A review by smlozinski
Lament for a Nation: The Defeat of Canadian Nationalism by George Grant
4.0
I feel purely blessed that I stumbled across this book at a thrift shop. I’m not sure I would have heard of it otherwise, as I’m not usually very into Canadian history or Canadian politics. This book managed to explain why, as well as to motivate me to re-engage with the history unfolding around me (though it seems the author had no such intention).
I’ve been lamenting this country for quite a long time, before I could put my finger on why. There’s a real sense of doom in a place where our only identity seems to be “at least we’re not like that tax collector!” (America, of course). You are not allowed to be proud of being a Canadian in the virtuous, patriotic sense - to be so is racist, sexist, colonialist, and what have you. You’re only allowed to be proud in the wicked sense.
Now, we see that even that is changing. Now, it’s become mainstream to say that you must not celebrate Canada Day, because Canada committed genocide against Indigenous peoples (we did no such thing, but that’s irrelevant). You must not proclaim our superiority to Americans, as We Did Evil Things Too and have no excuse.
It would seem we’re getting closer to giving up our sin of pride for something even worse. Does such a thing exist? I’m scared of what that might look like.
If only I could get a coffee with George Grant, he would probably have it figured out already.
I’ve been lamenting this country for quite a long time, before I could put my finger on why. There’s a real sense of doom in a place where our only identity seems to be “at least we’re not like that tax collector!” (America, of course). You are not allowed to be proud of being a Canadian in the virtuous, patriotic sense - to be so is racist, sexist, colonialist, and what have you. You’re only allowed to be proud in the wicked sense.
Now, we see that even that is changing. Now, it’s become mainstream to say that you must not celebrate Canada Day, because Canada committed genocide against Indigenous peoples (we did no such thing, but that’s irrelevant). You must not proclaim our superiority to Americans, as We Did Evil Things Too and have no excuse.
It would seem we’re getting closer to giving up our sin of pride for something even worse. Does such a thing exist? I’m scared of what that might look like.
If only I could get a coffee with George Grant, he would probably have it figured out already.