I was just watching a Trevor Noah from the Daily Show skit about Who Hates Who. It was funny and seemed to be fairly accurate. He was emphatic about identifying who hated who but would not get into the why. He said that everybody hated the United States because we had invaded some countries, overthrew government in other countries, bombed several countries but even the countries we had liberated from the Nazis in World War II now seemed the hate us.
He finished by saying “Nobody hates the Canadians,” while he donned a maple leaf hat. That reminded me that I have heard several Americans say in passing that they will say they are Canadians when overseas to avoid the stigma of being from the United States.
Is it because Canada:
- Invaded fewer countries
- Has a national health care system
- Has a dryer, gentler sense of humor than the United States
- Is generally less prejudiced except for the French/English issue although the nation is bi-lingual
- Doesn’t overthrow other countries’ governments
- Are usually a polite people
- Seldom has mass shootings
- Treats its indigenous people much better
- ???
Well they’re not saints but they are generally very polite.
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No country is perfect, and they are generally very polite.
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As a Canadian, I’m obliged to comment! 🙂
The reasons you’ve listed are mostly true, BUT:
Our track record with indigenous people isn’t great (residential schools, forced removals, lingering prejudice). We are trying to improve, however (“reconciliation”)
We don’t have as many mass shootings as the US, but they’re not unknown.
And we do have our share of jerks, bullies, and all around nasties.
Some might also say we’re just better at everyday hypocrisy.
And consider: America was born out of a revolution and war. Canada was created by an act of the British Parliament. Bound to have an effect on the culture of those countries.
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I was hoping that you would respond. Good answers (never mind that you are one of my Canadian friends and experts.) I never thought of your last comment and I think it is most excellent. Thanks for commenting.
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I’ve lived within an easy day’s drive of the Canadian border all of my life and have many pleasant memories of travels there. My last trip to the Maritime provinces, pre-pandemic, brought me back to places I hadn’t seen for almost 50 years. Beautiful scenery, good food, and some of the most open, helpful people I have met in travels all over the world.
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I agree with you Rolig and I know that you are well-traveled. When I was 24, I moved to Seattle by myself to attend Library School at the University of Washington. My husband was in the Navy and his ship was due in Vancouver in July to participate in the Captain Cook Festival. I was to meet him at the Vancouver airport because we figured it was a place we could both find despite neither of us having been to Vancouver before. He didn’t show up and in those pre-cellphone days, I had no way to call him. The airport had a help desk to assist the military passing through the airport. The man was able to look up the ship, which was now not supposed to dock until the following day. He told me where the ship would dock, a decent hotel nearby where I could spend the night and recommendations on what to see the next morning before the ship docked in the afternoon. Because of the exchange rate, my room, dinner, and breakfast cost less than the $50 traveler’s check I had in my purse. Despite being in another country in a city I had never visited before, I always felt safe and helped. Of course, being in my 20s probably didn’t hurt. I’ve loved Canada ever since.
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Got to say that I have always liked and admired Canadiens and Canada … the US is just too violent, I’m sorry to say…
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There is truth in what you say. I was sad when I started seeing some reports of
mass shootingss in Canada.
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Interesting!!!
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Grazie. 💐👍🦄💖
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Yup, our neighbors to the north are very polite, but they are also, it seems to me, more similar in outlook to Europeans: they have a national health care system, they are putting in more protected cycling lanes in Toronto and Montreal, and they tend to have better education.
Those things seem a good foundation for greater politeness, but I could be mistaken?
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It sounds as plausible as anything else. Good points.
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We Canadians thank you! Oh, and … sorry, eh! 🙂
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LOL. Thanks for commenting.
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I have heard Canadians are a very tolerant people, but I suspect some of this is because many of us don’t know a huge amount about Canada, whereas we’re soaked in US culture from being young. I love many things about America, but can see its faults too. I think Britain is in a similar position – there are great things about us but we also have a lot of things to be ashamed of in our history.
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Andrea, I think you are spot on. Many countries have things in their past they’d rather not acknowledge and others they perhaps embellish. American culture seems to be almost everywhere
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All of the above would be true as a perception of a nation.
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Thanks, Paul. I thought so too.
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Most welcome Pat.
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