Today was a good day for Canada as we finally have three medals to our credit - Gold to Carol Huynh in Wrestling, Silver to David Calder and Scott Frandsen in Rowing, and Silver to Tonya Verbeek in Wrestling. It's exciting to see their delight in winning as our nation takes a collective sigh of relief now that we're on the medal board. Congratulations go out to them and all of the other day's competitors.
While it's tempting to get caught up in nationalistic emotions during something like the Olympics, the wonderful complement to that is the fact that the Olympic games offer the chance for all countries to participate in a United Nations-like forum.
I readily admit I am a proud Canadian. I take pride in what I feel are Canadian values. I love that we espouse multi-culturalism and universal access to education and health care. We also enjoy the benefits of one of the most wealthy economies in the world. As part of the international community, Canada is seen as a terrific place to live based on various measures of quality of life.
However, we also demonstrate inequalities and issues like any other nation and these things cannot, and should not, be overlooked.
Rather than saying "Canada is a great nation," I feel more comfortable saying "We live in a wonderful place that offers freedom, equality and opportunity to its citizens." It would be truly great if those same things could be said not just within our borders but everywhere else beyond.
I feel so fortunate to live here and yet keep in mind that many other nations have so much to offer as well. For me it's not about one nation or another, but the sharing of what unites us all - our humanity.
1 comment:
Have you read " Geography of Bliss", by Eric Weiner? It's a really good example of "there's alot of good in many different places".
I'm almost finished and have "visited" many countries that are supposed to be some of the happiest places on earth.
The author dissects the different aspects of what "makes happiness" and what component(s) these places have. I've come to the conclusion that Canada has a great many of those components and is a very "happy" nation. The things you mentioned, education, freedom of religious expression, universal health care, all components important in the happiness of a country.
Yay Canada!!!
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