"Magellans"

[StuckTojo]

As a Canadian myself I actually think we are the most thin-skinned, hypersensitive people on the planet, trying to compensate for an America-sized inferiority complex (though we vehemently deny it) with effusions of unearned moral superiority, as if “yeah, we could be a global superpower, but we choose not to, cuz y’know, we’re so moral”.  It’s embarrassing, really.

I long for the 80s, when Canadian humour was of the good-natured Bob and Doug self-deprecating kind of humour that reflects a little humility.  Now, Canadian humour is mostly the nauseating, juvenile, “Americans are all stupid, and I hate 'em!” Rick Mercer kind of humour.  It doesn’t reflect well on us, and shows how deeply insecure we are as a people.

Just the observation of an old guy.

[Wolfshanze]

As someone who still thinks its the 1980s, I don’t know if i’ll ever be able to shake-off my thought that all Canadians are like Bob and Doug McKenzie. How’s it goin’, eh? In all honesty, Canadians are great… never had anything but nice things to say about all the Canadians I have met. Still… that Bob and Doug crack me up.

[StuckTojo]

@Omega1759:

@Young:

I don’t understand where this is all coming from, you guys understand that there are Canadians on these forums reading your insulting comments right… Ok, just checking.

I’m a Canadian citizen but US taxpayer, and I think the Canadians, Germans and some others deserve some heat for not taking their share of responsibility for defense of the western world. The US spends 3.5% of GDP on defense, Canada is at 0.9%. It’s free riding, at the minimum Canada should spend 1.5%-2.0% of GDP but it hasn’t been the case for nearly 30 years.

Any serious country would have a serious foreign policy and military, but instead Canada is the lalaland, preferring to criticize and supposedly take the higher moral ground.

I partially agree and partially disagree, but none of us really knows what gets said in the corridors of NATO.

Winning World Wars and having the dominant military force on Earth definitely has huge economic advantages, like having the world reserve currency, being able to oversee/defend/dictate trade routes, and have “bases” in countries that possess economically vital resources, just to name a few.  The West, and I’m including Japan and S Korea for convenience, has shared mightily in that prosperity since 1945 (Japan, for example, hasn’t had to worry about access to cheap oil for decades), so much so that the post-WWII generations are largely ignorant of how important the military balance of power is for their own prosperity, particularly those in countries that have benefited economically from living under the US umbrella.

That said, the US didn’t assume the role of lone global superpower reluctantly, whilst kicking and screaming.  It wants it for all the reasons just mentioned, and many others.  I’m just guessing, but they may even be secretly OK with other nations not spending comparable amounts on their armed forces.  It keeps them from evolving into competitors down the road.  The Western countries have shown at least as much propensity for fighting among themselves as against others.  But who really knows for sure?

[StuckTojo]

@Wolfshanze:

As someone who still thinks its the 1980s, I don’t know if i’ll ever be able to shake-off my thought that all Canadians are like Bob and Doug McKenzie. How’s it goin’, eh? In all honesty, Canadians are great… never had anything but nice things to say about all the Canadians I have met. Still… that Bob and Doug crack me up.

Hehehe… that’s why I love how South Park depicts Canada, even if it’s done by a couple Yankee lads.  It hearkens back to that time when we could still laugh at ourselves.

[Young Grasshopper]

@StuckTojo:

As a Canadian myself I actually think we are the most thin-skinned, hypersensitive people on the planet, trying to compensate for an America-sized inferiority complex (though we vehemently deny it)

This is me… I admit it.

[Karl7]

Canada’s most important contribution to the war IMO was their navy….while most smaller ships, corvettes and frigates, it became the 3rd largest in the world and proved invaluable for securing the Atlantic.

[Hunter Jones]

@Karl7:

Canada’s most important contribution to the war IMO was their navy….while most smaller ships, corvettes and frigates, it became the 3rd largest in the world and proved invaluable for securing the Atlantic.

They even had their own beach on D-Day and their own Divisions on the Western Front. They cleared out the marshlands in Holland in 1944. They took several key objectives.

Their navy was invaluable in the Atlantic, and they sent thousands upon thousands of men to fly all sorts of planes against the Germans.

[Wolfshanze]

@Hunter:

and they sent thousands upon thousands of men to fly all sorts of planes against the Germans.*

*Planes built in America…  :wink:

[KaLeu]

Canadians got my mother to start smoking! They were generous enough to a pretty young woman, but she gave most of the pack to her brothers who were eagerly waiting around the corner. Fortunately, once the soldiers went home, she managed to quit soon.

[wicked_caitiff]

Once I’ve built a german MiC in Argentina to attack Australia, as a result of a thorough test with AI opponents ;-) 
And to stay with the by-topic: Germans in Canada/Alaska look odd, but it’s interesting to sort out were in Hudson Bay to land and which sea areas are out of reach for the US fleet.

[8thGuards]

I can recall once having an “epic” battle in Bessarabia where the French infantry originally from Syria attacked the resident Italian supported by the French fighter that started in London.

That same game there was also an ANZAC infantry in the Caucasus (not the ones from Egypt, but from Malaysia which had been landed in Persia with the transport that started off Sydney).

[shadowguidex]

I once had the French infantry from French West Africa liberate French Indo-China the same round that the two French infantry from England liberated Paris.

I also had the Russian infantry from Amur capture Rome (on round 14 if I recall).

Finally, I had the Japanese Mechanized Infantry from Manchuria capture Egypt in a game once.