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If a medical appointment takes time to set up, we see the system as faulty. Only a few Canadians can remember when the idea of an all-inclusive medical program seemed to be far beyond our means. Whatever we have, we complain because it’s not sufficient.

We are among the luckiest countries, inheritors of a vast rich territory, governed with considerable justice, living in peace. But a sourness creeps into our spirit when we talk about our national life. We speak of it as boring. Many are so bored that they don’t even vote, the ultimate expression of alienation in a democracy.

The great freedoms achieved by most of us are often ignored when we discuss public policy

Our politicians encourage our darkest feelings by bickering, often senselessly, among themselves. When not doing that, they promise to improve our lives, implying that we are now being badly treated.

A few decades ago I heard a young man, back from working in Africa, say in a radio interview: “Canadians don’t appreciate their good fortune and they probably never will.” That sounded unduly pessimistic. Today it rings with the truth of prophecy.

We steadily grow less grateful for our luck and more likely to obsess on what we don’t have. The great freedoms achieved by most of us are often ignored when we discuss public policy.

We habitually take our blessings for granted and spend our time whingeing about whatever we lack. The verb “whinge” goes back to the 18th century and in modern times it’s been a favourite in Australia, as in the phrase “whingeing Poms,” meaning “complaining English” and in the sort of people Australians hate most: “Poms that come over and do nothing but whinge.’”