Canada VS The USA

I was reading an article on Slashdot this morning about what some people think about the differences between working in the US and in Canada and it got me to thinking about how much these two countries are different. A lot of the comments in there talked about some major differences between us and it got me to thinking about when I was down in the US and how things have changed in the last few years, and how us as Canadians have handled things differently than the US….

I grew up in Canada and never lived in the US but always knew about what went on down there and never paid much attention to them but as I got older, I became more aware of the major differences between American & Canadian culture. It’s funny. In a lot of ways, some people may think of us as being very much the same, but there are a lot of differences and they shine through when dealing with international situations.

The entire Iraq war. I’ve posted about this before and I’ll say it again. The US had no damn business going into Iraq. These WMD’s that supposedly existed have never been found. Saddam was such a huge threat to the free world because of his WMD’s and where are they? Nowhere to be found. It really was a slap in the face. Bush of course said that removing Hussein from power was a good thing but look at all the turmoil that has occured in Iraq? Is it worth all of those dead people?

I’ll be the first to admit that when I saw the people of Iraq cheering and bringing down that statue of Hussein, it was pretty powerful, but there’s a lot to be said about what has happened. It’s not my place to say what was right and wrong but I have my opinion and the US needs to calm down and stop looking for a fight.

Canadians by their nature appear to be very passive. We’re known in the international community as being very friendly, easy to get along with, and great people to work with. Yes, we’ve had our issues (Quebec, etc) but we still stand as a nation and when we want our voice to be heard in our own country, it gets heard. Canadian’s are very passionate in their own way but not violent (most of the time)

I lived in the US for a year. I will say with complete honesty that I was exposed to two completely different sets of people down there. The people I worked with were a culturaly diverse group. Americans, Indians, Pakistanians, Italians, and others. We all got along great and they were awesome people to work with. Very friendly and I look back on them quite fondly. Then there’s the people I saw in stores, gas stations, and other common places where they were rude, inconsiderate, and totally uneducated. It seemed very clear to me that a large portion of the people I dealt with had no idea about anything going on outside of their own country and had no interest in knowing so.

How much have you had to learn or have learned through people about the US and other countries? The US is all over the news, papers, everywhere. Down there, they don’t seem to care about much else other than themselves. At the same time, they are giving huge amounts of aid to 3rd world countries when they have literally thousands of people homeless, poor health care, and gun-happy citizens.

That’s not to say that it’s all bad, but it really makes me wonder how a country that seems to have had so many problems, is still afloat. Perhaps that’s the reason they are viewed very poorly in many nations of the world.

You go over to Europe and tell people you are a Canadian, they love you! Tell them you are an American, they think twice about what they’ll say and do for you.

I’m not an American basher, but I’m sure as hell glad to be Canadian. I was never so patriotic until after I returned to Canada after living down there. Yes, I had some very good experiences, but it’s just not the same. Anyone who says that Americans and Canadians are very similar, hasn’t spent much time with both of them. Even amongst the awesome Americans I met and worked with, there was always this underlying feeling of superiority, which unfortunately will be the cause of their ultimate demise. They gotta take chill pill and stop pissing off a lot of people. They keep saying they are going to make people pay for what has happened in Iraq/911, etc, but I’m not seeing anything happen. Just more bloodshed. Chretian may have been a tool, but he was smart enough to keep us the hell out of the Iraqi war.

So there. I’ve had my say!