Happy Birthday Canada! America Could Learn A Lot from You

Like the U.S., we are a nation of immigrants. But while Americans are loudly patriotic, we are demure and self-effacing. Just because Canada wasn't spawned through revolution doesn't mean we can't wave the flag with a little more vigour....

Commentary: Quietly Canadian

Today is Canada Day, the anniversary of the uniting of four Provinces into a single country on July 1st, 1867.

I don't claim to be an expert on Canada or its birthday but according toWikipedia,"...referred to as "Canada's birthday", particularly in the popular press, the occasion marks the joining of the British North American colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Province of Canada into a federation of four provinces (the Province of Canada being divided, in the process, into Ontario and Quebec) on 1 July 1867."

Now I know you Canadians don't like to brag or appear too egotistical. But you are a great country and we Americans have a lot we could learn a lot from you.

What could you teach us?

Well for starters, you could show us how to have a single payer health care system, where services are provided by private health care but the fees are paid for by the government at the same rate.

I know Canadians occasionally like to complain about their health care but fortunately they don't have a large percentage of their population underinsured or uninsured.

Canadians could also show us how act as a global citizen. They don't have an Empire, like here in the US, so they don't have a lot of enemies. It seems the only time Canadians get enemies is when they team up with Americans, like in Afghanistan, and help out with our Empire. Maybe they do that because they still have a thing for the British Empire. But, generally, Canadians are peace loving and thoughtful people. Americans might learn something from peace and thoughtfulness.

Canadians spend just 7 cents of each of their tax dollars on defense (2007-2008). In contrast Americans spend nearly 50% of their tax dollars to pay for war and war debt. Canadians get a pretty good bang for their defense spending because I don't think they have to worry about being invaded any time soon (unless us crazies to the south get the idea that they might have weapons of mass destruction).

Canada also has less crime, cleaner cities, better social services, and they believe (last I checked) in public education.

But with all Canadians have going for them they don't like to appear too patriotic. They certainly are patriotic, but they just would rather be humble about themselves and their beautiful country.

Canadians could also teach Americans about humility. Americans generally are very pompous and condescending. That is because we are generally pretty ignorant. How else could you explain the fact that we are still letting corporations get rich off our health care system while many Americans go without care. Americans have this fear of socialism unless it is socialism for the rich then that is good.

See I told you Americans were pretty ignorant.

Americans dream of blowing themselves and others up. We think the world is just like us, so we are constantly thinking about bombing things and killing people. We dream of guns and our rights to use them, whether here in the US or around the world. To me, that is not only ignorant but just plain crazy.

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