Is the Canadian dream of multiculturalism realistic? Not only does it seem to be working in Canada, it is the only way things can ever work. The idea of multiculturalism was first hinted at by Jesus 2000 years ago. Love your neighbour, love your enemy. Christianity fumbled the ball, and today Canadian multiculturalism is about the closest thing we have to the teachings of Jesus. The religious fundamentalists who call themselves Christians, but believe in war, faith healing, torture, and witchcraft are not even close.Living in Canada, I don't see the Canadian dream so idealistically. I know we have gun nuts and racists and warmongers. One man died after being tasered by the Mounties. But for most of the world, Canada has become a symbol, which is what America used to be. Like most dreams, the American dream was always more illusion than reality, and now it has proven itself unsuitable for the modern world, even as a dream. You only have to watch the hateful (but very popular in the US) American Fox News to know the American dream is gone, replaced by ignorant bullying.
Forty years ago, when I was in Sierra Leone, Canada was almost invisible internationally. America was what everyone talked about and dreamed about. Even with the Vietnam war, America was still the country that sent a man to the moon, the streets of America were paved with gold. Canada was at best unknown, or maybe a part of the USA according to some opinions.
In 1990, America was handed world leadership on a platter, and instead of rising to the challenge, within no more than a dozen years, rejected international cooperation and made a play for world domination. And don't blame 9/11, because the "Project for the New American Century" strategists were already on record as looking for "something like Pearl Harbour" to kick off the military domination of the world. If it wasn't 9/11 it would have been something else.
Today the American Dream has faded in the wake of an unjust war and terrorism. On the other hand, Canada is now well known all over the world as a functioning multicultural country. America is the tired old superpower that tried for world domination through torture and unjust war, and was easy prey to religious extremism (both Christian and Muslim). Although their weapons are still potent, the American dream has shrivelled like the heart of a Fox news announcer.
Canada is a new dream, not based on wealth and military power. Not even based on forcing people to live somewhere. Canadian style multiculturalism eventually could exist anywhere on earth. In the American dream, the starving masses gave up their home country, their traditions, and language. They left everything behind to start at the bottom in America, and hopefully within a few generations work their way to the top and fit in.
Canadians don't care about world domination. We don't need to put our flag on everything, or be the boss of everyone. Apparently, to be Canadian, you don't need to give up your old country, and you certainly don't need to stay in Canada and freeze your ass off. Even we aren't stupid enough to do that.
Whether our new celebrity status in the world is deserved or not, there are people from Canada who reject it. Mark Steyn decided he had to move to the USA because he couldn't stand Canadians any more. Conrad Black renounced his Canadian citizenship so that he could become an English Lord. Both are just helping define what is uncanadian. Hatemongers like Mark, and class snobs like Conrad Black, are not "real" Canadians any more, if they ever were. It is especially interesting that both Mark Steyn and Conrad Black were famously involved in trying to redefine Canadianism in their own narrow minded image, but so far have failed. Mark is still bitter about run-ins with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Conrad is in jail in the USA, and probably wishes he was still a Canadian citizen at this point.
I understand that many old fashioned Canadians still want nothing more than for Canada to be another state of the USA. They want our soldiers to be fighting and dying for American foreign policy even though we don't have a vote in their elections. This includes our current Bush-like Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. But it seems the tide of multiculturalism is unstoppable in Canada. One thing you can say about having a lot of immigrants, it makes the country as a whole, a lot smarter.
The 'American Dream' has become a bit of nightmare, with more than half of Americans spending at least a year in poverty between the age of 25 to 75. (The comparable rate in Canada is more like 20%.)
ReplyDeleteOne of the leading relative measures of income inequality is the Gini coefficient: a low Gini number indicating a more equal distribution. The 2007 Gini for the U.S. was 45.0, for Canada, 32.6. The American coefficient ranks with such other wealthy nations as Cameroon and Jamaica.
But, not too to be complacent about this. Recent immigrants still have a much higher than average level of poverty. Our taxation policies have become more regressive in recent decades (e.g. shift from progressive income taxation to sales taxes and user fees) ... the 'rich getting richer, &c.
The peak of Canadian progressiveness was in the Pearson-Trudeau period of the late 1960s and early 1970s (medicare, CPP, peacekeeping, bilingualism, multiculturalism, immigration reform) ... to a large degree we have been riding on those accomplishments since. Although recent international polls indicate that Canada still enjoys a reputation as a tolerant nation.
However, our current right-wing leadership seems intent on undermining our international reputation with the level of criticism of our inactivity on climate change now being raised to accusations of Canada being a 'corrupt petro-state.'
Much of that, of course, is a consequence of our producing and exporting over 2,000,000 barrels per day to feed the American Dream.
I don't think we are riding the accomplishments as much as we are putting them into practice. Back in the seventies, rates of immigration were low, and mostly still white. Now we have high immigration rates, with a significant mix of visible minorities and poor people coming in. The seventies were an idealistic beginning, now we will see whether multiculturalism really can work.
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