How is the world improved by having more Canadians in it?

The type of Canadians who would produce mor Canadians would be a good thing to have. The type who have less aren't.

They may even get to be like France, where statistically people spend more time with thier families than any other developed country in Europe or the Americas. The USA is way down the list.

No, they spend it alone.

No, sorry they don't. They spend it with thier kids. They also have less teenage crime and less teen age drug use. Teen age drinking is way down in France. They have laws which ensure time off to be with your kids.

In the US we don't believe in all that. We know children are not the future but actually a demographic market. They become valid when they get a credit card. Or when they have been trained by TV to nag thier parents.

Hey you right-wing dicotomists, where did all that family values blather go? Thought that was part of the contract. I had feeling that wouldn't fly.

Not only do they have too few children but remember two summers ago when they left their parents to die in their apartments during Summer vacation?

that's why the french birthrate is so high, and why all those old people were ok during the summer heat -- because french families spend so much time together. go live there and then come back and say it's better. the 50% youth unemployment rate also helps to create more together time.

"They may even get to be like France, where statistically people spend more time with thier families than any other developed country in Europe or the Americas. The USA is way down the list. "

Citation, please. Or should you be considered just another troll who makes it up as it goes along?

exclab--

Sure they spend time together--they all live together. No jobs for young people, and France is expensive, so 30- and 40-year-olds live with 60-year-old parents.

I do think that family life in continental Europe is in some ways stronger than here. The cost is quite high, however, and is in any event not reproducible here.

Citation is the Economist. What is a troll?

Yep, it's troll season again.

What issue of The Economist? If behind a subscription-condom, then an extended quote would be acceptible "fair use." If not a web page, then take the time to type in the text and/or present a summary. (Without any editorial commentary.)

Here's a hint: it's up to you to do the research if you are going to present facts that buttress your case. Especially when your facts seem to be contradictory. If you can't be bothered to present those facts, then you and your arguments won't be taken seriously.

europe in general is more static than here, so members of an extended family tend to stay closer together geographically. also, france is only like 50 miles by 50 miles, so no one there is really ever very far from each other (don't ask me to prove this, i am a leftist)

Raoul, Your hint is entirely correct, but maybe you're being a little hard on exclab. Time will tell. Real trolls don't seem to hang around very long. The respectful replies kill them off.

And given how few facts exclab has right and how little basic theory he grasps it seems entirely possible that a simple education will change his mind about most things.

You mean he'll come to hate the automobile?

No, openly admit the hate we all feel.

Pretty cryptic. We hate many things. Some that we should and some that we should not. We need to learn to hate the right things, but we need to be careful. Hubris and all.

No, just to admit we hate cars and love trains. It's the way God made us.

We must have a different God. ;)

apologies Raoul Ortega, threw my economists out. I still don't know what a troll is. I have been called that on the "leftist" boards too.

Odd that. Perhaps it all the same... NO. All this fighting over nothing?couldn't be true.

If you have a subscription to The Economist you automatically have complimentary access to their subscriber-only web site. Just enter the customer # from the mailing label.

What fighting? This is reasoned discourse. Can't you see the difference.

When everyone notes the same behavior perhaps it is you and not them?

FYI exclab. One of the definitions for troll at dictionary.com is To wander about; ramble.

"also, france is only like 50 miles by 50 miles, so no one there is really ever very far from each other"

Come on, toe, that is absurd. You need to set a better example for our new guest. Everyone knows France is the birthplace of the metric system, so obviously it is 50 kilometers by 50 kilometers in size.

b: good catch :)

I suspect all polls and surveys, because it's been demonstrated that it's so easy to skew the results to a predetermined outcome. So I'd like to know in what context such a result was obtained, and how some of the other results from the same survey compare with "common wisdom". Did this result stand out because it was so different, or was it part of a whole package of differences? Who commissioned the survey and who carried it out? Without knowing, I can't evaluate the veracity of the information, and since exclab hasn't been around long enough to have established a reputation, I'm not going to trust him.

It's not just exclab, as I've also noticed several "drive-by" posters on other threads in the last few days, too. This after a lull lasting since the first of this year.

(And considering the high correlation between new, unknown posters and the intentional misrepresentation of the facts, he's guilty until proven innocent. Sorry, by I'm not bound by criminal procedure in applying my prejudices.)

i am volunteering my services to help the canadian birth rate. postage not included.