Delay Deny Depose

We like to believe in clear borders. As a culture, we like everything to be in its own, clearly defined box. Good people deserve justice. Bad people deserve punishment. You are either healthy or sick, disabled or fit, rich or poor, fat or thin, native or foreigner.

But that’s not how life plays out, is it? I am an American. It’s fair to say I’ve always felt at least a little bit American. Growing up left to my own devices, the good traits I learned came from books, movies, music and television. But for the first two thirds of my life, I was Canadian. Living in Canada in the 20th century, virtually all of those things were American so it’s hardly surprising that my character developed along the lines of the American Constitution. You’d be surprised how many Canadians think that way.

There is still a lot of overlap, but it’s complicated. Seems to be more complicated with every passing year. Canadians take pride in being different from Americans. They take pleasure in observing the failures of Americans. This was always the case but it seems to have developed into a kind of national pastime in the last decade or so.

In particular, Canadians take pride in contrasting their socialized, universal health care with the mess we call a health care system in the U.S. But having lived as an adult in both countries I can tell you that distinction is increasingly fuzzy, even false.

Health care in the U.S. varies widely from state to state. Louisiana health care is nothing like care in Connecticut, Alabama’s medical…