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by Jim Smith
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The following report was filed by TG's editor, Jim Smith, after a recent visit to California's Disneyland.
That, in essence, is the core of Disneyland, Walt Disney's legendary amusement park smack in the middle of Southern California. You can meet Mickey Mouse here or ride on an indoor rollercoaster through pitch blackness. But, at the end of the day, you realize that Disneyland is really all about American patriotism.
America has a lot to be ashamed of. It was, after all, the largest country in the world to hold men in the bondage of slavery. It has raped underdeveloped countries, stealing away the natural resources of those lands. There is much deeper and more widespread poverty in the United States than one will find in Canada.
But you will not find any negative thinking about America here in Disneyland. Here, one finds Abraham Lincoln speaking about freedom as if freedom begins and ends in the United States. Here one finds dozens of American flags. Here one finds tributes to American folk heroes like Davey Crockett and the mythical Tom Sawyer. There are tributes to Presidents and bragging about the achievements of American science. If there are weaknesses in American society, they are not discussed in Disneyland.
Walt Disney may have perfected patriotism as a commercial art form. But American patriotism is certainly not confined to Disney's amusement park. In the Hollywood Wax Museum, amidst the replicas of John Wayne and Clark Gable, there's an entire exhibit of American presidents. There are American flags everywhere in this country. "America the beautiful" is more than a slogan here; it has become the statement of American thinking.
The strength of the United States, one eventually realizes, is that the nation believes it is great. Believing that it is great, it acts strongly and in its own best interests. The strength of America may owe as much to Walt Disney as to any American president or any American military force.
Canada, sadly, does not have this tradition of nationalistic pride. Homes in Canada seldom fly Canadian flags. How many folk heroes can the average Canadian name? Where in this country does one find an exhibit of former Prime Ministers or patriotic displays of their works?
If we dig beneath the surface, we find much more to take pride in than our American neighbours. Canada gave refuge to the American slaves. Canada entered the Second World War freely and early, helping our European allies more than two years before the United States accepted its responsibility. Canada is cleaner. Canada has less poverty. Canada is better educated. Canada has a more illustrious history as an early trading nation.
Our problem is simple: we are a nation without pride. We have never had a Walt Disney to popularize our history-even in the distorted form that Disney used to present all his versions of American history. We are a divided country because we have never taken the time to recognize those elements of Canada that are great. Our National unity crisis is not really a political matter. It is not really an economic matter. It is not even a language matter. It is, quite simply, a patriotic matter.
Wake up Canada! Our nation is great and our history is great. What we need now is a heavy dose of nationalistic pride.
©1999 TG Magazine/Le Magazine TG
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