There is, everyone knows, a tradition of anti-Americanism in Canada. It can be genuinely hostile, like when Canadian parliamentarian Carolyn Parrish said she hates "those bastards," or it can be mocking, like when Rick Mercer went to the U.S. to investigate just how stupid Americans really are. (I've always wondered what Mercer did with the outtakes of Americans who, refusing the bait, didn't embarrass themselves on camera.)
Underlying our attitude toward Americans is the assumption that we are different from them -- and that typically means superior. The catalogue of differences is thick, but it comes down to the conceit that Canadians have an egalitarian and community-minded ethos that is absent in the U.S.
Turns out that those long-standing Canadian assumptions are wrong.
This study reminded me of the first day of class where we listed stereotypical cliches of what it meant to be either Canadian or American. And as Canadian students we played right into the stigma of hate that many Canadians harbour, stating that American's were opportunistic, greedy, and had an obsession with a "larger then life" attitude toward everything they hold dear. This study looks at the qualities that we fault the Americans for are often the qualities that we praise in ourselves. And that despite the media presentation of the differences, that seem to put us worlds apart, they are actually the similarities that bring us together as neighbors.
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