Friday, January 6th, 2017
Stephan: For most of my life and most of our past before that America was unique, because it was not based on ethnicity, or tribalism, instead it acknowledged it was an immigrant nation to which anyone who subscribed to the idea of America as the Founders conceived it was welcome. The Statue of Liberty makes this statement explicitly. We saw ourselves as an immigrant nation upwardly mobile, technologically sophisticated, family centered, religiously tolerant to the point where religion and state were separated by a legal firewall, where the function of the state was to foster wellbeing.
Yes, of course the vision was imperfectly realized, the Southern states to their everlasting shame built their economies on slavery -- and I say that as a Virginian, with family roots tracing back to the early 1600s -- and many saw the indigenous peoples we found on the land to be less than human, although Founders like Benjamin Franklin had enormous respect for them, and learned from them.
But equality and inclusion was our guiding vision until somewhere in the post Korean War era when that vision began to bleed away; until today when a large percentage of us are blatant racists in thought if not in word, although often in deed. Hate and fear elected Donald Trump, and the price we are going to pay for that decision I suspect will leave us stunned by its toxicity.
In contrast Canada, as this essay describe, our quiet neighbor to the North, Canada, is going in a very different direction and, by the time the Trump Administration is over, it may be the America we once sought to be.
Marshall McLuhan saw in Canada the raw materials for a dynamic new conception of nationhood.’
Illustration: Jacqui Oakley
As 2017 begins, Canada may be the last immigrant nation left standing. Our government believes in the value of immigration, as does the majority of the population. We took in an estimated 300,000 newcomers in 2016, including 48,000 refugees, and we want them to become citizens; around 85% of permanent residents eventually do. Recently there have been concerns about bringing in single Arab men, but otherwise Canada welcomes people from all faiths and corners. The greater Toronto area is now the most diverse city on the planet, with half its residents born outside the country; Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and Montreal aren’t far behind. Annual immigration accounts for roughly 1% of the country’s current population of 36 million.
Canada has been over-praised lately for, in effect, going about our business as usual. In 2016 such luminaries as US President Barack Obama and Bono, no less, declared “the world needs more Canada”. In October, the Economist blared “Liberty Moves North: Canada’s Example to the World” on […]
My view is that to evolve past nationalism and identitarian politics we would do well to evolve past government, which is violence, power and control. Dress it up however you like but government will never produce harmony out of violence. Human free will, choosing
Love and cooperation, will lead to the state of being we desire..not the “state” creating the conditions. Meanwhile, I appreciate our Canadian neighbors for their good intentions at least, as this article alludes to.
I was actually born in Toronto 71 years ago and began teaching in 1966. I still teach when a substitute is needed. As a teacher of English as a second language, I enjoyed greeting students from different parts of the world as they arrived in waves. The truth was that most just wanted to be back home with their friends and relatives but were here because conditions ‘at home’ had become intolerable. I always welcomed them by thanking them for choosing Canada, telling them that we needed them because our generation was aging and we were unbalanced in terms of age distribution. “We need young people like you” I told them. I watched them sit up a little straighter with smiles on their faces hearing that they were valued.
Our Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (who I actually sat beside at lunch over a decade ago) sent a profound message when he greeted the first wave of Syrian refugees at the airport.
I have had a blessed career as a teacher of immigrants in my Canada and now watch my son enjoy his career blossom and as he teaches sports in Toronto, he sees different ethnicities come together playing basketball, soccer and learn about healthy living.
Thank you for the kind words you have said about our quiet but beloved country. I pray that the United States finds its heart too.
Regards Jane
Nationalism is not racism. We can’t take care of the people who are already here. Why should we take in more?
Are we so busy being diverse that we have forgotten about ecology?
Given that many Millenials are living with their parents and can’t find decent jobs and the working class can’t earn enough to feed themselves and pay rent and medical one can correctly argue that we have over-filled our ecological niche.
Bringing in more people just means that the 99% will see their standard of living deteriorate faster.