From: "Mark" 

"My point is not that Canada is without sin on these points (except
for sports stadiums - we generally don't do that) it's just that you tend
to notice someone else's "transgressions" more easily than your
own."

That could be true, that I notice more, but I wish that it were not so
(that I would notice Canada more), because I do think that we've already
gone too far down the socialism path and I remain hopeful (but not quite
optimistic) that Bush can move us away from that in his second term.

In the short-term, nipping the government controlled healthcare, that so
many clamor for, in the bud, is most important, but in the larger, longer
term view, Social Security reform is just as important.

I don't like the sports stadium collusion either (especially and most
egregiously, when they take people's homes away from them for the
"greater good" of a new stadium). Indeed if the fans had any
balls/brains at all, they'd say thanks, but no thanks, we're not interested
in paying huge bucks to watch steroid ingesting fools earn 100s of millions
of dollars to hit fake leather balls over an ad-laden fence.


"Dave Ings"  wrote in message
news:41bd0847{at}w3.nls.net...
> Having lived in the US for about a year now, I'm not so sure I actually
> believe that anymore (whereas I used to).
>
> Of course if we are talking about state ownership of "the means of
> production" neither country is particularly socialistic. But if we talk in
> a
> looser sense, I think that American "socialism" is implemented
> differently,
> but is very real nonetheless.
>
> Examples that immediately pop into my head are government subsidy of
> professional sports (as per the NYC West Side Stadium controversy and
> numerous similar stadiums), defence contracting in general (much of which
> is
> highly uncorrelated with military need versus regional pork barrelling),
> corporate welfare handouts (aka incentives) to the auto companies -
> especially in the Southern states, and subsidies and/or market
> distortions/protections to various farmers groups who wield
> disporportionate
> political power.
>
> My point is not that Canada is without sin on these points (except for
> sports stadiums - we generally don't do that) it's just that you tend to
> notice someone else's "transgressions" more easily than your own.
> --
> Regards,
> Dave Ings,
> Toronto, Canada
>
> "Mark"  wrote in message
news:41bcf123$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>> In Canada? Doubtful. They're much more socialistic than we are (so far).
>>
>> "Geo"  wrote in message
news:41bce5cb$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>> > http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/12/12/business/pharmacy.html
>> >
>> > Canadian officials, worried about the threat of liability lawsuits and
> the
>> > problem of maintaining an adequate, reasonably priced supply of
>> > prescription
>> > drugs for their own population, are casting an increasingly wary eye on
>> > the
>> > industry.
>> > .
>
>

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