Oh, Canada.

I am convinced that people yearn to be unique. Ironically, that uniqueness is usually predicated or rooted in characteristics, cultural traits or worldviews that are shared not by one individual, but by millions. So, the person who strives to be ‘different’ or ‘set apart’ is, in the end, just one of a whole.

The Olympics, and my time in Europe, have been interesting backdrops to this reflection. Most Europeans, when speaking about each other, have a funny way of disregarding the cultural habits of some places (Ukraine, Russia, Slovakia) as being a little ‘less’ on the intellectual scale, and upholding those of other places (Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland) as if they can do no wrong as a people and a nation—so sometimes, when talking with Czechs, I am often reminded that they are the pinnacle of ‘culture-making’; it’s just that no one in the world has yet to realize it. On more than one occasion, I’ve heard some Europeans claim pride in the language that they speak: ‘it’s the most difficult on earth (Eurocentric anyone?!); “it’s the most melodic language”; “the greatest literature was written in this dialect.”, and on. Or, if language has been tried and used, Europeans claim uniqueness in lifestyle, in their culinary accomplishments, musical influence, fine arts, way of life—or , love-making prowess.

We Americans jump into this bantering and bickering with our national ‘legends’ of being the proverbial ‘City on a Hill’; or for being the worlds’ first truly multi-cultural experiment, where all were given equal rights in both civic discourse and political engagement; or, we talk of American ingenuity and military triumphs always on the ‘good’ side, never on the ‘bad’; or, we speak of an unheralded cultural influence in film, music, advertisement and business. We are, after all, the worlds lone ‘Superpower’ and doesn’t that have to stand for some kind of…GREATNESS on the part of the American People?

Canadians, on the other hand, have hockey.

I don’t know about many of you, but the way the Canadians were reacting to the Olympics was almost sad: They had pinned their entire national hope and pride on a sport and on ‘owning the podium’. All week I was told through newspaper reports and television how ‘Un-Canadian” it was for the government to make such patriotic-driven, bombastic exclamations about ‘taking the game back’ and yadda, yadda, yadda. I don’t want to chastise them too muh for being that way, because it really is important for the people of a nation to take pride in the things that make them a community and a true nationality set apart from others around them, but I was a little annoyed. Of course, this sometimes is taken to extremes where one claims to reign over all, because of the ‘cultural superiority’ that they shine down upon the others: think of the “white man’s burden” or “the ‘Great Grandfather’, Soviet Russia.”

And ironically, when I heard that the USA would be playing the Canadian team in the gold-medal game, I was more than interested. I wanted to win. I wanted to embarrass Canada. I aggressively wanted to proclaim American superiority over the “Canuks”, not just through cultural influence, but through hockey; a game that I knew if we Americans had one-upped up them in, it would be one of the most devastating blows to Canadian national and cultural identity.

I had, in effect, become what had nauseated me from the beginning: a patriotic, loud-mouth who can’t seem to enjoy the fact that the international world was coming together for games of mutual respect and admiration. I didn’t want to cheer on the USA because I wanted to show my support for athletes. No, I wanted to cheer for the USA to the detriment of another. I wanted to feel good about being ‘American’ for once, not ashamed.

How embarrassing.

I think that it is important for us to remember that when we want to take pride in being a little different, unique or special, or whatever other generic word I can use, maybe we should shed national flags, musical genres, culinary achievements, sports teams, clothing styles, ethnicities and language. The fact of the matter is, is that majority of what we claim to take pride in was never actually chosen by us as individual people; we were born into it, or it happened by chance. This is also why I think national stereotypes are so polarizing, and in the end, completely unintelligent and debased. How can you claim cultural, intellectual superiority over another person just because they were born in America and not in Paris?

Of course, there are times where people really do make their notch in the world by making decisions to align their talents and tastes with uniqueness, but many times—in regards to music, art, fashion, etc—the influence to go down that path was laid not through their own thinking, but through the influence of friends, parents, education, etc.

What I really want as a human being is to be set apart as an individual, all the while knowing that it is nearly impossible to do so; we humans need each other, and we can’t be ‘human’ without having family, friends and co-workers around us. So, I guess the personal attempt at seeking out a truly exclusive place in this earth, as an individual ‘somebody’, is pretty hopeless and futile: We usually end up looking the same anyway, even when we want to be very ‘counter-cultural’.

I guess what I’m saying is, is that the shallow distinctiveness that we get from waving a flag, speaking another language, eating a certain cuisine, is not respectable due to the fact that those usually are passively acquired. I think it would be much more respectable if people claimed exceptionality through making personal decisions to live a certain lifestyle—in as much as it is possible —independently. And, I guess if that is the case, then we could rid of national pride all together (the negative aspects of it, like what I experienced against Canada). Instead, people would group themselves by being ‘healthy-eaters’, ‘appreciators of art’, ‘justice seekers’, ‘polite-to-strangers people’, ‘passionate writers’, ‘thoughtful filmmakers’.