Americans, Canadians and Europeans are arrogant and delusional
I travel a lot for work, and vacations, all over the world, so I am fortunate in that I get to see different cultures and economies.
In all of my observations one thing stands out, the above three jurisdictions are delusional and arrogant to the max while many parts of the world have over taken us in many regards; economic success, standard of living and education. Meanwhile we are still living in denial.
Here are some examples:
Jobs pride
Americans, Canadians and Europeans for the most part do not do jobs which they consider menial, while in Asian countries these jobs are proudly done by locals. All of this when a few months ago I was in Portland and in all of my life I have never seen so many homeless people – high percentage compared to the local population. Things are so bad in Portland that at some points in the early morning they can only afford very minimal police officers in parts of the city. Oregon still has one of the better economies in the US. I shudder to think of what goes on elsewhere. I know it is not pretty in LA because I was there recently also.
Appearance of the cities
Tokyo, Taipei and Singapore are extremely clean. The streets the public transportation systems and other public places like washrooms. Shanghai and Beijing are not bad either. They pay a lot of attention to the appearance of their environment, yes it may be esthetics but we all like eye candy, be it houses, cars, or whatever, we like what we consider clean and beautiful. Canada, which likes to boast about how clean it is; try using the washroom at the airport before you get to immigration after a long flight you may want to vomit. Our streets and subway system in Toronto are now a disgrace compared to many emerging economies.
Unemployment
In many parts of Asia it is very low, but I think that it also has to do with their industriousness and willingness to recognize that there is dignity in labor, and they do it proudly. In the US, Europe and Canada we have a feeling of entitlement, we “deserve” everything, well we deserve what is coming to us, unless we wake up.
Education
The emerging countries, especially Asia, have over taken us by leaps and bounds people everywhere have degree(s), including many cab drivers and I not talking degrees like art, social work, psychology etc. I am talking about degrees in math, science and engineering disciplines. We congratulate our kids when they get a barley pass, while in Asia, anything less than an A is considered embarrassing. Reality bites hard but to be the best we have to perform like the best, nothing else suffices. Our education system needs a major overhaul. Yes the USA and Canada have some great universities but check and see who the top students are in Math, science and engineering. They are foreign, mostly Asian, students. If Canada and the US are smart they will keep these students are graduation.
Customer service
Asia: A+
USA: A
Canada: C at best.
Europe: D (most rude people in the world)
Public Infrastructure
In the US, Eurpoe and Canada infrastructure is falling apart while politicians battle. In Asia they are growing by leaps and bounds – it is a government priority
Public Transport
Asia wins hands down, clean, modern, and great coverage. In Canada this is a fail. The US is better than Canada.
Pollution and land space
Canada and the US are still way ahead in these regards and are two of the main reasons why Asians still move here to live or at least acquire a home.
Healthcare system
Canada is still high up in this regard, hopefully it stays this way.
I think there is still a lot potential that Canada and the USA will be desirable places to live for a while yet, but politicians and the general population have to wake up and realize that the paradigm has shifted and that we need to make the hard choices and sacrifices to retain our position as places where people want to live. We have to make our immigration systems places where it is easy for the wealthy, bright and entrepreneurial to emigrate to and do business.
I travel a lot for work, and vacations, all over the world, so I am fortunate in that I get to see different cultures and economies.
In all of my observations one thing stands out, the above three jurisdictions are delusional and arrogant to the max while many parts of the world have over taken us in many regards; economic success, standard of living and education. Meanwhile we are still living in denial.
Here are some examples:
Jobs pride
Americans, Canadians and Europeans for the most part do not do jobs which they consider menial, while in Asian countries these jobs are proudly done by locals. All of this when a few months ago I was in Portland and in all of my life I have never seen so many homeless people – high percentage compared to the local population. Things are so bad in Portland that at some points in the early morning they can only afford very minimal police officers in parts of the city. Oregon still has one of the better economies in the US. I shudder to think of what goes on elsewhere. I know it is not pretty in LA because I was there recently also.
Appearance of the cities
Tokyo, Taipei and Singapore are extremely clean. The streets the public transportation systems and other public places like washrooms. Shanghai and Beijing are not bad either. They pay a lot of attention to the appearance of their environment, yes it may be esthetics but we all like eye candy, be it houses, cars, or whatever, we like what we consider clean and beautiful. Canada, which likes to boast about how clean it is; try using the washroom at the airport before you get to immigration after a long flight you may want to vomit. Our streets and subway system in Toronto are now a disgrace compared to many emerging economies.
Unemployment
In many parts of Asia it is very low, but I think that it also has to do with their industriousness and willingness to recognize that there is dignity in labor, and they do it proudly. In the US, Europe and Canada we have a feeling of entitlement, we “deserve” everything, well we deserve what is coming to us, unless we wake up.
Education
The emerging countries, especially Asia, have over taken us by leaps and bounds people everywhere have degree(s), including many cab drivers and I not talking degrees like art, social work, psychology etc. I am talking about degrees in math, science and engineering disciplines. We congratulate our kids when they get a barley pass, while in Asia, anything less than an A is considered embarrassing. Reality bites hard but to be the best we have to perform like the best, nothing else suffices. Our education system needs a major overhaul. Yes the USA and Canada have some great universities but check and see who the top students are in Math, science and engineering. They are foreign, mostly Asian, students. If Canada and the US are smart they will keep these students are graduation.
Customer service
Asia: A+
USA: A
Canada: C at best.
Europe: D (most rude people in the world)
Public Infrastructure
In the US, Eurpoe and Canada infrastructure is falling apart while politicians battle. In Asia they are growing by leaps and bounds – it is a government priority
Public Transport
Asia wins hands down, clean, modern, and great coverage. In Canada this is a fail. The US is better than Canada.
Pollution and land space
Canada and the US are still way ahead in these regards and are two of the main reasons why Asians still move here to live or at least acquire a home.
Healthcare system
Canada is still high up in this regard, hopefully it stays this way.
I think there is still a lot potential that Canada and the USA will be desirable places to live for a while yet, but politicians and the general population have to wake up and realize that the paradigm has shifted and that we need to make the hard choices and sacrifices to retain our position as places where people want to live. We have to make our immigration systems places where it is easy for the wealthy, bright and entrepreneurial to emigrate to and do business.