American economic dominance

[tooblue]

IMO, we should spend more on health care/medicare and I’d like to see some defense funds reduced to do it, but it’s hard to reduce defense spending when all your allies aren’t spending enough on defense.

Looking at the long arc of history, capitalism has done more than anything else to bring people out of poverty and it’s not even close. No wealth taxing of billionaires is going to fix societal ills more than just straight up capitalism.

It's a good thing as many as 195 countries around the world are capitalist. The Human Freedom Index published by the Cato Institute suggests the US ranks 15th (Canada ranks 12th):

https://www.cato.org/human-freedom-index/2025

Not sure what to say about allies spending more on military, but I am not sure that will change US governments behaviour, but maybe

[Moliere]

Cool. And so, the "dominating" and "killing" everyone else and the "progressives" that want to be "Europoor" should just suck it except where well-being is concerned!

lol ... USA USA USA

[" "all from the original post that started the thread]

IMO, we should spend more on health care/medicare and I’d like to see some defense funds reduced to do it, but it’s hard to reduce defense spending when all your allies aren’t spending enough on defense.

Looking at the long arc of history, capitalism has done more than anything else to bring people out of poverty and it’s not even close. No wealth taxing of billionaires is going to fix societal ills more than just straight up capitalism.

[tooblue]

Haha. No, of course not. He gives the same responses the europoors give: "Sure you guys are rich, but you are don't realize just how miserable you are." Blah, blah, blah...

I never said all Americans are miserable, just that GDP is not a good measure of well-being, because it is not. It's not arguable. Also, the whole more disposable income argument doesn't fly, at least not for far too many Americans—especially the 4 in 10 Utahns.

[tooblue]

It means America is dominating economically, just like the thread title states.

Cool. And so, the "dominating" and "killing" everyone else and the "progressives" that want to be "Europoor" should just suck it except where well-being is concerned!

lol ... USA USA USA

[" "all from the original post that started the thread]

[dabrockster]

Death penalty—I can understand the sentiment. Health care is a win precisely because everyone has access to it. 13 US states offer MAID, and well 40 50k die in the US each year because of lack of access to health care, so there is no winner here. Poutine is disgusting.

Data for this way over estimation of deaths in the U.S. each year please. My quick view it was in the range of 12K while Canada is in the range of 28K..

[Moliere]

From my initial response to the first post in the thread:

GDP Is Not a Measure of Human Well-Being
https://hbr.org/2019/10/gdp-is-not-a...man-well-being

"Economic growth has raised living standards around the world. However, modern economies have lost sight of the fact that the standard metric of economic growth, gross domestic product (GDP), merely measures the size of a nation’s economy and doesn’t reflect a nation’s welfare. Yet policymakers and economists often treat GDP, or GDP per capita in some cases, as an all-encompassing unit to signify a nation’s development, combining its economic prosperity and societal well-being."

It's great that the US GDP is strong, but what does that mean to the nations' citizens?

It means America is dominating economically, just like the thread title states.

[Jeff Lebowski]

You say this is a thread about American economic dominance but then pivot to well being. All economic metrics point to the USA being better than Canada. Regardless of well being, do you have data that suggests Canada is economically better than the USA?

Haha. No, of course not. He gives the same responses the europoors give: "Sure you guys are rich, but you are don't realize just how miserable you are." Blah, blah, blah...

[tooblue]

Right on death penalty, wrong on health care, wrong on MAID, right on poutine.

Death penalty—I can understand the sentiment. Health care is a win precisely because everyone has access to it. 13 US states offer MAID, and well 40 50k die in the US each year because of lack of access to health care, so there is no winner here. Poutine is disgusting.

[tooblue]

You say this is a thread about American economic dominance but then pivot to well being. All economic metrics point to the USA being better than Canada. Regardless of well being, do you have data that suggests Canada is economically better than the USA?

From my initial response to the first post in the thread:

GDP Is Not a Measure of Human Well-Being
https://hbr.org/2019/10/gdp-is-not-a...man-well-being

"Economic growth has raised living standards around the world. However, modern economies have lost sight of the fact that the standard metric of economic growth, gross domestic product (GDP), merely measures the size of a nation’s economy and doesn’t reflect a nation’s welfare. Yet policymakers and economists often treat GDP, or GDP per capita in some cases, as an all-encompassing unit to signify a nation’s development, combining its economic prosperity and societal well-being."

It's great that the US GDP is strong, but what does that mean to the nations' citizens?

[Northwestcoug]

Right on death penalty, wrong on health care, wrong on MAID, right on poutine.

Ha batting .500. That's not bad. I'll just accept it without arguing

[Jeff Lebowski]

The obvious one is health care. It is a point of pride and a central identity that health care here is closer to the rest of the developed world than the US. This perception probably prevents some needed reforms, since they would move the needle towards privatization.
Also death penalty, but everyone agrees that Canada is right on this one. Right?

Right on death penalty, wrong on health care, wrong on MAID, right on poutine.

[Northwestcoug]

So, for example....

The obvious one is health care. It is a point of pride and a central identity that health care here is closer to the rest of the developed world than the US. This perception probably prevents some needed reforms, since they would move the needle towards privatization.
Also death penalty, but everyone agrees that Canada is right on this one. Right?

[Moliere]

This isn't a pissing contest about two countries, it's a discussion about "American economic dominance" that when scrutinized only represents dominance of American corporations which only benefits some individuals but not all, or even many. In reality (here's where the irony actually kicks in), the larger consideration is overall well-being.

It's true, some and maybe many Americans have more disposable income. The challenge is, the "rugged individualism" choice requires a large portion of that disposable income to be spent on health-care, or other services covered by the "warmth of the collective" offered in other modern, capitalist and freedom loving societies. So, on that level, the disposable income advantage is actually a wash.

If only considering the US and Canada, both countries have work to do in improving the well-being of its citizens. According to the following web site, Canada and the US rank 18th and 24th respectively:

https://worldpopulationreview.com/co...s-in-the-world

And pointing out the reality that American GDP does not equate to overall well-being does not make someone hateful of the US. That's just stupid. Expecting that GDP and economic dominance could improve overall well-being is an ideal worth striving for—that would be something to boast about.

You say this is a thread about American economic dominance but then pivot to well being. All economic metrics point to the USA being better than Canada. Regardless of well being, do you have data that suggests Canada is economically better than the USA?

[falafel]

I might have shared this before. But in 33 years of interacting with Canadians, I find a lot of the national psyche can be explained by what Americans are not. That is for better and for worse. Some things that Canada does well seem to be based on a reflex of what is perceived that America gets wrong. And sometimes there is a knee-jerk reaction to do differently, even if it works.

This is a gross oversimplification of a national psyche that has formed for almost 200 years of history. But it's helpful as a starting point

So, for example....

[Northwestcoug]

I might have shared this before. But in 33 years of interacting with Canadians, I find a lot of the national psyche can be explained by what Americans are not. That is for better and for worse. Some things that Canada does well seem to be based on a reflex of what is perceived that America gets wrong. And sometimes there is a knee-jerk reaction to do differently, even if it works.

This is a gross oversimplification of a national psyche that has formed for almost 200 years of history. But it's helpful as a starting point