Political cultures in Canada vs the US

Collarspace Discussion Forums

Home Login Search

Political cultures in Canada vs the US

View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest

All Forums >> [Community Discussions] >> Dungeon of Political and Religious Discussion >> Political cultures in Canada vs the US

Page: [1]

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

Political cultures in Canada vs the US - 9/6/2009 10:22:03 PM

Arpig

Posts: 9930
Joined: 1/3/2006
From: Increasingly further from reality
Status: offline

Another thread gave me an idea. In it I pointed out the fact that in Canada a politician’s religion isn’t really much of an issue. That got me to thinking about the differences in the political cultures in our two countries, which are on the surface so similar that many foreigners (i.e. non American or Canadian) cannot tell them apart.

In the US you have a President whom many consider to be the most left wing in a long, long time. Here in Canada we have a Prime Minister who is arguably the most right wing in an even longer time. However when you examine their policies, they seem to be on the same page. Our far right seems to be your far left. In the US the word liberal is almost an insult, yet here in Canada we have a Liberal party, that, though out of power at the moment, has ruled Canada for most of its history. We used to have a Progressive party…until it merged with the Conservative party.

In Canada we take for granted things that are left wing fringe positions in the US, even our right wingers do this. It appears that in Canada all our political positions are well to the left of those in the US. Why might this be? Obama would be considered a Conservative in Canada, and most of your Republicans would simply be unelectable here. Obviously something happened differently in Canada to place our political centre so far to the left of the political centre in the US.

Take, for example welfare…here in Ontario we have what is considered a pretty niggardly welfare system in Canada, yet it is extremely generous by US standards, and our disability program would be the envy of every disabled American if they knew how it worked. Yet these very generous-by-comparison programs are what was left after they were gutted by a previous provincial government.

I haven’t really come up with an explanation for why this is, maybe something to do with being so sparsely scattered across a vast space has something to do with the idea that we all have to help each other. I don’t know. What do you think…what could account for this difference?

< Message edited by Arpig -- 9/6/2009 10:23:08 PM >

_____________________________

Big man! Pig Man!
Ha Ha...Charade you are!

Why do they leave out the letter b on "Garage Sale" signs?

CM's #1 All-Time Also-Ran

Profile

Post #: 1

RE: Political cultures in Canada vs the US - 9/7/2009 12:24:48 AM

TheHeretic

Posts: 19100
Joined: 3/25/2007
From: California, USA
Status: offline

It's tough for me to speculate, Arpig. For starters, most of what I have learned aboot Canada, I know from South Park, (I get that your heads don't really do that, but we just don't get much down this side of the border).

We demanded, and took, our independence, you remained subjects, and took a gradual path to autonomy. That seems like a pretty significant cultural dividing point. Are those of us south (and west) of the border more aggressive in our outlook and expectations?

_____________________________

If you lose one sense, your other senses are enhanced.
That's why people with no sense of humor have such an inflated sense of self-importance.

(in reply to Arpig)

Profile

Post #: 2

RE: Political cultures in Canada vs the US - 9/7/2009 6:42:51 AM

lronitulstahp

Posts: 5392
Joined: 10/17/2007
Status: offline

quote:

We demanded, and took, our independence, you remained subjects, and took a gradual path to autonomy. That seems like a pretty significant cultural dividing point.

It's a lot easier to "demand independence" (note the irony) when you have someone to do the hard work for you. There are quite a few cultural divinding points.

from Wiki

quote:

As a result of the Canadian physical environment, slave labour never became an economic institution as exemplified by Southern American States and the Caribbean where cheap slave labour was needed to harvest plantations

... but i digress.

According to a report released by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), a Paris-based group of 30 countries with democratic governments that provides economic and social statistics and data....
Canada is the 6th happiest Nation in the world. The US didn't rank in the top 10.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/05/05/world-happiest-places-lifestyle-travel-world-happiest.html

Perhaps the political clime of the US is taking a toll on the general happiness and well being of it's citizens. The idea that we are so divided over which political parties we support is ludicrous to people outside of this country. Extreme partisanship on the scale it's now practiced, seems to be a very new American cultural phenomenon. A disturbing one in many ways.

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2009/analysis/

quote:

In PIRLS 2006, the average U.S. 4th-graders' reading literacy score (540) was above the PIRLS scale average of 500, but below that of 4th-graders in 10 of the 45 participating countries, including 3 Canadian provinces

The National Center for Education Statistics International Assesments may implicate another difference between the two nations. The educational system of the two nations varies. Although American 4th graders fare rather well in assessments, by age 15 our students lag much further behind their peers in Canada, and other industralized countries. http://books.google.com/books?id=1tWeoxRELX0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=&f=false

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2007-11-13-student-study_N.htm
Perhaps the differences in education contribute to the differences in political cultures. The idea of "elite" vs. "everyman" that's being pushed in the faces of many in the US seems to really be a commentary on the education, or lack therof offered in our nation.

Learned people, college graduates, (whether they come from an affluent background or not) are labled "elitist". The very idea that being educated puts people at some sort of moral disadvantage is beginning to be perpetuated and accepted by many.

It seems the difference in political cultures may be the same factors that take part in our societal differences. In the US, quite often, we focus too much on the things that make us different...separate. Canadians, (well the one's i've known, anyway) are much more likely to focus on the things they have in common.

_____________________________

Truth is, everybody is going to hurt you; you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for." -Bob Marley

(in reply to TheHeretic)

Profile

Post #: 3