Why Should I Care?

You don't necessarily need to care. However, it would be okay if you have a little knowledge about your heritage in case it ever comes up in conversations, etc. If your dad asks why you lost interest in the topic, just tell him that what you know right now is okay, and that you might ask questions later on, just not at the moment.

I hope this helps.

 

Does your dad care about his heritage? If so, have you asked him why? That might be a good place to start.

 

Sorry for correcting that, but it fricking kills me when people get it wrong XD.

Should you care? I don't think there's a right answer. Some people are interested in their heritage. Mine is vaguely eastern European, and I have not found that kind of culture to be really riveting so have not put effort into researching it. Others love the link to history and are very in touch with where they came from.

Overall, I'd say you should at least care a little. Every culture has something to offer the modern western mind. You can take some things you learn about life in Nigeria and apply what works to your current situation.

 

I care.

People don't understand, but I am from Canada. We stole this land from the natives, and our culture from the U.S, so I really don't feel connected to it as much. My blood is Eastern European; Balkan, and I look more like I am Eastern European. So I just feel a connection to that area. I feel that I would feel at home there.

I don't like North American culture in some aspects, so it's easy for me to get deluded in my heritage, because to be honest, I partially prefer their lifestyle.

I love Canada...etc, but I hate materialism, obsession with looks, and obsession with money that comes with it. I feel it's a lot easier to be poor in other countries because people don't expect as much from you.

Canada, and the Western world, is far too competitive for me, I can't handle it. It's overwhelming, and all this consumption we are a part of makes me question our motives.

If everyone in the World lived like me, and other North Americans, there wouldn't be a planet left. We over consume, over pollute, and strive to own too much shit. We put labels on land and divy it out to individuals with the most power, and we create a culture that is alienating to people who aren't money hungry.

Just the amount of development that is going on in my area is enough to make me sick. Way too much building, way too much growth, it just cannot be sustained.

The world IS NOT SUITED FOR NORTH AMERICA. And thank god we are only living like this over here, otherwise you could say good bye to our planet.

I know it's all very vague what I'm saying, but it's just everything that gets to me.

And this is mainly why I am interested in my heritage. Canada's heritage is disgusting, and involves the destruction of many different cultures and people.

So ya, I am alot more proud of being Bosnian,Macedonian, and Irish, than from Canada.

Canada is a great country, we just have a horrible past, and horrible priorities.

 

Oh my god this. Almost totally unrelated to the thread, (sorry Woo ) but if you don't pursue money with all your might, you're usually sunk or face serious difficulties. I'm already tired of the rat race and haven't even started my career! That's why I plan to live within my means and manage my resources so that I can live comfortably without having to spend so much energy pursuing the almighty dollar.

^^But rampant materialism is not all Canada and the other North American countries are. More recent events might show the feats of the past few generations as something to be proud of.

 

^

I realize that a bit, and I know you can't generalize an entire population, but that seems to be the census.

I am a fairly intelligent person, but that really doesn't mean anything if I haven't a piece of paper to back it up, along with money.

I may not be as motivated as the next person; I used to be but now I don't see a point in being rich.

I also do not think that the North American way of life is sustainable, and there are plenty of people with heavy education in environmental sciences, economics, and social studies that can and will agree with that.

Our consumption rate is ridiculous. We could continue to live the way we do if we weren't also bent on increasing the population, and growing our cities...etc.

I dont know what man's obsession with development is, but we seem to be done to destroy just about anything to make a profit.

I am not really proud of a lot of Canada's accomplishments, we haven't done much.

I think our military feats are murderous. We may have fought the Nazi's but Canada was still very much a racist country that didn't give a shit Jews were being killed, we even denied Jewish refugees from entry knowing they would be executed once being sent back to Germany. We charged Chinese people more money than they made working to come here and build the railroad; many died doing so. Then we kicked them out when they were done. Our last aboriginal Christian School funded by the government were aboriginal kids were separated from their natural parents forced to adapt to a Western Way of life, and got raped and abused, in the fucking 1980's. Our government was actively destroying native culture until 30 years ago. That is just fucked up.

We only participated in World War I and II to protect ourselves, not others. It was selfish reasons.

Humans are fucked, the fact any of our past even happened just shows you how vial the majority of us are. We may be a lot more civilized now, but that doesn't mean that horrible xenophobic, murderous and selfish traits aren't hidden behind all the politeness.

The countries I'm from are generally accepting countries, prior to the wars they were multicultural, Jews, Muslims, and Christians all living in peace.

But Western Ideals, and Western intervention turned the Balkans into a hateful place.

Macedonian is a good example today of coexistence. Muslims have a strong safe community there, so do Christians, and there is no talk of terrorism or any of that bullshit.

Overall the history of the countries I'm from do not make me ashamed but proud.

Oh and I've heard members of our ARMY be proud of going to Afghanistan because they got to kill "Towelheads". I've heard members of the police force here say racist comments.

I have to hear people be intolerant towards immigrants here as well.

Canadians aren't the great people the world thinks we are.

Our government is smart and has laws in place to protect basically everyone from discrimination and harm, but our society is still very pro-white partially.

** ALso when I say North America I'm not included the Islands, and Mexico. I'm mainly talking about the U.S and Canada who are basically identical to eachother culturally, we may be able to see the differences because we live here, but to others, U.S and Canada are no different from eachother.

 

Totally relate. All the more reason to pursue the history of your heritage/lineage.

In a different perspective, genealogy is more like a hobby nowadays, you have to WANT to know. I think it is interesting. If you look back you can kind of tell how and why your family is the way it is now.

My mother's side of the family is very hard headed and stubborn, they inherited this trait from our Native American ancestors and maybe a bit from our Irish ancestors as well. Our Native American tribe was sick and tired of the government moving them from place to place and each time they told the tribes to stop the government would tell them to all relocate again. My Cherokee family decided to take the offer from a white Texan who was practically giving away land because he took pity on the Natives on the Trail of Tears, most tribes declined, not wanting to stray from their main tribe, but mine got tired of being bossed around by some big shots with all the money.

 

I think it's rather normal not to care about heritage when one is young, it comes with age, at least in my case. Unfortunately I can't ask my grandparents anymore. :icon_sad: