Oh Canada?
Having had the good fortune to escape the Covid psychosis in Canada recently, I am lucky to be in southern Florida where sanity, common sense and courage prevail amongst the populace and politicians.
Interestingly, despite Florida being wide open and Canada being in perpetual shutdown, shuttered and scared to death, the death rate from the Wuhan cold virus is only marginally higher in Florida. I keep asking my Covid fearing friends in Canada to explain it but I get no answer. These days the deaths in Canada are even significantly higher than in Florida. It is obvious that Canada has pursued a failed half-assed policy and duped the public into buying into fear to keep the populace from seeing the reality. Concerts, restaurants, gyms, schools and shops are thriving here, meanwhile Canadians are holed up watching CNN every day waiting for permission to go outside.
One of the saddest things I see in Canada is all of the children being regimented into mask-wearing distanced lines and mandated playtime protocols. This brings me to something that I observed last night after playing a wonderful tennis game.
I was walking around the huge park with all sorts of activities involving all ages of people going on around me. I came upon three beautiful baseball fields, all of which were filled with little league baseball games - like something out of a movie. I stood, watching this most American of pastimes, thinking of the analogous hockey leagues in Canada which are presently shut down. The kids of all ages in these sports look at them, just as I did, as a path to freedom, affirmation, growth, individuation and accomplishment. I think these things are critical to healthy children becoming healthy adults, and the data backs this up.
Putting aside the issue of the deleterious effect that the senseless prohibition of these activities will have on Canadian children both psychologically and physically, something else struck me that resulted in an epiphany in my understanding of the contrast between American and Canadian people.
I have said that Canadians in general are known around the world to be, at best, polite, and in reality, weak, timid, fearful, submissive, complacent and lacking intensity and innovative character. The odd thing is that Canadians are generally quite proud of this pejorative image, wearing it as a badge of honour to compare themselves smugly to their rough and ready American big brother next door.
As I watched the baseball games on this beautiful evening involving teams of teenagers, I couldn’t help but notice the tenor of the feedback from parents and coaches in reacting to the play of the children.
When the players executed a good play, there of course was cheering and congratulations from all. However, the results when bad plays were made were much different. One player was tagged out at home plate. Another fumbled a catch at first base. Another thrown out at second base, and another missed a routine catch in centre field.
In Canada, where I have had a great deal of experience as a player, a coach and a parent, the prescribed feedback is the same whether responding to a good or bad play, success or failure, good try or less than good try. All one hears is ‘good job Johnny!‘, or ‘it will be even better next time!’, or ‘you’re terrific Sally, don’t worry about it!’. Young athletes are shielded from any corrective or pointed feedback in the name of the ‘everyone is equal and entitled’ mantra that underlies Canadian culture. Everyone must receive faux positive feedback for fear of making people feel ‘uncomfortable’, this word that is for Canadians like the devil himself. Self esteem in Canadians seems to be a thin and very fragile layer of glass, breaking with anything less than unconditional approbation.
By the way, the same is true in schools at all levels in Canada, where teachers are afraid to fail a student or even assign a bad grade, for fear of appeals, reprisals and negative reviews from students and Principals alike.
Humbug.
The notion that excellence is achieved by a diet of pablum and hollow affirmation is refuted by the data. The American teenagers - of all races by the way- that I saw last night were being told - after making a bad play - to ‘run faster’, ‘keep your focus’, ‘keep your head up’, ‘be aggressive’, ‘take your opportunity’, ‘pay attention’ etc. There was no attempt to soft pedal the stark lesson of life.
Hard work creates good luck. The immutable nature of human aggression - especially in males - is something to be harnessed and encouraged in sports - and not just sports. ‘Comfort’, while a priority for the majority of Canadians, is not where creativity, innovation, achievement and excellence come from. Competition is a positive force, contrary to the mantra of the woke mob.
The vastly more driven and competitive American culture can be difficult, even annoying at times. But the results are there for all to see. More patents, winning teams, inventions, economic success stories, etc etc emanate from the US compared to all other countries. I believe what I saw last night explains partly why that is so.
Oh that Canada might have a less smug look at what’s happening next door.