rest of the world, because everything is focused on them even if decisions made in America affect the rest of the world.. I have read newspapers from London, Rome, and others and they all seem focused on the US be it the stock market or US companies. You will be hardpressed to find anything about Canada.
Canadians kind of live under the umbrella the US casts, and therefore we show anti americanism or other defiance tactics so we can stand out more. this is sometimes necessary and other times childish.
RE: One Canadian's Opinio
To be honest, thats a bit of a broad generalisation, I've been to every major city in the US, it's an ecclectic mix, and as far as I could see, it's actually most of the larger urban cities that are aware of the rest of the world and day-to-day events, it's those small out the way towns that dont usually, unfortunatly, there's a lot of em.
plus, just a quick question, I've been on both sides of niagara, the general brock "nelson's column" statue near the whirlpool, I was told it was put there to wind the yanks up, I couldnt see it for love nor money on the US side, anyone else see it from there?
To be honest, thats a bit of a broad generalisation, I've been to every major city in the US, it's an ecclectic mix, and as far as I could see, it's actually most of the larger urban cities that are aware of the rest of the world and day-to-day events, it's those small out the way towns that dont usually, unfortunatly, there's a lot of em.
plus, just a quick question, I've been on both sides of niagara, the general brock "nelson's column" statue near the whirlpool, I was told it was put there to wind the yanks up, I couldnt see it for love nor money on the US side, anyone else see it from there?
You better know we know you are up there, hell, Canadian Warships dropped off aid for Katrina and Rita before Bushie told Brownie he was doing a hell of a job! Our French Textbooks come from Quebec and Cable TV has Montreal Channels!
Annex us quickly, we need flood protection down here,
ANDEM,
Call the Netherlands it doesn't look good for Louisiana!
NOW WHERE ARE THOSE ANNEXATION PAPERS IN OTTAWA!
Annex us quickly, we need flood protection down here,
ANDEM,
Call the Netherlands it doesn't look good for Louisiana!
NOW WHERE ARE THOSE ANNEXATION PAPERS IN OTTAWA!
jensonj said:
I personally don't buy what JFK said in 1961 "Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends"
Canada and the US have as close a relationship as we do only because of geography. We do share many similarities in how our nations were built, but we are very different as well.
I would like Canada and US to be two distinct sovereign nations. I think overtime we have given up too much of our own free will to the US because of our small size. I think it is great that we have bilateral trade, and our nations get along for the most part, but some of these agreements go too far.
There are too many ways the US can (and does) exploit Canada. I don't want to be considered an extension of the US, I don't really care for the "longest undefended border". Our geography has been a curse, not a benefit.
I think a relationship such as the one between NZ and Australia is preferable. They are very intertwined as well, but their favourable geography allows them to be distinctly different and control their own sovereignty.
RE: One Canadian's Opinio
you can see the similarities between the canada/us relationship and that of Aus/NZ, well Oz is full of ex-cons and NZ is full of scots, you see my point.
I dont think a lot of americans really understand canada anyway, they dont, as far as I can see, understand it's very exsistance as a nation, I mean, as one american said to me "why did they wanna give up freedom for the stupid british anyway?"....silly point really, I didnt know this but.....the only time Europe have truely been united was fighting against us in favour of the US, although most americans are unaware of this.
it is good sitting on the fence and watching you two though, I find it funny though how canada is very cosmopolitan...and rich, and democratic, whereas the US is turning into a very psuedo colonial empire builder, exactly what they offically hate.
you can see the similarities between the canada/us relationship and that of Aus/NZ, well Oz is full of ex-cons and NZ is full of scots, you see my point.
I dont think a lot of americans really understand canada anyway, they dont, as far as I can see, understand it's very exsistance as a nation, I mean, as one american said to me "why did they wanna give up freedom for the stupid british anyway?"....silly point really, I didnt know this but.....the only time Europe have truely been united was fighting against us in favour of the US, although most americans are unaware of this.
it is good sitting on the fence and watching you two though, I find it funny though how canada is very cosmopolitan...and rich, and democratic, whereas the US is turning into a very psuedo colonial empire builder, exactly what they offically hate.
Americans know embarrassingly little about Canada. When asked they almost universally come up with “the cities are very clean.” That is about the extent of their knowledge. Canada is not on anybody’s radar so any poll that asks about Canada is meaningless. A Canadian election does not usually make the front page of the New York Times.
I would say that most Canadians I know have a better sense of what is going on in the US than Americans. Then again many Canadians know a lot more about the US than they do about Canada. But this knowledge does not seem to extend to the influence the US has over Canada in key sectors like education. A lot of government work is farmed out to outside contractors and NAFTA has made it possible for American firms to compete with Canadian companies for these contracts. This is a growing trending and would probably escalate if parts of the health care system were ever privatized. In the area of education a very high percentage of faculty in Canadian universities are American born and trained and so Canadians really don’t have an autonomous education system and do not appear to want one. Given the insistence on the separation of identities one would think there would be more concern in Canada about who was running the education system. This has always struck me as odd.
I think we have to remember that multi-culturalism/ pluralism and melting pot/assimilation are largely theoretical ideals and that in practise the countries are very similar diversity wise. If assimilation or acculturation is some sort of goal then they forgot to tell the multitudes of Asians and Latinos that have arrived in the US in recent years.
I would say that most Canadians I know have a better sense of what is going on in the US than Americans. Then again many Canadians know a lot more about the US than they do about Canada. But this knowledge does not seem to extend to the influence the US has over Canada in key sectors like education. A lot of government work is farmed out to outside contractors and NAFTA has made it possible for American firms to compete with Canadian companies for these contracts. This is a growing trending and would probably escalate if parts of the health care system were ever privatized. In the area of education a very high percentage of faculty in Canadian universities are American born and trained and so Canadians really don’t have an autonomous education system and do not appear to want one. Given the insistence on the separation of identities one would think there would be more concern in Canada about who was running the education system. This has always struck me as odd.
I think we have to remember that multi-culturalism/ pluralism and melting pot/assimilation are largely theoretical ideals and that in practise the countries are very similar diversity wise. If assimilation or acculturation is some sort of goal then they forgot to tell the multitudes of Asians and Latinos that have arrived in the US in recent years.