You wanna believe the US faked the moon landing? Fine. I'm not going to stop you. Believe whatever you want.
BTW, by your logic it's just as possible that the world is flat. Just putting that out there.
I said the American government upholds the idea of freedom of thought, not freedom of thought itself. Of course we're free to think whatever we want, regardless of what our government says. The freedom to act on those thoughts is something the United States government embraces and the Iranian government oppresses.
The Salem burning happened 100 or so years prior to the United States becoming a nation, so I don't see how they're a reflection on the American government.
McCarthyism was evil, no doubt, but if I remember correctly McCarthy was eventually kicked out of the US Senate in disgrace, and died a lonely alcoholic. A short bout with McCarthyism that was rectified is hardly the same as the oppression seen in Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, or modern day Iran.
Yes, recently right wing Americans have taken to the nasty habit of labelling opposing views "un-American."
I ask you, however, is the American government acting on these accusations? Is the FBI rounding up those with "un-American" views and sending them to interrogation centres? No. Not at all.
The "un-American" crap is coming from a fringe group of the American population. The American government, on the other hand, continues to uphold the freedom of speech.
Well if the Americans are so open to allowing people to express as they please then why is it that there are censorship in the media? Why is it that at one time all movies scripts had to be run through the DEA, and any movies which put forth questionable use of drugs are banned? And for that matter why can't Americans smoke a joint in the privacy of their own homes?
Now the history I brought up is part of what I like to call "a trend". It stands to logic you can't build a solid home on a shaky foundation, so the Salem incidents show the foundation of what America was built on. These are also the same people who locked up American citizens of Japanese decent during WW2 simply for being Japanese, these are people who today are spying on their citizens and plenty of people just vanish. Don't confuse the illusion of freedom for actual freedom.
"At one time"
Do movie scripts still need to be run through the DEA? Nope.
As for censorship in the media, no freedom is absolute. Take freedom of speech. Freedom of speech does not imply that I can run into a crowded movie theatre and yell "Fire!"
The same goes for censorship in the media. You have to have
some boundaries. If you go by the Japanese model that everything is ok, then you end up with
Kiss Players.
You do realize Salem wasn't the first and only case of a witch hunt caused my mass hysteria right? It happened all throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. So if you wanna count that as a point against the USA then you have to count that against most of western Europe, which by Proxy is basically the entire western world.
As for the Japanese internment camps, yes, that was wrong. But it happened in Canada as well.
It was caused by fear, fear that a sub-sect of our society was working against us. In the US and Canada we eventually saw the error of our ways and let them go. In Germany, where they were sending Jews to worse camps for similar reasons, a much worse fate awaited.
So which government comes out on top again?
Please cut the "stole from natives" crap out. We're Canadians, we're just as guilty as stealing land from the Natives as the Yanks are. Even then, don't hold something that happened 200+ years ago as a reason for current national shame.
As for the unelected slave holders part, that is true. Still, they did make the US the first government to officially recognize that "all men are created equal."
The British Empire took that idea and ran with it, abolishing the slave trade in 1833-34, but it was the Americans who first made that simple idea a fundamental truth.
So we're glossing over history then? I never said the Canadian government didn't have blood on its hands, but the Americans did in fact steal the land from the natives, and this is part of the whole trend thing... first off this shows that American politicians have always been full of bullsh*t, which actually gives more weight to my trend argument and as long as we're giving credit where credit is due, the Americans didn't invent this idea... it can be seen in the philosophies of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and many other faiths and philosophies. That all people are created equal is an idea nearly as old as humanity itself.
News flash, all Canadian politicians are full of shit to. So are British politicians, French politicians, Spanish politicians, etc.... A politician who's full of shit isn't uniquely American. Politicians were full of shit before the US came into being, and they'll still be full of shit after the US is long gone.
Yes, "all men are created equal" was an idea long before the USA. I never said Americans invented the idea. I just said they were the first to take that philosophy and make it a fundamental truth.
It's not that I'm anti-American, I'm just looking over the history and being honest in how I see it. I'm not even upset with the Americans because what they're doing is just what every other group in power does. Cutting throats and trying to bath itself in holy light while doing it.
As I student of history I'm in full agreement that the USA has done many stupid things in the past (and present) and many grievous wrongs. No one's denying that. It should be important that the USA be reminded of these mistakes and wrongs so that they may better themselves in the future. I don't think you'll disagree.
What I don't agree with is using those wrongs and mistakes to blindly dismiss the good the US has actually done.
Simply put "give the devil his due."
I love Canada to, but do you seriously believe we have had more of a cultural impact on the world then the US?
Well first off we're a multi-cultural mosaic as compared to a melting pot. We opened our arms to the people of the world as they are, we don't try to force them to become "Canadian" and that blend has made Canada a unique culture made of many cultures.
Good Lord....
It's this type of self-loathing attitude that's killing the country I love. The "multi-cultural mosaic" ideal is a false prophet. It's left us with no idea of who we really are as Canadians. We don't have a culture anymore, just a mis-mash of cultures from other parts of the world.
I see it all the time on tv or in newspapers.
"What does it mean to be a Canadian?"
CBC ran a special on that very question. Why is that question so prevalent? Because we're so caught up in the magical world of unicorns and a multi-cultural mosaic that we've forgotten who we are as a people.
There is a very simple answer to the question of "What does it mean to be a Canadian?". You just have to dig through all the crap to find it.
Who are we? We're a British nation. Despite what the Liberals, NDP, and Bloc would have you believe, there is Canadian history before 1965.
We're a British nation. Our full name as a country is the "Dominion of Canada."
Dominion....a title originally created specifically for Canada, because when we given the title we were unique in the world. We are a self-governing nation within the British Empire.
Through the decades the amount of self-governance has increased, and the British Empire has given way to the British Commonwealth, but the idea is the same. We're loyal subjects of HRM Queen Elizabeth II.
Our nation's military heroes are Wolfe, Provost, and Brock. We risked life and limb to keep the Yanks out in 1812 so we could remain free and part of the Empire.
We sent men to South Africa once and to Europe twice to defend not only freedom, not only our own nation, but to defend the Empire. My family has sacrificed men for King, Queen, and country in the South African War.
They didn't die for Canada to simply slip into a cultural abyss. They died to protect the crown, so that the Union Jack way always wave above our Dominion (even today, the Union Jack is our second official flag).
No, we don't require newcomers to Canada to "become Canadian" and to adopt to our culture. We should though.
I'm not against immigration in the slightest, I just believe that if you're coming to Canada you should learn the culture and history and adapt. You want to move to Canada because Canada can provide a better life for you and your family? By all means come on over.
Don't expect Canada to change who she is to accommodate you though, you should change to accommodate what it means to be a Canadian.
Maybe if we followed this model for a few years we would actually be aware of what it means to be ourselves.
Ask most Europeans who they'd rather have a pint with, an American or a Canadian... you don't see Canadians pretending to be American elsewhere in the world, but man you see the vise versa.
I know all about that. An uncle of mine is a pilot for the RCAF, his first posting was at a NATO base in Germany during the 80's. He would tell us that the American pilots would buy fake Canadian IDs so they would receive better treatment from the locals.
That is indeed something to be proud of, but I don't see what that has to do with us sacrificing our national identity to a false idol and unrealistic dream.
Maybe we haven't made as big of an impact as the Americans, but their biggest contributions are economic... sending McDonalds and Starbucks around the world has not been good for culture, in fact it destroys culture. So I'd say we've had the more positive cultural effect on the world, we've made more distinct artists, writers, musicians and created a lifestyle which is recognizable the world over AND one which we can be proud of, hence the better cultural impact.
As a university student, let me say thank G-d the Yanks came up with McDonald's, Wendy's, etc....
When you're low on cash they come in handy. If some idiot is to stupid to realize that if you eat to much of it then you'll get fat and die of heart disease, that's their own fault.
What I mean by American cultural impact is stuff like rock 'n roll, blue jeans, Bugs Bunny, movies as a major form of entertainment. Nothing drastically important, but nothing bad either.
Just....culture. Things that we see all over the place, but have their origins in the States.
As for our "lifestyle which is recognizable the world over
AND one which we can be proud of", well look above to see what I think of this country pissing away its identity to false idols.
PC can go to far people.
