4 ms·

Is the day-to-day really that different? I grew up in Canada, and then lived in 2 different states in the USA as an adult. I'd say Canada feels as different as

by peab 2y ago

Is the day-to-day really that different? I grew up in Canada, and then lived in 2 different states in the USA as an adult. I'd say Canada feels as different as say, California is to Alabama.

peab 2y ago
With the exception being Quebec! Vive la province libre.
wk_end 2y ago
I mean, California and Alabama feel very different! In a lot of ways I'd agree, or even go further - they're more different than, say, BC and WA. And there's factors like the urban/rural divide to bear in mind. The Canada along the border resembles the lower 48; north of that it starts to have more and more in common with Alaska. But everywhere you're interacting with the government the differences are quite stark. Health care, education, firearms, regulations, the social safety net, taxation, drugs, criminal justice...all of these and more are handled in a rather different fashion than in the US. Some of it depends on where you are in your life, and who you are. If you're a single middle-class white male in his 20s who rents in a major city, you're mostly interacting with the market economy, so the biggest differences day-to-day are the products available to you, your somewhat lower purchasing power, and the fact that you don't have anywhere near as much student loan debt as you would in the US. But as you drift further from that particular model - as you age and need to lean on health care more, if you want to start a family or buy property, if you have extreme wealth, if you move out further away from major population centres, if you try to start a business, if you're a woman/minority...the differences become more apparent. Not always in the ways you'd expect, too: open racism - against indigenous peoples rather than Blacks - is widespread in Canada, even in major urban centres.

4 ms·

Is the day-to-day really that different? I grew up in Canada, and then lived in 2 different states in the USA as an adult. I'd say Canada feels as different as

by peab 2y ago

Is the day-to-day really that different? I grew up in Canada, and then lived in 2 different states in the USA as an adult. I'd say Canada feels as different as say, California is to Alabama.

peab 2y ago
With the exception being Quebec! Vive la province libre.
wk_end 2y ago
I mean, California and Alabama feel very different! In a lot of ways I'd agree, or even go further - they're more different than, say, BC and WA. And there's factors like the urban/rural divide to bear in mind. The Canada along the border resembles the lower 48; north of that it starts to have more and more in common with Alaska. But everywhere you're interacting with the government the differences are quite stark. Health care, education, firearms, regulations, the social safety net, taxation, drugs, criminal justice...all of these and more are handled in a rather different fashion than in the US. Some of it depends on where you are in your life, and who you are. If you're a single middle-class white male in his 20s who rents in a major city, you're mostly interacting with the market economy, so the biggest differences day-to-day are the products available to you, your somewhat lower purchasing power, and the fact that you don't have anywhere near as much student loan debt as you would in the US. But as you drift further from that particular model - as you age and need to lean on health care more, if you want to start a family or buy property, if you have extreme wealth, if you move out further away from major population centres, if you try to start a business, if you're a woman/minority...the differences become more apparent. Not always in the ways you'd expect, too: open racism - against indigenous peoples rather than Blacks - is widespread in Canada, even in major urban centres.