I just so happened upon this blog that is written by a Canadian who sticks up for Americans and is against Americanophobia that is VERY prevalent in Canada. The author of this blog was asked by a Republican friend if we were hated by Canadians.
I was asked this question today by a new Republican friend of mine, and giving the answer just about broke my heart. What could I say but yes? It’s quite obvious that my home country despises her longtime ally and my adopted homeland.
The United States, as a whole, has an amazingly thick skin. Call their president a moron a few times and they don’t even notice. They still even defend your airspace for you, whether you ask them to or not. But eventually, it starts to seep in that they really just aren’t all that appreciated. My fellow Canadians, let me outline this for you in simple terms: “oh, ****ing ****ty ****. We are so ****ed.”
Feel free to read the rest of his story here along with the comments to his post. I think some of my posts are being misconstrued to sound like I’m insisting that ALL Canadians hate Americans – which is not true. In fact, there are a bunch of Canadians that will report that while they disagree with the Bush administration, that they don’t hate the Americans as human beings. The purpose of my blog is to report that Americanophobia DOES exist. And I’m not about to believe that the amount of Canadians and even others living in industrialized nations are just a small few. At least it’s not obvious based on my personal experience, the experience by other Americans, and the backlash from the Canadian community who is firmly AGAINST Americanophobia.
I also expect other Americans to be unaware of Americanophobia in Canada. After all, our media is, for the most part, very hush hush about this. It IS true that many don’t know of it as I’ve mentioned in previous postings. There is also a lot of denial and apathy toward how Canadians feel about us.
Paranoid, as I may seem as I’m so passionate about this subject, I beg to differ. Let’s listen to more opinions made by Canadians as to what they think (not of our just our government), but of the people living in the US. Coming from the blog post above, some Canadians had some things to get off of their chests:
(sic) canadians do hate Americans. You are right about that. Its the toughts of people line JON PURGASON that made us that way. To be truthful, the only thing i felt sorry about in Sept 11, 2001 was the innocents that were harmed in the WTC. Americans cry “boo hoo, poor me” why? Because someone finally kicked the mighty US in the ass? and expect people to feel sorry for them? screw them! The reason terrorists hate america so much is because America cant keep they’re friggin noses out of where it doesnt belong. America attacks Iraq under the pretense that they have weapons of mass destruction. I have yet to see evidence to support that fact. The real reason is one thing, OIL! exchange a few thousand american lives and our prices go up in the market again. Thats a fair trade.
I’ll put it this way: Canadians dont need americans for **IT. Americans need canadians for our resources. The only bad thing is that america is between Mexico and Canada. They our not our soldiers in Iraq, They are yours. Kill em all if you want. Dont expect sympathy from us. WE HATE GEORGE W BUSH! THANK YOU FOR BOMBING CANADIAN SOLDIERS IN AFGHANISTAN WHEN WE ARE TRYING TO HELP YOU. **** YOU! ALLY, YEAH RIGHT. WHO NEED’S TERRORISTS WHEN WE HAVE A HARD TIME JUST WATCHING OUR BACKS FROM YOU.
And to think that I’ve been called “paranoid”?
One of the last commenters from that blog post above replied,
(sic) I am attending an international school in Grenada. For the first time in my life, I have Canadian students for classmates. I never new that our [america] neighbors hated us so much. I know the rest of the world hates America, but I never expected out of the Canadians.
There’s a rising tide of Anti-Americanism in Canada. It’s partly about anti-war sentiment, which runs deep in this country. It’s partly about the perception of George W. Bush as a cowboy. But it’s largely about America’s wealth and power. And in that sense, anti Americanism is as pernicious as anti-Semitism, rooted in envy rather than grievance.
In a fashionable Montreal restaurant the other night, one man’s loud table talk included frequent references to “les maudits Americains,” in the same contemptuous tone some Quebecers once spoke of “les maudits Juifs.” In Toronto, in Ottawa, and everywhere in our English media, we constantly refer to “the Americans,” the way the Americans might talk about their inlaws — a bother in their lives.
An American commenter on the above blog post replied the following:
As a student, I listen tirelessly every day to sanctimonious reasons as to why Canadians are the God of the universe and how Americans are the pond scum that deserve to be deprived of human rights. I listen tirelessly, as teachers and academics strive to preach the peacefulness of Canada and the stupidity of the trigger-happy Americans. If I am to argue with these notions, I am maimed anti-Canadian and verbally spat upon.
You can read the full story here.
In polite conversation, I’ve come across a fellow traveler who discussed their latest trip to Cuba as a refreshing vacation away from the Canadian winter without all the Americans. On another occasion, a person made some rather bold comments about Southerners based on “several” visits to Myrtle Beach, SC and Houston, TX. I’m still a bit baffled as to how “several” visits translates into such insight on Southern culture. I got the distinct impression this was an instance of someone harping on Southern peculiarities to reinforce stereotypes.
However, the most troubling part is that, when identified, even by fellow Canadians (e.g., Andrew Cohen), the trend continues unabated. In fact, it seems dangerously acceptable.
As this post, no doubt, admits, Canada possesses its own unique brand of negative perceptions of the US, and they may or may not influence foreign policy. But it seems more than presumptuous, if not dubious, to contend that they shape Canada’s internationalism.
Read the entire story here.
Americanophobia sells in Canada, and Bush-bashing reaps bounty. Especially East of Portage and Main in Winnipeg, Canadians love to hate Americans. And, despite denials, the reek of bigotry, bias, and ethnocentrism is hard to miss. In recent years it’s reached new heights with George W. Bush in control of the oval office, but prior to that, the insidious existence of Americanophobia has long been a part of Eastern Canadian culture.
Continued here.
THE SICKNESS OF CANADIAN AMERICANOPHOBIA
Canadian Anti-Americanism has always been a perfect reflection of the pathological nature of Anti-Americanism as a whole. Indeed, in Canada, where I am a citizen and have grown up most of my life, Anti-Americanism has literally defined the national identity and culture of this country – and in the most repulsive and embarrassing ways.
This psychic illness is founded on Canada’s desperate desire to be “different” than the Americans — a result of Canada being built on the “counter-revolution.” When the British colonies revolted against their masters in 1776, Canadians became the first anti-Americans. Canada is based on anti-Americanism. Without anti-Americanism — as one author has quipped — Canada would cease to exist.
More on this article here.
MORE AMERICANOPHOBIA IN CANADA
Anti-Americanism continues to grow more powerful and to mutate into increasingly bizarre and pathological forms. After 9/11, masses of people from all over the world not only celebrated America’s tragedy, but even blamed the victims rather than the perpetrators for the terrorist attacks.
We know all too well about the Canadians who celebrated 9-11 with joy as exemplified toward the bottom of this post that I wrote last week. A Canadian blogger commented in agreement in the comment section of that post to which he, too, has covered similar material in his blog.
To continue on about the article written by Jamie Glazov on mainstream Americanophobia in Canada, she continues….
In this context, it is time, once again, to take a close look at anti-Americanism. What are its causes? What new forms is it shaping into? What are its consequences to our future? To discuss these and other questions related to the hatred of America, Frontpage Symposium has invited Paul Hollander, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and author of Political Pilgrims, anti-Americanism and most recently Discontents: Postmodern and Postcommunist; Stanley Kurtz, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution and a contributing editor at National Review Online; Dan Flynn, the Executive Director of Accuracy In Academia (AIA) and the author of “Why the Left Hates America” and Victor Davis Hanson, currently a visiting professor of military history at the US Naval Academy and author of the new book An Autumn of War: What America Learned from September 11 and the War on Terrorism.
Several people are interviewed in this article and give their opinions on the dominant Americanophobia in Canada:
As I grew up in Canada, I noticed that many people hate America. This confused me profoundly. I always wondered: how could you hate such a beautiful nation, a nation that gives so much freedom and protects freedom throughout the world?
Is there any easy answer to this? Indeed, why is there such a strong strain of anti-Americanism that is constant, anti-empirical, and seems to persist no matter what issue is raised?
Flynn answers the questions above and writes,
Flynn: As I point out in “Why the Left Hates America,” anti-Americanism is the religion for people who hate religion. It comes complete with a devil (the United States); sacred texts (I, Rigoberta Menchu, The Communist Manifesto, etc.); saints (Noam Chomsky, Mumia Abu-Jamal); zeal (in putting together my book I was attacked, subjected to a book burning, and ejected from a conference for dissent); and many of the other characteristics that we find in various faiths.
This Frontpage article covers significantly more reasons as to why we’re hated. It’s an amazingly fantastic and informative read for anybody who is interested in examining this subject in depth. Facts are not always that scary. Sometimes you can learn from them.
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I found this poll in a Canadian Forum. The original poster is an Americanophobe and explains why. Clearly this doesn’t depict every Canadian (and we know this poll isn’t scientific), but the 41% who feels that the Americanophobic attitude is justified speaks volumes. Can we jump to conclusions and assume that they’re talking about anti-Bush rather than Anti-all-Americans? For me, however, I associate Americanophobia with a disliking to the American people as a whole. For example, there are brutal leaders in the world that make Bush appear like a meek little kitten. Let’s take the situation with Iraq under Saddam (before he was killed and was in power). We cannot deny that he was a brutal dictator and horrible to his people and to other countries as well. With that said, I could never say that I was anti-Iraq or even anti-Iraqi. However, I would express my sorrow for the citizens who were oppressed under his leadership. The same goes for people who live in Arab countries living an oppressed life.
I mean, how could you be anti any country because of the way their leader behaves? But then again, it wasn’t like his people voted him in as with Bush. While that’s a good argument, at the same time, it isn’t a reason to be an Americanophobe because, well… it’s all explained here. With that said, being Americanophobic is unjustified. Because being an Americanophobe means that you, by default, and blindly hate people that you’ve never met before. And even considering all those in Iraq who supported Saddam… why make blanket statements about the country and it’s people as a whole? It’s stupid. And it’s ignorant. And juvenile at best.
There are over 30 million people that live in Canada, and quite obviously, I don’t pretend to know how each individual feels about Americans or America. However, if it were just a small minority of people that hated Americans, there wouldn’t be so much ado about it in mediums all over both the Canadian and American press and throughout social networks and websites all over the internet. If you still don’t believe me, just Google the following: “Anti-Americanism in Canada” or “Canadians hate Americans“. The search results will amaze you! Then go on Youtube and type into the search field, “Anti-Americanism” and/or “I hate Americans” and be prepared to see video after video, ad nauseam, on the negative reactions all over the world pertaining to America and Americans. It’s not a rocket science!
For “brevity” sake (if that’s what you can call it) *grin*, I’m going to stop here. But there’s always more, and I could always go on as there is *literally* endless information to further my argument that most Canadians (or very close to most) hate Americans.. as a whole. However, the sole purpose of this blog is to confront the distorted views of both America and it’s people. Help yourself to all the linkage on my site for more information in the case that anybody is confused.
