I'm not sure what Beth thinks I suggested. I certainly didn't suggest that large numbers of immigrants make acceptance automatic. I simply pointed out that the immigration history that the Times highlighted in this piece is rather old news. Instead, I think that various other aspects of the Canadian experience have made immigration comparatively (though by no means completely) painless here. It has a lot to do (IMHO) with much stronger social programs (health, unemployment, welfare, public education) and much less income inequality than in the US (very generally speaking). This makes for a lower level of desperation when things begin to go wrong. Taxes, while not loved in Canada, are not regarded as some sort of theft on the part of the gov't. Most agree with (ironically) Oliver Wendell Holmes' comment that taxes are the price of living in a civilized society.
The Mexican border makes some difference to the situations in the two countries, but I don't think nearly as much difference as some would like to claim. Allow me to reiterate my recommendation of the book _The Spirit Level: Why Equality Is Better for Everyone_. Chris --- Christopher D Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M6C 1G4 Canada [email protected] On Nov 14, 2010, at 12:01 PM, Beth Benoit <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Thought-provoking comments from our Canadian members, but I suspect that > Chris' suggestion that the large numbers of ethnically diverse people in a > city or area make acceptance a given. We lived near Lowell, Massachusetts > for 2 1/2 decades - from 1974 to 1998. While we were there, the numbers of > Cambodian immigrants continued to swell, until Lowell had more immigrants > than any other city except for Long Beach, California. In the 1970's, over > 10% of its population was Cambodian - up to 35,000 in the area. Additionally, > there was/is a high number of immigrants from many other nations - Koreans, > East Indians, Vietnamese, and others. If Chris' comments are correct, then > one would suspect that the Lowell area must have welcomed the Cambodians and > other ethnic minorities since there were so many of them. Sadly, I don't > think anyone would describe Lowell as generally having an "accommodating > culture" - at least not at that time. > > Beth Benoit > Granite State College > Plymouth State University > New Hampshire > > On Sun, Nov 14, 2010 at 11:49 AM, Christopher D. Green <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > [email protected] wrote: >> >> So I was delighted to see a positive piece on us in the New York >> Times this morning concerning our treatment of immigrants. I >> especially liked this: >> >> "Canada also has a more accommodating political culture - >> one that accepts more pluribus and demands less unum". >> >> See http://tinyurl.com/2u6dxag >> >> > > This is all true, but it hardly seems like "news." Toronto was named the most > ethnically diverse city in the world something like a decade ago (The city > now features three distinct "China towns.") Vancouver, though not as diverse > as Toronto, has had vast Chinese and Sikh communities since before I lived > there in the 1980s. Even Montreal (hamstrung a bit by periodic "nationalist" > governments), has largish (French-speaking) Haitian and Vietnamese > communities (in addition to their long-standing Italian and Greek > populations). Calgary and even Winnipeg have historically had sizeble > immigrant populations too. I wonder why the New York Times decided to pick > this up now. > > Best, > Chris > =========== >> Stephen >> >> -------------------------------------------- >> Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. >> Professor of Psychology, Emeritus >> Bishop's University >> Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada >> e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca >> ------------------------------ >> --------------- >> >> --- >> You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe click here: >> http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13132.a868d710aa4ef67a68807ce4fe8bd0da&n=T&l=tips&o=6457 >> or send a blank email to >> leave-6457-13132.a868d710aa4ef67a68807ce4fe8bd...@fsulist.frostburg.edu >> >> > > -- > Christopher D. Green > Department of Psychology > York University > Toronto, ON M3J 1P3 > Canada > > > > 416-736-2100 ex. 66164 > [email protected] > http://www.yorku.ca/christo/ > > ========================== > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aaf72&n=T&l=tips&o=6459 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-6459-13105.b9b37cdd198e940b73969ea6ba7aa...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13132.a868d710aa4ef67a68807ce4fe8bd0da&n=T&l=tips&o=6461 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-6461-13132.a868d710aa4ef67a68807ce4fe8bd...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=6463 or send a blank email to leave-6463-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
