Deprogramming from Leftism for Anglo Canadians
Part Five: The Future Minority-Majority will most likely uphold Enlightenment Values allowing for Social Cohesion around Anglo Canadian Ethno-Traditional Nationalism
Woke Watch Canada is a reader-supported publication. Please consider becoming a paying subscriber or making a one-time or recurring donation to show your support.
By
(Note: A minority-majority occurs when most of the population is made up of minorities).
To begin today’s essay, I’d like to draw attention to a comment from a reader of the last essay, Steven Lightfoot :
“…as someone who has a mixed racial background (white and black) I don't really care about race, and I wish the race grifters would just stop. I think you have a good point here in this article about the Overton Window having shifted to the point (as a backlash to Leftist race grifting) where we CAN discus immigration in a more rational manner. What has always really angered me is how the Left always co-opted a rational discussion by throwing around accusations of 'racism' etc. Finally normies have had enough. Immigration always has pros and cons and you need to do it rationally.
Also, the so-called Canadian 'consensus' on immigration NEVER existed, it was a decades long propaganda talking point from the Laurentian Elite Bien Pensants. Whatever 'consensus' existed was always a consensus between the political and media elite, nothing more.”
This is a great comment. I agree with Steven. He has a deep understanding of the history of imposed multiculturalism in Canada. I hope to tackle it in more detail in future writing. I agree with the bien pensant of the Laurentian elite who lobbied to lift restrictions on immigration and to bring in multiculturalism, regardless of the opposition and general lack of interest from the majority. Pierre Elliot Trudeau ultimately declared Canada a multiculturalism in 1971. No Canadian ever voted for that.
Regarding Steven’s admission about his mixed (black and white) racial background. His particular racial configuration is the same as my children. I can’t speak for how Steven feels about the cultural attachments of his two distinct racial backgrounds, but I would guess he is not as ethno-culturally mixed as he is racially mixed. Becuase of the logical way Steven thinks, and his articulate writing, becuase of his knowledge of Western history, and becuase, I presume, he was born and lives in Canada, he seems no different than me: a Western man with Canadian characteristics. He is a living example, as our my kids, that the culture we grow up in shapes us far more significantly than the race we are born as. In my estimation, Steven, like my children, is probably far more culturally Western, than he is of the non-Western half of his racial heritage. I could be wrong (Steven?). But concerning my own children, and many other mixed race Canadians I know, it is definitely true that they have been absorbed into the Anglo core regardless of their racial status. And further, this occurs regardless of exposure to their non-white heritage (while it may shape them as individuals, in most cases, it does not make them less prototypically Canadian. This speaks to the powerful “absorptive quality” emitted from a majority population with a strong ethno-culture available for a national population to rally around).
In the last essay I discussed how in Canada a persons racial background does not preclude them from full legal citizenship or full participation when taking up or exalting Anglo Canadian ethno-cultural traditions. The racial status of someone like me - white British descendent - does not make me superior to Steven, or to my own children for that matter. In my view, Steven, my children, and myself all share the benefit of growing up in an enlightened liberal Judeo-Christian society, and if any thing is superior, it is that.
However, because my racial background is the same as the founders (or the majority of them), as well as the same as the present day majority, I have a prototypical Anglo Canadian quality that Steven and my children have a little less of. Although it is possible that Steven may have an abundance of other non-racial Anglo Canadian ethno-cultural features which in the final formulation make him appear more prototypically Canadian than me.
Making distinctions between what is more and what is less prototypically Canadian is simply for historical accuracy in the service of truth. It seems to me, when we don’t, especially when we gloss over the fact that white racial features are more typical of Canadian-ness than black features are, we end up in white erasure territory where BBC race-reverse casts black actors in the roles of the “dead white men” of Western history, like Sir Isaac Newton.
The way people look, both at the individual level, and at the macro people group level, is not a factor of such low significance that we should disregard — even deliberately avoid in the name of political correctness — all attempts to represent accurate semblances of those who have figured prominently in history. However, in spite of all of this, a black English speaking Christian who says “eh” a lot, plays hockey, eats poutine, knows all about Canadian history, who can speak a little French, and lives a patriotic life in Canada, can appear more prototypically Canadian than someone who is white, has an East European accent, and does none of the Canadian things that the world knows to be Canadian. Forgive me if I have blurred stereotypical features with prototypical ones (it was in service of the point I’m trying to make).
Shortly after I published last weeks essay, I came across a post on X from Peoples Party of Canada leader Maxine Bernier that I thought was quite compelling and fit right into the spirit of this essay series. For the record, I am not affiliated with any political parties, and I support no politicians. Just think of me as really, really right wing, however, not so far down the spectrum to where the Jew haters hang out. Put another way, I lean right, right up until the anti-Zionism/anti-Semitism. I am a social conservative. Although I have written nothing on the political theory of Canadian conservatism, Dr. Scott Miller has — in these pages, a four-part series entitled The Socialist Foil that Never Was: Re-Examining Canadian Conservatism in Practice
Here is the Post from Maxine Bernier:
“The People’s Party was formed six years ago to sound the alarm about the rapid cultural and economic destruction of Canada, and to offer possible solutions before it’s too late.
Canada has no reason to exist if it becomes only a collection of ethnic tribes living side by side in ghettos and maintaining folkloric versions of foreign cultures.
That’s Trudeau’s ‘post-national’ version of a country with no identity of its own, defined only by the cult of diversity and radical multiculturalism.
And yet, Canada does have a historic, distinct identity, that distinguishes it from the rest of the world.
Of course, it never was homogeneous.
But it was based on the heritage of its three founding peoples — indigenous, French and British —, as well as the development of strong and distinctive regional cultures that integrated the contributions of immigrants.
Since the 1970s however, every Liberal and Conservative government has actively undermined this historic identity with mass immigration and official multiculturalism, and more recently with wokism, DEI programs and outright antiwhite racism.
If anything and everything can be Canadian, then being Canadian means nothing.
Unless Canadians abandon the failed experiment of the past half century and find a way to update and revitalize their historic identity, there is no point in keeping this country going.
We might as well break it up, with some parts like Quebec or a United Western Republic becoming new countries, and others joining the US.
At the rate things are deteriorating, we won’t have decades to save Canada.”
I for one am not ready to break the country up. But otherwise, I think Bernier is bang on. It seems to me as though we have one last chance to “revitalize” our “historic identity” — French in Quebec, and British in the rest of Anglo Canada. Will we let it slip away? (I will save my discussion of where the indigenous fit into the picture in a future essay).
More Whiteshift
The following will re-hash some of the important bits from last week, and sprinkle in a few more to help set-up the next essay.
As with the previous installment of this essay series, the following will primarily draw on the ideas found in professor Eric Kaufmann’s Whiteshift: Populism, Immigration, and the Future of White Majorities. However, since I have been studying and thinking about these matters for quite some time, I am not always sure where Kaufmann’s ideas end, and where I might have combined someone else’s ideas, including my own. Readers should of course follow up with the source material. Kaufmann’s books, most notably Whiteshift are a great place to start.
Onward!
The term assimilation is considered racist by the misguided left ones. Even the term integration is viewed unfavourably by advocates of diversity. The idea that immigrants would come to Canada and wish to participate in Canadian customs, alongside their native traditions, is incomprehensible to progressives who will not stray from their hardline position, which stems from anti-colonialism and an ideological bias for pure diversity. The thought that too much diversity might lead to chaos or conflict never seems to cross their minds.
“...in a century those of mixed-race will be the largest group in countries like Britain and America. In two centuries, few people living in urban areas of the West will have an unmixed racial background. Most who do will be immigrants…” - Eric Kaufmann, Whiteshift
We all have a pretty good idea of what a future minority-majority in Canada might look like (the GTA in 2024 is a good indicator), but what is less clear is if Canada’s founding ideals and ethno-traditions will persist through these vast shifts in demographics, or if the concept of diversity (with it’s cosmopolitan tendency to exalt the symbols and myths of other cultures) is pushed to extremes and the adversarial progressives get their way and erase and eradicate whiteness (to use their proto-genocidal language). In my view, it is much more likely that, due to the basic human need for a sense of security and continuity, a form of Canadian ethno-traditional nationalism, based on Anglo Canadian ethno-traditions, will indeed continue indefinitely.
White Identity
Whiteness is a term coming from identity politics that refers to white identity. White identities, similar to non-white identities, are represented by sets of cultural myths and symbols. In Canada, the core ethnic of the white majority, are Anglo Canadians. This means Anglo Canadian ethno-traditional nationalism is linked to myths and symbols of the cultures of European settlers (mostly British. but also French), who are the ancestors of the majority of today’s white majority. (Note: the next essay will deal with other groups on the Anglo side - i.e. Irish, Scottish, and various other non-British European groups).
White people, like all people, often have a desire to explore and connect with their ethnic myths and symbols. But they are not encouraged to do that under the current progressive regime of anti-racism and diversity, equity and inclusion. They are bullied into doing the opposite.
A focus on white interests is not meant to gloss over the experiences of visible minorities, or imply that Canada is free from discrimination against them. My critique is of the way anti-racism and other such schema, emanating from far Left social engineers, is being deployed through an alarmingly undemocratic anti-white movement. These ideological initiatives are suspicious of white people, they overtly problematize whiteness. Because of this, they do not empathize or consult with the white majority, they subvert it.
Immigration Is A Culture War Aggravating Factor
As discussed in the last essay, the culture war features an imbalance between the views of Left-leaning cosmopolitan types who advocate for diversity, and those associated with the Right who have ethno-traditional sensibilities. While both sides contain valid viewpoints, there exists a deliberate unwillingness for cosmopolitans to recognize the validity of traditionalists.
A tragic impasse. One that, at least before the rise of populist movements and Trump's presidential victory south of the border, seemed far beyond reach or repair.
How did this happen? And what happens next?
For decades the far Left has been pushing their anti-white ideology. However, one of the consequences of the immigration driven decline in white population share has been an increase in push-back from those no longer willing to accept the central premise of leftist social justice theory regarding white supremacy and white privilege. Although, perhaps the most visible consequence, as discussed previously, is the rise of populism instigated by the adversarial nature of the progressive Left.
“In the 1960s this countercultural movement, which I term Left-modernism, developed a theory of white ethno-racial oppression. Its outlook superseded the logical, empirically grounded, Left-liberal Civil Rights Movement after 1965 to become a millenarian project sustained by the image of a retrograde white ‘other.’ Today, Left-modernisms most zealous exponents are seeking to consecrate the university campus as a sacred space devoted to the mission of replacing ‘whiteness’ with diversity.”- Eric Kaufmann, Whiteshift
(Note: the term left-modernism is a neologism coined by Kaufmann that he seems to have abandoned after Whiteshift. To simplify things a little, left-modernism can be thought of as the illiberal left social vision that includes the two other neologisms I have used in this essay series: leftism and woke).
Within the frameworks of critical theory and postmodern identity politics, diversity is largely achieved through immigration. But until recently, most members of the majority population, the ones with a sense of self-preservation, wouldn’t dare bring up immigration policy, let alone criticize it.
Kaufmann argues that because people have a need for stability, for myths and symbols of tradition, permanence and continuity, immigrants to Western democracies are more likely to align themselves with their new nations founding ethno-traditions. I would add, that not all immigrants do this equally, and that Canada should prioritize immigrants who want to be culturally Canadian over those who want to install their native cultures and without integrating into Canadian culture.
That is what Canadian nationalism is to me. While rooted in enlightenment traditions, and associated with white ethnicity, it is by no means a racially exclusive club. Even so, Canada is called multicultural, but I would prefer to call it multi-racial with a single ethno-culture (ethnic archetype). Multiculturalism means different things to different people. To me it equates to unchecked diversity.
It is common to find indigenous people or non-white immigrants to Canada who connect with many of the myths and symbols of Anglo Canadian ethno-traditions (and Franco Canadian ethno-traditions in Quebec), and from this feel a sense of belonging and stability. This is the cultural unity I advocate for. A basic thing that, in my view, all people deserve. Canada is a great place for this – what better set of cultural traditions to unite around?
At the risk of being too repetitive: included in this unity are not just the people born here, but those newly arrived as well. One country, one ethno-culture. Immigrants can still maintain connections to their ancestral homeland, and practice the ethno-traditions of their places of origin, but it is up to them to facilitate this. Absolutely nothing should preclude any Canadian citizen (of the majority or not) from full or partial engagement in the enormous buffet of Anglo Canadian ethno-culture on offer.
Mutltivocalism is an important concept that runs in parallel with the version of ethno-traditional nationalism described by Kaufmann. It refers to the free choice to engage with all, some or none of the cultural traditions associated with the majority. It follows that those who choose the most, who take up the maximum possible amount of Anglo Canadian ethno-traditions, will appear more prototypically Canadian than those who take up less.
A third idea I advocate for, which should be added to the mix of ethno-traditional nationalism and multivocalism, is pluralism. For readers who have read the previous essays in this series, the first time they read the term ethno-traditional nationalism, I bet pluralism was the last thing that came to their minds. Well, in my view, Anglo Canadian ethno-traditional nationalism can only flourish in a liberal-democratic society that prioritizes free-speech and encourages open discourse with a diversity of viewpoints. Other liberties including freedom of conscience, freedom of association, and freedom of religion are just as essential. Further, we already have a multi-racial demographic configuration, and there exists no requirement for minorities to assimilate into the Anglo Canadian ethno-cultural core. For liberalism to pervade, multivocalism must apply to any concept of ethno-traditional nationalism. Pluralism will be the natural result. Pluralism however, can and should exist synchronously with a much stronger majority ethno-traditional national culture corresponding to the present white majority population with an Anglo ethnic nucleus.
(Note: while it may be difficult for some Westerners to process my advocacy for a white majority in Canada, my belief is that this difficulty can be entirely explained by the massive amount of propaganda Westerners have been subjected to in the multicultural age. Propaganda that both promoted diversity, and problematized whiteness. Is there anyone who would argue that Africa needs to become more white or Asian? And if ether of those paces did, would they not seem prototypically less African and Asian? People matter. Demography is Destiny).
Enter The Woke
When it comes to white people, the woke ones will have no appreciation or respect for anything written thus far in this essay series. If we were talking about the cultures and ethnicities of non-white groups, every effort would be taken to respect and accommodate and be culturally sensitive to the extreme. But whiteness, European culture, and anything associated with the West or with enlightenment values is considered harmful to minorities. This is the insane justification the woke use in their efforts to eradicate white identity.
Imagine a group of activists advocating for the eradication of blackness. Or saying that systems of Asian supremacy need to be dismantled. This type of language commonly invoked by woke progressives, when talking about western white majorities (which they call white supremacies), in essence amounts to an open campaign of cultural genocide (to use a highly problematic, extra-legal leftist term).
The self-loathing and oikophobia of wokeism is not typically mirrored by the immigrants who often escape treacherous conditions to get to Western countries. As discussed several times, they often connect to the defining principles and customs of the peaceful societies they are grateful to have become part of. Many feel relief at having freedom, safety, prosperity, stability, abundance, opportunity, etc.
If Canadian ethno-traditional nationalism with an Anglo Canadian ethnic nucleus as the reference point for enculturating immigrants, is to persist throughout future generations, it will in part be due to assimilated immigrants (and their Canadian born children) who take up and defend the myths and symbols associated with Anglo Canada.
Because they realize how much better Canada’s enlightenment principles and Judeo-Christian culture is, when compared to countless other places all over the world that lack basic freedoms and human rights. However, under conditions of unchecked mass immigration with no program of enculturation, non-assimilated immigrants congregating in ethnic enclaves is the more likely and unfortunate result. This will destroy Canada — we can’t let it happen.
I’ll close with a final repetition of the vitally important notion that Canadian professor Gad Saad is so fond of saying: “demography is destiny.”
Here is Part 6 of Deprogramming From Leftism For Anglo Canadians.
Thanks for reading. For more on this topic from James Pew, read Do white people have ethnic interests?
Follow Woke Watch Canada on X - @WokeWatchCanada
Support Woke Watch Canada by upgrading to a paid membership:
Or, by contributing to our Donor Box:
Canada is broken, but it isn't something that can't be fixed. Bring on the revolution; our leaders have failed us. It's time for common-sense, non-elite, average Joes to take over.
What a word salad. I tried.