More and more each day we hear people complain that the country is changing and no longer is it as Canadian as it used to be.
Perhaps it's because our immigration policy differs from the Americans where traditionally they are a melting pot and people are expected to be Americans while here in Canada every immigrant can establish their own ethnic place, not adapt to what a Canadian is and then demand that they be given more and more privileges such as places to worship in the work place and carry weapons while other Canadian can't.
Sounds like there are problems in the Canadian mosaic.
Yet in history, to be a citizen was considered worthy of hard work. In the ancient Greece, city-states valued citizenship and it was expected that to earn citizenship meant adaptation to the needs of the country.
The Spartans are a case in point. Boys from age seven were taken from their homes to barracks and for 23 years were trained in military techniques, It wasn't until they had 23 years under their belt that they were considered citizens.
The Spartans were the military elite; nothing could penetrate a Spartan shield wall.
No wonder the Spartans understood the value of citizenship. The Greeks established the principles of democracy that we practice today.
To read an interesting story of the Greeks and their battles against the power of Persia read Clashing Titans Vol. 6 of the Great Adventures of the Incredible Smalls by George Laidlaw www.georgelalidlaw.ca Young Adult books.
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