Quote:
|
Originally Posted by MarchHare
You mean moreso than we are now? Canada is already one of the most respected countries in the world for our freedom, tolerance of diversity, strong economy, commitment to UN Peacekeeping, and human rights standards. I don't know about you, but I proudly wear my Canadian flag whenever I'm travelling overseas.
|
I mean
much moreso than we are now! Canada is the Stuart Smalley of nations: as far as we're concerned, we're good enough, smart enough, and (doggone it) people like us! Well, people DO like us...much like people tend to like the runt of the litter. Of course, when the important issues come up, we get about as much influence on the international stage as Stuart would get...and that's pretty much a bunch of snickers and pity.
I'll point out that "influence" is not the same thing as "respect," but they would seem to be related. You can't have the former without the latter. And isn't it influence which is truly important? If we hope to be able to improve the world, and by extension our country, we need to have some influence on important issues.
Are we respected for...
Freedom? No more than any other Western democracy.
Diversity? Perhaps.
Economy? No better than 15th in per-capita GDP; WHY is our per-capita GDP about 25% lower than that of the USA when we have abundant resources and fewer social problems? We have the most advantageous trading position in the world, sharing a border with the world's most prosperous economy...WHY can't we take advantage of that? On a related note, WHY isn't anyone else asking these questions?
Peacekeeping? Yeah, we invented it in the 60s, but I think we'd get some more respect if we were not only committed to peacekeeping, but capable of executing it in more than 1 place at a time.
Human rights? A concept that exists only minimally in many parts of the world. It's wonderful to invent new "human rights" in our own country, but do you really think that China cares? I don't see much leadership in terms of assisting freedom of speech, for example, in China. Maybe if we gave some respect to the real rights (e.g. election gag law, terrorism security certificates), the rest of the world would feel more compelled to follow along than when we attempt to focus on trivial definitions (e.g. marriage).
G'night.