Blinkered

The Globe and Mail's Jeffrey Simpson writes the occasional column that really says something beyond received wisdom. This is one:

...our bookstore chain, Chapters Indigo, insists on its walls that "The World Needs More Canada." Apparently, a lot of Canadians believe it.

On file after file, Canadians could learn from others - not always to copy but at least to think about new ways of doing things. But we either don't pay attention or, if we do, we insist that our way is better.

Health care is the classic example. The whole industrialized world organizes health care somewhat differently than Canada. But we myopically insist our system is the world's best, when not a single international comparative study supports that contention. We're just fed a steady diet of fear-mongering that, were we to change our system, ever so slightly, it would be the slippery slope toward "two-tier" U.S.-style medicine.

[...]

We're parochial, in other words, too often unwilling to examine what others are doing. Not that they necessarily have all the answers, but at least they are asking better questions.

When we do look outward, it's usually to the United States...

Mark C.

Posted by markc at February 2, 2008 10:53 AM