Canada operates on the Collective Society Belief System. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, essentially a Collective Society or “Collectivism” is best defined by Wikipedia as:
“Collectivismis any philosophic, political, economic or social outlook that emphasizes the interdependence of every human in some collective group and the priority of group goals over individual goals. Collectivists usually focus on community, society, or nation. Collectivism has been widely used to refer to a number of different political, economic and educational philosophies, ranging from communalism and democracy to totalitarian nationalism.[citation needed].”
The “Team” concept is not only a Canadian philosophy, it’s a lifestyle. It may be felt living in the Canadian Society where no matter how stressful life gets people still greet each other daily or nightly for that matter as they pass each other on the street. Even in a technological era, Canadians understand that it is personableness, kindness and compassion that solidifies a country and throughout role modelling the hope of world peace. This is evidenced in Canada’s reaction to 9 11:
“On September 11, 2001, Canada and the world looked on in shock and disbelief as the deadliest terrorist attack in history was carried out against thousands of defenceless victims in New York and Washington, the prime minister told Canadians. ‘This was an act of premeditated murder on a massive scale with no possible justification or explanation – an attack not just on our closest friend and partner, the United States, but against the values and the way of life of all free and civilized people around the world.” – Pigot, Canada in Afghanistan: the war so far.
Canada then set out to fulfill its promise to not only the United States but the world in declaring:
“From the moment of the attack, I have been in close communication with President George Bush . . . [and] told him that Canada stands shoulder to shoulder with him and the American people. We are part of an unprecedented coalition of nations that has come together to fight the threat of terrorism. A coalition that will act on a broad front that includes military, humanitarian, diplomatic, financial, legislative and domestic security initiatives.” – Pigot, @ 82.
One need only live in a Canadian Society to have a higher understanding that Canada’s government truly role models its’ Collective belief system.
If this article caught your attention and you would like to learn more about the history and involvement of Canada throughout Afghanistan please see the following articles:
http://www.examiner.com/military-children-in-toronto/the-history-of-the-canadian-embassy-kabul
http://www.examiner.com/military-children-in-toronto/the-issues-military-children-deal-with
Regarding your Examiner: Corinne Isaacs-Frontiero is Bi-National, having been born in Canada and resided in the United States. She is a relationship recovery writer in the area of clinical psychology and maintains a second column as the Toronto Mental Health Examiner. Corinne has written four relationship recovery books. To view or purchase Corinne’s e-books see Google and/or Yahoo. To keep yourself updated on Corinne’s articles and columns follow Corinne on Twitter @http://twitter.com/cfrontiero.
All articles © of Corinne Isaacs-Frontiero, 2012 with all Rights Reserved.
