February 6, 2025
Two neighbours, not so much alike
People raise their fists in Atlanta at an event to mark Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in Texas, two years after the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves elsewhere in the United States.
People raise their fists in Atlanta at an event to mark Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in Texas, two years after the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves elsewhere in the United States.

In recent weeks, less attractive characteristics of both the United States and Canada have been on display. The racist violence of some maladjusted American police produced a white police homicide of an African-American in Minneapolis (George Floyd), that disgusted America and shocked the world. It generated civilized protest that was exploited by extremist political groups and maniacal hooligans, mobs so destructive, nihilistic, and often well organized, that they qualify as urban terrorist guerillas.

In Canada, the reaction to American events elicited the much gentler but inexpressibly tedious practice of taking political correctness to a level well below the point of diminishing returns. Just weeks ago, no one would have anticipated that there were any conceivable circumstances in which 20 or more of America’s greatest cities could be convulsed by outbursts of arson and pillage, even in some of the most expensive areas and on some of the most famous avenues of the world.

The United States, in its competitiveness, veneration for firearms, and almost unconditional fixation on success, has always been an immensely creative and productive country, but often fractious and violent and rarely serene for long. The America of Norman Rockwell, Walt Disney and the old Hollywood exists, but it does not represent even half the country. It is an idealized self-image but it has been 50 years since there was severe violence in more than one or two American cities at a time.

[Interesting Read]