Rioux touched on stock facts and figures about relations between the USA and Canada. For example, he cited stats about the movement of meat and lumber across the "world's longest undefended border."
He told the truth. Rather, he told part of the truth. He, in effect, gave an historical restrospective on the old industrial order that values mass production.
As he spoke, I pondered about the future of Canada in comparison with the USA. I did some mental calculus, and the result was my realization that Canada in fact is poised to beat the USA. Here's why!
- Canada does not have a permanent underclass that drains its resources with no productive return for it. Americans have assumed a "lumpen proletariat" is part of the natural order. It is not. My wife and I move around Toronto without fear. Compare Detroit and Chicago with Toronto, and the welfare costs and criminal costs cannot help but hit you in the face!
- Canada is not running horrific governmental debts, unlike the USA, where the crime families in New York and Washington are determined to destroy the American dollar. As a result, the value of the Canadian dollar continues to rise against the American greenback.
- In short, Canada's financial house is in order. Its books are balanced. It has financial discipline. The USA is on the road to becoming the Weimar Republic Part II.
- Immigrants to Canada, unlike the hordes swimming across the Rio Grande into the USA, as a rule are middle class, offer technical and business skills, and have intact families. The result is a growing competitive edge for Canada in today's Knowledge Economy.
- Couple an educated, disciplined workforce with surplus capital, in a society with virtually no crime rate compared with urban America, and you have the foundation for economic power. Canadians are starting to realize this potential and will not rely on American R&D to invent or produce the knowledge-based goods and services that the global economy values.
- This is one reason why the University of Toronto hired American guru Richard Florida to create a center for 21st-century entrepreneurship. His classic, The Rise of the Creative Class, is a roadmap to and Bible for economic development in the Information Age. Florida's move to Canada is a signal. Canada is tooling up to beat the USA!
- While the USA bleeds to death and makes enemies in pursuit of Empire USA, Canada has the wisdom to remain "Isolationist." It practices George Washington's advice in his Farewell Address to stay out of foreign entanglements. This is a delicious irony!
- China is another reason Canada will beat the USA. When Hong Kong reverted to Communist control in 1999, a huge influx of Chinese money and immigrants found their way to Canada, principally Vancouver and Toronto, which has the second largest stock exchange in North America after New York.
- This Chinese connection can only benefit Canada. As Chinese economic power continues to rise and America's continues to decline, these immigrants have the capital and connections with the old country to orient Canada's economy away from America, north/south, toward China, east/west.
- Some Canadians worry about the economic "muscle" of these Chinese immigrants, but the Chinese prefer to stay in the background politically and socially to avoid creating anti-Chinese sentiments among other Canadians. This is a time-tested technique for survival and eventual success. Meanwhile, they earn, learn, invest, and position their adopted country to compete globally and work with the leaders of the world's largest economy.
- Last but not least, Canada's healthcare system is cost-effective. It is not a direct cost to business. Nor is it the cause of personal bankruptcies over medical bills, the leading cause of bankruptcies in the USA. Moreover, Canada's pension system, its version of Social Security, is fully funded. Health insurance alone will help Canada to beat the USA.
For years, Canadians have relied on an American branch-plant economy. This is coming to an end. In the near future, Canada's overall standard of living will surpass what is left of America.
Canada is one of the best-kept secrets in the world. Let's keep it that way to avoid a stampede of desperate Americans trying to escape from what amounts to a sinking Titanic.
