What Are The "More Legitimate" Reasons For Anti-Americanism

I find that most of it stems from the left wingnuts who were sucked in by the Trudeau cradle to grave mentality put forward by PET and even the slightest hint that sucking on the government teats is at risk causes people to look for scapegoats.

November 29 2006 @ 10:06 AM MST View Printable Version
Canada - U.S. relations
A genuine Canuck’s view of the United States of America
Contributed by: jensonj
A genuine Canuck’s view of the United States of America

By Nathan Chan

Tuesday, November 28th, 2006

Even though we are neighbours, Americans do not tend to think of Canada much. As a Canadian, I’ve been treated like a discovered distant relative with whom you have more in common than you could possibly imagine. Often I am told that I am, for all intents and purposes, one of you. Yet in spite of all the goodwill between our two countries, there is also much that divides us bitterly. Anti-Americanism is endemic in Canada: Some of it is pure pettiness, and some of it stems from legitimate grievances. Just think about that for a second: The United States’ most dependable political ally and one of its largest trading partners is full of people who cannot stand the United States! If Americans could understand why this negative feeling is so strong among their best friends, maybe they would understand why they are hated so much more in the rest of the world.

Part of Canada’s anti-Americanism stems from an inferiority complex. Let’s face it: your country is richer, stronger, more populous, and, most importantly, warmer. The common Canadian stereotypes a typical American as an obnoxious, ignorant, but somehow, unbelievably successful person. One former Canadian prime minister dreamed the 20th century would be Canada’s century, only for the United States to rise to superpower status instead. Maybe we were being a little overambitious, but we continue to ask ourselves: How did the United States advance so much faster than we did? Petty as it may sound, base jealousy is a major source of Canadian anti-Americanism. Unfortunately, we have many more legitimate reasons for feeling a little petulant toward the United States.