United States — Blog — Jamie Aroosi

We Are The Asteroid

Having been raised in Canada, I wasn't raised with any of the jingoistic patriotism that is pretty common in the United States, and that cuts across all partisan divides. If anything, growing up in Canada inoculated me against it. So I've never had much of anything invested in the idea of “the future of America.” Whether it's great or not, I care little, except insofar as this is the place where I live and I'd prefer my life to be better rather than worse (and I hope the same for my fellow Americans too).

But whether America exists in the future, whether it rises to greatness or fades into obscurity, is a question about which I am indifferent. Truth be told, I’m probably pretty hostile to it

Jamie AroosiJanuary 6, 2022Bernie Sanders, United States, America, Don't Look UpComment

Canada is a State of Mind

I was born in Canada but I’ve lived in the United States for most of my adult life, and I became an American citizen a few years back. Over the years, it’s been interesting to note the changing role that Canada has played in my imagination. For instance, during the Trump years, Canada served as an imaginative escape. If things here ever got really bad, I knew that my Canadian citizenship would provide my wife and I a means of escape. However, over the past few days, as the reality of the Biden administration becomes clearer, I find myself imagining Canada in a new way: Canada is where I’ll go when I finally give up on America.

Jamie AroosiDecember 4, 2020Canada, United States, Joe Biden, Donald J. Trump, COVID-19Comment

When All You Have is a Hammer

I woke up to a Facebook post recounting the exorbitant healthcare bills that some of my Facebook friends have received, scrolled to a story about State Department officials who were banned from speaking about the threat posed by climate change, before then scrolling to a story about how surveillance software is being used to monitor millions of K-12 student's digital lives (including their private phones and computers), and which is being justified (rationalized) by the worry over school shootings.

The solutions to so many of these problems is simple - universal healthcare, eliminating fossil fuels in favor of renewables, and banning firearms - but our political system is so corrupt that what should be obvious isn't. Unfortunately, the obvious answer is an answer that serves the public good rather than private profit, and private profit rules. Consequently, the obvious answer has to be obfuscated, so that the citizenry doesn't unite behind it, and we instead argue amongst ourselves about the various profit-friendly "solutions" that are offered to us.

Jamie AroosiJune 11, 2019United States, Mass Incarceration, Education, SurveillanceComment

Canadian and American Healthcare: Some Thoughts on Two Different Political Trajectories

Canada's healthcare is becoming more privatized, while America's is becoming more public.

As a dual citizen, someone who grew up in Canada but who now lives in the United States, healthcare has always been one of the biggest sacrifices. Even with a good insurance plan, which I luckily have, it's hard for me to imagine how anyone who had experienced both could in their right mind choose the American system. And while I thought this would always be true, I can now imagine a time when the American system is better than the Canadian. It might not happen, but it's now within the realm of my imagination.

Jamie AroosiJanuary 23, 2019Canada, United States, HealthcareComment

Voter Suppression Depression

This was my first election as an American citizen. Today of all days there's no shortage of voting stories and political analysis, so it occurred to me that I might write a little something about the experience of voting as a new citizen. But I don't really have any grand thoughts about the experience.

As a long time voter in Canada, the differences were pretty obvious, and probably not all that surprising. Voting in Canada was much easier and I never had any doubt that my vote would be counted. And this wasn't the case here. The voting process is a mess, the ballot is extremely complicated, and I have little faith that my ballot will be counted, especially as I had two write-in votes.

And while I'm a huge fan of more democracy, this country also has a tendency to use democracy in an extremely undemocratic way.

Jamie AroosiNovember 6, 2018Kirsten Glibrand, Chuck Schumer, Elections, Canada, United StatesComment

Becoming an American

I recently became an American citizen, I thought I’d do my patriotic duty to try and cheer up my fellow citizens.

On Friday, at the oath ceremony, about 250 people became new citizens. Those 250 people came from 64 different countries, which means that more than a third of the world was represented. As we were informed, ceremonies like this take place 4 days a week, so that this Brooklyn courtroom swears in tens of thousands of new citizens a year. And nationally, this means that about three quarters of a million people become new citizens every year. And we all registered to vote. But what was most striking wasn’t that we became voters, it was that we became Americans.

Jamie AroosiAugust 14, 2018Citizenship, Canada, United States, Identity, ImmigrationComment

Oh! Canada, You Missed the Point

I keep seeing posts about Bernie Sanders’ trip to Toronto in my Facebook feed. First, they came through the University of Toronto page, then, through Canadian media, and now, from Sanders' own page. And the message has been the same throughout - Bernie travels to Canada to tell Canada how wonderful Canada is. Don't get me wrong, Canadian healthcare is far and away superior to the disaster of US healthcare, and the purpose of Bernie’s trip was to learn about the Canadian system. And I've written a little about this superiority, and I’d also argue that in a few other really important areas, America would be wise to learn from Canada too.

However, these headlines also point to one of the things that really drives me nuts about Canada. We're too self-congratulatory

Jamie AroosiOctober 29, 2017Canada, United States, Bernie Sanders, HealthcareComment