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Of course. If you're in the oil industry or are a large corporation that is bent on having less regulation then the Fraser Institute is the place for you.
If you're interested in strong well funded public education, corporate accountability and protecting the environment for future generations, then not so much.
You're right, because those are the only two available extremes.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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USA and Canada were settled for different reasons. Seems like the first settlers to Canada from Britain were doing so to just try something different while Americans often left to due perceived injustices (religious persecution, unfair crime sentence) or simply to make a lot of money. Canadians are much more politically similar to Europe (especially Britain) while the USA is more different and antagonistic.
There is a lot of "tribalism" in the USA. Urban Liberal Whites, Suburban / rural conservative whites, South vs North, Blacks, Mexicans, Cubans, etc. IMO this is why gov't welfare is viewed with suspicion. People don't want their money going "outside their tribe". Each tribe has it's own goals and views, often they clash wildly. This is why Washington is a place of utter gridlock. It's why people horde guns. Urban Whites want the USA to emulate Europe and Canada. Rural Whites want to establish a Christian Sharia Nation. Blacks want more focus on inequality. Hispanics want open borders. Etc. Canadians have a much less tribalism, and it's mostly French vs English speakers. When you view yourselves as one people you will tolerate higher taxes for more social support programs.
USA and Canada were settled for different reasons. Seems like the first settlers to Canada from Britain were doing so to just try something different while Americans often left to due perceived injustices (religious persecution, unfair crime sentence) or simply to make a lot of money. Canadians are much more politically similar to Europe (especially Britain) while the USA is more different and antagonistic.
There is a lot of "tribalism" in the USA. Urban Liberal Whites, Suburban / rural conservative whites, South vs North, Blacks, Mexicans, Cubans, etc. IMO this is why gov't welfare is viewed with suspicion. People don't want their money going "outside their tribe". Each tribe has it's own goals and views, often they clash wildly. This is why Washington is a place of utter gridlock. It's why people horde guns. Urban Whites want the USA to emulate Europe and Canada. Rural Whites want to establish a Christian Sharia Nation. Blacks want more focus on inequality. Hispanics want open borders. Etc. Canadians have a much less tribalism, and it's mostly French vs English speakers. When you view yourselves as one people you will tolerate higher taxes for more social support programs.
USA and Canada were settled for different reasons. Seems like the first settlers to Canada from Britain were doing so to just try something different while Americans often left to due perceived injustices (religious persecution, unfair crime sentence) or simply to make a lot of money. Canadians are much more politically similar to Europe (especially Britain) while the USA is more different and antagonistic.
There is a lot of "tribalism" in the USA. Urban Liberal Whites, Suburban / rural conservative whites, South vs North, Blacks, Mexicans, Cubans, etc. IMO this is why gov't welfare is viewed with suspicion. People don't want their money going "outside their tribe". Each tribe has it's own goals and views, often they clash wildly. This is why Washington is a place of utter gridlock. It's why people horde guns. Urban Whites want the USA to emulate Europe and Canada. Rural Whites want to establish a Christian Sharia Nation. Blacks want more focus on inequality. Hispanics want open borders. Etc. Canadians have a much less tribalism, and it's mostly French vs English speakers. When you view yourselves as one people you will tolerate higher taxes for more social support programs.
To me this post is more accurate, and makes more sense than the OP. Exactly why the US govt is paralyzed and the Fed Govt feared (mostly by conservative whites) is for the reasons stated above.
If you go into the P & C forum on C-D, or the supposedly more high brow History forum, you will see this strong sectionalism thread running throughout. I would venture that a majority of southern US whites view the defeat of the Confederacy as a terrible outcome of that conflict. You'll see this type of opinion repeatedly in the history forum. And almost exclusively their location will be Texas or Alabama, MS, etc.
In fact, I remember driving right past Gettysburg with a Lt. Colonel in the US Army. He was from the south, and while passing the highway sign for Gettysburg he said "too bad the wrong side won". Not shocking at all considering how they view the world and their own govt. Which is why they decry "Yankees" moving into their turf. The whole of the US hates each other. Time to break up the whole mess and create five smaller nations.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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To me the most glaring evidence of tribalism in the USA is the uneven application of the death penalty. You think it'd go down Red State / Blue State lines but the bigger correlation is how many "tribes" have power in each state.
A large number of Republican voting but homogenous states never or rarely execute people (West Virginia, Kentucky, Wyoming, South Dakota, Idaho etc) while many modereate to liberal states that are more diverse frequently execute people (Florida, Ohio, Arizona). Texas is conservative and diverse and they've had 500+ executions since 1973, over one third of all executions. The Southern States that are 25%+ Black use it all the time too. When you live in fear you tolerate a strong hand of law enforcement. When you view all fellow citizens as your "people" you don't.
I live in backwater Kentucky and I remember the first time there was an execution since the Supreme Court re allowed it in the 1970s. It was very controversial and there were lots of protests against it. Bottom line is you don't let your gov't execute other people belonging to your "tribe", even if they did something terrible. WV has already banned the death penalty and KY probably will soon, despite being very conservative states.
Canadians, Australians, and most Europeans view themselves as "one people" and therefore they pay high taxes to pay for gov't programs that benefit all and are against a militarized police force and capital punishment. USA has always been divided by tribe. First it was Plymouth Puritans vs Jamestowns Peasants, then Whites vs Indians, then Whites vs Blacks, then Jamestown Whites vs Plymouth Whites over how to treat Blacks, then it was Whites vs Hispanics, now it's White Conservatives against the whole danged world LOL. Better grab some more guns and head toward the bunker before bedtime
To me the most glaring evidence of tribalism in the USA is the uneven application of the death penalty. You think it'd go down Red State / Blue State lines but the bigger correlation is how many "tribes" have power in each state.
A large number of Republican voting but homogenous states never or rarely execute people (West Virginia, Kentucky, Wyoming, South Dakota, Idaho etc) while many modereate to liberal states that are more diverse frequently execute people (Florida, Ohio, Arizona). Texas is conservative and diverse and they've had 500+ executions since 1973, over one third of all executions. The Southern States that are 25%+ Black use it all the time too. When you live in fear you tolerate a strong hand of law enforcement. When you view all fellow citizens as your "people" you don't.
I live in backwater Kentucky and I remember the first time there was an execution since the Supreme Court re allowed it in the 1970s. It was very controversial and there were lots of protests against it. Bottom line is you don't let your gov't execute other people belonging to your "tribe", even if they did something terrible. WV has already banned the death penalty and KY probably will soon, despite being very conservative states.
Canadians, Australians, and most Europeans view themselves as "one people" and therefore they pay high taxes to pay for gov't programs that benefit all and are against a militarized police force and capital punishment. USA has always been divided by tribe. First it was Plymouth Puritans vs Jamestowns Peasants, then Whites vs Indians, then Whites vs Blacks, then Jamestown Whites vs Plymouth Whites over how to treat Blacks, then it was Whites vs Hispanics, now it's White Conservatives against the whole danged world LOL. Better grab some more guns and head toward the bunker before bedtime
This sums it up pretty well LOL
You are simply trying to extrapolate the differences in a large country to a much smaller one.
The tribalism in Canada is there. Check the feelings toward the Indians in the Prairies. Or the views of Ontario in the Prairies and BC.
The crucial thing is the US sticks together in spite of its localisms. The Hispanics will inevitably be absorbed into the mainstream and will follow the pattern of the Irish and Italian. Only the Blacks will be a long term thing.
To me this post is more accurate, and makes more sense than the OP. Exactly why the US govt is paralyzed and the Fed Govt feared (mostly by conservative whites) is for the reasons stated above.
If you go into the P & C forum on C-D, or the supposedly more high brow History forum, you will see this strong sectionalism thread running throughout. I would venture that a majority of southern US whites view the defeat of the Confederacy as a terrible outcome of that conflict. You'll see this type of opinion repeatedly in the history forum. And almost exclusively their location will be Texas or Alabama, MS, etc.
In fact, I remember driving right past Gettysburg with a Lt. Colonel in the US Army. He was from the south, and while passing the highway sign for Gettysburg he said "too bad the wrong side won". Not shocking at all considering how they view the world and their own govt. Which is why they decry "Yankees" moving into their turf. The whole of the US hates each other. Time to break up the whole mess and create five smaller nations.
There is just as much tribalism in Canada. Actually there is more. I say this as a Canadian living in the US. Of course there are political divides in America, but let me know when one part of the country is in practice a foreign country that speaks a different language and regularly tries to separate. The divide between republican/democrat, north/south, etc are way overblown. But I can see how from an American-esque perspective they seem serious. You guys just have a much bigger country with way more people so of course it looks that way. You dont notice the smaller countries around you. You probably have it better off than any other country in the Americas, most of them anyways. Do you really think Mexico, Brazil, etc are more united?
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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There was previous discussion about whose White Trash is better. I grew up lower middle class in a poor conservative region (rural Kentucky) of the USA, I have some very sterotypical "White Trash" family members and now in laws lol.I also spent a week staying with some Ontario Rednecks back in 1999. My observations would be..
Similarities:
Both have a love of outdoor things (fishing and hunting) and a dislike of city life
Both are mostly friendly
Differences:
Rural Canadians are much more knowledgeable on foreign affairs
RC's view religion as more of a personal matter and don't get in religious arguments as much (family I stayed with were members of the same church group my family is in KY fyi)
RC's are more humble and soft spoken on matters of opinion. RA's tend to have a very black and white , good vs evil view of the world. They mostly support bombing other countries to enforce "good" values. RC's like Western values but have a more "gray" view of the world (our way works for us but may not for others)
RC has worse health than urban Canada, but only slightly so. That's not the story in the USA. The life expectancy gap btw the rural South and urban America is up to 15 YEARS. One county in West Virginia now has a male life expectancy of 58 years. That's worse than Afghanistan. In nearby Metro DC men live into their early 80s on average. In most Appalachian counties women's life expectancy is declining.
Politics and religion are very woven together in Redneck America. RC's who are religious tend to make a distinction btw nat'l politics and personal religion. RA's support Israel 100% because the Bible says Israel is (cough was... 2500 years ago) the "chosen nation". They basically view America as the New Israel and believe that any laws that reduce America's "Christian Heritage" will bring God's wrath
RA's are MUCH more prone to sensationalized news stories and often have a strong change in behavior. One kidnapping results in door lock and gun sales going through the roof. Events like Y2K or 9/11 cause food hording. Etc. They believe that the mainstream media covers up "real" news stories that reveal the degree America is under attack by Blacks, illegal Mexicans, and Muslims. Many of them get email / text updates from extreme Right Wings news organizations that say things like "Mexicans spreading super virus" or " ISIS has entered Mexico, ready to attack Texas" etc.
The fact that poor health and low paying jobs w/o benefits are the greatest real threats to rural America seems to not sink in. In the mining regions of E Kentucky / West Virginia tap water is so contaminated that they have to buy bottled water... even to bath in. That sounds way worse to me than ISIS
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