The South May Not Rise Again
The South May Not Rise Again
Recent studies show that Canada is more welcoming to the idea of social mobility than the United States.
By Anzish Mirza , Contributor - US NEWS and World Report, March 10, 2017
Canadian and American flags wave in the wind at the US/Canada border March 1, 2017, in Pittsburg, New Hampshire. (DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)
The American dream has been an aspiration for immigrants and citizens alike for decades. The idea that anyone -- regardless of race, religion, or socio-economic background -- could advance and have a better life is one of the hallmarks of living in America.
Or at least it used to be.
Recent reports indicate that the American dream may be moving north of the border. Put it another way, the American dream no longer exists, but the Canadian dream does.
"No matter how you cut the American dream or no matter how you describe the American dream, whether it's life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness or a car, a job and a degree, it's now become easier in Canada," Scott Gilmore told CNN. Gilmore is a former Canadian diplomat who has written about Canadian mobility.
A major element of the American dream is social mobility. A study published at Washington Center for Equitable Growth in 2016 said that a person in America only had a 6 percent chance of reaching the top third wage earners in the next 15 years if they were in the bottom 10 percent, in 1993, making this rags-to-riches dream a rarity.
U.S. News and World Report recently came out with its Best Countries Ranking and placed Canada at No. 2, while the United States lagged behind at No. 7. In this study the countries were ranked in the following categories, adventure, citizenship, cultural influence, entrepreneurship, heritage, movers, open for business, power and quality of life.
Gilmore, whose recent essay "The American Dream has moved to Canada," was published in Macleans, a weekly current affairs magazine in Canada, delved deeply into the topic, said factors such as health care costs and access to cheaper education help Canada flourish in areas ahead of its neighbor to the south.
"Where do you go now for 'Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?' Canadians live 2.5 years longer than Americans. They are six times less likely to be incarcerated. And the World Economic Forum ranks Canadians as the 6th happiest people in the world, while Americans lag behind at 13th," Gilmore wrote.
While Canadians have highlighted their superiority for years, the country garnered more attention in the weeks and months leading up to Election Day in the U.S. Many Americans took to Twitter announcing their plans to move to the neighboring country depending on the results. The Canadian immigration website crashed on Election Day, and many have wondered how easy it would be to move to Canada now that Donald Trump is president.
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A population of only 34 million in the second largest country in the world. Lots of room, so come on over.
I have given it serious thought, but my wife refuses to live where it snows. Still, if she were to pass first I'm thinking that I could put up a tiny house of about 700-800 sq ft (plus a garage and a storage building) somewhere near Winnipeg and spend the rest of my days living a very simple and small life. I just need a 4x, a nearby grocery and drug store and a liqueur store (I know in Canada you have to go to a government run store and that the prices are fixed nationwide) and a doctors office/hospital. From what I understand you have to have $20,000 American to immigrate to show that you can make for your first year and that shouldn't be a huge a problem (a bit hard after paying for the tiny house an garage which I want to pay cash for), plus I still can collect my American Social Security checks there. I won't need my Medicare.
Seriously, Randy, Vancouver hardly ever gets snow, but you can ski on Grouse mountain which overlooks the city in the morning, and play golf down below in the afternoon. Once you reach 65, as a senior citizen you get lots of discounts and benefits, and all the prescription drugs yoiu require for a small dispensing fee each time and a CDN$100 annual registration fee. Seriously, prescriptions that can cost you thousands of dollars a year in the USA are virtually free. You know already that your health care is free - hospitals or clinics - you choose whatever hospital or doctor you want - no insurance company dictates where you have to go.
By the way, if your wife COULD stand some snow, but wants to live beside the Atlantic Ocean, a town in New Brunswick has a promotion for Americans - they give you a job (you don't have to look for one) AND a house to live in free provided you have to start paying for it after 5 years. If it were not for my age and my wife not wanting to leave China I'd take them up on that.
Well the New Brunswick one sounds like a good deal, but I can't work, hence the Social Security. I wonder if I drop Medicare after moving to Canada if the US government will stop taking the $118 a month out of my Part A to pay for it? I have always wanted to see Vancouver and I have heard it is a very accepting and eclectic place. With the much less snowfall a Tiny House makes much more sense there then in Manitoba. Cheaper to heat, easier to get around, hopefully some cheaper land or I could always put it on wheels and park it in a lot.
Funny thing is I always wanted a Tiny House even before they became a "thing" here. I once (about 25 years ago) rented a small one bedroom house trailer on a lake for a few years between marriages. It had a working bathroom (shower, no tub), a two burner gas stove/oven in a small kitchen leading into a little living room big enough for a small sofa and a rocking chair a TV and a stereo on top of my fridge and a bedroom just big enough for a double bed and room on each side to walk. After awhile of living there I really realized that that was all I really needed to be happy.
If my wife passes away that's the way I am going to go. I mean what in the hell do I need a 2200 sq ft house? The only real question would be is where would I put it?
If that gun doesn't stop you, the rack sure as hell will.
Too many Muslims for me in Canada and the percentage of their population is increasing. I prefer the culture of my people conservative US citizens that believe in limited government. I'll stay and fight the leftist commies for the good of my country. We will squash Olbermanns resistance movement of government dependent skinny jean keyboard warriors.
Canada is a lot of fun, I'm heading there again in 9 days for a short week of snowmobiling and meetings. The cities are becoming very much 'English as a second language' places with the amount of immigrants coming in, but they seem to make it work. Their socialized medicine works best in population centers, tougher for folks that don't live in big cities.
Their socialized medicine works best in population centers, tougher for folks that don't live in big cities.
As opposed to America, where privatized medicine works best for the rich, and barely works at all for anyone else.
I'm not rich and my healthcare works just fine. Everyone I work with has theirs' in it works fine. Wasn't Obamacare supposed to fix all of this? Are you saying Obamacare is a failure?
It took me three hours to find a new primary care physician the other day, with my "high quality" health insurance provided by my employer. There a literally dozens of doctors offices to choose from in my town, and virtually none of them are accepting new patients. Some claimed they didn't accept my insurance, while I was staring at a computer screen saying that they do. Only one of them did I not get put on hold for a minimum of 30 minutes before I could even ask the question. Healthcare is a joke here, and it's clear why the US ranks so low in comparison to the rest of the developed world.
When I first moved here to WNY, few docs were accepting new clients. One of the reasons? Wealthier Canadians would come over here and take care of their health care needs rather than waiting in the rope line back home.
I did find a great (new) Doc and when I changed insurances I had to change providers (his firm didn't take my new coverage) and I was able to find another doc to take me in pretty easily.
Mine works fine too. Have a Medicare home advantage plan. Having just experienced some health problems, I racked up thousands of dollars in medical bills, which I simply could not pay out of pocket. With my plan, my total cost: $10.00! And my monthly premiums are under $40 dollars. It is great to live in WA. Sidebar: Fuck the R.s and the Trumpcare they rode in on!
I have Medicare ($118 a month out of my Part A Social Security) and a Medicare Advantage Plan from United Healthcare that has no premiums to fill in for what Medicare doesn't cover as far as hospitalization. No co-pays on doctor visits or specialists (except for Mental Health...Bastards!) and if you want Dental it's $17 a month, but the co-pays on it are very high! Low co-pays on drugs, usually $7 or free (BP meds) for most. Some are higher, but there is usually a $7 option for most of what I need. So mine pretty much works. I'm fairly happy.
What are you going to fight the commies with, your keyboard Dean.
You'll know when I break out the big guns I'll be using CAP LOCKS.
LMAO, I'm sure you will. Just don't hit ''delete''.