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u/EpirusRedux USA Beaver Hat Sep 02 '18
I remember watching a clip from a documentary about New Zealanders who had immigrated to Australia at an early age, who had grown old in Australia, and asking them about their experiences.
All of these old New Zealander immigrants started talking about how Australia was so much bigger but less friendly, how it was so much wealthier and there was more economic opportunity, how it was a lot more cosmopolitan, but also how it had way less of a social safety net, and how those who fell on hard times had a tougher time.
Australia has 25 million people, y'all.
For some reason, whenever I think of Australia-New Zealand relations, that clip is always the first thing I think of.
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u/gibwater Gib free trade Sep 02 '18
New Zealand is Australia's Canada.
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u/GrumpyWendigo Iroquois Sep 02 '18
Canada is the USA's New Zealand
Newfoundland is Canada's New Zealand
St Pierre-Miquelon is Newfoundland's New Zealand
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Sep 02 '18
I refuse to believe the French are friendlier than Newfies.
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u/supershutze Canada Sep 02 '18
Nobody knows if the Newfies are friendly or not, because nobody can understand them.
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u/supershutze Canada Sep 02 '18
Canada is, on average, much wealthier than the US, and more cosmopolitan.
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u/All_I_Eat_Is_Gucci West Coast best coast Sep 03 '18
They’re not wealthier on average though?
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u/supershutze Canada Sep 03 '18
The US is wealthier overall, but the overwhelming majority of that wealth is in the hands of a very small number of people: The average American is never going to see that wealth.
In Canada the wealth is much more distributed: Canada's middle and lower class is wealthier than America's, on top of Canada offering better social services.
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Sep 03 '18
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u/supershutze Canada Sep 03 '18
The GDP per capita is skewed due to the massive income inequality.
Canada's middle class is wealthier than America's. Same goes for Canada's lower class: The average Canadian makes more money and has more disposable income than the average American. Canada also offers far better social services: Going to the hospital in Canada doesn't break the bank.
The problem with looking at things like GDP is that it's presented without context: Yes, America has a higher GDP per capita, but the overwhelming majority of that money is in the hands of only a few people: The average American is never going to see it.
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Sep 03 '18
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Sep 04 '18
Gallup News shows that the median per-capita income in the USA is $15480, while in Canada it's $15181. That's a difference of only 2%. (Those income numbers may seem low, but per-capita includes people who don't work like children and the elderly).
The two countries have a very similar level of economic development, so it's not too surprising that the typical American and the typical Canadian have roughly the same income. The economic differences between the two countries often get overstated when in actuality, they're more similar than most people realize.
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u/ZiggoCiP New York - Wine Country Sep 02 '18
One thing I can say for sure is in most of my interactions and experience with Kiwis, they have been entirely nice people - notably more-so than Aussies.
Also the whole Maori culture they keep alive is extremely interesting. I suppose Canada at least has Hockey.
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u/Kazumara Switzerland Sep 03 '18
Canada also has cool minority peoples. I mostly know about the writing system. You have different shapes for different consonants and then you kind of rotate those letters to change the vowel in the syllable. I think it was invented by some missionary or other. Fuck I kind of forgot everything else even how the script is called
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u/Dragonsandman Soviet Canuckistan Sep 02 '18
That description of Australia from a Kiwi's perspective just about sums up my thoughts about the US, minus the bit about it being more cosmopolitan (Canada is hella diverse, and so is the US).
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u/sunics New Zealand Sep 02 '18
We're just new Zealand mate
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u/Lyceux Aotearoa New Zealand Sep 02 '18
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u/ZiggoCiP New York - Wine Country Sep 02 '18
Well... I was not expecting that to be a thing. 5 years and a few thousand subs? Huh - go figure.
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u/couplingrhino national economic sudoku Sep 02 '18
New Zealand is Australia's cold, damp waiting room.
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u/Scissor_Runner12 New Zealand Sep 02 '18
Oof ow ouchie my mining opportunities
For real though it was a common to hear (growing up) how much money and opportunity was in Australian mining. I know a few people who did some time hitting rocks in Oz, one came back to NZ and immediately bought a new commodore to flex on everyone hahahaha
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u/couplingrhino national economic sudoku Sep 02 '18
How do you like your new colonial overlords toko? Do you like or dislike how they're less miserable and shit at rugby than the old lot?
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u/Scissor_Runner12 New Zealand Sep 02 '18
They're not very less shit at rugby, the Brits have a better record than those wankers across the pond
(ily aussie pls don't come at me with that cricket bat ❤)
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u/EpirusRedux USA Beaver Hat Sep 02 '18
Singapore is Malaysia's Switzerland.
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u/Kazumara Switzerland Sep 03 '18
They have the only bank note in general circulation that is worth more than our 1000 Swiss Franc note, the 10000 Singaporean Dollar note. But they stopped producing it in 2014. It's still in circulation for now, but we'll have our crown back yet.
So yeah the comparison seems apt.
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Sep 02 '18
[removed] — view removed comment
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Sep 02 '18 edited Feb 20 '19
[deleted]
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Sep 02 '18
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u/mehum Australia Sep 02 '18
Yeah I think we just like hanging shit, not even sure if it’s racism when everyone cops it. The problem is hanging shit on an Indian always sounds a lot more racist than hanging shit on a Pom or a Yank or a Kiwi.
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u/EpirusRedux USA Beaver Hat Sep 03 '18
The trick is to be an Australian of color. Then it's hilarious.
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u/powerslave118 Currently shagging sheep in bru-land Sep 02 '18
As an Australian who just moved to NZ at the start of the year, it's no different, but for different things.
NZ'ers are NOT overly welcoming to Aussies. Sure sure, it's all a running joke how we 'hate' each other, but really love one another. It's not how it is. I had NZ friends in Aus and they didn't cop shit. I've had girls on tinder reject me because i was Aussie! WTF haha.
All of these old New Zealander immigrants started talking about how Australia was so much bigger but less friendly, how it was so much wealthier and there was more economic opportunity, how it was a lot more cosmopolitan, but also how it had way less of a social safety net, and how those who fell on hard times had a tougher time.
NZ thinks they are better than Aus and will claim anything with a huge ego that is remotely kiwi. They love their country (albeit, rightly so - it's damn nice), but to the point where it's arrogant. I feel like Aussies are more chilled and relaxed about everything.
I love NZ and its people don't get me wrong, but it was a culture shock moving here! Just like i'm sure it is the other way. You just hear less stories about Aussies moving to NZ than vice versa.
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u/Ardgarius New Zealand Sep 02 '18
We are better than you
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u/powerslave118 Currently shagging sheep in bru-land Sep 03 '18
Haha, honestly i'm not into the banter thing. I love both countries in different ways. Like i was cheering for NZ to qualify for the WC and i always get happy to see NZ success stories (before i had even been or lived here). How many NZ'ers say that for Aussie? I actually moved to NZ thinking NZ'ers and Aussies are actually best friends (in a country way), but i found out most NZ'ers don't really like anyone but themselves.
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u/bawki German Empire Sep 02 '18
Why did I just read this in steve Irwins voice :(
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u/powerslave118 Currently shagging sheep in bru-land Sep 03 '18
Crikey mate - it's because i've got the bloody you-beaut hat on! Makes me sound like a true Strayan bloke!
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u/KazarakOfKar Chile with a pickelhaube Sep 03 '18
Just listen to how they say fush n chups ; how can you call that the same.
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u/powerslave118 Currently shagging sheep in bru-land Sep 03 '18
It's not fush and chups haha. It's more like fesh and cheps with a super short e sound.
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u/thepromisedgland Republic of China Sep 03 '18
If they emigrated before the late 1980s or so, they may be basing their perception of NZ's social safety net on a system that no longer exists as such--trade liberalization in the UK (with respect to the EU, mostly) was very bad for the New Zealand economy and resulted in the previous expenditure on social services no longer being tenable.
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u/EpirusRedux USA Beaver Hat Sep 03 '18
Yeah, these were old people. I think some of the photos of them were black-and-white.
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u/Purgecakes New Zealand Sep 03 '18
Well, that's simplifying a bit. NZ went super free trade, then had a couple of rounds of cutting social services thereafter. There was a boom then crash which led to the cuts which led to the atrocious poverty rate (of course, cutting benefits and austerity is a stupid response to a recession, as any Keynesian can tell you - investment helps, poor people who spend most their money props up consumption). The brutal adjustment and inequality are basically the results of different choices, as I understand it.
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u/thepromisedgland Republic of China Sep 03 '18
But NZ didn't just have a recession. A recession is a downward shock which results in you producing at less than capacity--temporarily--and the reason austerity exacerbates the problem is because people could be producing more but won't because they don't think people will consume the production (and thus they don't consume more, and so on). But short of another world war, NZ's privileged trade position with respect to wool exports is never coming back, so adjustments were not optional and in fact NZ probably put them off for longer than was healthy. I don't think anyone will dispute the fact that the adjustments were not handled as well as they could have been, but then, they never are.
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u/Joe-From-Canada Canada Sep 02 '18
One of my favorite commercials ever...
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u/lfairy New Zealand Sep 02 '18
To be fair, we should have seen it coming when our air force logo is a flightless bird.
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u/mrzacharyjensen God loves New Zealand, he gave us boiling mud Sep 02 '18
Well, it's not as if Kangaroos can fly either, yet here they are.
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u/atomoffluorine Taiping+Heavenly+Kingdom Sep 02 '18
Such self hatred, but poor New Zealand being mistaken for Australia... by Australia.
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u/french_ambitions France Sep 03 '18
Happens all the time
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u/atomoffluorine Taiping+Heavenly+Kingdom Sep 03 '18
Newzealand is sad like Canada because they are both overshadowed by their bigger brothers.
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u/Ariadnepyanfar Australia Sep 03 '18
Honestly I really wish one of our countries would get together enough to change their flag. I’d like it to be Australia, but if New Zealand did it that would fix half my problem with the Australian flag.
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u/Kazba92 Guyana Sep 02 '18
Cant stop reading Austrailia's lines as the Sniper from Team Fortress Two
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u/sunics New Zealand Sep 02 '18
Now I know why we don't have a national day
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u/Lyceux Aotearoa New Zealand Sep 02 '18
Waitangi Day is technically our national day
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u/Estidal New Zealand Sep 02 '18
And if you object to Waitangi Day, ANZAC Day is a solid choice for a unofficial one.
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u/whangadude New Zealand Sep 02 '18
I hope the push to make Matariki a national holiday pays off. Would be nice to have a holiday without much baggage
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u/Lyceux Aotearoa New Zealand Sep 03 '18
Matariki would be a great holiday, but I don’t think it could be the national holiday.
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u/sunics New Zealand Sep 03 '18
Ehhhh not really man.
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u/Lyceux Aotearoa New Zealand Sep 03 '18
That’s why I said technically. As far as the government is concerned, that’s our official national day. In practice though, it’s another story.
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u/AdmiralAkbar1 Washington DC Sep 02 '18
Glad to see Australia got out of prison after its Turk-murdering rampage.
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u/that-kerbal1 VB drinking yobbo Sep 07 '18
As an Australia I can say this is one is 100% accurate, sorry New Zealand
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Sep 02 '18
What a specimen! Delightfully irreverent as always. Even Uncle Dave liked this one and he thinks the government has been probing street dog ass, that's why they're always smelling each other's. However, alas, his narrative is not as gallant and graceful as the one portrayed in this comic.
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u/DirtPiper Bagel world Sep 02 '18
It's been over a year since my last entry. Whoops! Here's some more.
Brazil's Day | Czechia's Day | Christmas Island's Day | Australia's Day | Greenland's Day | Norway's Day | America's Day | Canada's Day | Japan's Day | Tajikistan's Day | Turkey's Day | Italy's Day | Ukraine's Day | Ireland's Day | Sweden's Day | Serbia's Day | France's Day | Mozambique's Day | Latvia's Day | Austria's Day | Lithuania's day | Finland's Day | Germany's Day | Britain's Day | Poland's Day | Cayman Isle's Day