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Posted Dec 1, 2019, 2:29 PM
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Wildcats Rule!!
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Moncton NB
Posts: 34,517
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There was an interesting recent answer on Quora on why Canada feels more civilized and safe than the USA, when America is a wealthier country. I believe this might offer some insights.
Quote:
The late Canadian nationalist and political philosopher George Parkin Grant, pictured above, once offered a very adroit explanation for why Canada and the United States differ rather markedly.
While both nations are the outgrowth of settler societies, the cultural and political traditions of Canada simply were carried across the Atlantic by the British. In that respect, Canada, much like the other former dominions, Australia and New Zealand, are settler societies that nevertheless derive many of the advantages of organic societies, such as Britain, France and Germany.
America as a Propositional Nation
The United States, on the other hand, is a society born of revolution. It initially was settled by roughly the same stock that colonized Canada, but it was conceived as what Lincoln later describe as a propositional nation. It is a nation founded on a set of ideals, namely 18th century Enlightenment ideals, rather than one that grew organically out of ancient cultural and political traditions.
Incidentally, one of the world’s most preeminent ethno-cultural historians, David Hackett Fischer, author of the highly acclaimed “Albion’s Seed: Four British Folkways in America, explores this organic/propositional dichotomy in a more recent book titled Fairness and Freedom: A History of Two Open Societies, New Zealand and the United States.
As Fischer argues in the book, both New Zealand and the United States, as British-derived societies, share much in common. Both are democratic societies with mixed economies. Both place immense value on pluralism and human rights. Yet, the United States historically has placed considerably more emphasis on “living free,” while New Zealand has tended to place greater emphasis on fairness and natural justice.
The “First” versus the “Second” British Empire
What accounts for these differences? Fischer contends that the United States was a product of the First British Empire, which essentially passed into history when the 13 American colonies effectively gained their independence from Great Britain following Washington’s victory at Yorktown in 1781, This first expression of British imperialism was characterized by conflict between the British Crown its imperial authorities and the colonists, who were told that they lacked the same rights as Englishmen.
On the other hand, New Zealand, and, for that matter, its sister nation, Canada, came of age with the era of the Second British Empire, when many of the issues between the Crown and colonies were largely resolved, and Britain was inclined to grant its colonists the same rights as British subjects.
Moreover, as Fischer argues, British colonization and colonial policy become considerably more idealistic, based on the notion of a civilizing mission in which Briton at least paid lip service to concepts such as fairness, decency and social justice.
The Canadian “Red Tory” Tradition
For a deeper insight into the differences between Canada and the United States, I would urge a thorough reading of the writings of George P. Grant, particularly Lament for a Nation, which caused quite a stir upon its release, and Technology and Empire.
Grant also played a critical role in the formation of a unique Canadian contrivance known as Red Toryism, a political ideology that places unusually strong emphasis on the collective and communitarian aspects of the British Tory tradition.
To know Grant and his works is to know why Canada has historically hewed a markedly different path than the United States.
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So, Canada is a "Red Tory" nation, defined by tradition and respect for existing constructs and symbols, and at the same time promoting "peace, order and good government" as an ideal. The US on the other hand has "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' as it's ideal, and tends to be far more suspicious of authority (which is strange given that in many ways the US feels more conformist and Canada more Bohemian).
In any event, Canada, as a child of the "Second Empire", has a different relationship to the Crown than our excitable American cousins, a relationship based on tradition and respect, a relationship far more civil and peaceful than what we see represented to our south.
Structure, stability, respect and civility - I prefer a parliamentary democracy over base republicanism 100% of the time.
God Save the Queen!!!
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Go 'Cats Go
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