8 Retranslate and you have the current American-Canadian picture.It's changed a little recently,not only on the cultural front.For instance,Canada,some think a trifle late,is attempting to regain control of its own petroleum industry.Americans are predicted angry.They think of Canadian oil as theirs. 9 "What's mine is yours,"they have said for years,meaning exports;"What's yours is mine"means ownership and profits.Canadians are supposed to do retail buying,not controlling,or what's an empire for?One could always refer Americans to history, particularly that of their own revolution.They objected to the colonial situation when they themselves were a colony;but then,revolution is considered one of a very few home-grown American products that definitely are not for export. 10 Objectively,one cannot become too self-righteous about this state of affairs Canadians owned lots of things,including their souls,before World War II.After that they sold,some say because they had put too much into financing the war,which created a capital vacuum (a position they would not have been forced into if the Americans hadn't kept out of the fighting for so long,say the sore losers).But for whatever reason,capital flowed across the border in the 1950s,and Canadians, traditionally sock-under-the-mattress hoarders,were reluctant to invest in their own country.Americans did it for them and ended up with a large part of it,which they retain to this day.In every sellout there's a seller as well as a buyer,and the Canadians did a thorough job of trading their birthright for a mess. 11 That's on the capitalist end,but when you turn to the trade union side of things you find much the same story,except that the sellout happened in the 1930s under the banner of the United front.Now Canadian workers are finding that in any empire the colonial branch plants are the first to close,and what could be a truly progressive labor movement has been weakened by compromised bargains made in international union headquarters south of the border. 12 Canadians are sometimes snippy to Americans at cocktail parties.They don't like to feel owned and they don't like having been sold.But what really bothers them-and it's at this point that the United States and Rome part company-is the wide-eyed innocence with which their snippiness is greeted. 13 Innocence becomes ignorance when seen in the light of international affairs,and though ignorance is one of the spoils of conquest-the Gauls always knew more about the Romans than the Romans knew about them-the world can no longer afford American's ignorance.Its ignorance of Canada,though it makes Canadians bristle,is a minor and relatively harmless example.More dangerous is the fact that individual Americans seem not to know that the United States is an imperial power and is behaving like one.They don't want to admit that empires dominate,invade and subjugate-and live on the proceeds-or,if they do admit it,they believe in their divine right to do so.The export of divine right is much more harmful than the export of Coca-Cola,though they may turn out to be much the same thing in the end. 14 Other empires have behaved similarly(the British somewhat better,Genghis Khan? decidedly worse);but they have not expected to be liked for it.It's the final Americanism,this passion for being liked.Alas,many Americans are indeed likable; they are often more generous,more welcoming,more enthusiastic,less picky and8 8 Retranslate and you have the current American-Canadian picture. It’s changed a little recently, not only on the cultural front. For instance, Canada, some think a trifle late, is attempting to regain control of its own petroleum industry. Americans are predicted angry. They think of Canadian oil as theirs. 9 “What’s mine is yours,” they have said for years, meaning exports; “What’s yours is mine” means ownership and profits. Canadians are supposed to do retail buying, not controlling, or what’s an empire for? One could always refer Americans to history, particularly that of their own revolution. They objected to the colonial situation when they themselves were a colony; but then, revolution is considered one of a very few home-grown American products that definitely are not for export. 10 Objectively, one cannot become too self-righteous about this state of affairs. Canadians owned lots of things, including their souls, before World War II. After that they sold, some say because they had put too much into financing the war, which created a capital vacuum (a position they would not have been forced into if the Americans hadn’t kept out of the fighting for so long, say the sore losers). But for whatever reason, capital flowed across the border in the 1950s, and Canadians, traditionally sock-under-the-mattress hoarders, were reluctant to invest in their own country. Americans did it for them and ended up with a large part of it, which they retain to this day. In every sellout there’s a seller as well as a buyer, and the Canadians did a thorough job of trading their birthright for a mess. 11 That’s on the capitalist end, but when you turn to the trade union side of things you find much the same story, except that the sellout happened in the 1930s under the banner of the United front. Now Canadian workers are finding that in any empire the colonial branch plants are the first to close, and what could be a truly progressive labor movement has been weakened by compromised bargains made in international union headquarters south of the border. 12 Canadians are sometimes snippy to Americans at cocktail parties. They don’t like to feel owned and they don’t like having been sold. But what really bothers them— and it’s at this point that the United States and Rome part company—is the wide-eyed innocence with which their snippiness is greeted. 13 Innocence becomes ignorance when seen in the light of international affairs, and though ignorance is one of the spoils of conquest—the Gauls always knew more about the Romans than the Romans knew about them—the world can no longer afford American’s ignorance. Its ignorance of Canada, though it makes Canadians bristle, is a minor and relatively harmless example. More dangerous is the fact that individual Americans seem not to know that the United States is an imperial power and is behaving like one. They don’t want to admit that empires dominate, invade and subjugate—and live on the proceeds—or, if they do admit it, they believe in their divine right to do so. The export of divine right is much more harmful than the export of Coca-Cola, though they may turn out to be much the same thing in the end. 14 Other empires have behaved similarly (the British somewhat better, Genghis Khan 7 decidedly worse); but they have not expected to be liked for it. It’s the final Americanism, this passion for being liked. Alas, many Americans are indeed likable; they are often more generous, more welcoming, more enthusiastic, less picky and