Styx said:
I have to ask - Have you considered Canada? I've never been there myself, but my grandmother has and said the people there seem to be exceptionally nice compared to all the other countries she's visited, including Australia. Although, I highly doubt Canada is free from ridiculous mainstream superficiality, either.
Hey I can speak for Canada cause I've been all around it, and well, I am Canadian.
If you go to Ontario or Alberta, and some parts of British Columbia you are likely to encounter much the same attitude as you would in the US. Maybe a lot more polite and courteous in some many areas, but the aggression, the drive for wealth, power and prestige are still there. We are pretty much American in ideals as far as the wealthier provinces go.
The Maritimes... New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, you must make a trade of low income for nicer people that focus more on friends, family, and community than wealth and power... in fact those that actively drive to distinguish themselves in wealth and power beyond their peers usually have to step on many toes getting to the top, and they are not looked kindly upon by the rest of the community for their greed and ambitions... maybe because we're poorer in those places, that we accept never being able to fully find the "American Dream", and so instead we just enjoy life as it is and keep community and family values in higher regard because you have less money to get buy, and when your hurting financially family helps you out, and in return you do the same.
Plus there are problems there too... theft, murder, etc are not nearly as high as in other places, but poverty, alcoholism and early teen pregnancy is a serious problem... what do you do when much of the population works seasonal jobs and spends much of the rest of the year on unemployment? You drink, do drugs, and have sex.
Plus much of the labor force is monopolized... it's not what you know, it's who you know... people that get into a business will look after their own friends and family before they will consider giving you a raise or promotion. And since it is usually smaller, close-knit communities, the jobs go first to the bosses friends and family, then the scraps go to whoever can do the job best. Also minimum wage isn't just a standard, it's the average wage for people starting out in a company. Starting out in a trade isn't much better, I was an Apprentice Electrician for a year, and got only $8.25 an hour... out in Calgary Apprentices get at least $16 dollars per hour starting out, and honestly the cost of living isn't really that much higher than back East. Another part of the monopoly is that the business owners usually come to a mutual decision, rather than using competitive wages, to agree on a set wage and keep their employees from asking for more... why, because there's plenty of other young pups just out of trade school that could take the job for less pay just for the chance to be home near their family and friends rather than forced to leave your loved ones and go across the country for a fair wage. It's a cruel system in that way.
Another trade off is that you go from having an area where nobody cares about you, to a place where everyone knows your business and talks about it behind your back... I hate gossips with a passion. Not all are like that though, but every smaller community has it's share, and there are a few people that make a hobby out of drama... gives them something to do all Winter I suppose.
Truth is that I love where I grew up... it's a quaint little place where I can go just about anywhere and know people by name and probably know most of their relatives too, and they know me and my family history as well... I'll retire there one day, but right now when I want to make a living and have something to retire on, that is the last place I can be. When I go to church there when I visit, it's like going to a big family reunion where I get to see many of the members of the community and ask them about their kids that I grew up with and where they are in life now. I love it so much, but to stay there is to be content with working hard physically till the day you die... retirement is a difficult thing to achieve, and people can get pretty cut-throat and underhanded about jobs that can offer that dream. Even people you thought you could trust may be tempted into trying to work their way into your secure job... it's a sad reality that I have witnessed happen to my own family before. Also the most coveted job would likely be Fisherman... the pay can be from $30,000 (plus 10 months of unemployment- so about another 30-35k from the government or, with a good year and fishing different types of fish over a 6 month period you can haul in upwards of $200k (plus 6 months unemployment so about another 20k approximately from the government during winter). Not bad cash at all if you work at it, but again there are many cut-throats... it used to be that there was a Gentleman's Agreement... meaning basically that you stay to your fishing spot and we stay to ours... but in more recent years with younger guys buying fleets that don't respect that unspoken agreement, people are starting to cut each others gear (cut the ropes from the buoys leading to the traps) or running their gear over top of someone else's gear cause they are too lazy and inconsiderate to take the time to lay their traps a safe distance from someone else's gear. Anyway that's an issue that gets me really worked up... my uncle and father have fished those waters for almost fifty years and they have never cut anyone else's gear... in fact they have gone through a lot of trouble to reset their gear if it was too close to someone else, or if the gear got tangled together, they would cut their own traps before they'd touch the other persons... even though the other person was often the one that ran over top of them... frustrating!
So the attitude you guys worry about is seeping into all of the world. I've lived long enough now though to see the effects of "karma", or whatever you want to call it, in action. I have seen these guys lose their wifes, have their children hate them, become losers (although to break the Agreement they already were losers), alcoholics, lose their friends and support of family members, go bankrupt, get beat up by a teenager cause he thought he was all that and the kid was full of spit and vinegar, had something to prove, and put him in his place, I've seen it all happen to the many different people that had it coming... what goes around comes around.
I guess that's the good thing with a smaller community over a huge city... you actually get to see the end result of what seeds bad people have sown. In a big city when they get the reward of their evils they just fade from view and you don't see the result, because the city swallows them whole.
So be true to yourself and true to others above all else, and the rewards of your labors and toils will be riches untold. Otherwise, prepare yourself for the day your sins come back to haunt you... it may be a day, it may be twenty years, or it may be the final days of your life when you die alone and remembered only for the hurt you caused others.
Anyway, don't like to be all doom and gloom but it's just the truth... don't dwell on the evils because it will taint you and pull you down... I have been there and it was a difficult struggle to get back on the right track... enjoy your life cause you only get one, and try to do good by others, cause it'll come back just like the bad does, except you'll be able to enjoy the fruit of your labors.
