« Nationalism - Just another extremism | Home | World Cup 2010 Thoughts »
Appreciating Canada for what it is
By Samir | July 1, 2010
My last post outlined my view on nationalism, and how much I think it should be kept to a healthy level. Expanding on that, here’s how I celebrate being Canadian. I try to avoid being too extreme about it, but I feel very lucky to have been born in this country. My parents came here from Pakistan and Italy, and Canada afforded them the freedom to make a better life for themselves. Canada is a secular state, which allowed my father to be Muslim, my mother to be Roman Catholic and me to be completely unreligious either way. They both got inexpensive education that allowed them to multiply their earnings potential and live comfortably (at least compared to how my father lived in Karachi and how my mom lived in post-war Italy). And I, with no real “old boys’ network” have started building a career that is (mostly) based on merit, not race or social class. Furthermore, growing up in Quebec, I became fluent in both English and French. Finally, I don’t need to own a gun to feel safe and I don’t need to pay untold Euros to buy fuel for my car. There aren’t many places in the world where all of the above could happen.
Canada’s a great country, we often forget to appreciate it because its advantages aren’t glamorous or exciting. But if we ever lost this country, we’d miss it dearly. Happy Canada Day.
Topics: Blog |
Comments are closed.
