FrEaK wrote:Not to say that Americans are a pure market economy, but to everyone else thats exactly what they appear to operate in, for us a mixed economy brings the best of both worlds (to some extent)...
The biggest problem with being a purely capitalistic country lies in its unstableness and distinction between the levels of income (High, Low)
This is a little less apparent in Canada...
I know this is off topic and some of the US folks will assume that I am America bashing but I will offer you an objective account of the dicotomy between rich and poor in the US from a Canadian's perspective. Don't crawl all over me, please.
I had a symphony call in NW Indiana one morning and on my way back there was an accident on the expressway. Checking the map I got off I94 and headed overland to I57 which runs parrallel for some way at that point and would get me around the jam.
I drove through some of the most desolet strecthes of urban decay I have ever seen or could ever have imagined. I didn't feel safe till I got to areas that had all the buildings leveled for a few blocks at a time. The people were so poor and desparate looking that I was reasonably concerned about my safety.
Later that evening I was playing a wedding at a very very rich country club. Leaving, I noticed all the giant Mercedes, Bentlys, Rolls, Jags etc. being pulled up by the valets. That's when the vast gulf between rich and poor in the US hit me. Here in one city were a scene from Mogadishu and an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
There are vast areas of ver very poor people in the US but the attitude is that it is the right of the poor to remain poor. You don't ever see mile after mile of abject poverty in Canada. I'm not trying to be mean or anything, really and truly. It was a shock to me to learn about it.
Futhermore, in the deep south when I have had occaision to get off the beaten path, the people there are very poor as well. In Canada there is a lot of hue and cry about the living conditions on Indian reservations but the conditions these sons of the south lived in were comparable if not worse. The south voted Republican. Go figure.
Perhaps this is why I have a bone to pick with W. This gulf between the haves and the have nots is only going to grow under his leadership.
Please, don't jump all over this honest reporter. These were my impressions of the USA. Now, I don't think about it much. It's just the way it is here.
