Originally Posted by DirtyWhiteBoy

While I usually agree with everything you say, I have to chime in here and disagree with you.

People float on tubes in the water and try to cross the Mexican border into the USA for several reasons, and none of which are because the USA is the best place on earth.

1) Location. It just so happens that the USA is the closest to them. Cubans and Mexicans would be stupid to attempt to go anywhere else. The list could end here but I will add more just for arguments sake.

2) Law. For Cubans we have the "wet foot dry foot" policy. If they make it to dry land, they get to stay. For Mexicans, once they make it across they are pretty much left alone because we don't have enough immigration officers to deal with the situation.

3) Jobs. We will work them. Legally or illegally, they will have work.

4) Family. Most of them have family here so it's easy for them to integrate right in and not skip a beat. Instant help.

5) Community. Cubans and Mexicans have their own communities in the USA. They don't have to learn how to speak English or even have to deal with Americans if they choose not to.

6) Children. A child born in the USA is an American. Plain and simple. 1000s of women cross the border just to have children here. Pretty smart.

If Canada was the closest county to them that offered them the same, you can bet your ass they would be pouring into Canada. The USD wins by default based on location alone. You don't see Cubans flooding into Mexico or Mexicans flooding into the Dominican Republic.

I'm not here to start trashing American, but god damn it has god damn to shit. Sometimes you need to step outside of the shit to get a clear perspective on how bad it really is. Live among the rest of the world and see how the US is really viewed and how fucked up it really is. I laugh when I turn on US News channels or read the news. Pure comedy. The American people are brain dead. When Brittany Spears is more important than genocide in Sudan, there is a problem. When the popular vote no longer is the deciding factor in who is running the country, you're fucked. When the government no longer works FOR the people, the entire concept of "America" is flushed down the shitter. I could go on and on, but no need. Expats know why they are gone, and people who still live there will never open their eyes to the situation. That's just the way it is.

Though let me add that it's not all bad and I am VERY fortunate to have been raised there. My dads sperm could just have as easily created me in some small rice farming village in Vietnam. So I guess I should be thanking my old man and his sperm. I will also say that I have no plans to ever live in the USA again. I do have to travel there for work, but outside of that... I'm happy to live and work abroad.