Fire and Ice: The United States Canada and the Myth of Converging Values

Adams clearly states in the introduction that this is a book intended for a Canadian audience, however he does 'hope it may be of interest to Americans who may be intrigued by a glimpse of a country so seemingly near and yet with their mental postures far from their own' and adds that 'Europeans, Australians and even the Queen's subjects in Tony Blair's Britain who are ambivalent about American influence on their societies might also find some useful lessons in the Canada-U.S. nexus' (pg 15). As he says 'Canadians may like Americans, speak the same language, and consume more their fast food and popular culture, but we embrace a different hierarchy of values. Moreover, the differences, as I have attempted to show, are increasing rather than decreasing with economic integration' (pg 142).Fire and Ice came from years of research into the ideals and values held by Canadians from 1983 to 2000, Adam states that he was 'impressed with just how much Canadians' social values seemed to be diverging from those of Americans. (After all, we are frequently made to feel we have become nothing more than unarmed Americans with health insurance.)' (pg xii) - and this is even before September 11th.He notes being particularly interested in finding out 'why an initially "conservative" society like Canada has ended up producing an autonomous, inner-directed, flexible, tolerant, socially liberal, and spiritually eclectic people while an intentionally "liberal" society like the United States has ended up producing a people who are, relatively speaking, materialistic, outer-directed, intolerant, socially conservative, and deferential to traditional institutional authority. Why do these two societies seem to prove the law of unintended consequences?' (pg 10).Despite relying heavily on the statistics produced by Environics, the company he co-founded, Adams is able interpret the findings so they're more or less understandable to the layperson. He brings up current events, and there are numerous references to pop culture, everything from Rockstar Games' Vice City, Eminem's 8-Mile, to Blade Runner - however with a decidedly American flavour.In writing this book Adams offers Canadians a more detailed description of our national identity than the traditional 'not American' retort. In particular, his 'reading of Canadian values tells me that none has become more important in this country than autonomy - and that autonomy, in the context of interdependence, is valued at every level from the individual right up to the nation' (pg 144).Fire and Ice makes for an entertaining and insightful read into the Canadian and American psyches. However far as his aim to remain impartial goes, he falls somewhat short of the mark. Without slandering America, there is a discernable favouring of Canadian ideals and values - completely understandable as Adams himself is Canadian. Highly recommended reading to sceptical Canadians, Americans interested in viewing themselves through a maple-leaf shape

What do you get when the co-founder of a political polling company steps back, looks at the numbers, and decides to write a book? You get a fascinating and sometimes counter-intuitive look at the evolution of current "American Values". Mr. Adams' premise is that even before 9/11, Americans were moving further away from a society of Idealism and Fulfillment, and towards Exclusion and Survival.This is not a ponderous volume of statistics, but a quirky, quick read, that leaves one with a lot to think about. This book was obviously aimed at the Canadian reader, and I hope he releases a updated version for the American audience when the 2004 figures have been compiled. But you can just skip over some of the Canada-specific references, and the long suffering pose of submission but inherent superiority to the U.S.. It IS enlightening to see the U.S. through Canadian eyes. There are some interesting insights to George W's presidency, the debate over same sex marriages, and a discussion of the regional differences in the U.S., and implications for the future. I was surprised to learn that Canada has more in common with New England than New England has in common with the Deep South. And that the cultural trends among young people are very divergent from the 60+ crowd, and not always in the direction I expected. Not a perfect book. But worth reading.

After living in Boston for ten months, I returned to my island home in BC and found this book in my local library. I read it in two days, and now I'm going to get it. It confirmed what I experienced as a Canadian in the States. The States comes across as more diverse than Canada, and in many ways far more conservative. For example, on the question around patriarchy, whether the man should be the head of the household, New England, the most liberal region in the United States, was more conservative than Alberta, Canada's most conservative region. So much for convergence, eh? Also, the growing ease with which Americans accept violence corresponds with what I found.One reviewer criticised Adams methodology, but if it is so bad, then why is Environics still in business? The reviewer pointed us to David Frum for a detailed critique, but Frum is the former Bush speech writer who gave us the phrase "axis of evil." Adams may have sometimes asked different questions, but this is less comparing apples and oranges than comparing mackintoshs and spartans; the questions are dealing with the same underlying values. This is hot stuff, so don't be surprised if those who have a stake in the myth of converging values will try to attack and spin it as much as possible. And, in any case, have those arguing for the convergence offered anything near as detailed an argument as what Adams has presented? Anyone who spends any time bouncing back and forth across the border will find their intuitions confirmed by Adams' book. More importantly, it will tell them why, and it will show them some things they missed, but which, after being pointed out, seem obvious. Americans may speak the same language as Canadians, and we may watch much the same TV, the same movies, and read many of the same books -- we may even have Canadians appearing in those TV programs and in those movies, and even ghost-writing for the President -- but make no mistake, Americans are not the same as Canadians, and Canada is much more than the States with universal healthcare. If you don't believe me, go and live there for a bit, and then come back!

It's too bad that this book is not available in the US but easily ships from Canada (check out the author's website). The title should say how the US is drifting to the right while the most of our allies and friends are going the other direction; perhaps that explains the lack of support in Iraq. The Christian Right has a huge influence in this country whereas in Canada and Western Europe church attendance continues to decline. The book explains many interesting trends but the one that sticks out for me is that in the US, 59% of the population feels the man should be head of the household; in Canada that number is in the low teens.