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Location: where you sip the tea of the breasts of the spinsters of Utica
8,297 posts, read 14,166,733 times
Reputation: 8105
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueherons
I take it you have no clue how difficult it is for anyone to move to the US from another country. And expensive. $20,000? That's a drop in the bucket.
Tell that to all the folks who have illegally crossed the border from Mexico, many of whom have been penniless. People can't do that in Canada any more because of the strict ID requirements for renting, driving, etc.
As a Canadian-American who moved to the US 20 years ago, I felt every bit as superior and sanctimonious as that 99 reasons survey is. "Leader in space robotics". Sure, but how did it get there? Where's the Canadian space program these days? Do Canadians still lament the Avro Arrow being turned into pots and pans? How's Blackberry doing these days? Still on track to usurp Apple?
Healthcare is a double-edged sword. Comments have attested to the low costs, but not necessarily coverage for non-life threatening conditions. I have two close relatives in Canada, one who needed open heart surgery at one of Canada's top hospitals. Cost? Zero. Fantastic you say, except that the after care was really poor. Another needed a diagnosis for MS, which is typically done via MRI. As it wasn't considered urgent it took 11 months to get scheduled. I could get my dog a MRI tomorrow if I wanted to pay for it, and have a number of vet practices to choose from that offer it.
And that's the crux of the problem. While I disagree with Woof's socialistic leanings and his complaint about the "1%ers", he/she is absolutely correct.
For the average Joe, Canada will likely provide a similar to slightly better existence. For the person on welfare, Canada is definitely better. For the wealthy or person aspiring to become wealthy, the US is better. Every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
I moved to the US not for richness, but for opportunity. For the first 6 months I kept on spewing nonsense like "Canada invented the Skidoo" or "James Naismith invented Basketball. He was Canadian". "A relative of mine worked for Dr. Best, who helped discover insulin" and "Did you know that Canada had the world's 4th largest navy at the end of WWII". "LA Law is great but Street Legal really came first". "I knew Karla Homolka" (of course that gets a "who?"). That kind of stuff. But it's ultimately irrelevant, or useless facts to justify one's insecurities. And Canadians are FULL of insecurity. And even better, they get pedantic about it.
After a year I realized that the reason Canadians are insecure is because it's like being a flea on a dog. Unless you make a fuss the dog doesn't even notice. Most Americans don't even really care about Canada (despite the trading relationship) because Canada is safe. It's just there. They are nice people and they keep their country clean. That kind of stuff. The real action is elsewhere though.
You want to be amongst the leaders in tech? You come to the US, ideally Silicon Valley. You want to be in the movies and get discovered? Hollywood. Theater (or theatre)? Broadway. Jim Carrey was doing standup in Toronto before he came to the US. Many other comedians came from SCTV. What's the SC in SCTV? Second City. What's the "Second City"? Chicago. That's where that comedy troupe started and then expanded out.
Many of the other facts in this survey are based as being "better" but really just reflect the fact that Canada is more fiscally conservative and socially liberal than the US. Is this better? No. Worse? No. Different? Yes.
But it comes down to the individual rather than the collective. If you have what it takes, and want to really succeed, it's easier to do it in the US than in Canada. Partially because Americans are bigger risk takers, but partly again because the US is much more of an inventive society. The Internet vs. Snowblowers. I know which I chose, and which I'd choose again.
I'm not a big fan of lists like this. Oh, they're fine if they're somewhat silly and all in good fun ("Canadian beer is better because American beer is like making love in a canoe"); but when they're serious, as this one seems to be, they get a little tiresome. Yes, yes, healthcare, banking regulations, education, the arts, yada, yada, yada. We hear it every day, how great we are with (or because of) these things. It gets tiresome.
But seriously, hockey? Yes, it is a fact that Canada is probably the best in the world at it; but let's face another fact: most of the world doesn't care, so any mention of hockey making Canada better is just an opinion. Sure, Americans play it, but they have so many sports happening at any given time that hockey is hardly the top sport that it is here. Yes, the Russians, Swedes, Finns and other northern countries play it too, but like Americans, they play other games also. (Maybe we should stop putting all our eggs in the hockey basket, and look to developing talent in other games.) And when you say "hockey," many people in more southern parts of the world will think you're talking about field hockey before they remember that another similar game is played on ice.
"Better football"? I like the CFL game--hell, having played it in high school, I'll go so far as to say that I love it--but to say that it is better than NFL is a rather subjective opinion.
That's the problem with lists such as this: many parts of them are subjective. I can cherry-pick the pros of a Westminster parliamentary system, and the cons of an American republican form of government, and make Canada's Westminster system look good every time. I can also do the opposite, and make the American system look superior. In fact, neither form of government is better than the other: they accomplish the same things in the end. The same subjectivity problems extend to many things on that list: candy, backpackers, beavers, giant roadside attractions, etc., etc., etc.
I'm Canadian, and glad to be such. Our country offers us a great deal. But I'm pretty sure that had I been born in Australia, the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, New Zealand, or even the USA, I'd consider myself equally lucky. My standard of living and the opportunities offered to me would likely be the same as I enjoy here in Canada; and while things like national symbols, sports, the arts, and so on, would be different, I don't see where they would necessarily be better. Or make me better than my counterparts in other developed first world countries.
I do want to address this:
Quote:
Originally Posted by thinkalot
We have better Freedom Of Speech. Can Nazis have a parade in Canada?
Yes, they can. We've had our Nazi parties, though they weren't known by that name--they went by names such as "Nationalist Party of Canada" and "Heritage Front." For that matter, the Communists and Marxist-Leninists can hold parades too. Canada allows free speech, even if that speech expresses unpopular points-of-view.
Regarding the list: Some of it is true, some of it is amusing, and some of it is kinda' irrelevant. Take the few percentage point difference in charitable donation rates. That doesn't say a lot, IMHO.
What struck me, though, was the defensiveness. Like this part:
"True, scientists did recently claim that refusing to apologize for your actions leads to a sense of empowerment, but such short-sighted thinking would only appeal to self-centred Americans. (Sorry, that was mean.)"
That kind of snark isn't necessary. My hope for Canada is that it will get to the point where it can applaud and celebrate itself on its own terms, without having to compare itself to the US. And I get that it's not easy, being a tiny nation sitting on top of a superpower. If it's as though Canada is Nikki Hilton But Canada has a lot to be proud of, regardless of how it compares to the US.
One thing that really hit home for me after moving to the US is how amazing the Canadian social safety net really is. Throughout my twenties I had plenty of friends and family working in crappy low-paying jobs - the kind of jobs in the US that don't offer health benefits. I think I would have seen a good three or four healthcare related bankruptcies in my social circle if Canada didn't have its single payer healthcare system.
I also can't wrap my head around the USA's maternity leave policy, or lack thereof. My last two jobs in Canada were for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. Meaning that if I worked a comparable job in most US states and had a child, I would qualify for no maternity leave whatsoever. I would have to use up my 5 or so sick days and then go back to work. My Canadian brain can't even wrap itself around such a concept.
But there's a lot to love about the US, too. Like it or not, Canada just doesn't have the population density to be a "happening" place. I moved here because California offered an amazing career opportunity that would be hard to come by in Canada. And of course, the climate. I'm from the Canadian prairie (think five hours north of Montana) and it's freakin' cold in the winter. I'm not designed for a climate in which a five to ten minute walk can be unbearable four months out of the year.
I think if you're a strong performer in your field, you're more likely to achieve runaway success in the US than in Canada, again because Canada's small and spread out population just doesn't support that kind of high achieving environment.
I'm proud to be Canadian, and I feel fortunate to be living in the US. As far as the world goes, I'd say living in either of the two countries is a pretty lucky break.
Yes, but the liberals just refuse to move to Canada even though they want the US to become Canada. If they did and took their urban issues (violent crime, low performing schools and so on) with them the US would regain much of it's lost greatness.
You realize the states with the LOWEST performing schools are the RED ones right? Explain that to me?
Those crummy 1%er's. Darn them for creating jobs!
BTW, speaking for myself, I have never witnessed jobs being created by poor people.
Actually, you witness poor and middle class people creating jobs everyday. Every time you witness them spend money they are stimulating the economy, economic stimulus creates jobs. I can have a million dollar idea, but if no one wants to buy it, then it's not worth a dime now is it?
And of course, the climate. I'm from the Canadian prairie (think five hours north of Montana) and it's freakin' cold in the winter. I'm not designed for a climate in which a five to ten minute walk can be unbearable four months out of the year.
I'm not entirely sure why Americans like to tout "the climate" in parts of the US as a plus point, Swizzy, so perhaps you can help me out here, you having experienced both.
Me, I like four seasons. I like hot summers and cold winters. I like the colours of fall; I like watching my plants poke their heads up in the spring. I like an ice-cold beer after cutting the grass on a hot summer's day, and I appreciate a whisky by the fire with the cat curling up on the hearth while the winter howls outside. I like the spruce trees in my front yard, providing shade in summer, and greenery in winter. I enjoy the tomatoes from my garden in summer, and I like the quiet and solitude of the mountains nearby, when they lie buried under a blanket of snow in winter.
Now, perhaps those things are not to your liking, which is fine. And I can understand if our Californian and Texan and Floridian friends cannot imagine such things, which is fine also. But as I am so content here in Canada--and so are millions of others--can you tell me: why do some Americans think that Canadians are unfortunate, because they (like Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin, among other states) have four seasons?
We don't have such an inferiority complex that we need 99 reasons why we're better than any other country.
I don't think Canadians that ever crossed the border into Detroit will have much of an inferiority complex left. Probably they develop a spontaneous superiority complex even.
I don't have 99, just 1.You can go get me a beer! OK, kid.
Speaking of, we have WAY better beer than the Canadians do.
Forget Molson - I'll take a Shiner Bock, a Dixie Blackened Voodoo Lager, or an Abita Turbodog any day.
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But Canada has a lot to be proud of, regardless of how it compares to the US.
OK, kid.