# Why do so many Canadians feel like they have to compare the US and Canada? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 15, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754 "2010-11-15T17:07:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/41 "2010-11-16T23:04:48Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Some Canadians strike me as having a major chip on their shoulders about this. It’s very boring. To be fair, they’re probably the small minority of Canadians I’ve met, but it’s annoying enough that they’re the memorable ones. Agreed. I also think it’s kind of funny that Canadians are complaining about pro-USA messages on USA based news and/or television programs. So the US should change their broadcasts for people in other countries who choose to watch our programming instead of their own? I’ve witnessed the chip-on-the-shoulder thing often as many Canadians have witnessed the “We’re #1!” behavior. I would expect most countries to feel that they are #1 so I guess I’m confused about why that’s an issue. When I’ve traveled around the world most places feel this way about their own country, should I be a snide ass to these people because they dare love their country? ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/42 "2010-11-17T00:06:55Z")
\ > [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](#): > > Agreed. > > I also think it’s kind of funny that Canadians are complaining about pro-USA messages on USA based news and/or television programs. So the US should change their broadcasts for people in other countries who choose to watch our programming instead of their own? Thanks for saying it. If a segment of Canadians complain about the media being US dominated, the soloution is simple cancel your cable and be left with one channel, the CBC. Bazinga ! ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/43 "2010-11-17T00:24:15Z")
> [@Ibanez](#): > > Not all lefties are like that up here but from my experience a lot of them are, as well you may find a few right voting Canadians that hold the same views but I can guarantee you there aren’t as many. Oh, please. You think that the Don Cherry-watching, hockey-should-never-be-played-anywhere-south-of-Minnesota set leans _left_? Over-the-top Canadian nationalism can be found on either side of the political spectrum. It just exhibits itself in different ways. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/44 "2010-11-17T01:28:22Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > (or pretending to be) Canadian results in, say, free fellatio from hotel staffs. nah that’s reserved for Aussies:p ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/45 "2010-11-17T02:10:43Z")
\ > [@Rysto](#): > > Over-the-top Canadian nationalism can be found on either side of the political spectrum. It just exhibits itself in different ways. Really ? Duh !!! Ya think ? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/46 "2010-11-17T02:13:07Z")
> [@Ibanez](#): > > \ > > Thanks for saying it. > > If a segment of Canadians complain about the media being US dominated, the soloution is simple cancel your cable and be left with one channel, the CBC. > > Bazinga ! I think you’d still have CTV, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/47 "2010-11-17T02:21:57Z")
The whole 'My home’s the greatest!" thing, is certainly universal, but American’s have raised it to an art form. Canadian’s aren’t suggesting you should change a damn thing, by the by, only trying to illustrate what it’s like to be inundated, mediawise, with another culture. America is extreme, it’s like Extreme Home Makeover. They don’t just fix the house, no, no. It’s 40 inch flatscreens, college educations for the kids, brand new trucks, yada, yada, yada. It’s the biggest burger, the tallest building, ever bigger, ever better. There’s nothing wrong with it, no one wants you to change it, just think for minute what it’s like to live beside. It’s all pervasive. And the truth is, there has been a change in Canada, in the last decade. The Olympics brought our country together, to share a moment, in a way that we’ve not experienced before, though we’ve hosted the games before. People were bursting into song, the national anthem! Behaviour heretofore unheard of. Pouring into the streets and reveling the nights away. When you think about it, these are somewhat Americanish behaviours that are manifesting. How much due to exposure, in media, no one can say. Canadian’s are defensive because they see something they cannot stop, the bleeding of your culture across the border, for better or worse. Many Canadian’s don’t desire to share you views on gun ownership, don’t want that to come here, but watch helplessly as weapons also seep through that long, long border. It’s true, we are a little defensive. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/48 "2010-11-17T02:39:22Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I think you’d still have CTV, too. 🙂 Don’t you get Global in Alberta ? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/49 "2010-11-17T03:16:31Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I think you’d still have CTV, too. 🙂 You’re right, we have two and counting… ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/50 "2010-11-17T03:17:52Z")
It basically comes down to penis envy. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/51 "2010-11-17T03:36:55Z")
> [@Ibanez](#): > > You’re right, we have two and counting… And CityTV, and TVA, and V and Radio-Canada, and APTN, and OLN and…well, a whole bunch of other local networks we probably won’t ever watch. It’s funny, though, that once Canadians start answering the question asked, and explaining the context within which we experience the nationalistic dynamic between the two countries, Americans come in here and tell us to stop complaining if we aren’t happy with what they offer and accuse us of “penis envy”. If that doesn’t make our point, what will? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/52 "2010-11-17T04:07:05Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > nah that’s reserved for Aussies:p Well, there goes a Union Flag in the canton (upper hoist quarter), and a large white seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter, the fly containing a representation of the Southern Cross constellation, made up of five white stars – one small five-pointed star and four, larger, seven-pointed stars on _my_ next backpack. Seriously. Also, seriously, don’t you guy have a friggin’ simple nickname for which you call your flag? ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/53 "2010-11-17T04:49:18Z")
This is one of my pet peeves, and something I’ve experienced many times. If I had a dollar for every time a Canadian has feverishly told me how often the UN has ranked Canada the best country in the world, well, let’s just say I wouldn’t be as broke as I am now. It actually kind of annoys me that the stereotype is that Canadians are these nice, humble, insecure people…because if I could stereotype them at all (recognizing, of course that there are innumerable exceptions), it would be that they are among the most arrogantly patriotic people on earth. Actually, I think the stereotype explains a lot of it. My pop-psychoanalysis…Americans have for years (decades? anyways, as far back as I can remember) been subjected to the “ugly American” stereotype - we’re regularly told how boorish, uncultured, loud and arrogant we are. The message has sunk in - whether we accept it (“I’m so embarrassed to be American, we’re so dumb!!”) or reject it (“Fuck them, America rules!!”), most of us know how foreigners supposedly perceive us. Canadians, on the other hand, are constantly told (often through the same American media they claim to resent) that they are this wonderfully polite, modest, peaceful, _nice_ people. That message, too, has sunk in, and Canadians never tire of parroting it, in the most obnoxious of terms - or even just as a simple matter of fact, like the Canadian who once blithely told me, “You know Canadians - we’re _all_ nice.” It’s like the mental framework for thinking of Canadians as jerks doesn’t exist. Ever hear of the “ugly Canadian”? No, because the idea doesn’t exist - google “ugly American stereotype” and you get 127,000 hits. Now google “ugly Canadian stereotype”- only seven hits. Having worked in international hospitality, I can tell you that that’s definitely **not** because so few Canadians are rude or difficult. So let me hereby help propagate the Ugly Canadian stereotype: not because I think all or most Canadians fit it, or because I’m against your country. Rather because I _like_ you guys, and think it’s gotta be unhealthy to have such an unblinkeredly positive self-image.\* \*To which I can imagine Canadians responding, “Don’t do us any favors!” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/54 "2010-11-17T05:04:30Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > It’s funny, though, that once Canadians start answering the question asked, and explaining the context within which we experience the nationalistic dynamic between the two countries, Americans come in here and tell us to stop complaining if we aren’t happy with what they offer and accuse us of “penis envy”. > > If that doesn’t make our point, what will? :rolleyes: Oh please, do you really think that he is serious about penis envy? Seriously? If so, I have some beautiful swampland in the Everglades I’d like to talk to you about. I get what you’re saying but think about it for a minute: Canadian: Hey! We are sick of your pro-American stance you guys have on your television networks and your movies! We’re sick of hearing it! American: Why watch our stuff if you are sick of it? Canadian: HOW DARE YOU! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/55 "2010-11-17T05:35:07Z")
No, I didn’t really think he was serious, but I think the direction this thread has taken is kind of odd. And your summary of it is inaccurate: it started with asking why Canadians always have to make comparisons to the US. The answer is because it’s there to be compared to; it’s everywhere, and it’s easy for the little guy to get lost in all the stuff from the States. That’s not us being sick of any US-centric stuff. That’s not us complaining about your TV and movies and music. That’s not even us insulting you. That’s us simply reminding you - and more importantly, \*ourselves \*, because sadly we tend to forget- that we have a lot of stuff here that’s worthwhile too and being proud of who we are and what we can do. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/56 "2010-11-17T05:50:39Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > That message, too, has sunk in, and Canadians never tire of parroting it, in the most obnoxious of terms - or even just as a simple matter of fact, like the Canadian who once blithely told me, “You know Canadians - we’re _all_ nice.” I was at an hostel in Poznan, Poland, in June of 2009, and there I met a Canadian lady and a young American man. One of the first things the Canadian told me, with such a proud look in her eyes, was that Canadians are so _nice_. The American was I believe a seminary student, very religious and conservative, and who wanted to steer any conversation towards the topic of abortion. I felt like I was surrounded by national stereotypes. The thought of going to buy a 24-pack of beer to share with them to play my own national stereotype crossed my mind. It was surprising, because I’d have expected hostel patrons to be more the cultural traveller type, who’ve met people from several different countries and are less likely to believe their people holds a monopoly on human values such as “niceness”. But, it was funny. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/57 "2010-11-17T08:22:08Z")
OP, it isn’t like this is the first troublesome thing to come out of Canada; let us not forget Bryan Adams. ---
**Author:** ![mo50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@mo50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mo50)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754/58 "2010-11-17T17:00:25Z")
It was only when I first did get abroad & interact w/ other travelers I realized I’d been sold a bill of goods about the US being #1 in much of anything. You talk to your average european/Canuck/Aussie/Kiwi, whatever, & you’re like “Now, lemme get this straight, you guys get free Uni, free healthcare, decent pensions, six weeks paid vacation (whenever you DO decide to get a job), you can work legally in most places around the world, you’ve been bumming around the world for a few years and you’re generally not hated for being from where you’re from? Really? Well, we’re #1 in…invading people? Military spending? People in prison? Huzzah! USA! USA!” (Yeah, nanny state, higher taxes, fine by me) I can see why they’d wanna rub it in our faces when they get the chance. OK where’s that Canadian flag patch?" :smack: I’m reminded of that Simpson’s episode where some immigrant prodigy is like “Only in America, or perhaps Canada, could my family have acheived all this!” 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-so-many-canadians-feel-like-they-have-to-compare-the-us-and-canada/560754.md?page=2)