Yesterday I turned on the radio and heard Bruce Springsteen’s raspy voice, belting out one of the most familiar and inspiring songs I heard growing up. It always sends a chill down my spine. “Born down in a dead man’s town. The first kick I took was when I hit the ground. End up like a dog that’s been beat too much, till you spend half your life just to cover it up.”
Of course “Born in the USA” has always presented me with conflicting feelings. I was not born in the USA. In fact I am quite a proud Canadian. I love the diversity of our country. I love that we value equality of all nations and ethnicities. I even love our laid-back laissez faire ways. Yet the one thing that gets to me is our lack of nationalism. We have no anthem like Springsteen’s, nor do we have anyone who seems to want to write something like it. If we did, I’m sure it would be a Celine Dionne ballad, with half the lyrics being sung in French. (Insert Nikki Yanofski “I believe joke here).
What drives us (or doesn’t drive us) to be proud of who we are? I attended a conference yesterday with a big named American speaker as the headliner. Yet it was the “undercard” Canadian speaker who inspired a great thought in me. He challenged us that we Canadians mask our low self-image as politeness and humility. We would rather look to Americans to give us insight into our country and set the pace for the future than allow one of our own to rise up and lead. I live in one of the best regions of the world. The GTA offers more to people and produces just as many high caliber people than any other place on earth. It’s time that we started to take pride in Canadian achievements, Canadian leaders, Canadian art… Canadian anything… and stopped looking for other countries to set the pace for us. Sure we can value outside influence, but not at the expense of our own. We need to value our leaders, our athletes, our educated, and let them rise to the top of our society. The next wave of world changers is going to be shaded in only two colours (yes I spelled it with a “u”); just red and white. We can leave the blue out this time.
So John Denver may be proud to be an American, and Bruce may have been born in the USA. Confession is good for the soul boys… so thanks for sharing. I’m glad I’m Canadian.
PS - Sorry if I offended anyone. Please don’t hold it against us.
;)
Comments
Post a Comment