I've lived in Canada now for 14 years. I have learned, during that time, that one thing Canadians have going for them is they are not guided by ideology, or dogmatic beliefs. For that reason, most Canadians have rejected politics and religion in their actual, real-world lives. Canadians don't allow mere politics or social wedge issues to divide our country. And, contrary to what a lot of Americans believe about Canada, Canadians don't have strong notions about socialism; particularly not as a mere political system. Canadians just do what works; and they quickly reject that which doesn't work.
I call it "reality-based" living. And I am much happier living in a reality-based society.
I call it "reality-based" living. And I am much happier living in a reality-based society.
When I lived in the US (in 6 different Bible Belt states), I was surrounded by people who were driven by irrational fear (I'm a "Cold War" kid, make no mistake), and absolutely committed to beliefs that were illogical and irrational (because they were never founded on reality). Americans are completely unwilling to consider any challenge to the dogma of their politics or their religion (and, let's face it, for Americans, those have become one and the same).
Examples? How about the current impeachment fiasco? On the other side, how about MAGA? Both are dreams and both are escapes from an uncomfortable reality.
There's nothing wrong with dreaming, and we all do it. I still have the same dreams I always had; I just no longer live with the false hope of seeing them become reality. For two long I let mythology guide me and hated any reality that threatened the myths I loved. Like most Americans.
In 5th period American History class at my high school, I was taught mythology instead of the true history of the United States. That mythology is still the core of what I believe, and a large part of what I've become. I treasure those myths because I realized they are what a few men have always dreamed about ... a better world, and I won't discount the value of their dreaming.
But I can't be honest to myself and ignore the huge gulf between the promise of those dreams and reality of America's accomplishments. That gulf is unavoidable to those with open eyes, that gulf is wide, and it is growing ever wider at an ever-faster pace.
There were men among those early founders of the American state who believed quite fervently in the Enlightenment principles but I think it's a false notion that those men (and the largely intellection and philosophical principles of "Age of Reason") were the force behind the action (and the American Revolution was an action) that led to the end of colonial exploitation of North America.
The American revolution did not result from a fervour in the hearts of men for a protection of those innate rights (self-evident) that were bestowed by God on all human beings and, therefore, off limits to mere "governments" which can neither confer or deny them. No, that's the myth we were taught and, by all that is good in this world, I believe in that myth, and I love it with all my heart, but I have accepted the truth that it wasn't the guiding force for action.
Action comes from darker stronger forces, and that's often missed by true believers. If I could believe for one instant that the United States, today, in its modern form, was guided by a desire for spreading democracy and bringing peace to a violent world and ensuring the protection of rights to all of God's children (blah blah blah), I might still believe that the American revolution was fought for the liberation of the oppressed and for the advancement of the ideals that ennoble mankind. I'm no longer that 16-year-old in 5th period History class. Sorry ... I grew up. I tried to prevent it from happening, but it was beyond my control. I saw too much, too clearly and, quite simply, I can't unsee it.
The American Dream is exactly that ... a dream. It's a dying dream, most of us know that ... we just deal with it differently; all of us in our own ways. I'm not condemning anyone's "way" of dealing with it, I'm just saying that I believe reality is a good thing. I think I'll stick with it. :-)
