Canadians look forward as Trump holds U.S. back
It is a quirk of historical fate that Canada and the United States share respective national days during the first week of July.
It is also a byproduct of colonialism that resulted in both countries sharing similar basic English language and legal traditions.
Arguably, one might add a shared culture, which is true to some extent. But it is in the United States that a distinct American culture emerged, which has been widely imitated and has indeed swept the world. This is well illustrated in a recent PBS analysis of how rock ’n’ roll music contributed to the implosion of Soviet regimes in Eastern Europe.
Recently, I spent a few weeks with assorted Americans on the gulfs of Oman and Aden and other Arabian seas. During extended discussions it became evident that while we share a continent, we do not in many respects share cultures and attitudes.
Canada does not have a death penalty. Canada has universal health care. Canada does not constitutionally guarantee the right to carry guns and thereby facilitate shooting one’s neighbours.
Canada does not make abortion illegal. Canada does not interfere in the private relationships of the LGBT community. Canada welcomes diversity and shattered refugees from a torn Middle East. Canada also has an essentially unharassed media that — perhaps thanks to the CBC and some newspapers — still does serious investigative journalism unhindered by twits tweeting obscene threats.
Perhaps the most stunning demonstration of the wide gulf between Canadian and American societies was evident in the manner in which they celebrated their respective national days in their capital cities.
Canada’s July 1 celebration in Ottawa (despite rain) largely focused on youth, new Canadians and the future. A young prime minister removed his boots, adjusted his baseball cap and entered a tent erected by First Nations peoples. Eventually, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joined his wife, a fellow cabinet minister and an immense crowd singing a popular song by The Tragically Hip.
Canada’s national celebration was future directed. It was directed at the futures of so many of the young people who stood for hours in the rain to express their appreciation of music, fireworks and passion for this great country. (I think our local fireworks on June 26 far exceeded those in Ottawa and Washington.)
All of this was in stunning contrast to America on its “glorious 4th.” True, there were Beach Boys and bands and that inevitable dose of John Philip Sousa, America the Beautiful and the national anthem. There is a routine to how Americans celebrate their national day.
But this year’s event was more subdued and muted. After all, they have a president who is both a national and international embarrassment and, quite frankly, a threat to the very basis upon which America’s ostensible freedoms were founded.
Instead of a person with the ability to inspire, U.S. President Donald Trump is a fool with the intellectual maturity of an eight-year-old. His vocabulary alone seems limited to about the first 150 words he learned watching television.
Think of the great American presidents (Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy) and try to imagine how Trump would have handled “Four score and seven years ago” or “We have nothing to fear but fear itself” or “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
In the first six months Trump has been president, he’s demonstrated a remarkable capacity to behave like a semi-literate archaically flatulent man.
Canada’s prime minister did address our nation’s proud history in war and peace, our diversity without imposing a demand for a melting pot and a promise to continue to weave our complex bilingual society into a more precise reflection of all those young peoples’ hopes and aspirations. Granted, there is considerable distance yet to tread in according First Nations peoples full membership. But at least Canadians are moving forward with dignity.
U.S. President Donald Trump is a fool with the intellectual maturity of an eight-year-old.