Canada Stepping Out in Front

Denial is not just a river in Egypt--it's also too real an attitude for too many Americans.

(Calgary, Alberta) - Many Americans believe viscerally that they are the cosmic answer, that they are exceptional, chosen by an invisible man in the sky, and that there have never before in history been human beings as special as they. That’s pretty high billing. On a recent story Stephen, a regular commenter, wrote:

I think it is an illusion to think Canada is a country. Canada is one of the 50+ states.

Canada is no different than the state of Massachusetes (sic), except Canada gave up their firearms. There is really nothing Canada does that is different. They have a huge defecit (sic), poor education, high taxes, and poor health care. Altho, Canada is an extreme welfare state, where writers can suck off the government while pretending to be a journalist. And to keep their lazy, live off the government status, they write things that support their reliance on others to support them. Welcome to the most welfare state on the planet..Canada.

The amusing thing about Stephen’s comment (but it’s actually tragic) is that he says Canada has a “huge defecit” and in the next two words, “poor education”; this, after he misspells both deficit and Massachusetts.

He also, like most Americans, has little or no accurate knowledge of Canada which, compared to the U.S. is doing so much better both culturally and economically. Canada’s unemployment/underemployment rate is far lower; Canada has one of the most stable banking systems in the world which is why our economy didn’t go into the tank with the U.S., and, for all its imperfections (largely related to the greying of the population) Canada’s universal health care system is still one of the best in the world: No one is denied medical care; no one goes into bankruptcy or loses their home because they can’t afford necessay care; no one puts off needed care or medication because they can’t afford it--all common elements of American health care.

Americans, culturally, have been sold a bill of goods and the psychological fallout is beginning to appear as more people are discovering this (thanks in large part to the Occupy movement). I’ve noticed a huge upsurge in ad hominem comments (attacking me the writer, instead of my argument). This is a normal psychological reaction when one’s uncertain and shaky position becomes evident.

One thing I would like to know is, if the 49.9 million Americans and their dependents who have no health insurance and the 13.1 million unemployed and their families are glad they live in the U.S. where even the homeless have so-called liberty and freedom. (If they live in poverty and desperation, all the better: they can be happy that the heavy hand of government is not interfering with their lives. This situation will surely drive them into the arms of the Republicans who have demonstrated so clearly that their political goal is to serve the interests of the ordinary American as they try to obstruct the new Consumer Protection Agency.

The result is tens of millions of fragile psyches across the country. As psychoanalyst Robert Johnson wrote in Owning Your Own Shadow:

"Fanaticism always indicates unconscious uncertainty not yet registering in consciousness....Fanaticism is always a sign that one has adopted one of a pair of opposites at the expense of the other. The high energy of fanaticism is a frantic effort to keep one half of the truth at bay while the other half takes control [[patriotism and exceptionalism over self-survival]. This always yields a brittle and unrelatable personality. This kind of righteousness depends on 'being right'.”

Eric Hoffer, in one of the most famous political books ever, The True Believer wrote:

“The fanatic is perpetually incomplete and insecure. He cannot generate self-assurance out of his individual resources—out of his rejected self—but finds it only by clinging passionately to whatever support he happens to embrace. This passionate attachment is the essence of his blind devotion and religiosity, and he sees in it the source of all virtue and strength. Though his single-minded dedication is a holding on for dear life, he easily sees himself as the supporter and defender of the holy cause to which he clings. And he is ready to sacrifice his life to demonstrate to himself and others that such indeed is his role. He sacrifices his life to prove his worth.”

These two quotes encompass the psychology of a patriot, the American patriot in particular, who has unconscious uncertainty, adoption of one of a pair of opposites at the expense of the other, a righteousness that depends on being right, yielding a brittle and unrelatable personality (a rational discussion with an American patriot is difficult and often impossible).

One proof that Canada is a separate country, notwithstanding Stephen’s belief, is that we can secede, without a civil war. That, in fact is what is actually happening.

Mark Carney is the Governor of the Bank of Canada, equivalent to the role that Ben Bernacke plays in the U.S. Carney has also been appointed the Chairman of the Financial Stability Board of the G20 nations—no lightweight he.

In a recent TV interview (January 22, 2012), a month before Canada’s Prime Minister heads off to a second visit to China, Carney said:

“If you look at the nature of the U.S. recovery right now our exports are $30 billion dollars lower than they otherwise would be, the nature of the U.S. recovery is that it’s going to take a number of years before they get back to the U.S. we used to know, in fact they are not, in our opinion, ultimately not going to get back fully to the U.S. we used to know so we need new markets, the Chinese market is a tremendous opportunity for Canada, we’re underrepresented there relative to other countries. We have a huge opportunity, from financial services, to the forestry industry which is starting to exploit it, to manufacturing, to tech, we need to build that up, it’s going to take time, it’s going to take multiple visits, multiple initiatives, not obviously from the public sector alone but clearly focussed on the private sector but that is absolutely essential for developing our future and it’s the element of our medium term growth.”

(You can see the complete interview here.)

Echoing Carney, the Federal Reserve Bank also recognizes that real recovery is still years away. As the U.S. continues to sink in its economic quagmire, Canada is preparing to move on. We are aware enough to recognize how economically tied we are to the U.S. and also recognize there is no future in that dysfunctional economic relationship as it currently stands. As conservative NYT columnist David Brooks wrote in his January 27 column: