Canada as a Human Homeland

Canadian identity has been a nagging problem ever since Confederation. When Canadians ask what distinguishes us most from the Americans, many would immediately say “multiculturalism” and explain that unlike them we do not try to assimilate our immigrants but generally leave them alone to follow whatever tradition they wish to follow. While the rhetoric is pretty clear, the substance of the matter is somewhat different. While the Americans do have a much clearer idea of what it means to be an American and they do attempt to indoctrinate their immigrants a lot more than we do, they still have an incredibly multi-cultural society. One look at the influx of illegal immigrants from Mexico will tell you what a laughingstock the idea of a single “national” culture in the United States is. When (predominantly) white Americans talk about holding onto American culture and American “values” they are really missing the point – their citizens follow just as many creeds, cultures, languages, value systems, belief systems etc. as Canadians do. They may talk tough and say that they are united under a single way of thinking and “the American Way” of life but they are not and they never really were to begin with. So basically Canada and the United States are both multi-cultural societies and only the political rhetoric and political cultures are different.

Cynicism and Inspiration: A Call to Action

There has been a lot of talk about the level of cynicism in this country, perhaps too much talk, and almost always centered on the youth and their stubborn unwillingness to participate in the political process. Parents who grew up in the euphoria of the Trudeau years and who vote as a matter of course seem to be wondering where they went wrong and why their kids are so apathetic or hopeless about politics. Voter turnout is lower than it has ever been, we all know that, and yet (for all the efforts of those people who encourage young people to vote for the sake of voting [remember the “I care, I vote” pins?]) nothing seems to work, government does not change, and the system remains the same, so what do we do now?

Politics of the Future

The politics of the future will be the politics of finding the optimal balance between individual and collective and to provide the best possible reconciliation between the individualistic and social aspects of humankind. We cannot expect perfection, only a perpetual process of improvement and adjustment.