If there is no conspiracy to be discussed this is going into the Canadian Politics section.

Originally posted by Sepiroth
i'm british and have been to both america and canada and id say canada is better country to live in than the US.

some parts of the US i was appalled with, some areas are so 3rd world its unbelievable how the US government allows people to live like that in a country that is 'supposed' to be the richest nation in the world, i think america is a strange culture though anyway, for me american society is very comfortable in calling someone a 'bum' if they have a low income and struggling in poverty, when its not that at all.

education/health all cost $ in america so if you've been brought up in poverty in the US chances are you will always be in poverty for the rest of your life, unless you a gifted individual (ie good at sports/acting etc), unemployment - america’s welfare system is appalling, there’s no income for the unemployed and hardly any great systems for finding employment (unless from a major city).

yet in country’s like britain/canada/australia, health is free/education is free (ie college), if in England i get unemployed tomorrow i can sleep at night knowing id be getting some sort of income and the rent payed until i find employment.

America is a great country to visit and a great country to live in if your incredibly rich, but the for average american, I would concider emigrating.



[edit on 1-4-2007 by Sepiroth]

I am an American who has been living in Britain for the past year and a half. I can honestly say much prefer America. I also found that damn near every british person here wants to leave. But why? Its a socialist utopia! It should be heaven! Free everything! No effort required!

Wrong. The measure of a country's greatness is in how happy the people are to live there, how happy they are to be part of it, and how optimistic they are about life and their lot. Thats what makes a country great. The happieness of its people with their lives.

In that case, the socialist nannny-state nightmares ranke near bottom here in greatness. I remember reading a study in a paper once about happiness world wide. Guess what? Third world and developing countries ranked highest, with something like over 75% of people in those places reporting themselves happy with life. I think Peru or Ecuador ranked highest. There were also several African countries ranked highly.

I do know that the vast majority of European countries ranked less than 50% of their people of their people happy with life. And guess what? The US outranked damn near every country in Europe except Norway, Switzerland, and Spain. We also outranked Canada. I'll have to find the study. It was fascinating.

No, my little socialist mommy state lovers, explain that. Third world countries are far happier. How can that be? Not only do they not have universal heathcare, they also lack free education, if any educational opportunities exist at all for most. And alot of them disease is rife. Even basic necessities are olimited, like fresh food, clean water, sanitation.

But by god, the suicide rates there are low! They are generally happy people. Its because their measure of happieness is not wealth, cars, free healthcare, money, ect. Their measure of happieness is the song of birds, the company of close knit family, friends, and community. The things that make their lives worth living are hard work, pride in themselves, their families, their communities, independance and self reliance which bolsters self respect and strong cultural identities. They don't rely on the state to make them happy. Their happieness is in those things which are hard fought and won.

The US, despite being a western country, still ranked rather well, with like 70% of people polled stating they were happy. And it shows. Its something I have noticed a massive difference between Europe and the States. Europe is full of msierable people. I walk down the street and unless someone is drinking alcohol, you don't see people smiling. faces are dour or blank. Go into a restaraunt or store, the service is delivered with as much warmth as a glacier. Speak to people in Europe and be greeted with a torrent of grief, complaints, and extreme pessimism about even the most simple things in life. Maybe thats why the birth rate of Europeans is declining so rapidly. people here are so damn miserable they cant even bear having kids to join in their misery.

Back in the states I have been homeless. I have also been sick without healthcare. I am supposedly one of the downtrodden. When I was employed and had a roof over my head, i was still below the poverty level. Yet never once did I feel "oppressed" or downtrodden, or miserable. I was actually quite happy, even tho day to day existance was a struggle. Never once did I even think that i would want social healthcare or a nannystate to support me. if anything, a socialist system would have killed my spirit, because there would be nothing really to work towards. In a socialist system, the taxes and punishment by the state for achieving more and bettering your lot in life to "spread the wealth" would make me say, why bother? Why work hard to build a life for myself when i can get the same benefits for doing little to nothing?

No, in America we do not call people who are poor "bums". We call lazy people who want to do little yet take alot from others lazy bums. People who are poor, but work or try very hard to work, are not called bums. In America we don't give responsibility for our lives, fortunes, and opportunity in the hands of the government. In America, everyone is expected to make or pursue their own fortune and fate if the chose so. If they wish to pursue nothing, that is certainly their right as well. Just don't expect everyone else to support you.

No thanks. Keep your socialist nanny state nightmares if thats what you believe makes a great nation. Id much rather live someplace where there is hope, optimism, and joy in life, even if it means one or two years shaved off my life because a tax happy Big brother wants to suck my income for the benefit of others.

The measure of a great nation is how happy people are to be alive. Europe and Canada both lose bigtime in that respect.

Well I am American, and I've lived near the American-Canadian border,
and I have to say, by far Canada is by far the better country.

Apart from that Canada is generall in the top tiers of free countries an
most uncorrupt countries, in fact I think that Canada is either the 2nd
least or the least corrupt country in the world, not sure which, I'll have
to go reread the article about it.

Canada is on my list of countries to move to, and for many reasons is
in the top two of that list.

Originally posted by selfless

Originally posted by condorgirl

Perhaps our 'socialist' country just cares about our people a little more.

I'm sorry, but perhaps you are unaware of USA supplying weapons to the wars in Africa and other countries? they don't give their new stuff either i guess they just want to get rid of their old weapons to make money off of them in-stead of destroying them so that other countries could not destroy them selves with cheap left over weapons they sell just to make a buck at the expense of other countries.

Yeah, USA really cares more about other countries when it suites their agenda and that is mostly MONEY over people.

The US gives more money in foreign aid then the rest of the world combined. US aid to africa outstrips Europe 15 to 1... I think the US does alot that goes unnoticed because anything that paints the US in a lighter picture is frowned upon by ppl like you.. get a life.

Originally posted by semperfoo
The US gives more money in foreign aid then the rest of the world combined. US aid to africa outstrips Europe 15 to 1... I think the US does alot that goes unnoticed because anything that paints the US in a lighter picture is frowned upon by ppl like you.. get a life.

And more tham 70% of American foreign aid money goes to Israel,
so that really does'nt make us out to be some great humanist country.

Originally posted by iori_komei

And more tham 70% of American foreign aid money goes to Israel,
so that really does'nt make us out to be some great humanist country.

But this doesnt take into account the american ppls donation to aid which is 20X more then what the government dishes out.

Also the US does more for third world nations then any other nation on the face of the earth. You know all those illegal aliens who come here to work? Well they send money (remittances) back to there familys down in south america. Were talking 10s of billions of dollars every year.. The World Bank officially estimates that illegal aliens from developing countries in developed countries sent home more than $223 billion to their families in developing countries in 2005. It grows more and more every year.

[edit on 103030p://1604pm by semperfoo]

You have voted Skadi_the_Evil_Elf for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have two more votes this month.

That was a beautiful read. As a merchant mariner I have been all over northern Europe. England was the most memorable. Not because of it's beautiful country side or culture. but, because of the people I met while I was there. As of my views on Canada. No, they are not a 2nd rate country in my opinion. They went down a different path. I love visiting Canada. But, I wouldn't want to call it home.

[edit on 1-4-2007 by LostSailor]

Just a friendly reminder that the subject at hand is how much Canada does or doesn't suck. It doesn't have much to do with the US or Europe at all.

Canada - too American for the Europeans and too European for the Americans.



[edit on 1-4-2007 by Duzey]

Canada has never been and never will be a second rate nation.
Our politics on the world stage our quiet but the effect is long standing.
I always cringe when I hear someone say that we are "peace keeping nation". The people who say we are "peace keeping nation" have never been soldiers. They have absolutely no clue what it takes to get to that level of security with in a troubled nation where "peace keepers" can be sent in to monitor and intervene as far as their rules of engagement allow.
How do you get to the level of stability where “peace keepers” can be sent into a country?
It is a 3 step process from the militaristic perspective.
1. A force either local or foreign must be sent to be a war fighting force
2. That force then turns their responsibilities from war fighting to peace making.
3. After the established forces have created a level of security where there is no longer a sustained threat in the area of operations peace making operations can then turn to peace keeping.
If you were to ask any Canadian peace keeper about their time in areas such as Egypt, Israel, Golan Heights, Cyprus or Bosnia they would state without hesitation that peace keeping is one of the most dangerous levels of soldiering due to the use of land mines, unexploded ordinance, local and cultural differences still present and the perceived lowered threat level with in the area. Bosnia is a perfect example of how world powers intervened due to the ethnic cleansing occurring in that country in the early 1990’s. Today the threat of violence is still present and when the foreign forces leave the area the chances of this occurring again are very high.
I appreciate the sentiment of the original posters submission. Therefore I would kindly ask them to take a step back, remove themselves from the annals of liberal post secondary academia and look at the reality to which as a nation and as a member of the global community which Canada faces today.

Arcticnull

@ skadi_the_evil_elf,

if you don't like this country then leave, simple as that

ive gave my views on the US from what i saw in the 2 months while i was there, i will probably go to visit again, but to live NEVER. do the same if your unhappy and go back home - as for how great england or britain is, where have you seen me post a message about how GREAT we are?

this thread is about how canada is a 2nd rate country by an american, so i just gave my views on how commonwealth countrys and EU have systems in place FAR more advanced than the US for looking after its own people....btw if look polls on the best country to bring a child into the world it isn't britain or america, its australia.

but its a well known fact, the standard of living in america is declining - there is a HUGE divide between the rich and the poor in america and its getting bigger, whereas the gap between the rich and poor in other western countrys is closing.

there’s many statistics now show america is no longer the land of opportunity, you must remember europe was BATTERED 60 years ago from the world wars, the only country who came out of that smelling of roses was america, yet in late 1930's the US was broke and riots were on the streets during the great depression era, world war 2 was the best thing that happened to the United States.

But things are changing, just look at Americas debt clock (tick tock) - not only that the US simply cannot compete with the European Union in all departments, from the $ to the talk of a ‘north american union’ - things are grim.

[edit on 2-4-2007 by Sepiroth]

Yes but your thinking of the European Union as a nation like the United States (which is 50 countrys or states into one), the EU is not a nation, not designed to be and it never will be in our lifetime.

[edit on 2-4-2007 by Sepiroth]

Originally posted by Sepiroth
Yes but your thinking of the European Union as a nation like the United States (which is 50 countrys or states into one), the EU is not a nation and it never will be in our lifetime.

Which is precisely there problem. Unity.. Commonality between all those nations. They wont be able to compete with the US without it. Atleast not for long.
I like how fritz put it in regards to the EU. "We're all fish in a very big pond trying to go our own separate ways."

that is the EUs problem. This is why they can not agree with one another on proper reform which doesnt paint a pretty future for the EU. At worst you are looking at the disintegration of the EU. Which seems to be very likely say in 15 years time.

blahhh take no notice what the CIA says, i'm sick of americans resulting to bias CIA statistics when resulting to sources

anyway i don't care, if it was left to me id be born in a wachati tribe in the middle of nowhere, now that would be cool

[edit on 2-4-2007 by Sepiroth]

Originally posted by Sepiroth

anyway i don't care, if it was left to me id be born into a wachati tribe in the middle of nowhere, now that would be cool

[edit on 2-4-2007 by Sepiroth]

Now wouldnt that be sweet!
HAHA well atleast you have a sense of humor.

I LOVE visiting Canada. Every part that I've been to has been great - except for that one trip into French Canadian territory - but other than that I have enjoyed visiting very, very much. It's expensive up there ... but very beautiful. The people were all wonderful and nice (except in the French Canadian part).

Canada gets - two thumbs up from me -

I don't think Canada is second rate at all. As has been mentioned before, it's a 'quiet' power - it's not like the United States, which seems pretty extrovert in its global position, but nevertheless Canada is undoubtedly a world player (in political, economic and military terms).

In fact, when you think 'first world', you think of nations such as those in Western Europe, North America (excluding Mexico), Australia, New Zealand, Japan and so forth.

Whether non-Canadians (including myself) like the direction Canada is taking is really irrelevant. What matters is that the Canadians themselves are happy, and if the people are happy with a system then it seems relatively sustainable.