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I sometimes think that in the vacuum of having any national identity (which is bad, patriotism is generally bad as many here would say), the national identity has just become some kind of "feel superior to the americans". It happens at political levels when Dobbs was passed and Trudeau made a big thing about abortion and contracepton. It happens with healthcare, we accept mediocrity because "at least we aren't the USA" and i think we do it with immigration too.
I have frequently quipped that "the [only significant] difference between American culture and Canadian culture is that Americans are very proud of being American, while Canadians are very proud of not being American."
I grant that, with the emergence of Trumpism, it seems increasingly clear that there are in fact aspects of US culture to which we have no good answer–but you are correct that I am much happier with mediocre but universal healthcare (in Canada or my adopted homeland of Britain) and would not trade it for the America alternative.
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