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<blockquote data-quote="Blurt" data-source="post: 632252" data-attributes="member: 648">Another thing to consider, Lil:There's a slight difference between Canada and the U.S. when it comes to the type of society their respective charters are aiming to build. While most Americans will pay at least some lip service to the notion that &quot;no one should be left behind,&quot; the fact is America is much more focused on the virtues of self-reliance, rugged individualism, and the idea that success--social, financial, or otherwise--is within anyone's grasp if only a person works hard enough at it (the good ol' &quot;American Dream&quot;). In Canada, on the other hand, there's a willingness to acknowledge that the playing field isn't always level and that, consequently, some measures need to be put in place that will help secure the rights (and meet the material and social needs) of society's most vulnerable individuals. This is, by the way, why certain Americans tend to view Canada as a socialistic, nanny state. Not saying they're entirely wrong about this, but that (still debatable) fact plays into the reasons for which violent crime, poverty, addiction, mental illness, and homelessness, while still issues of concern up here (of course), are significantly less thorny than they are down your way. And I'm not even bringing up the two countries' divergent attitudes toward gun ownership and carceral policies.The fact remains, though, that racism and bigotry are also alive and well in Canada and that Canadian NIMBYers (both conservative and liberal) will guard their little slice of personal heaven with the ferocity of a pit bull.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Blurt, post: 632252, member: 648"] Another thing to consider, Lil: There's a slight difference between Canada and the U.S. when it comes to the type of society their respective charters are aiming to build. While most Americans will pay at least [I]some[/I] lip service to the notion that "no one should be left behind," the fact is America is much more focused on the virtues of self-reliance, rugged individualism, and the idea that success--social, financial, or otherwise--is within anyone's grasp if only a person works hard enough at it (the good ol' "American Dream"). In Canada, on the other hand, there's a willingness to acknowledge that the playing field isn't always level and that, consequently, some measures need to be put in place that will help secure the rights (and meet the material and social needs) of society's most vulnerable individuals. This is, by the way, why certain Americans tend to view Canada as a socialistic, nanny state. Not saying they're entirely wrong about this, but that (still debatable) fact plays into the reasons for which violent crime, poverty, addiction, mental illness, and homelessness, while still issues of concern up here (of course), are significantly less thorny than they are down your way. And I'm not even bringing up the two countries' divergent attitudes toward gun ownership and carceral policies. The fact remains, though, that racism and bigotry are also alive and well in Canada and that Canadian NIMBYers (both conservative and liberal) will guard their little slice of personal heaven with the ferocity of a pit bull. [/QUOTE]

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