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From: manis@ubc-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: can.politics
Subject: Re: Canadian Identity
Message-ID: <859@ubc-cs.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 23-Feb-87 11:53:31 EST
Article-I.D.: ubc-cs.859
Posted: Mon Feb 23 11:53:31 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 24-Feb-87 01:11:41 EST
References: <12419@watnot.UUCP> <1469@hcrvx1.UUCP> <542@geac.UUCP> <2313@watdragon.UUCP> <2749@hcrvx2.UUCP>
Reply-To: manis@ubc-cs.UUCP (Vincent Manis)
Distribution: can
Organization: UBC Department of Computer Science
Lines: 35

In article <2749@hcrvx2.UUCP> jimr@hcrvx2.UUCP (Jim Robinson) writes:

>Nothing personal, Ken, but the above seems like a lot of hand-waving to
>me. You and the other nationalists want to preserve, enhance,
>subsidize, and protect an entity which you refuse to define. 

Er, nothing personal, Jim, but I think you're misrepresenting what Canadian
nationalism is. I certainly agree that you're not going to get venture
capital for a widget factory without a business plan, but a country is not
a business. 

As Canadians, we have sat on the doorstep of the US for the past 120 years,
never quite deciding whether we want a country or not. The US *has* a national
identity (and a secular religion, whose major rite is the fervent reiteration
of the Pledge of Allegiance), and we've on the one hand wanted to be part of
it, and, on the other hand wanted to make our own go of it. 

As somebody said a while ago, part of a Canadian identity is a quest for a
Canadian identiy. From this point of view, Canadian nationalism isn't just a
form of reactionary conservation of everything in our past, but also an
attempt to define our future, independent of the US (or any other country).
There's no way we can develop a business plan for that.

Basically, the alternative to Canadian nationalism is not some nice form of
internationalism, but acceptance of American nationalism. When you are next
to a very powerful neighbour who threatens scorched earth tactics in
retaliation for blocking a takeover of a publishing company, or who believes
that Canada's concern for acid rain is part of a devious plot to sell
Canadian electricity in the U.S., sitting on the fence means caving in.

I find it rather astonishing that, of all places, Canadian nationalists can
look to ``Amerika'' for some inspiration. The characters there asked, for
14-1/2 hours, ``Do we want a country, and what sort of country do we want?''
I might not care for some of the answers they came up with, but at least
they are asking the right questions.