From ‘eh’ to ‘meh’? Pride and attachment to country in Canada endure significant declines -
From ‘eh’ to ‘meh’? Pride and attachment to country in Canada endure significant declines -
Percentage saying they’re ‘very proud’ to be Canadian has dropped from 78% to 34% since 1985 December 13, 2024 – The years since the onset of COVID-19 have been a well-documented period of division and discord in this country, with Canadians expressing concerns about the lack of a “middle” option po...
Jesus christ, we're still polling on values like nationalistic pride? Don't get me wrong, we're not doing awesome right now, but fervent, aimless pride in the piece of rock I was born on isn't something I value.
Actually, after reading the article: the collective response for "I have a deep emotional attachment to my country" and "I am attached to my country as long as it continues to provide a decent quality of life" was 84% in 1991, and is 81% as of the most recent poll. People are just substantially more inclined to agree with the latter. So we've moved away from blind, fervent nationalism, and instead recognize that the goal of the state should be to provide a good quality of life for it's citizens, and agree that Canada is doing a good job of this.
...fucking good? Nationalism is down, and satisfaction with our country remains the same. This is a win, and it's kind of insulting that the headline, and discussion here, tries to suggest otherwise.
Miss the point some more. Patriotism/Nationalism is directly related to whether or not there's any regard for the government, federal in particular. That's gone. You are a direct result of the "post national state" someone wanted to build. You wanna know what happens when nationalism really tanks? YOu get guys like me that could seriously care less if the states took over tommorow, one eastern bullshit federal government is the same as another
I'm believe your the one who has missed the point. The data provided is being misinterpreted to suggest that Canadians are in some way disgusted by their country. A closer look at the data reveals that this is not true. They just believe that the state is responsible to them, rather than the other way around. Again, the percentage of people who value their country has not changed much, so it's not "Canada" that anyone is upset with.
I'm not sure why you feel so strongly about attaching your personal value to a national identity. You are more than the piece of dirt you were born on. You don't need to attach your entire conceptualization of self to the happenstance of your birth.
This whole self-loathing thing seems like something you should be looking inward to fix, not something you should be looking to your government to fix for you.
I mean, build a country with a functional economy and social mobility, and maybe people will feel more pride
Well no shit. Instead theyve used every opportunity to squelch that. Sellers market for employees? High wages? Better import 2 million people fast.
You say that like it's everyone else's job to do that. So long as you (and by extension everyone else) carry that attitude, nothing is going to change.
No one knows how to do that. Global civilization is in decline. Canada’s been very lucky to be mostly free of war but that’s about it.
The true problem of democracy is that it’s the government of a million tiny special interests, each of which screws over the entire society a small amount in order to benefit themselves a larger amount.
The Angus Reid poll suggests a connection between income level and Canadian pride. People with incomes below $25,000 were less likely to be proud of Canada (48 per cent), while those with income above $200,000 were more likely (65 per cent), according to the poll.
Westlake is not surprised that one's finances might influence their love of country. "Cost of living is up, access to health care and access to doctors is something a lot of people are struggling with. Housing prices are up," Westlake said. "We're coming out of a period of quite significant inflation. So you have a bunch of these things that hit people in their pocketbooks that tend to shape public opinion in all types of situations that probably reflect poorly on incumbent governments."
What's to be proud of? The fact I have to wait three years to see certain medical specialists currently? Or the past of genocide and racism?
I waited 2.5 years for a surgery once, showed up, it was cancelled, they referred me to another guy, showed up, he gave me a steroid injection, said i should have been getting those every three months for the last 2.5 years and refused to schedule another appointment in 3 months.
There are faults, but also benefits. My dad recently had heart trouble over new years and within 4 hours of arriving at the ER, he was triaged, brought into emergency, had two ekgs, a cat scan, an ultrasound and consultation with a Cardiologist, then transferred to a private room in ICU
Within another two days he was transferred to another hospital to get an angioplasty and then an arterial stent, then released two days later with a months worth of prescription pills for $50 since it was the new years and the deductible still needed to be met before they were free.
I would take that over America's system any day.
I've never been one for feeling pride in my country, but the fact we're all being bled dry by inflated costs of living and greedy, government-sanctioned monopolies isn't helping these statistics. So, yeah, fuck this shit hole of a country.
I feel like the very situation you lament is caused precisely because of people with your attitude who basically just roll over and give up on making this country better. I have no sympathy for apathy.
Where did I say I was rolling over and giving up? I just said I have no attachment to my country and that it can go fuck itself.
I vote. I write to my MPs and MLAs. I support local businesses. I use alternative transportation when possible. I help educate my family and friends and what options they can take.
Could I be doing more? Absolutely. But being unhappy with the status quo doesn't mean I'm not doing anything. Don't put words in my mouth.
This is essentially the same as blaming people for their own depression. People need empowerment if they're currently feeling disenfranchised and powerless-- especially if they're also depressed or anxious. As an analogy, if someone is upset about something, they often need some empathy before they can listen to anyone tell them how to "fix" a problem. (Especially if the "fix" creates other problems they're not sure how to cope with.)
The reason fascists are making such great strides again as living costs and loneliness are on the rise is because they're very effective at acknowledging people are hurting FIRST (without minimizing or shaming them for hurting in the first place). Then they go on to set up the scapegoats and reinforce the in-group dynamic.
Lies, damned lies, and statistics. Opinion polls don't reflect anything but how a non-representative subset of the population who have enough time on their hands to be interested in filling out polls respond to the specific question on the poll, which is often very carefully worded in an attempt to elicit a particular answer.
Blindly loving your country is an immature stance anyway. It implies you're willing to overlook its faults rather than fixing them.
Blindly loving your country is an immature stance anyway. It implies you're willing to overlook its faults rather than fixing them.
I've always thought something similar, especially when I see people in some places who seem to make their country's flag their entire personality.
If you think that's a rebuttal to my take, better start rereading.
As a British Columbian I always feel like Canada doesn't care much about us. Federal policy is almost entirely favoured towards Quebec and Alberta, and often elections are decided before BC even finishes voting.
I care not if BC stays Canadian or if we become cascadia with Washington, Oregon, Alaska and California. I feel like we have more in common with them than other provinces.
You think....Federal policy favours Alberta? What are you smoking?
Alberta hates on Trudeau but he fucked over BC for an Albertan pipeline. And Harper before that was definitely more pro-alberta than pro-bc. I can name more federal decisions that benefited Alberta than those that benefited BC that's for sure.
Alberta is a squeaky wheel, it gets a lot of grease. Plus it's still the spiritual and political seat of the modern Canadian conservative movement.
Not seeing this is not seeing how places not call Alberta, Ontario, or Quebec are treated federally.
Didn't the federal government buy a pipeline that cost every Canadian (tax payer or not) like $800 each? A pipeline that one of the provinces it passed through didn't want?