In the '60s, growing up in Montreal Canada, I thought the US was a great place. They had the best TV, bicycles, toys, food, and music. We had 5 channels, and three were from the USA (ABC, NBC, CBS). I would watch Captain Kangaroo and Walt Disney with envy as they advertised a kid's American dream (a Schwinn bike). I thought "wouldn't it be great to live in America?"
In the '70s and '80s, going to Canadian universities, I continued to think the US was great. Look at those universities with their campuses, football teams, parties, and academic credentials. Same thoughts as before.
In the '80s and '90s, working in Canada, I longed to go to the US to advance my career. The US had world-leading companies in computers, telecom, aerospace. I was stuck in Canada, doing my best but not getting far up the corporate ladder and certainly not feeling fulfilled.
So in the '90s, I had a chance to move to the USA and work, and boy, was it great. Promotions, competing on a worldwide scale, high pay, low taxes, nice cars, a big house with a pool. For 20 years I worked in the USA and it was exciting and financially rewarding.
But towards the end of my time there, I realized that the poor were badly treated and had no way to escape poverty due to the lousy public schools, low wages, and lack of health care. I started seeing people openly carry handguns in restaurants. We saw illegal immigrants scraping by and afraid of the border patrol. I heard Obama called by the N-word. I saw the justice system for what it was: a guaranteed conviction if you were charged due to the laws and scant legal aid. I saw how I could get out of traffic tickets by just being a white male (stopped three times, no tickets). I guess these things were always there but I was blind to them. I hoped things would get better but we had to return to Canada for family reasons.
Now, after two presidential elections, I have lost faith in the USA. The greed, lack of compassion, racism, divisiveness, lies, and contempt for democracy are clearly on display. Biden may end up winning, but it is clear that about half of the USA believes that a man like Trump, doing what he does, is a good leader. That means America is lost and probably gone forever in my opinion.
You are absolutely right Mark. It is good that Biden won, but the fact that so many people voted for Trump means a lot. I am certain that not all those ~70 M voters are racists, bigots, etc., but clearly they are not bothered by all of that sht hapening.
ReplyDelete