Living in the United States

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Bunk

I retract the statement from the OP saying I could move to the US.

8 days into the Trump presidency. Yeah, I think I'm good.

My brother has dual Canadian/USA citizenship and cringes at the thought of 4 years of Trump. That being said I still can't convince him to move back to Canada.

[Lanny_McDonald]

I'm not sure how people find this surprising. This is the exact same way that red states have been for the 20+ years I've been living in the US. Blue states are much better, but usually ungodly expensive. Red states are cheap, but you have to put up with ridiculous politics that just get in the way of living. The greatest weakness to the US system is the lack of control and consistency over those things that you, as a citizen, rely upon as essential services for your family. If education, healthcare, law enforcement, utility provisioning, and so on, all the way down to refuse collection and disposal, are not managed in some consistent and responsible way, you're bordering on a banana republic. It is an extremely sad statement on the world's "greatest superpower" that you, as a citizen, have to research school districts, have to know the billing practices of each hospital in your area, have to know the jurisdictional responsibility of the layers of law enforcement, etc. before you invest in a community. Its very backward and if I knew then what I knew now I never would have come down here and got involved in the MLM scheme that is the American system. Love the geography, love most of the people, hate the systems that govern the land.

[InglewoodFan]

Originally Posted by New Era

I'm not sure how people find this surprising. This is the exact same way that red states have been for the 20+ years I've been living in the US. Blue states are much better, but usually ungodly expensive. Red states are cheap, but you have to put up with ridiculous politics that just get in the way of living. The greatest weakness to the US system is the lack of control and consistency over those things that you, as a citizen, rely upon as essential services for your family. If education, healthcare, law enforcement, utility provisioning, and so on, all the way down to refuse collection and disposal, are not managed in some consistent and responsible way, you're bordering on a banana republic. It is an extremely sad statement on the world's "greatest superpower" that you, as a citizen, have to research school districts, have to know the billing practices of each hospital in your area, have to know the jurisdictional responsibility of the layers of law enforcement, etc. before you invest in a community. Its very backward and if I knew then what I knew now I never would have come down here and got involved in the MLM scheme that is the American system. Love the geography, love most of the people, hate the systems that govern the land.

Thanks for the insight, do you think the diversity of services stem from the strength of "states rights" in the US? As a Canadian, I hear about "states rights" but I don't feel like I have a solid grasp on how far each state can individually drift from the federal government.

[missdpuck]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Nothing to do with that and everything to do with the architecture.

Agree- I love the architecture, the swamp, the mystical-looking huge trees with the Spanish moss.

Love that about Central Florida too but it's so damned red.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by InglewoodFan

Thanks for the insight, do you think the diversity of services stem from the strength of "states rights" in the US? As a Canadian, I hear about "states rights" but I don't feel like I have a solid grasp on how far each state can individually drift from the federal government.

Yes, states rights are a big problem in that regard. But it is also weak federation on part of the centralized government. Their job should be to set a minimum standard and then allow states to meet or exceed that standard. They can then be in the business of regulation and enforcement than building this massive bureaucracy. But that would be too easy.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by New Era

The greatest weakness to the US system is the lack of control and consistency over those things that you, as a citizen, rely upon as essential services for your family. If education, healthcare, law enforcement, utility provisioning, and so on, all the way down to refuse collection and disposal, are not managed in some consistent and responsible way, you're bordering on a banana republic. It is an extremely sad statement on the world's "greatest superpower" that you, as a citizen, have to research school districts, have to know the billing practices of each hospital in your area, have to know the jurisdictional responsibility of the layers of law enforcement, etc. before you invest in a community.

It isn't even just state-by-state differences - the balkanization goes right down to the county level. The way I've heard it described is a great many Americans' radius of trust doesn't extend further than they can see from standing on the roof of their house. The notion that a school's quality and funding depends almost entirely on the affluence of the neighbourhood, or that each county should have its own police and emergency services, strikes me as hopelessly backward.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

I consider myself no class.

Ok well is your household income more than or less than $85k? You are in a class whether you like it or not.

I was high middle class when I lived there with no dependents and it was wonderful. Employer health insurance, pay your co-pays, and you are in and out and receive excellent care.

But I also witnessed what it could be like with no insurance little dependents running around.

I am sure being a white male did not hinder me.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

It isn't even just state-by-state differences - the balkanization goes right down to the county level. The way I've heard it described is a great many Americans' radius of trust doesn't extend further than they can see from standing on the roof of their house. The notion that a school's quality and funding depends almost entirely on the affluence of the neighbourhood, or that each county should have its own police and emergency services, strikes me as hopelessly backward.

This is very accurate as well Cliff. The system is so broken, and because it makes no sense, there is no hope on the horizon to fix it. That is why Betsy DeVos is so dangerous. Her vouchers program will only make the educational aspect that much worse.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Ok well is your household income more than or less than $85k? You are in a class whether you like it or not.

I was high middle class when I lived there with no dependents and it was wonderful. Employer health insurance, pay your co-pays, and you are in and out and receive excellent care.

But I also witnessed what it could be like with no insurance little dependents running around.

I am sure being a white male did not hinder me.

I'm assuming most Canadians that go down are going to be in your boat. Most are going down there because they have a skill that is desired on the market . If they didn't, they likely wouldn't a visa. In my mind, the majority of the decisions to move their is based on quality of life and career advancement opportunities, and not on socioeconomic factors which are essentially background noise to them.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Ok well is your household income more than or less than $85k? You are in a class whether you like it or not.

I was high middle class when I lived there with no dependents and it was wonderful. Employer health insurance, pay your co-pays, and you are in and out and receive excellent care.

But I also witnessed what it could be like with no insurance little dependents running around.

I am sure being a white male did not hinder me.

It was meant to be a joke. Swing and a miss on my part. Yes I moved to the US for the business opportunity (and chasing a girl). There is tremendous opportunity if you have a strong work ethic and were fortunate enough to have the benefits of a good education. I don't want to compare countries and economic systems. If your skills are transferable you can enjoy a happy life in many US cities.

I also don't think people should get too caught up in red state/blue state. I live in a very red state but the Dems carry the major metropolitan cities. It is more rural vs. urban. Houston had an openly gay mayor up to recently.

[JD]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

It was meant to be a joke. Swing and a miss on my part.

Not entirely. I got the joke and chuckled at it.