The Idea of Neighbour

My previous post got me to thinking (I often get me to thinking, har har) and Neil had some good comments about "the Good Ole U.S. of A." (as my Dad would say). Neil's points were mainly that there is an extreme range of opinion in the U.S. that probably does not exist anywhere else in the world in that fashion. It is indeed a very polemical place. The land of contrasts, beyond the obvious ones, like the gap between rich and poor. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger, an admitted "fan" of the Hummer, is the Governor of the State with the most aggressive environmental laws. And also, that in one of the most puritanically conservative places in the world, you also have the extremely liberalising influences of the leading cities like Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. Comparing these places to say, Atlanta, Georgia, is to compare worlds.

I think that the thing I notice most these days as a difference between Canadians and Americans is the idea of neighbour. Growing up in Canada you can not escape the extreme sense of "living beside the giant." You may not intellectualize it at an early age, but it is there nonetheless. It shows up in weird places. Sorry to again bring up Micahel Moore, but it is a good example. My aunt Robin, an American (Democrat, she insists!), told me that when she saw Moore speak in Davis, CA, recently, he invited "the dumbest Canadian, and the smartest American" in the audience on stage. He then proceeded to ask the voluteers a series of questions about each others countries. It started out funny as the Canadian seems to know more about his neighour than vice versa, but ended in shock and dismay as it turned out that the Canadian answered all of the question s about America successfully, and the American answered none of the questions about Canada successfully. Robin wrote me to say that she thought that she would have faired better given family knowledge and all, but the point had been made. Why did the Canadian know so much and the American so little about each other? The answer is simple. One understood that they had a neighbour, the other did not.

The "common peoples" perception of the American attitude in the world, let alone towards Canada and Mexico, is one that does not make reference to neighbours, but rather "friends and enemies." The idea that a place like Canada may have "equal standing" as a neighbour, like that of the French and Spanish, is not on the radar. We are great friends, but we are not equals. Canadians have this in common with many Europeans, especially the British, and it perhaps imbues us with our more tolerant, kinder sensibility internationally. We are friends with the bully, we just hope it stays that way! In Europe, you can not escape your neighbours, and thus you tend to learn to understand them, and tolerate them. That being said, I have witness some very odd attitudes towards immigration during my time in Spain. But that's for another post...