Of note.
Opinion: Speak French, or resign to becoming American
By John-Jean Ofrias
The Gazette, 22 June 2014
In this 21st century, the country of my birth, the United States of America Incorporated, has become greener — in a way that is perverse.
The richest 400 Americans now have more wealth than the least wealthy 150 million Americans. Yes, the U.$. of A has an economic system in which 400 people have accumulated more wealth than half the population of the country combined. The wealthy elite wrap themselves in an American flag stained green from their money. In hallowed halls of government, gold crucifixes and gold dollar signs are worn at the same time.
North of the 49th parallel, in Quebec especially, there is an awareness of the need to separate religion and government and money. This is what is at the heart of the ongoing Quiet Revolution, not any meanness of spirit.
Canada outside of Quebec looks to me like a brand of USA Light. The centres of population in English-speaking Canada are already thoroughly McDonaldized, Walmartized, Starbuckized and, above all, Americanized. English-speaking Canada is becoming more Americanized, with each passing day.
What protects Quebec from being taken over by the states to the south of it? It is not any Quebec military. And it’s not the Queen on the $20 bill. It is the prevailing value system in Quebec, and the French language.
