Re: Bill Maher Warns Canada Is A "Cautionary Tale" For U.S.: "We're Diving Off A Cliff"

On Wed, 17 Apr 2024 12:56:33 -0700, BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:

In article <uvoo5f$1lc8m$9@dont-email.me>,
Ubiquitous <weberm@polaris.net> wrote:
>

Comedian Bill Maher said over the weekend that if Americans wanted to see
what would happen to the United States if it continued down the path to
"extreme wokeness", they should look no further than their neighbors to the
north.
 
Maher argued-- during Friday's broadcast of REAL TIME on HBO-- that Canada
should serve as a cautionary tale for Americans who wanted the progressive
utopian ideal and thought that they could see it just across the border.

>

Maher began by saying that he agreed with those who said American liberals
should learn from  progressive countries that were getting things right--
but then he pointed out that it was equally important to recognize and
acknowledge flaws when they were present.
 
Giving two examples, Maher noted that unemployment in the United States was
3.8% compared to Canada? 6.1%-- and that air quality in Canada was
measurably worse than in the United States.

Except you can't compare the two numbers. I don't recall the specifics
but Canada counts who is unemployed differently from the USA which
ends up with Canada having a higher number because they include people
as unemployed that the USA would not.

"They say in politics liberals are the gas pedal and conservatives are the
brakes. And I'm generally with the gas pedal but not if we're driving off a
cliff," Maher said, adding, "Canada was where every woke white college kid
wearing pajama pants outdoors who had it up to here with America's racist
patriarchy dreamt of living someday. I mean, besides Gaza."
 
"There's only one problem with thinking everything's better in Canada: It's
not. Not anymore, anyway," Maher said, arguing that the housing crisis in
American cities was nothing compared to what was happening to the north.
"The median price of a home here is $346,000. In Canada converted to US
dollars, it's 487. If Barbie moved to Winnipeg, she wouldn't be able to
afford her dream house and Ken would be working at Tim Hortons."

Now that is very much the truth, but housing is rising everywhere
faster than wages are rising. To the point where anyone not in the
middle class won't be able to buy a home, and even they may struggle.
Canada just has it worse than the USA since they seem to have a larger
portion of their homes being bought by people who actually live over
seas. Largely people in China trying to put their money to use outside
of China.
 

Maher went on to note that the liberal dream of single-payer health care--
which Canada has-- is also not living up to its promise: "Their vaunted
health care system, which ranks dead last among high income countries, and
access to primary health care, and the ability to see a doctor in a day or
two. And it's not for lack of spending. Of the 30 countries with universal
coverage, Canada spends over 13% of its economy on it, which is a lot of
money for free health care.

>
And this is a country that spends very little on its national defense.
It doesn't need a massive military to defend itself because it knows
we'll do it for them. So they have all the money they would normally
need to spend on defense and can put it toward things like health care
and it still turns into a disaster. No wonder the Canadian government is
turning to offering suicide as the go-to cure for all maladies.

There's no easy way for someone to attack Canada without going through
the USA. The only country that is at risk would be Russia, but them
attacking Canada likely means also attacking Alaska and the USA. That
and there's not much in Canada to take that isn't effectively the USA
(given how much of the Canadian population lives near the USA border.)