I'm as patriotic as they come, root for the home team, etc. and feel that having a positive attitude about your country/province/town is a healthy thing. What I've never understood is supporting the 'we're number one' viewpoint by denigrating others. The prevailing attitude down south seems to be that they have the purest form of democracy and personal freedom that has ever existed, and will ever exist, and that all others are shite. They have always been suspicious of 'foreigners', treaties and international bodies, an attitude that the current administration has raised to an artform (along with beating up on its own institutions). I have seen articles that say the level of international cooperation against this virus is no where near that of previous pandemics.
I think we need to make some distinctions here.
I'm not knocking a certain pride in one's area/region/state/province/country.
I'm knocking a myopic world view informed by ignorance, and blind to reality.
To be clear this is certainly not the case for every American, by any means.
Further, where held, its rarely a view held in active malice.
Rather, its one of an honest belief that they live in the best country in the world, ever; one which does little wrong, and nothing that isn't 'right-er' than everyone else.
Yet this is a position informed by a nation where people speak fewer languages and travel less to foreign countries than most others in the developed world.
Last year, a grand total of 21.4 million passports were issued in the U.S., the highest number ever recorded.
www.forbes.com
As at 2018, a mere 42% of Americans held a passport...............as compared with 66% of Canadians. (though that American number is rising quickly)
Another stat.
64% of Americans have never left the United States. That compares with 15% of Canadians having never left Canada.
The typical Canadian has visited 5 foreign countries in their lifetime.
It just skews one's entire world view.
www.guelphtoday.com
globalnews.ca
www.vox.com
lfpress.com
