Cross-Border Misconceptions

While Canadians are painfully aware of the general American public's woeful lack of knowledge concerning all things Canadian I have to point out that misconceptions cross both ways on the border.

First off, not all American's own and/or carry guns. Recently my sister and her family decided to drive to Tennessee for a little road trip and she confessed an underlying fear that they would be robbed. I do not personally know anybody in the States that owns a gun. Mind you, I don't go asking my neighbors if they have any either. In fact, I know lots of people in Canada who own guns and regularly use them for hunting. Now I will allow for the fact that Tennessee is not California and things might be very different there then where I live, but the fact is I have lived in the San Francisco Bay area for 15 years and have only seen guns in stores.

Which leads to another misconception Canadians have about America: violence is everywhere. I have never seen a single act of violence of any kind (though I once did stop a guy from taking some old lady's shopping bag -- but that's another thing). I follow the news and I understand that people are involved in acts of violence every day all over the Bay area. But it never touches me, so for all intents and purposes it is a rare creature. Most of the violence appears to me to be within ethnic classes and neighborhoods -- black on black, latino on latino. It's sad, but it's true.

Americans are ignorant about anything other than America. While this may be true in some parts of the States, it is not true where I am. Some of the smartest, most informed people I know are American. And though there are large gaps in education from region to region, state to state, it is unfair and foolish to think of Americans in general as being ignorant.

I think that misconceptions are tied closely to stereotyping. Where it is easy to create a image that fits either it is equally difficult to find a person who fits specifically.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

American Health Care -- time to draw the line on capitalism

It's the strangest thing to watch the American news media try to cover the health care debate. It seems so straight-forward to me. Maybe because of my Canadian background. It's like they just don't get it.

My company (which is the same as saying my business partner and I) pay our HMO (fancy name for health care provider) around $1,500 a month for my wife, son and I. Yes, I typed that correctly -- one thousand five hundred dollars per month. That is $18,000 a year for those of you too lazy to do the math. Looking a little closer at that number I figure that if I worked 8 hours a day, 5 days a week every week of the year (which I assume many poor people might very well do), I would be working about 2,080 hours per year. Divide that into how much I pay for health care and you get $8.65 per hour.

Um ... California's minimum wage is $8 per hour, and that is higher than most States.

Man, that is totally whacked.

And wait ... there's more! That $18k comes with co-pays. Yep, every time I go to see my doctor I pay $20. If I go to emergency it's $100. And it's $100 a day for a hospital stay. All to a maximum of $3,000 a year.

Now let's look at the debate. The health care providers are working a hard as they can to stop the Obama administration from getting the government into the health care provider business. They are waving around flags that say stuff like unfair competition and warning people about how terrible it will be for them if they go the route of universal health care.

Excuse me but aren't these the people who are sucking people dry? Why the hell would anyone give them any serious consideration in the matter. I don't think there is any inalienable right to make money off of the sick and dying. Somewhere America has to draw the line on capitalism.

North America -- the New New World

I've been thinking about trading blocks. No, I don't mean trading my blocks for someone else's, I mean like the European Union, where a number of countries get together to expedite trade and whatnot. Other than the occasional bit of infighting and squabbling, it's worked out pretty good for the EU.

So let's look at North America. What a trading powerhouse we could be! If we could just stand back and look at the possibilities. Canada with it's tiny population and huge amount of natural resources, the United States with all that stalled industrial potential, and Mexico with so many people in need of labor. It's the trifecta of trading partners. Could any three countries bring the same potential to the table? It's doubtful.

I say open the borders and let the trade flow. Suddenly we have a Southern border that can be managed as far as immigration goes. And hell, what's the difference between a Canadian and an American anyway. Not much say I (being both). And statistics show that the Latino population will soon outnumber every other population anyway.

Let me know what you think of the idea.