Nuance1

Nuance 1 reads almost like a Skype address, or someone's email password, but, really, Gentle Reader, I want to explore in this little series of essays the whole idea of nuance and how our failure to grasp this subtle bit of quicksilver often leaves us imaginatively impaired and sticking to lumping everything and everyone into near useless categories. The meat and potatoes of the intellectually lazy, I suppose, though now with the new Canada Food Guide being out and a little more hip and au courant than it's stodgy predecessors, perhaps we could say, plant-based protien and potatoes. Whatever. Today, I am thinking about nationalism and patriotism, two rather useless words that often can cause people an awful lot of problems. I have been hearing a bit lately that nationalism and patriotism do not necessarily mean the same thing. I will consult Uncle Google. Here is Aunt Wiki quoting one Sydney J. Harris: "The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war." Sydney J. Harris was an American essayist and drama critic with a lot of pithy quotes. I wonder if they really are that different, patriotism and nationalism. Here in Canada, there is a tacit expectation that we are all going to love cultural and sexual diversity, feel guilty and horrible about the plight of our indigenous peoples, and to believe most firmly that there is no such thing as a Canadian culture. And we are supposed to wax somewhat passionate about these things. Well...I suppose I do agree with all of the above, except that I do believe that there is such a thing as a Canadian culture, even if it is a Franco-British derivative, but I also like to think that the culture of Canada is still in an early formative stage, and if we're still around in two hundred years, perhaps we will have something a little more cohesive for defining us. But with increasing globalization, that process is going to be a little bit complicated. And there is also that whole business about the Queen and the British Monarchy. This is particularly why I am glad I was born in this country. I would, otherwise, in taking the oath of citizenship, have had to swear allegiance to the Queen, and that is something I hope I never have to do. It isn't because I'm against the monarchy. I am not. Neither am I for the Monarchy. Simply, I don't care. She seems like a nice little old lady, but she has way too much money and her kids and other family tend to be inbred twits, though she has done a bit better for grandchildren, I suppose. I also object to the historic stake that the Monarchy, and by extension, the now defunct British Empire has had in this country. Simply, Canada is an illegitimate country...I will give you a couple of minutes, Gentle Reader, to compose yourselves. Now take slow, deep breaths, close your eyes, visualize something lovely, and deep breathe, slow, deep, slow....deep...now, are you feeling a little bit better? Canada is an illegitimate country based on broken treaties, lies and the unjust expropriation of unceded land from the First Nations of this country. I do not feel guilty about this, because I didn't do any of those things, but I have had the benefit of being born and raised in this country and my life has been largely based on the monumental injustices that other blinded by greed white men have inflicted on the aboriginal peoples here. This elephant is not about to leave the room, but at least he is finally being talked about. I find it impossible to love this country. I could move to Scotland (my father's patrimony) or to Germany (my mother's), but I don't feel particularly connected to my ethnic heritage. I had might as well move to Mexico, Costa Rica or Colombia, since I speak Spanish, and even if those countries have their own blood-soaked legacies of colonialism and genocide, at least most of their populations are of mixed indigenous and European heritage, and that might reduce a little bit the hypocricy quotient. I am more likely to stay in this country, liking it or not, and of course one could do a lot worse than Canada. Even though we fail dismally at income and social equality, and even though there is still little political will to properly house people on low incomes and eliminate homelessness, (but, please, not the homeless!) one can still do much worse than Canada for a place to live, and perhaps also a little bit better. I for one have nothing to complain about. I am decently housed in a cheap subsidized apartment, which allows me to live and eat and travel well on a low wage. As I prepare for my annual trip to Latin America next month (Costa Rica again), it doesn't hurt for me to take stock and give thanks for the many privileges that I do enjoy, even if i am statistically one of the very poor, living in Canada. By the same token, I have no deep love for this place, and not being blinded by patriotism, I can see the flaws of my country while loving the people who live here and taking the time to also exploit one of our many rights and freedoms to go on writing this blog and challenging people to think in the longterm, to stop toadying and capitulating to the shortsighted greed of our leaders and to do everything we possibly can to help secure a bretter, more sustainable and healthier and greener future for all of us, not just Canadians, because our planet is in peril, and we are the ones to blame for this.