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Being Canadian is far better than being american. Most globally aware people know that now. Being american sucks and has no advantages over being Canadian. Canadians are more free and well liked by the rest of the world. Canada is just a better society. Howevery being Canadian does still pale in comparison to being European.
Having the "advantage" of being both, and having traveled extensively on both passports, I can say that it does not matter. One bit. Unless of course one goes about worrying about how they're perceived instead of just being themselves.
Could you elaborate more on "Canadians are more free"? "More liked" is a subjective thing but the other part of your comment can be addressed more objectively.
And all of our parties--yes, even the Conservatives--tend to be left of the US Democrats. Maybe that's a thing to be proud of.
Multiple parties than are all far-left is nothing to be proud of at all. If there was a variety of parties with a variety of viewpoints from all across the political spectrum, that would be something to be proud of.
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Originally Posted by ChevySpoons
I'd suggest that you either urge your local bar to stock more Canadian beer (among it, Creemore Springs)
I can't even get them to stock all of the domestic beers I like. If you can find Canadian beer here, it's either Molson or Labatt. I hope y'all do have good beer, but none of it has made it this far south.
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Originally Posted by ChevySpoons
or visit Canada, and sample all its beers.
Good idea. I haven't spent more than a day or two in Canada in over 10 years.
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Originally Posted by ChevySpoons
Until then, you're just another American putting our beer down with no good reason.
I don't believe that you know real Canadian beer at all.
I'm putting down Canadian beer for good reason: the (admittedly) limited varieties of Canadian beer I've had the opportunity to sample have not been to my liking. Canada seems to be big on pale lagers, which are too light for my taste. Do y'all brew any bocks or dark ales?
Did you read the whole thing, or did you just assume all the listed states are red?
I did read it. DC, NV, and NM - all went blue in the 2012 Presidential election.
It's worth mentioning that some of the "red" states on the list have long-serving Democrat politicians, but for the sake of simplicity, we'll use the 2012 Presidential election as the yardstick of what constitutes a red state vs a blue state.
If you want to nitpick and call those two states blue states, then go ahead and, yes, D.C. is blue, but it still doesn't take away from the fact that the VAST MAJORITY of the states with the highest amount of gun violence are undoubtedly RED. And even though they went blue for the presidential election, Nevada and New Mexico are still mostly conservative. Every state has long term running politicians from both sides as even the bluest states have pockets of conservatives and the reddest have pockets of liberals. That does not change or take away the fact the overall state is one way or the other.
So go ahead a take away those two states and one city, that still leaves 18 red states in the top for gun violence.
If you want to nitpick and call those two states blue states, then go ahead and, yes, D.C. is blue, but it still doesn't take away from the fact that the VAST MAJORITY of the states with the highest amount of gun violence are undoubtedly RED. And even though they went blue for the presidential election, Nevada and New Mexico are still mostly conservative. Every state has long term running politicians from both sides as even the bluest states have pockets of conservatives and the reddest have pockets of liberals. That does not change or take away the fact the overall state is one way or the other.
So go ahead a take away those two states and one city, that still leaves 18 red states in the top for gun violence.
It's better to look at cities, rather than states. A state can be "red" with most of the murders in larger cities, which tend to be blue.
For 2013, where the latest complete stats are available, here are the top cities over 100,000.
#1 - Chicago - 183 - Deep Blue, strict handgun laws which were overturned in 2013
#2 - New York - 155 - Deep Blue, strict handgun laws
#3 - Detroit - 154 - Deep Blue, not as strict ("shall carry" in MI)
#4 - Los Angeles - 134 - Deep Blue, strict handgun laws
#5 - Philadelphia - 116 - Deep Blue, PA is "shall carry"
#6 - Baltimore - 115 - Deep Blue, stricter laws passed in 2013
#7 - Memphis - 62 - Blue to Purple
#8 - Kansas City - 61 - Purple
#9 - Las Vegas - 50 - Purple
#10 - St. Louis - 49 - Blue
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
11,974 posts, read 25,476,450 times
Reputation: 12187
On a city level there is no correlation being Red /Blue and homicide rate. It's about how much the vast majority of people value human life.
NYC is dark blue and has a very low RATE
Baltimore is dark blue and a cesspool
Phoenix is pretty red and safe
Cincinnati is pretty red and unsafe
America has a culture of violence. Canada doe not. We were raised to believe the person to emulate is a Wild West cowboy who shows no emotion and does everything by their own strength.
It's better to look at cities, rather than states. A state can be "red" with most of the murders in larger cities, which tend to be blue.
For 2013, where the latest complete stats are available, here are the top cities over 100,000.
#1 - Chicago - 183 - Deep Blue, strict handgun laws which were overturned in 2013
#2 - New York - 155 - Deep Blue, strict handgun laws
#3 - Detroit - 154 - Deep Blue, not as strict ("shall carry" in MI)
#4 - Los Angeles - 134 - Deep Blue, strict handgun laws
#5 - Philadelphia - 116 - Deep Blue, PA is "shall carry"
#6 - Baltimore - 115 - Deep Blue, stricter laws passed in 2013
#7 - Memphis - 62 - Blue to Purple
#8 - Kansas City - 61 - Purple
#9 - Las Vegas - 50 - Purple
#10 - St. Louis - 49 - Blue
Actually looking at the city isn't better than looking at the state. Yes, Chicago has a high rate of gun violence, Chicago is not an island. If Illinois closed its borders and did not allow guns from outside states in, half the guns would disappear. And gee golly, look at what states those guns brought in come from.
Most of the cities you listed may be purple in voting, but they still reside in red states. The lax gun laws of these red states are the cause of higher rates of gun deaths and violence.
A fitting article!
“When you look at the rates of homicide without guns in the U.S. it’s only slightly higher than in Canada,” says Ryerson University professor Wendy Cukier, author of The Global Gun Epidemic. “But rates of homicide with guns are much higher. It shows that the availability of guns is very important.”
You mentioned the concept of the "cowboy who stands on his own ".
By accident, you have touched on one of the VERY basic differences, in thinking, between Americans and Canadians........
To me, the average American seems to have the attitude of " To hell with you, I'm all right ". Ignoring the huge social problems that are all around them, if they would only open their eyes. Blindly mouthing the jingo phrases of their party.
Canadians have the attitude that "if we all work together, we can live better lives " The American cult of the "rugged individual " is distasteful to us. We would rather take care of the poor, and the weak, and the elderly, than make another hundred thousand dollars.
You mentioned the concept of the "cowboy who stands on his own ".
By accident, you have touched on one of the VERY basic differences, in thinking, between Americans and Canadians........
To me, the average American seems to have the attitude of " To hell with you, I'm all right ". Ignoring the huge social problems that are all around them, if they would only open their eyes. Blindly mouthing the jingo phrases of their party.
Canadians have the attitude that "if we all work together, we can live better lives " The American cult of the "rugged individual " is distasteful to us. We would rather take care of the poor, and the weak, and the elderly, than make another hundred thousand dollars.
It works for us.
Jim B.
Yes yes!! The conservative American attitude is "I've got mine, I'm not going to share, you worry about and take care of yourself (unless you've got something I need, then that's mine too)." They seem to prefer giving their money to a multibillion dollar corporation than a poor person who can barely feed their family, all while touting Christian values .
Actually looking at the city isn't better than looking at the state. Yes, Chicago has a high rate of gun violence, Chicago is not an island. If Illinois closed its borders and did not allow guns from outside states in, half the guns would disappear. And gee golly, look at what states those guns brought in come from.
You mean like the borders are closed to illegal drugs?
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Originally Posted by Pennies4Penny
Illinois as a state still ranks LOW for gun violence overall, number 37, the violence is just concentrated in the city, which is true of most states.
Concentrated in the city with some of the strictest gun control laws in the country.
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Originally Posted by canadian citizen
A serious look at why being a Canadian is good for you.
Longevity, infant mortality rates, levels of educational attainment, net personal wealth, upward mobility, and universal health care, are all on this comprehensive list assembled by the leading Canadian new magazine. There are direct statistical comparisons to the American stats.
Please take the time to actually READ the article, before you comment. Thanks.
Jim B. In Toronto.
Yawn. Not really interested in trading freedom for a few stats.
I am sure Canada along with a slew of other countries are better in some ways than the good old USofA. Only an idiot would think that we couldn't learn things from other countries/cultures. With the way things are going here, it won't be long until we will see "99 Reasons Why Its Better To Be Somali".
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Originally Posted by markg91359
We Americans don't like to admit there is anything wrong in "The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave", but the reality is that there is plenty wrong. We've let a huge amount of wealth in this country trickle to the top. We've allowed our health care system to become totally out of control when it comes to costs. We have a high rate of unemployment among our young people. We have an astonishing number of people working for minimum wage or just a little better.
I bet more people are willing to agree that we have jumped the tracks than you think. Unfortunately we are doing nothing about it.
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Originally Posted by markg91359
Now, there are some realities to be faced. Canada may simply be better situated than the USA in some ways. Canada is the second largest country in the world and as such sits on a cornucopia of natural resources and mineral wealth. Its population of about 30 million is only one tenth of that of the USA. Because Canada does not share a border with Mexico, it largely escapes much of the problem of illegal immigration that we have.
Also having us shoulder the burden of defense costs helps.
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