Anne of Green Gables vs. G.I. Joe

Was it better that our ancestors chose to migrate to Canada, or should they
have gone to the U.S.? Snow and ice and high taxes? Or unaffordable health
care, guns in kindergarten, and great weather? And didn't they have to film
the hit movie Chicago in Canada because we had the studios, the gaffers, and
the 65 cent dollar? Gould takes a hard look at our measurement systems: how
Canadians have welcomed the metric system (except for weights and distances)
while the Americans - along with only Burma and Liberia - have clung to pounds
and miles. What about our national dreams? Gould defines the American Dream as
the obligation for every American to achieve fame, fortune, and a trophy wife
up to one-half the age of the first one, but only after he accomplishes the
first two. The Canadian Dream is to pay a serviceman in cash to avoid the GST,
to go to Hawaii (if you live in B.C.), and to be able to move to the U.S. to
make real dollars. And what about our different political systems? In the U.S.
there is serious debate about campaign finance reform; in Canada, we turn to
Hansard to follow a similar discussion: "Oh shut up." "YOU shut up." "Up
yours!" "Oh yeah? You'd probably enjoy that, Svend." G.I. Joe or Anne of Green
Gables could be just about the funniest book you'll read this fall.