Canada seems to have far few "lower class people" than America, right? (transplants, crime rates)

[Refugee56]

Every time I travel around America I am shocked at the ever increasing number of lower class people in our Cities and towns. I am talking about people that are lower class socially, culturally, economically and intellectually. So many people in America are deeply struggling to survive day to day.

When I travel in Canada, it seems like most people are more middle class socially, culturally, economicall and intellectually. I see fewer super rich but not as many trashly low classed folks either. Sure there are troubled people in Canada but far fewer it seems as a percentage of the population.

Agree?

[mikeyyc]

Too.....many......jokes............Must......resis t.........

[ZX14TJ]

Silly thread.

[thedudewiththeplan]

Well, based on my experience living in Georgia, many of the people I have had to deal with here have got to be some of the dumbest, most ignorant people I have ever met. Out west and in the northeast and midwest, there are some more forward thinking people, but the the people in the southern part of the US tend to make me believe that all in all Canada has less.

[ionlife]

Originally Posted by thedudewiththeplan

Well, based on my experience living in Georgia, many of the people I have had to deal with here have got to be some of the dumbest, most ignorant people I have ever met. Out west and in the northeast and midwest, there are some more forward thinking people, but the the people in the southern part of the US tend to make me believe that all in all Canada has less.

I doubt that the people of Atlanta GA would agree with you -- what part of GA are you living in? I am in the Southeast and in an area where the percentage of engineers/scientists/professionals is higher than in other parts of AL.

And what is the criteria for "culture" and "class" that is being asked about? I find Canucks to be such snobs about culture and class (must be a holdover from being part of the commonwealth). If a person has an accent, especially a southern one, they are automatically dumber right?

Sheesh.

oh, gosh, I just inserted a generalization in this post... how does it feel? Is it true? No, but hey, I couldn't resist.

[thedudewiththeplan]

I lived in Metro Atlanta (Peachtree City) for 18 years. People could not drive worth a crap, were fierce George Bush supporters(ugh), the schools were terrible (spent 9 years in the school system). Was in the New Hampshire school system a few years as well and had a much better education there. People in Peachtree CIty also had trouble realizing that when something cost $2, that $1 and 50 cents was not going to be enough! Older brother lived in Atlanta for a few years and was robbed, had his car stolen, and we were threatened by a guy with a knife while at the old A&P on Ponce De Leon Ave. Now live in Augusta and find the people here to be a little more on the ball. In Peachtree City, the first questions they would ask you were what kind of car do you drive and what religion are you. And don't tell me that the people I was in contact with were northern transplants, because the majority of them were born and raised in Georgia!!!

[Refugee56]

I think this is the ultimate question. Considering the culture and governments of the two countries are so different, then a look at their "underclass" in relation to ours- is a very interesting question.

[stan4]

I think a first-world country with 1/10th our population would look very different no matter what.

[ionlife]

Well one cannot look at only 1 city in one state and make a generalization about the USA's culture and class anymore than one could look at one city in one province and make a generalization about Canada's culture and class.

That would be like saying NYC is representative of the USA at large (it's not) or that Paris is like all of France.

There are poor everywhere and there is crime everywhere.

My personal experience in Atlanta, only as a guest of someone that lived there and for conferences was that the area I went to, Mariette, was quite nice.

In the DC area, there are several "metros" and some of them are nicer and friendlier than others. I lived in Fairfax County and within that county were several different "city" areas. Vienna, VA is not at all like Fairfax, VA. Yet they are only a few miles apart.

[thedudewiththeplan]

Visting Atlanta for a conference is a lot different than acutally living there. You get a true sense of the place from interacting with the locals on a daily basis. When I worked at the airport, I can't count the number of times a fellow employee would brag about how he was on some street in Atlanta (McDaniel for example) in his Escalade when someone looked at him funny so he had to pull out his GAT. Even some of the suburbs (Clayton for example) are full of badly performing schools, high crime rates, and quite a few lower class types.