I SUPPOSE.
*dances*
quote:
Trillee attempted to be funny by writing:
the wonders of becoming canadian.
Hehehehe...this just struck me as funny.
quote:
We were all impressed when JooJooFlop wrote:
Once Canada's health care system finally implodes all the conservatives down here will blame it on the gay marrage.
Don't be silly, most conservatives hate Canada's health care system completely independantly of their stance on gay marriage.
quote:
This insanity brought to you by Arttemis:
Don't be silly, most conservatives hate Canada's health care system completely independantly of their stance on gay marriage.
Not hate so much as observe that, like every other idea socialists have, it doesn't work. Maradon! fucked around with this message on 12-09-2004 at 09:13 PM.
quote:
Maradon! obviously shouldn't have said:
Not hate so much as observe that, like every other idea socialists have, it doesn't work.
When will those Marxists' learn 
quote:
Liam had this to say about pies:
When will those Marxists' learn
The only good commie is Liam.
quote:
Maradon! wrote this then went back to looking for porn:
The only good commie is Liam.
quote:
Snoota painfully thought these words up:
what
quote:
Maradon! had this to say about Knight Rider:
Not hate so much as observe that, like every other idea socialists have, it doesn't work.
Except in every OECD country that has one.
Why would most of them stay in America? Hmmmmm
quote:
Waisz's account was hax0red to write:
Why would most of them stay in America? Hmmmmm
Tarquinn fucked around with this message on 12-10-2004 at 03:27 AM.
quote:
When the babel fish was in place, it was apparent Tarquinn said:
Probably because of their friends, family, jobs, the stress and work a move to a different country will cause, and being used to their neighborhood and surroundings.
What he said. People are also lazy and more willing to complain than take action.
quote:
Tarquinn spewed forth this undeniable truth:
Probably because of their friends, family, jobs, the stress and work a move to a different country will cause, and being used to their neighborhood and surroundings.
Pfft, I've already done it 4 or 5 times throughout the country... it's managable.
And when did personal attachments get in the way of morals or beliefs? 
quote:
Pvednes had this to say about Captain Planet:
Except in every OECD country that has one.
Canada has huge waiting times for important procedures and the system is three billion in debt and getting worse at an alarming pace. England suffers the same problems, their queues are so full that they've had to develop a private healthcare system on top of their socialized healthcare system.
Not only that, but socialized healthcare systems DEPEND on America's private healthcare system. Forced drug pricing is so hostile toward pharmecutical companies and profit margins are so meager on sales in these countries that they're forced to raise prices on American sales to cover the cost of research and development.
That's right my foreign friends, next time you pop a cipro tab that you got for free from the government, thank an American. Maradon! fucked around with this message on 12-10-2004 at 04:16 AM.
quote:
Waisz impressed everyone with:
Pfft, I've already done it 4 or 5 times throughout the country... it's managable.And when did personal attachments get in the way of morals or beliefs?
How many times have you abandoned your job and family for your beliefs?
quote:
Tarquinn's unholy Backstreet Boys obsession manifested in:
How many times have you abandoned your job and family for your beliefs?
Of course it's a shitty system that America is still working out. Yeah, unions between any two people should be legal. I don't actually feel otherwise.
But shouldn't people be willing to leave it until it resolves (yeah, could be a while) if they truly believe that Canada is better than America? Doesn't it show weakness in words to say you hate America's system and then continue living in it?
quote:
So quoth Waisz:
Of course it's a shitty system that America is still working out. Yeah, unions between any two people should be legal. I don't actually feel otherwise.But shouldn't people be willing to leave it until it resolves (yeah, could be a while) if they truly believe that Canada is better than America? Doesn't it show weakness in words to say you hate America's system and then continue living in it?
People say things and never do them till completion all the time.
Masters of hyperbole and all that old chap, hip hip.
quote:
Waisz had this to say about Reading Rainbow:
A lot of people "threaten" to leave for Canada and don't, except during drafts.Why would most of them stay in America? Hmmmmm
To renounce your American citizenship and declare citizenship in Canada is harder than one would think, takes a decent amoung of time, and is really expensive. Its not that most people are far too lazy, but rather the problem semi-solves itself by the time someone could actually move there.
Under capitalism, man exploits man. Under communism, it's just the opposite. - John Kenneth Galbraith
Dec. 4, 2004, 10:10PM
Canada's not so nice, after all
Anti-American attitudes are a daily fact of life in Great White North
By NORA JACOBSON
I moved to Canada after the 2000 election. Although I did it mainly for career reasons I got a job whose description read as though it had been written precisely for my rather quirky background and interests at the time I found it gratifying to joke that I was leaving the United States because of George W. Bush. It felt fine to think of myself as someone who was actually going to make good on the standard election-year threat to leave the country.
Also, I had spent years of my life feeling like I wasn't a typical American and wishing I could be Canadian. I wanted to live in a country that was not a superpower, a country I believe to have made the right choices about fairness, human rights and the social compact.
So I could certainly identify with the disappointed John Kerry supporters who started fantasizing about moving to Canada after Nov. 2. But after nearly four years as an American in the Great White North, I've learned it's not all beer and doughnuts. If you're thinking about coming to Canada, let me give you some advice: Don't.
Although I enjoy my work and have made good friends in Toronto, I've found life as an American expatriate in Canada difficult, frustrating and even painful in ways that have surprised me.
As attractive as living here may be in theory, the reality's something else. For me, it's been one of almost daily confrontation with a powerful anti-Americanism that pervades many aspects of life. When I've mentioned this phenomenon to Canadian friends, they've furrowed their brows sympathetically and said, "Yes, Canadian anti-Americanism can be very subtle." My response is, there's nothing subtle about it.
The anti-Americanism I experience generally takes this form: Canadians bring up "the States" or "Americans" to make comparisons or evaluations that mix a kind of smug contempt with a wariness that alternates between the paranoid and the absurd.
Thus, Canadian media discussion of President Bush's official visit last week focused on the snub implied by his not having visited earlier. The media reported that when he did come, he would not speak to a Parliament that's so hostile it can't be trusted to receive him politely. [Bush did not speak in Parliament.] Coverage of a Canadian athlete caught doping devolves into complaints about how Americans always get away with cheating.
The Blame Canada song from the South Park movie is taken as documentary evidence of Americans' real attitudes toward this country. The ongoing U.S. ban on importing Canadian cattle (after a case of mad cow disease was traced to Alberta) is interpreted as a form of political persecution.
In the wake of 9/11, after the initial shock wore off, it was common to hear some Canadians voice the opinion that Americans had finally gotten what they deserved. The attacks were just deserts for years of interventionist U.S. foreign policy, the increasing inequality between the world's poorest nations and the wealthiest one on Earth, and a generalized arrogance.
I heard similar views expressed after Nov. 2, when Americans were perceived to have revealed their true selves and thus to "deserve" a second Bush term.
Canadians often use metaphors to portray their relationship with the United States. They describe Canada as "sleeping with an elephant." Even when the elephant is at rest, they worry that it may suddenly roll over. They liken Canada to a gawky teen-age girl with a hopeless crush on the handsome and popular boy next door. You know, the one who doesn't even know she exists.
The self-image conveyed in these metaphors is timid and accommodating. Perhaps this is how Canadians see themselves (or would like to be seen), but my experience is that they are extremely aggressive (if somewhat passively so) when it comes to demonstrating their deep ambivalence toward Americans. Take the popular TV show Talking to Americans, which simultaneously showcases Americans' ignorance about Canada and mocks Canadians' unhealthy preoccupation with what Americans really think of them.
Of course, there's often something of the stalker in that gawky teen-age girl, isn't there?
Part of what's irksome about Canadian anti-Americanism and the obsession with the United States is that it seems so corrosive to Canada. Any country that defines itself through a negative ("Canada: We're not the United States") is doomed to an endless and repetitive cycle of hand-wringing and angst. For example, Canadians often point to their system of universal health care as the best example of what it means to be Canadian (because the United States doesn't provide it), but this means that any effort to adjust or reform that system (which is not perfect) precipitates a national identity crisis: To wit, instituting co-payments or private MRI clinics will make Canada too much like the United States.
The rush to make comparisons sometimes prevents meaningful examination of the very real problems that Canada faces. As a Canadian social advocate once told me, when her compatriots look at their own societal problems, they are often satisfied once they can reassure themselves that they're better off than the United States. As long as there's still more homelessness, racism and income inequality to the south, Canadians can continue to rest easy in their moral superiority.
I felt a strong tug toward the United States when the borders shut for several hours on the afternoon of 9/11, and again after the election this month. Canadian friends were honestly shocked when I, a caricature of a bluestocking blue-stater (I've spent most of my life in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland and Wisconsin, with short stays in Washington state and the bluest part of Colorado), said that I would in many ways prefer to live in the United States, and not just because it's home.
They assume that it's better, more comfortable, to be in a place seemingly more in tune with one's own political and philosophical leanings. Right after the election, many asked me if I would now apply for Canadian citizenship.
I don't intend to do that, because experiencing the anti-Americanism I've described has been instructive: Living in Canada and coping with it has forced me to confront my own feelings about America. And it's helped me discover what I do value about it: its contradictions, its eccentricities, its expansive spirit, all the intensity and opportunity of a deeply flawed, widely inconsistent, but always interesting country.
Perhaps I am a typical American, after all.
_________________________________________________________________________
Is that what it's really like for people who move here from the states? (or even the state's point of view of us)
Anyways, I'm glad they Leaglised Same Sex Marriage. I know a lot of my friends will be happy ^_^
Americans give other countries a lot of shit, and they give it back. France, for example. Mention the French around here and someone will inevitably invoke World War II and isn't it nice the French don't speak German. Well...that isn't exactly making friends, even if the French are being little shits. By and large, though, the one or two French foreign exchange students on campus are pretty cool. We don't talk politics constantly or anything, but we get along. It's really easy to throw stones when the target's across the Atlantic. Same thing with Canadians. Americans give Canada a lot of shit, and say some pretty wild things like how they're copying us or how they should be the next couple of states, our money's better, etc. It's a lot like a guy with a tiny dick who buys the biggest possible gun, the biggest possible house, the biggest possible dog, and the most expensive race car he can to compensate. If you got it, don't flaunt it. If you flaunt it, expect someone to throw a brick at you sooner or later.
If I went to Canada, I'd expect I'd get a lot of ribbing. That's okay. I don't take it personal so long as it's fairly good natured.
sigpic courtesy of This Guy, original modified by me
quote:
Verily, Ja'Deth Issar Ka'bael doth proclaim:
Americans give other countries a lot of shit, and they give it back. France, for example. Mention the French around here and someone will inevitably invoke World War II and isn't it nice the French don't speak German. Well...that isn't exactly making friends, even if the French are being little
No, we make sarcastic remarks about them surrendering at the drop of a fart. We make cracks about them being pussies who can't handle fighting.
We also occasionally blame them for France Jr, er, I mean Quebec 
