Thanks for the compliment.
But in all fairness, I must admit my paternal grandfather emigrated from Calgary, I have relatives from Hull to Vancouver, and I spent chunks of my youth visiting them & ski-bumming across the country. If I were to retire expat, I'd very much consider Montreal or Quebec City (I love both).
Connections are one thing, but you have obviously taken the time to inform yourself, and it's largely accurate, surprising for Americans today.
I agree with the difference in perception, and is where the right in the US is in the dark ages, as bound to ideology as any left wing gruber. The for-profit model is simply not sustainable and, is yet another indicator of the division in the US. The resistance to it has nothing to do with merit, cost or effectiveness, it is all politics. The financial argument, which should sell them, is there. And I agree, they are stupid enough to try to repeal Obamacare and leave nothing as an alternative.
I maintain that UHC is a result of our more compassionate culture. It is my theory that Canada is different than the US [we have the same parents] because of climate. We
had to survive, most at first didn't, and to do that we had to merge with Native cultures, adopt their ways, which were all highly communal, the reason we don't lock our doors - it's rude, someone may need protection from the elements.
And that is what propelled UHC in the 40's and 50's. That single aspect I believe is THE most significant difference in us; the US conquered the west, they "won" it, we settled it.
A close on line friend in this forum, believes Canadian doctors are flocking to the US to work, truth? some do, even more stay, and even more are lined up waiting to immigrate. Yes, anything will be distorted, the "side" musthave a "victory"........compromise being a word, forgotten.
But that's your politics, not the Republican party. Lies work. I hold Obama responsible. He wanted a typical American quick fix, something to get re-elected on.What has been forgotten in US politics, is leadership, the kind that leads people to open minded thinking. I know Americans many across the line, Republicans, who want what we have. Once again we see the revolutionary culture over evolutionary.
Obama is 100 times the charismatic Tommy Douglas was, has more influence than any other president I have seen; he took the low road, the popular road instead of campaigning for what the US must do sooner or later. However, as I see it now, UHC has been set back at least two decades because of Obamacare and the way it was rammed down American's throats. If there is one thing that angers me about the state of my "other country" it is that. You really are stabbing yourselves right in the heart
Where we disagree is that the right are the only ones engaged in propaganda. They both do it, and lately Obama is far better at it than Republicans, he single handedly turned a mental illness shooting into a hate fest against the Confederate flag, as if that will stop more mass killings.
We sit here and watch and go tsk, tsk, watch the lies about UHC and reflect "they're stabbing themselves in the heart" and secretly get angry for being lied about. But in the end, we also secretly say to our best friends "if that's the way you want it, fine, don't bitch to us when we have all the jobs."
Now, as a journalist I will share that ALL propaganda is designed to divide, to create fear, if not hate. When a president says his Republican opponents are "enemies", you know nothing will be accomplished...and when well educated people start creating fictions like death panels you know there is going to be regression and both lead to more fighting and the impossibility of compromise.
here, we have a former Senator on trial for fudging his expense accounts, a former national radio host on trial for sexual abuse and harassment....summer entertainment. In the US, I wonder if they would have even lost their jobs.
The problem is not with one party, but what YOU the voter allow politicians to do... "You can keep your plan", "Canada has death panels", "It was a spontaneous demonstration" are all killing you, when you ideologically defend this **** you lower the bar.....right into the gutter. When you start firing the liars, it will end. Right now, I see the American people as hate filled, all sides, wanting to get even for all the slights of the "enemy", the other Americans who disagree with "my view". I say that Obama has warred against his own lawmakers better than terrorists, and that the next president, either party, will do the same. The media is polarized and biased and playing into the hate game.....
Here, the idea of another US civil war grows more and more real to us.