To new and long-term readers, the best of the season.
H/t Greg Perry
And this warning seems appropriate for the times in which we live:
Suddenly, Canadians aren’t so different from Americans
We Canadians have always seen ourselves — rightly or wrongly — as smarter, kinder, more sensible, more progressive and more forward-thinking than our American neighbours. We watch with a mix of horror and bemusement the three-ring circus American politics has become. Then along came Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and suddenly we have to ask ourselves “What happened?” His insufferable sloganeering — if I hear “axe the tax” one more time, I think I’ll scream — his aspiration to climb down to the lowest common denominator, and his mean-spirited, schoolyard name calling have somehow appealed to a shockingly large portion of our population. He has increasingly been following the Donald Trump playbook, maybe even trying to “trump” Trump with his outrageous accusations.
Suddenly, we find ourselves not so different from Americans and the social and political mess in which they find themselves. Ironically, we still don’t see ourselves as “them.” We need to open our eyes and search our consciences because at this rate, if things don’t change, it won’t be long.
Michael Bines, Toronto
Firstly ... HAPPY THANKSGIVING and thanks for your service in the blogging trenches
ReplyDeleteOn the Ameri-canadian differentiation
We are exactly the same except Canadians in their conceit and passive aggressive polite style believe we are much more sophisticated and above the fray.
Cue the Alberta UPC and the 'lil pp le pire convoy crew to kill the progressive nature of conservative and prove we might be the greater of the two evils with our exaggerated arrogance. Harper voiced all the rhetoric of the current wannabe authoritarian dictators but couched in dog whistles (when he wasn't quoting Adolph verbatim.)
Thanks, Anon. It would seem that historically we have had too high an opinion of ourselves; that self-esteem is clearly being eroded by the politics we bear witness to today. I wonder as well if our capacity for critical thinking has eroded to the point when we need almost cartoonish depictions of political leadership, as seen in both Trump and PP.
Delete