Culture: Canada vs the US

Serial Midget · Jul 28, 2003

Adams suggests Americans focus on survival, Canadians on fulfillment. "Americans go where no man has gone before," he writes. "Canadians follow and make that new place livable."

So... Canada is a gay country whos citizenz like to decorate and do dishes? Sweet.

"America only compares itself to itself," he says. "I really don't know how you're even going to reinvent yourselves."

Why do we need to reinvent ourselves? We're happy with ourselves - so what if Canada isn't. :monkey:

Each country's founding documents are telling: America's Declaration of Independence claims the right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The Canadian Constitution, with its parliamentary democracy, is content with "peace, order and good government."

My idea of Canada is lots of govornment agencies and high taxes - both of which I could live without. Our govornment and tax rates are way too high as it is.

"American culture," he says, "is almost like a glass of beer that we rent for 20 minutes then it's gone."

Wishful thinking at best - somewhat delusional at worst. I think Canadian's are a bit peeved that most American's are not interested in renting Canadian culture for even 5 minutes.

Toshi · Jul 28, 2003

Washingtonians, Oregonians and New Englanders revealed values that more closely mirror greater Canada than middle America.

ah, excellent. that's an interesting read, even if the main source was a book that is admittedly one giant generalization, seemingly.

ummbikes · Jul 28, 2003

"Not many of my friends would be against legislation to legalize gay marriages, or the idea of legalizing marijuana," Lepawsky says. "They at least have the ideas of liberalism."

I have said before Canada minus the socialism is Libertarian. I don't know much about the rest of Canada but B.C. seems like a cool place.

Now if they could do someting about the taxes and muffed up medical system they would have something.

Oh, gun laws, what are Canada's gun laws like?

ohio · Jul 28, 2003

The US as founded by Puritans... their ridiculous work ethic is one of the reasons we rose to the power we currently are, but with that comes their extremely conservative beliefs that are just as engrained in our culture and will be for a long time.

Canada was founded by smelly godless trappers... guess who's having more fun?

Serial Midget · Jul 28, 2003

Originally posted by ummbikes
Oh, gun laws, what are Canada's gun laws like?

Pretty strict or drunken ninja would have been shot by now... :rolleyes:

Silver · Jul 29, 2003

A little anecdote, for what it's worth.

About 6 months ago, my wife and I were in Alberta, my mom was having surgery and we were visiting. We went with my mom when she checked into the hospital, and my wife (the American) commented on how much more relaxed the hospital seemed than the ones in California. I've noticed the difference the other way as well, and I think it's due to the fact that people in Canadian hospitals aren't wondering where they are going to get $20,000 to pay for appendicitis. They know they aren't going to lose their house or go into bankruptcy if someone in the family gets cancer. The first question from someone is a lab coat isn't, "Do you have insurance? No, cash then?", it is ,"What is bothering you."

I've seen both systems, and for my money, the Canadian one works far better. Your results may vary, however. I also think the tax situation is a little overblown. Sure, taxes in the US are lower. Take away the mortgage interest deduction (can't do that in Canada, but it does have the one benefit of keeping real estate costs a bit lower) and add in the cost of your health insurance in the US (which is fair, because in Canada, it's included in your taxes) and you're probably looking at fairly close to the same amount.

People in the US don't realize how little they actually get for their tax dollars. Besides that huge amount of military power, of course.

Serial Midget · Jul 29, 2003

Why do Canadians living in the US complain about our system and culture so much? :confused:

Serial Midget · Jul 29, 2003

Flexman's survey shows that 74 percent of Canadians agree that "the present tax system is basically unfair to average Canadians" LINK

The average Canadian family currently pays out more money in taxes than they do for the necessities of life -- shelter, food and clothing -- combined, according to a new study from the Fraser Institute. LINK

The overall Canadian tax burden has changed little relative to the averages in the world's industrialized countries, but it has deteriorated relative to our major trading partner and closest neighbour, the United States. LINK

LordOpie · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by Silver
People in the US don't realize how little they actually get for their tax dollars. Besides that huge amount of military power, of course.

Which keeps the Mexicans from crossing north of the border and kicking some Canuck ass.

Silver · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by Serial Midget
Why do Canadians living in the US complain about our system and culture so much?

It's probably the tireless chest banging and the misconception that Canada is pretty much communist

valve bouncer · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by Serial Midget
Why do Canadians living in the US complain about our system and culture so much?

Whenever you have people from one first world country living in another first world country you are gonna have complaints. Nature of the beast. Having said that while I find plenty of things to complain about in Japan I try not to bend the ear of Japanese over them. They don't wanna hear, most people anywhere in that situation don't wanna hear it. I leave my complaining to other ex-pats. Now if you really wanna hear whining about the US, I suggest being a fly on the wall and getting MMike, Silver and Partsbara together. I think you'd have an apoplectic fit

Drunken_Ninja · Jul 29, 2003

"American culture," he says, "is almost like a glass of beer that we rent for 20 minutes then it's gone."

:devil:That is it right there :evil:

BurlyShirley · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by Drunken_Ninja
"American culture," he says, "is almost like a glass of beer that we rent for 20 minutes then it's gone."

:devil:That is it right there :evil:

"Canadian culture," I say, "is like a Foghat concert in 2003. No one even cares. I mean sure, there's a couple good songs, but do you really want to be bothered with the sh***y live music and overbearing fans?"

Tenchiro · Jul 29, 2003

Serial Midget · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by Silver
It's probably the tireless chest banging and the misconception that Canada is pretty much communist

I don't have that misconception - I know Canada is socialist.

Serial Midget · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by valve bouncer
I think you'd have an apoplectic fit...

My feeling is that if you don't like - you're free to leave. Pretty simple really. I guess that ex-pats must be gaining something from their host countries or they wouldn't be there in the first place.

I don't find too much about Canadian style government attractive but I wouldn't suggest they change anything - by the people for the people you know - I assume most Canadians are happy with what they have and that's good enough for me.

MMike - you always seem to have a lot of issues with the US and yet you continue to live and work here, complaining all the while. It's like going to your best friends house for dinner and then complaining about his wife's cooking. Poor form at best.

Drunken_Ninja · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by BurlySurly
"Canadian culture," I say, "is like a Foghat concert in 2003. No one even cares. I mean sure, there's a couple good songs, but do you really want to be bothered with the sh***y live music and overbearing fans?"

Who the hell is foghat? :confused:

are they new?

Tenchiro · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by Drunken_Ninja
Who the hell is foghat?

are they new?

I think that was his point. :monkey:

Drunken_Ninja · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by Serial Midget
I don't have that misconception - I know Canada is socialist.

i dunno, i just think that canadians get bored easily because we have no motivation other than to try and not be americans.

that 'country that was developed by furtraders' comment stung a little.

kill a beaver eat dinner uhg...have fire.

now we are a fun people.

i mean most canadians in reality lived in the u.s. when people first arrived in NA, then came up north for the education system and the heathcare.

Geez, not a lot of guesswork there.

There were perks as well, I mean all of the beaver that you can eat, plus the beer was really good back then too.

ohio · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by Drunken_Ninja

that 'country that was developed by furtraders' comment stung a little.

kill a beaver eat dinner uhg...have fire.

now we are a fun people.

um, that was a COMPLIMENT. The answer to the rhetorical question of "who's having more fun?" was "the Canadians are."

One thing I HAVE noticed in my few trips to Montreal, is that the women are SMOKING HOT, and the men are tiny. It's like a little fantasy land where everything is cheap, the beer is strong, I'd win a fight if I got in one, and I actually have a chance with the beautiful babies.

Booker · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by ohio

One thing I HAVE noticed in my few trips to Montreal, is that the women are SMOKING HOT, and the men are tiny. It's like a little fantasy land where everything is cheap, the beer is strong, I'd win a fight if I got in one, and I actually have a chance with the beautiful babies.

HAhahahahahahahahahahahahaha :thumb:

Oh man, i have gotta visit the wonderouse place. For i too am a man of short stature.

Drunken_Ninja · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by ohio
um, that was a COMPLIMENT. The answer to the rhetorical question of "who's having more fun?" was "the Canadians are."

yeah that was a sarcastic remark if i ever heard one.

that is the reality of the matter. the women are hot but they are also smart here.

that means it takes alot of money and personal wealth to impress these women i figure.

beyond that...well, it takes alot of education here to get personal wealth.

it ain't no picnic living here. I'd run for the border in a minute if i thought i'd get across. The guns don't scare me nor do the flying bullets frighten me.

anyhow i just love these hasty generalizations that make news in the U.S. . . .if you wrote that article here and printed it in a newspaper?

You would lose your career, house and job in a NEW YORK minute.

BurlyShirley · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by Drunken_Ninja
.if you wrote that article here and printed it in a newspaper?

You would lose your career, house and job in a NEW YORK minute.

sounds like a real open minded place.

Drunken_Ninja · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by BurlySurly
sounds like a real open minded place.

you are catching on fast mr burly surly.

canadian liberals are extremely conservative...right wingers.

The Canadian Federal government does appear to just hide behind the media and get fat and lazy and rich on socio-political issues when they should be doing something for canada. That is what we are all thinking sure.
(all talk and no action.)

Still the person posting that article would get lambasted for making such remarks.

maby the guy would keep his house but the libel suit would be brutal to watch. It is probably more likely that some historian might just come out of nowhere and embarass the guy and the paper enough to cause him to lose his job.

They don't fool around here with newsprint like that. If you print propaganda, people will accost you.

Defamation of character or misrepresentation of a people or a country like that shows signs of inner-political turmoil. Politics and diplomacy in Canada are built on alot of traditions as is news reporting. Etiquette or business acumen applies here.

People would get all pissy because articles like that do not support multiculturalism. You are supposed to sample cultures rather than profile them from afar. That writer is a serious instigator.

valve bouncer · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by Serial Midget
My feeling is that if you don't like - you're free to leave. Pretty simple really. I guess that ex-pats must be gaining something from their host countries or they wouldn't be there in the first place.

MMike - you always seem to have a lot of issues with the US and yet you continue to live and work here, complaining all the while. It's like going to your best friends house for dinner and then complaining about his wife's cooking. Poor form at best.

Pretty simplistic way of thinking SM. A lot of people have committments that don't allow them to leave, mortgages, family etc. I'm sure MMike and others pay their share of taxes . I believe that that gives you at least some rights. Partsbara is soon to get American citizenship, that gives him (almost) all the rights you have. Is criticism of America the exclusive reserve of Americans only? Are you that shallow and easily hurt that you can't suck it up?
It seems you have never lived in another country for an extended period of time. If you did, you would understand a lot more. It's not that MMike or Partsbara etc hate America it's that living in a foreign country creates unique pressures and stresses and one of the release valves is to moan about certain things. It doesn't mean you hate the host country. It's just a way to cope with what is sometimes a difficult situation. You're right about one thing though; if the benefits didn't outweigh the advantages then people wouldn't stay. It doesn't mean you lose your right to an opinion though.

Drunken_Ninja · Jul 29, 2003

I know i know i am starting to sound ridiculously close to splitting hairs with this argument.

afterall it was just a loosefitting article that shows a smudge on Canada's reputation.

The problem is that America was never invited to meddle with our political issues.

Not only that but considering the 8 or nine issues that actually got addressed here in this country in the past year...i would say that something is definitely wrong with the U.S. to start seeing a metamorphosis in Canada.

8 issues and not one of them got fully done right. Just half ass politics from our own feds. They start doing something but they never follow through.

IT TAKES A REAL LEADER TO STREAMLINE A COUNTRY.

When I read absolutism like in that article it pisses me off. Not sure about canada?

F*ck i mean, what the hell is so different about being business competitors? That is all. There is nothing really that different about this place.

Serial Midget · Jul 29, 2003

Originally posted by valve bouncer
blah, blah, blah... It's not that MMike or Partsbara etc hate America it's that living in a foreign country creates unique pressures and stresses and one of the release valves is to moan about certain things...

But PartsBara is entertaining... we like our resident ex-pats to be entertaining, especially the Australian ones. Just foreign enough to be exotic but still speakie the English...

Canadians aren't really foreigners at all theyre like strange cousins from Kentucky.

Sideways · Jul 30, 2003

As far as culture goes....I don't really know what Canada has going on, but I'm sure it beats the bulk of the US.

'Pop' culture blows.

ALEXIS_DH · Jul 31, 2003

well, somebody told me this once in montreal.

a canadian is an american withouth guns.

(open for very deep interpretation).

ALEXIS_DH · Jul 31, 2003

i guess we agree on that. its cool here for school, work, play and whatever.

but then raising kids?, hmm unless i can afford really good k-12 schools here (even then, there is still the world), and be able to afford the same social bubble i lived in south america, i'd never send a child of mine to k-12 or raise her or him here.

i guess it all goes to being able to afford a US-equivalent of the bubble u grew up in.

if u can, then the us would be nice to raise a kid, but if not, then public schools and those not so good religious schools, are definately not good.

no matter where u go, if you can live in that bubble you are gonna be ok. to afford that in the us, is kinda hard. i mean, u can raise a kid here nicely, but u'd have to spend like 30k a year just in tuition for a good kindergarten, then live in a gated place in westchester or sillicon valley, and blablabla, to get and equivalent of what u could get anywhere else for you kids, and that's a lot of money bro.

its way easier to afford that bubble anywhere else.

i'd rather stick to my old brittish HS. and give my children the same bubble i was raised.

maybe, ill stay here, finish a phd, maybe get a job as a college professor, keep tinkering in labs, keep travelling with my gf, but then once we get a child, i'll go back to my bubble in the 3rd world, where u can buy a 3 bed middle class house for the price of a good downhill bike, where the average person would have to save 4 years worth of 100% income to buy a intense m1, or 15 years to buy a toyota corolla. or 115 years to pay for a US college degree.

and keep living happily in gated bubble in rio de janeiro, with cheffs, maids, drivers, blablabla, working in my family business, which have very little to do with aerospace engineering. (not drugs either

), and when my kids get old enough to go to college, do the same my parents, grandparents, greatgp..... did with their sons. college abroad. and the cycle will continue, until some corrupt government destroys the econmomy to 2million% inflation in 5 years again, or rip off private industry ownership for social sake, and then, well then i'll be back.

ahh, thats life

Originally posted by MMike
I've answered the question time and time again.

The states are fine for me without kids. But as I've said numerous times, I would never EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER raise kids here. EVER EVER EVER EVER. There are just too many bad things that go on here.

Quite frankly, there are a lot of things I saw in after-school specials as kid that I never experienced and just figured that they were there for dramatic effect. Then I moved here and discovered that a lot of those awful things actually did happen. So perhaps I grew up in a bubble. Well I'm thankful for it.

And everyone goes on about how the standard of living is "better" in states. That depends on your priorites. You definitely have more disposable income here. People DEFINITLEY work longer hours here....in my industry anyway.

I was going to elaborate but there's no point.

Bottom line, as my wife is now pregnant, we WILL IN FACT be moving back to Canada shortly after the baby is born. I want my kid to have all the advantages I was given by growing up in Canada....

Until then, I will continue to line my pockets.

ummbikes · Aug 1, 2003

The Candians I have met riding in Canada,without exception, have been cool. I don't know if that speaks more about Canada or riders.

ohio · Aug 1, 2003

Originally posted by ummbikes
The Candians I have met riding in Canada,without exception, have been cool. I don't know if that speaks more about Canada or riders.

Yup. And ditto for the ones I've met while travelling overseas. Though it's hard to make them hang out with you once they find out you're from the US.

johnbryanpeters · Aug 1, 2003

Originally posted by ohio
Yup. And ditto for the ones I've met while travelling overseas. Though it's hard to make them hang out with you once they find out you're from the US.

Shackles are helpful under these circumstances, although they complain about paying for them... :rolleyes:

Westy · Aug 1, 2003

Originally posted by Sideways
As far as culture goes....I don't really know what Canada has going on, but I'm sure it beats the bulk of the US.

'Pop' culture blows.

They still have Pop culture in Canada, it is just slightly different from ours so it does not seem "Pop".

ummbikes · Aug 1, 2003

Originally posted by ohio
Yup. And ditto for the ones I've met while travelling overseas. Though it's hard to make them hang out with you once they find out you're from the US.

The ones I met were more than willing to hangout, I just couldn't keep up.

valve bouncer · Aug 1, 2003

Originally posted by ohio
Yup. And ditto for the ones I've met while travelling overseas. Though it's hard to make them hang out with you once they find out you're from the US.

Well Ohio in my experience once you guys get outside the US you're alright

ALEXIS_DH · Aug 1, 2003

Originally posted by valve bouncer
Well Ohio in my experience once you guys get outside the US you're alright

maybe because there is something about american who care to go outside??
the same happened to me. also, most americans in really small rural towns i've known, kinda far from urban america are the nicest.

Culture: Canada vs the US

A fowl peckerwood.

Al Bundy

Harbinger of Doom

Don't mess with the Santas

The Fresno Kid

Al Bundy

find me a tampon

Al Bundy

Al Bundy

MOTHER HEN

A fowl peckerwood.

find me a tampon

Master Dildoist

Turbo Monkey

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again

Attention K Mart Shoppers

Al Bundy

Al Bundy

Turbo Monkey

Attention K Mart Shoppers

Turbo Monkey

The Fresno Kid

Monkey

Turbo Monkey

Rex Grossman Will Rise Again

Turbo Monkey

Master Dildoist

Turbo Monkey

A fowl peckerwood.

Al Bundy

Monkey

Tirelessly Awesome

Tirelessly Awesome

Don't mess with the Santas

The Fresno Kid

Hero

the teste

Don't mess with the Santas

Master Dildoist

Tirelessly Awesome