Yes, Canadians have no idea what it's like. We've seen even less ugliness than Americans, and when this whole thing started, we had to go to hockey for martial metaphors.

Living in a warzone is a learning curve you can go up fast, though, because you have no choice.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 4 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I know someone who served in the Canadian Armed Forces and did a tour diffusing IEDs in Afghanistan. I'm pretty sure he knows how to build one if it came to that.

Americans don't recognize that Canadians actually did go to Afghanistan. It's not just Hockey metaphors, people in Canada actually do know the tactics the US military has a difficult time dealing with. That's because our soldiers had to deal with those same tactics when fighting alongside Americans for two fucking decades. If the US decides to betray Canada they will soon be reminded that Canadians were in Afghanistan and what was learned there.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

Yeah, refugees, combat vets, relief workers and refugees are not included. Even just being from a family with those backgrounds teaches you a bit about how the world really works, when push comes to shove, speaking from experience.

The average Canadian on the street lacks the experience to understand, though. Even more than that, there's been a kind of resistance to understanding it, historically, because it's easier and cleaner not to.

If OP thinks guerilla warfare is a vacation, they probably don't know what they don't know.