*Sigh*...Americans...

So the other day I managed to catch the very end of the movie Independence Day. I started watching at the point where they infect the alien mothership with a computer virus, then we get to watch the Americans save the world. It reminded me of comment posts I recently saw on YouTube regarding American involvement in WWII. Throughout my life, I've witnessed Americans posturizing as the sole saviours of Europe from Nazi rule. Generally, this comes in the form of "Europe would all be speaking German if it wasn't for us!" Fortunately, these comments generally come from the blowhard vocal minority, but it still lends to the impression that the Americans feel it is their duty to save the world. Watching the movie, I couldn't help but think that I would rather have gotten killed by the invading aliens than have to listen to the Americans bragging about having saved us from Nazi aliens for the rest of my life.

Perhaps I am over-sensitive to this self-aggrandizing. After all, the number of American casualties in WWII were significantly greater in number (10 times) than Canadians killed. However, when casualties are compared to the total population of the country, more Canadians were killed (0.32% vs 0.40%). Not to mention the USSR, which saw over 10 million casualties (13.77 %) and conquered Berlin. I guess Europe should be thanking Russia for not being forced to speak German. Except Germany of course, where they seem to like speaking German.

Of course I'm being facetious; I do not want to minimize anyone's contribution to winning WWII. The allies won by all working together for the greater good. So, if aliens do invade Earth (assuming we don't invade them first, which is probably more likely), I hope we can all work together to vanquish the evil doers. Except Switzerland - they can stay neutral.