Comments on: Those Canadians are so UnAmerican

By: toby

toby — Mon, 12 Jan 2004 05:24:50 +0000

I am Canadian, proud of it, every time Canada plays hockey in an international tournament I scream it out loud. Other than that I believe we are a quiet and humble people. When travelling(which my wife and I have done extensively) we wear flags on our packs to profess where we are from, not where we are not from. I believe we are lucky to have great neighbours to the south and cherish the relationship we have had for 100+ years. I also believe that as a tourist, you represent all that your government is or is not doing to the region you are visiting. We are the small guys who don’t have the stealth bombers and rigid self interest type policies that mess with the foreign nations like some OTHER countries. I am quite sure that we have not overthrown any governments unlike some nations I could mention(Guatemala,Chile,Ecuador,pretty much every nation in South America. Who suplied Iraq with their chemical weapons. Let me guess. Was it the USA? If they found any WOMD they would have had a made in the USA badge on them). I believe that most Americans are good people, but you must remember the special interest groups who make policy and things happen in the USA. This luggage goes with you when you visit foreign countries, whether you like it or not. We never had to fight for our freedom like the USA did, but we are just as proud, just in a more subtle and quiet way. Like not pre-emptively attacking other nations, through dialogue and a concensuu(sp?) view. Sorry to get so political! I love all cool travelers no matter where they are from, some people may not like me, that is free will, and I am all over that. Good luck to all, and I will wear a flag next time I travel too, because I think that’s all right! Toby

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 03:43:44 +0000

I’m a kiwi with the NZ flag on my backpack. It says that I’m a New Zealander, nothing more. If you infer that I’m not english/australian/canadian/american/… then that’s up to you. I could have dual citizenship. Having said that, I’ve only heard good things about Canadian travellers. They tend to be more considerate than many other nationals.

By: Errol

Errol — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 01:16:33 +0000

Are Canadians that much more patriotic than Aussies, Kiwis, Irish, British or South African backpackers? Or is there something else going on? Without knowing the relative numbers of each nationality in any given area, it’s hard to say if one group is more or less likely to wear a flag or whatever. In some places it would be useful to have something that quietly says “my native language is English”. In Western Turkey in April/May, if you are Euro-looking you will be assumed to be Australian by many street hawkers. I can assure you that this gets tedious until you learn to ignore everything they say! Cheers

By: Errol

Errol — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 01:06:16 +0000

However, I don’t wear a Canadian flag because it seems a little silly to walk around with a badge on your clothes that says “hey I’m a tourist, Which is why having one on your huge backpack makes some sense. Cheers

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 11:52:53 +0000

Ok, it’s a silly place to apply a semi-serious method, but anyway. If putting a prominent maple leaf flag is meant to demonstrate “I am a proud Canadia” rather than “I am not an American” (insofar as those are separate statements, of course), then why is there such a higher percentage of Canadians sporting their flags than of other backpacking nationalities? (Or even backpacking, English-speaking nationalities?) Are Canadians that much more patriotic than Aussies, Kiwis, Irish, British or South African backpackers? Or is there something else going on?

By: Tom Slee

Tom Slee — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 01:45:43 +0000

Well, I am Canadian as well as British, and have not a single patriotic bone in my body. And yes, the we-are-not-American nature of some Canadian nationalism is embarrassing at times. And no, I do not wear maple leafs or union jacks. But Gareth has it right in his post—the maple leaf is Canadian symbol, not a nonAmerican symbol. To identify the maple leaf as a symbol of unAmericanness is surely the ultimate in USA-centrism.

By: trish

trish — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 00:39:22 +0000

I have been mistaken for an American overseas, and when I explained that I wasn’t, I’ve gotten better treatment, there is a purpose to those little flags. However, I don’t wear a Canadian flag because it seems a little silly to walk around with a badge on your clothes that says “hey I’m a tourist, I don’t know where I’m going, and I probably have too much cash on me”. It isn’t fair that Americans experience negative treatment overseas, and I have American friends who claim to be Canadian when travelling because they do not want to be associated with America’s current government. Expecting all Canadians to not want to distance ourselves is silly though, we are different, just with accents that can be hard to distinguish.

By: Gareth

Gareth — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 00:00:40 +0000

Everyone on this thread assumes that the Canadian flag is a statement that the wearer is not an American. Has anyone entertained the possibility that it is a statement that the wearer is, in fact, a Canadian? And what other country has a national newspaper (The Post) devoted solely to the proposition that its host country is an anti-Semitic cowardly economic backwater?

By: antirealist

antirealist — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 23:34:05 +0000

1. I don’t feel entitled to kill anybody at all because of their citizenship. 2. I don’t think that citizenship alone makes one responsible for the actions of one’s state, regardless of whether it’s a democracy or a dictatorship. 3. The idea that citizens in a democracy are responsible for the actions of their state is very attractive to those who prefer to express their opposition to a state’s actions by killing its citizens.

By: Antoni Jaume

Antoni Jaume — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 22:56:30 +0000

Antirealst, do not back from the true question, which is why do you (yes I see you have not said it, but since you have refused to address it then I feel entitled to claim that you will do it if it is in your power) feel entitled to kill individuals who do not even have this responsibility in the government that rules them? DSW

By: antirealist

antirealist — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 21:39:05 +0000

“…in the mesure that a state is democratical, every one of its citizens have their part of responsibility in the doing of their state.” There are many reasons why I think this point of view is mistaken, but I’m not sure this is the right place to address them. Of course, the idea that citizens in a democracy are – merely by reason of their citizenship – somehow responsible for their state’s actions, is quite popular with apologists for political violence.

By: Alex Halavais

Alex Halavais — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 20:06:48 +0000

I must admit to have been badged an “honorary Canadian” at one point, with the flag pin on my backpack (placed there by a documented, native-born Canadian) to avoid negative vibrations being sent my way while travelling. I had my Toronto cover-story down pat, and this is before I moved to one of its distant suburbs*. But I’ve also run into Canadians who despise this practice precisely because they have to suss out the real Canadians from those who are traveling under a flag of convenience. * Buffalo. A local series of radio commercials designed to generate hometown pride ends with the tag “And that’s what good about Buffalo.” One of these commercials, I kid you not, says that we are only a little over an hours’ drive from Toronto… and that’s what’s good about Buffalo.

By: Antoni Jaume

Antoni Jaume — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 19:49:30 +0000

“[...]The idea that ordinary citizens should be held responsible for their country’s foreign policy, values and so on, is not one I feel happy with.” While I can understand and share mostly your point of view, in the mesure that a state is democratical, every one of its citizens have their part of responsibility in the doing of their state. Now, when we speak of inhabitants of countries whose state is a dictatorship that do never doubt in killing any of them, do you think that killing them because of their lack of choice is acceptable? DSW

By: Mac Thomason

Mac Thomason — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 19:38:34 +0000

Of course, I don’t think it would work for me anyway because I have a southern accent. (“He sounds like Bush! Get him!”) Epist, I don’t think anyone’s objecting to other countries’ citizens’ patriotic displays. But the Canadian leaf, so far as it’s simply an “I’m not an American!” badge, might rub some people the wrong way.

By: epist

epist — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 19:25:40 +0000

I’m sorry, the sight of Americans complaining about another counrtry’s patriotic displays has made me dizzy. I may have to lie down. . . Quick joke: What’s the difference between a Frenchman and an American? The Frenchman is certain that his country is better than the rest of the world. The American is not quite certain that there is a rest of the world.