U.S. comparisons come up a LOT at school. I suppose its easy to do since the U.S. and Canada are not really THAT different. I put up with a fair amount U.S. bashing (since most of it I agree with), but I was a little surprised at the seemingly ignorant following of anti-U.S. sentiment that I felt from my students today during my tutorial.
The class discussion was about governments that have a parliamentary supremacy model and those that have a separation of power model. We talked about what this different models meant to their citizens and which system the class felt better about. The resounding majority of the class felt that their rights were better protected with an SP model. So, then we talked about countries with this models. The prime example of countries with PS and SP models are the UK and the US, respectively. The question I presented to the class was, "Which country would you rather live in?" I heard about 15 voices say the UK all at once...
O.K., no big deal, but here's the kicker... not ONE PERSON could tell me why! Even though 5 minutes before hand everyone said they would rather live in a country with an SP model, nobody could tell me why the UK would be a better place to live than the US. The only people who were able to give me any sort of reasoning behind their answer were the 2 students who said they'd rather live in the states! I couldn't believe it.
I don't care if you dislike the states, but could you at least have a reason?
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I know a few Canadians here. They go back to Canada at least three times a year and complain the rest of the time here. I complain all the time here - and I felt something close to hatred for the US as I left. The UK (as compared to the US, and I suspect Canada) is an awful place to live. Great to visit - awful to live. This is anecdotal and completely non-scientific - and it's the first thing in the morning - but there it is.
ReplyDeleteWell done for at least asking them why.
We put up with alot of US political bashing as well, and like you, we mostly agree with it. But, as far as living on a daily basis goes, crazy past Presidents aside and all that, I definitely prefer the US. And could mention many reasons why. Then again, maybe I am biased!! But, I'd give living in Canada a fair shot, even if they do have a PS system. Tell your class that they are ridiculous for not being able to back up their answers- (sorry, that's the teacher side of me coming out!) :)
ReplyDeleteHope you have a fantastic weekend.
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