Why do Canadians dislike Americans??

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edsawyer - goodnight, Debra

You could also ask why people in the former Yugoslavia hate(d) each other, or why Hutus and Tutsis hate(d) each other... Familiarity breeds contempt, I guess... One important root of our almost-pathological obession with the United States is the million ways that we are similar. I think that causes us to harp on at length about the differences, where they exist. It's partly a 'survival instinct' - Canada and the United States are so very similar that we feel that being defensive is neccessary to prevent ourselves from being swallowed up whole into the USA. The idea of 'manifest destiny' (the God-given right of the USA to lord over the whole North American continent) is long-dead, but they still teach us a lot about it in school, harbouring in us a fear of an invasion that will never, in truth, happen.

Canada also suffers from a huge inferiority complex - we constantly compare ourselves to the USA, and constantly come up short. Canadians rarely compare Canada to other countries. We have only one neighbour and so it's the focus of all of our anxieties about our place in the world. Ask a Canadian what's good about Canada, and he'll answer you by telling you what's bad about the USA. We are also very petty about America's ignorance of us. I don't know why - I don't think that people in Cote D'Ivoire grumble about how little Americans know about Cote D'Ivoire.

Additionally, Canadians are as guilty as anyone else of confusing the individual and the system. They condemn Americans where they should condemn America. I've often said that 'I hate Amercians, except every one I've ever met'. Americans are, by and large, generous, kind people. But the monolith that is 'the American system' is frightening. A lot of us visualise George Bush when we say bad things about Americans.

I see Canada as a teenager rebelling against its parents - and even if you see England and France as Canada's parents, we were really birthed as a 'seperate entity' by the American Revolution and our history has always progressed parallel with that of the USA. Anyway, as teenagers are, we can be petty and small-minded. We get angry at the United States whenever possible, but still expect preferential treatment from them.

I think that Canadians can overcome their petty hatred merely by understanding that they are, in the end, two different countries, and as such are merely different from each other. They are parallel experiments in social harmony among immigrant nations. Our route is to approve of immigration, to let people marry whomever they want, to build a state that tries to give everyone an acceptable standard of living, but to be blandly pragmatic and bureaucratic and to always waver on the precipice of implosion. Their route is to legislate the family, to cherish the individual at the expense of the community, to let anyone who wants a gun have one but not to be afraid of big ideas and big visions and to foster a sense of national pride that we lack. Vive la difference!

Peace.

Babi

You should check the similar questions when you ask! :)

duc602

Canadian Bacon tells it all. rent the movie starring John Candy

Jen Hates Evil Empire Starbucks

I guess not all, maybe cultural differences.

Poutine

I don't like ignorance or hypocrisy!

Being stupid is thought of as cute by many Americans (just look at the success of Paris Hilton).
Americans seem to blindly believe in things and rational thought is a rare commodity.
Yes we often say that we hate Americans when we actually mean the government but I also find that I don't like a lot of Americans. They tend to be loud and obnoxious (I am sure there are quite ones but they don't get noticed). My neighbour is from Texas and the ignorance that comes out of her mouth just makes me cringe! She went to college in the states but when she was tested here they put her back in grade 10! I would estimate that of the Americans that I have met (internationally and locally) that I only like 1/3 (and they are normally embarrassed of the American ignorance and hypocrisy).

Why is OK for the US government to break international laws? (From illegal trade policies to war crimes!)

We are exposed to so much American media; I want the American news, the Canadian news and listen to BBC news on the radio. The lies, half-truths, and complete omissions of the American media are depressing.
I am sure that Americans would not be so bad if they were better educated in numerous different areas.

This is from a very popular commercial from a few years ago.
Yes it is from a beer commercial so that help perpetuate a stereotype about us but oh well nothing is perfect. That is something about Canada that I LOVE we admit our imperfections.
Hey.
I'm not a lumberjack,
or a fur trader...
and I don't live in an igloo
or eat blubber, or own a dogsled...
and I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada,
although I'm certain they're really, really nice.
I have a Prime Minister,
not a President.
I speak English and French,
NOT American.
and I pronounce it ABOUT,
NOT A BOOT.
I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack.
I believe in peace keeping, NOT policing.
DIVERSITY, NOT assimilation,
AND THAT THE BEAVER IS A TRULY PROUD AND NOBLE ANIMAL.
A TOQUE IS A HAT,
A CHESTERFIELD IS A COUCH,
AND IT IS PRONOUCED 'ZED' NOT 'ZEE', 'ZED'!
CANADA IS THE SECOND LARGEST LANDMASS!
THE FIRST NATION OF HOCKEY!
AND THE BEST PART OF NORTH AMERICA!
MY NAME IS JOE!
AND I AM CANADIAN!

swoody17

That's a very bad question as not ALL Canadians dislike Americans! Just like all around the world there are people that don't like other people...its not specific to all Canadians! That's a bit like saying that all the French dislike the English....stereotypically that might be the case but in real life its not true. If you are a nice person then you will be liked where ever you come from!

cziizi