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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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 Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 12:16 pm Post subject: Get over yourself... |
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...Canada
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Health/over+yourself+Canada/1174426/story.html
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Get over yourself, Canada
By Dan Gardner, The Ottawa CitizenJanuary 14, 2009
We use the word "historic" far too casually, but it will truly be an historic moment when Barack Obama raises his hand, swears his oath, and becomes the 44th president of the United States of America.
CBC Radio has announced that, "to celebrate," it is asking listeners to vote for the 49 songs the new president must hear. Why 49? Because they will be "49 songs from north of the 49th parallel."
"One of the best ways to know Canada is through the depth and breadth of our artistic expression," CBC Radio's executive director, Denise Donlon, says on the CBC website. "We're excited about the new president and we want him to be excited about us, so we're asking our audience to help compile the list of our most definitive Canadian songs!"
The Bible on which Barack Obama will swear the oath of office belonged to Abraham Lincoln. The hand Obama will lay on that Bible is black. For a nation founded on the ideal of liberty and the reality of slavery, the inauguration of this president will be the joyous culmination of a struggle that lasted centuries.
And the CBC is marking this landmark in the history of human freedom by asking Canadians whether it is the gritty blue-collar realism of Sudbury Saturday Night or the boyish enthusiasm of The Hockey Song that best captures the complex and subtle character of the Canadian identity that so fascinates us, and will -- surely -- intrigue the new American president.
Cynics will have unkind words for this little initiative. But not I. The CBC's mandate is to reflect Canada. And here, with one simple contest, the CBC has given us a stark and unmistakable demonstration of the narcissism, parochialism, insecurity, pettiness, and self-delusion that are essential components of Canadian identity.
It's all about us. It's always about us.
A few years ago, I went with a group of Canadian tourists to a dusty village in the interior of Mexico's Baja peninsula. In the shadow of a 17th-century Jesuit mission, we came across some young children and I listened with an odd mix of fascination and embarrassment as my fellow Canadians used the universal language of the idiot traveller -- grin, wave hands, raise voice -- to chat with the kids about, of course, themselves.
"We're from Canada! CA-NA-DA!" they bellowed at the bewildered toddlers. "Do you know how to spot a Canadian? We say 'eh'!" I was left hoping that one day these children would grow up, visit Canada, and subject everyone they met to lengthy Spanish monologues about cactuses.
Even 9/11 became about us after George W. Bush failed to mention Canada when he thanked other countries for their support.
"What became known as 'the snub' steamrolled into a national conversation carried on by all Canadian publications and radio call-in shows," wrote Jennifer Welsh, the Canadian political scientist and Oxford University professor. "It was a raw and unattractive display of our national inferiority complex. How could we turn an international crisis, an impending war, into an opportunity to navel-gaze and wring our hands over our lack of influence in Washington?"
I have a document from the Mayo Clinic that may answer that question. It's about something called "narcissistic personality disorder."
NPD is "a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance and a deep need for admiration," the document states. "But behind this mask of ultra-confidence lies a fragile self-esteem, vulnerable to the slightest criticism."
We Canadians are so full of ourselves we think compiling a list of songs that best define Canadian identity is an appropriate way to honour our neighbour's historic triumph. We boast that "the world needs more Canada," we imagine that foreigners would like nothing more than to live here, and we believe -- contrary to abundant evidence -- that Canada is a significant player in world affairs.
And yet we are so lacking in genuine confidence that it matters enormously to us whether a new American president makes us his first or third foreign visit, any mention of this country on The Daily Show or The Simpsons makes the next day's news, and a trivial oversight by an American president at a time of global crisis is enough to send us to the mirror to mewl and moan, "I'm not pretty! I'm not! Not, not, not!"
If this country were a teenaged girl, she would have been diagnosed and packed off to psychotherapy years ago.
Dan Gardner writes Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and blogs at ottawacitizen.com/katzenjammer. E-mail: [email protected] |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 1:10 pm Post subject: |
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The writer did nail the description of a certain kind of Canadian. Here's to many future happy monologues about cactuses. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 2:45 pm Post subject: |
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| If this country were a teenaged girl, she would have been diagnosed and packed off to psychotherapy years ago. |
| Nietzsche wrote: |
| Madness is rare in individuals - but in groups, parties, nations, and ages it is the rule |
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Pligganease
Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Location: The deep south...
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 3:42 pm Post subject: |
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I used to think that Canadians were all bad.
Then, I realized two things.
1) 95% of Canadians that you meet in real life are cool.
2) Canadians on Dave's are a poor reflection of Canadians in real life.
Seems that lately, most of the real tools that I have met have been from the Pacific Northwest USA. Strangely, though, some of the coolest people I have met have been from the same area. I guess a douchebag by any other name would be an Evergreen graduate. |
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keetrainchild
Joined: 06 May 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 6:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Are those Canadian hosers bothering you, eh? |
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