Merger of the Century: Why Canada and America Should Become One Country (health insurance, buying)
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I don't think anyone in the states want to see a merger with Canada either, if you put it to a vote here it will lose by a landslide. we have enough problems already. this is a big country in terms of population and land area, diverse, complex, and a free democracy so yeah we are going to have issues this side of the border that the other side wont experience. however, this country have always been resilient in nature as people and forces try to knock us and tear us down. but we have always bounced back bigger and stronger. not many places could have withstand an attack like 9/11 and be where we are today. despite all our problems and issues and turmoil this is still the premier country in the western hemisphere by a mile not even close.
all this idea that the merger can never happen because canada and us are fundamentally different is ridiculous - if texas can be in the same country as massachusetts, then there is no reason the difference between canada and us keeps them from merging some day. you can argue against the idea, but the difference between the two countries is not a good one.
from a business point of view, it makes all the sense. Canada doesn't have the resources to tap its northern area.
I agree that the eu kind of arrangement is preferable - open border, free labour movement.
That is until the US economy crashes...which it will.
It won't crash again.
In terms of External Debt per capita,
U.S. in 2013 is $52,170 USD (Rank: #20)
Canada in 2013 is $29,625 USD (Rank: #26)
Just by looking at the figure, it seems a big difference between 52k and 26k, but if you look at the rankings compared to all other countries, it isn't that much of a difference as each person in both countries incur not that much of a difference in debt.
The main rationale in the article is a resource grab by the US and an extension of the US' security zone. It's all about expanding US power so inevitably Canadian commie-pinko-liberal institutions and ideals will have to give way. There's also an assumption in these discussions that Canadians are yearning to be free and want to be American.
That assumption is just that, a very poor assumption on someone's part. Canadians are no more interested in becoming American than Americans are interested in becoming Canadian...end of story!
Let me ask you a more serious question. Canada is much more advanced at acquiring an electronic currency than the USA. What if they forced the issue in the next 10 years. Furthermore what if they fixed the exchange rate with the US dollar at parity.
Currently Canada has CAD$63.32 billion banknotes in circulation. Within two years the USA will be circulating $1 trillion in $100 banknotes alone (most of them overseas). International investors are probably far more interested in the flexibility of electronic currency than in cotton banknotes. The billions of dollars in international currency would probably flow into the Canadian dollar over a decade as investors are attracted to the dollar equivalency.
I think that the government of Canada could close their $90 billion budget deficit overnight.
As a Canadian, I find the idea preposterous and insulting and it shows me that the writer (an American teaching at a former Polytechnical institute in Toronto) has not penetrated the mentality of Canadians. Many Americans and in fact others make the mistake of remaining on the surface of the Canadian identity or identities because there are superficial similarities.
I think the fundamental mentality of Canadians is different, especially from Ontario eastward: we were founded as garrisons, by soldiers, as colonies of France and England. Our heroes were the coureurs de bois, the explorers who opened the country; we have maintained a tranquil relationship with Europe for centuries and our head of state is still technically the Queen of England.
The US was founded by pilgrims, religious fanatics who were outcasts in Europe and it was that anti-Europe sentiment that drove the US to the independent thinking that defines it today, along with it's strange prurience.
This forum is interesting in part because there are Americans on it with a genuine interest in Canada: what I find in my temporary outpost here in Mexico, where there are lots of American retirees is that if I and another Canadian bring up topics about Canada, even where relevant to the conversation, the Americans just talk over us in order not to listen. They don't want to hear anything about it.
And that brings me to my last point: I do think Canadians - in my lifetime of experience with people from other lands - are more open sexually, socially and politically than Americans and that alone would mean that a merger would be the suppression of an entire society.
In the book the outliers i read that many of the settlers in america were extremely violent yet religious, kind of says something about the country today.
I don't think we should ever give up our currency, under any circumstances. If we were going to have an EU-type arrangement of open borders, I would rather join the Trans-Tasman along with New Zealand and Australia. Forget the USA.
I seriously doubt Canada and the USA would ever merge. I can't imagine there are many Canadians that would want to be part of America. Yes there are similarities between the two countries, but also vast differences. I think the cultures would clash. Hell they clash right here in the USA between our own various regions let alone Canada. I envy the Canadian way of life, and I feel they are protective of it. I don't blame them one bit. Merging with the USA would be a very foolish, and Canada would never allow it.
Let me ask you a more serious question. Canada is much more advanced at acquiring an electronic currency than the USA. What if they forced the issue in the next 10 years. Furthermore what if they fixed the exchange rate with the US dollar at parity.
Currently Canada has CAD$63.32 billion banknotes in circulation. Within two years the USA will be circulating $1 trillion in $100 banknotes alone (most of them overseas). International investors are probably far more interested in the flexibility of electronic currency than in cotton banknotes. The billions of dollars in international currency would probably flow into the Canadian dollar over a decade as investors are attracted to the dollar equivalency.
I think that the government of Canada could close their $90 billion budget deficit overnight.
Are you talking about the MintChip (tied to the CDn dollar) or something like bitcoin?
@Zoisite: What would Americans think about this proposal? It would be interesting to speculate, but I imagine most would agree that it's not a great idea. Certainly, it would be fun to frighten the Tea Partiers and other right-wingers with the prospect!!
Lol! Godless Commies!
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