Sometimes I'm ashamed to be American

Many of my fellow Canadians are hopping mad. And who can blame them? Basically, some late night attention-whore on Fox News gathered a panel of like-minded ignoramuses and they all started insulting and making light of Canada, its mission in Afghanistan, and the RCMP.



There's an article about the host's so-called "apology," which by the way essentially amounts to, "I said what I said, and if you're offended you must have misunderstood me. I'm sorry you misunderstood." Gee, it's hard not to forgive this guy, with such a heartfelt outpouring of remorse and all.

Mind you, Canadians have been fighting in the most dangerous areas of Afghanistan, which is why Canadian troops have been dying at roughly twice the rate of American troops. Look at sheer percentages and you'll see this is right. Canada has been doing the bulk of the dirtiest and hardest work while other NATO nations hesitate to get involved - despite their pledges to do so. As if these conditions alone aren't sufficient cause for outrage, this pack of slovenly closed-minded mouth-breathers, in their stupefying ignorance, now have the gall to minimize and make light of these efforts and sacrifices.

They laughed about how it would be a perfect time to invade Canada while our military is out "getting manicures and pedicures," and waxed on about how we don't need a military anyway since we just piggyback our national security on the U.S. military. They claimed not to even know Canadian troops were in Afghanistan, basically saying you wouldn't know it because they're not accomplishing anything. They talked about how the missions last too long because we're too soft and not focused enough on the task at hand. The insults flowed fast and furious with blissfully clueless disregard for reality or facts.

Then they went on to make light of the RCMP, not realizing of course that their references to Canadian law enforcement being performed while riding horses and wearing red jackets as proof that "this is not a smart culture," ironically only serve to showcase their own culture of ignorance.

I really do mean that last phrase exactly the way it sounds. I can state with confidence, from personal experience, that yes indeed - there IS a culture of ignorance in the States. While no country is completely devoid of ignorant people, there is a dramatic difference in the frequency and severity of ignorance between the U.S. and Canada, enough to cause us to experience significant culture shock. There is a minimal education level here, even among the supposedly "uneducated," that still enables them to speak with an eloquence and depth of understanding simply not seen among their American counterparts. I'm not being an ass - I'm speaking of the cataclysmic failure of the U.S. public school system, which I have had the misfortune of experiencing for myself. Were it not for my own thirst for knowledge, and continual lifelong self-education through library books and the internet, I wouldn't have nearly the level of awareness and understanding that I do today. Yes, I have a college education too, and that certainly helps. But before you dismiss all this as anti-American propaganda, take a look at the rates of postsecondary education in the States vs. Canada. You will see that I'm not just blowing smoke up your butt when I say that Americans on average are less educated. Since less of them attend college or university, it follows that more of them rely on the increasingly inadequate public school system for their base of knowledge, and on mass media for supplementing that base.

Which brings me to the abysmal failure of the media to help educate Americans about the U.S.' role in world affairs. News in the U.S. is covered as though the U.S. is the centre of the universe and the American perspective is the only valid one. Yes, world issues and events are covered in world news... but usually in a cursory manner, with little background as to why these things are occurring or discussion of the cultural norms that must be taken into consideration to put them in perspective. The sovereignty of other countries, and the differences of other cultures, are regularly dismissed out of hand or even treated with open contempt. Canada (much less its substantial contributions to the American economy or NATO operations) is hardly mentioned at all, and when it is, it's generally to make fun of it as the 51st state, a lesser imitation of U.S. proper, a land of nothing but frozen tundra and igloos and primitive life, a place and people that just don't matter, and someone to blame whenever there is a lapse in U.S. Homeland Security. So as much as I'd love to claim this latest display of bad taste, ignorance, and contemptuous disrespect is an isolated incident, it's not even close. It's embarrassingly typical. Only now, this outrage is also being directed at those who risk life and limb in service of our country - our troops and our law enforcement. And it's part of a rapidly growing culture of ignorance perpetuated by a failing school system and a mass media that thinks covering the latest Britney Spears escapade is more important than fostering good citizenship or diplomacy and cultural awareness in world affairs.

Sometimes I'm ashamed to be American.