Ok, all you right wing jerks...tell me again how the US is the greatest country in the world...

[Enter stage left]

As many of you know, we are full-time RVer's.

Right now, we're in Vulcan, Alberta, a town of approximately 2000 people, about 180 miles north of the border, and they have FREE INTERNET for those in their campgrounds. It isn't lightning fast, but, it functions well, and it's FREE.

Remind me again why the US is "number 1"?

Why can't we have the nice things that others have?

Would it have anything to do with Republicans???

FYI, we love Canada, the people are SO nice, and the country is beautiful.

And...as a added bonus...NO TRUMP FLAGS.

[roamer65]

1. How bad is the smoke there?

It’s been a hazy day here in Michigan due to the wildfire smoke.

[Enter stage left]

3. There is no smoke here. We're headed north to Edmonton tomorrow...

We'll let you know how it is there.

Most of the bad fires were west of Edmonton.

[roamer65]

4. Be safe and careful!

[Enter stage left]

5. Thanks...the drivers here are better than in the lower 48.

[Silent Type]

2. Because Republicans believe that one person who doesn't want internet

should not have to pay for it.

Just like my neighbors complaining about having to pay school taxes since they don’t have kids or kids in school. Always point out we all benefit from educated people, but they don’t care.

[leftieNanner]

17. They also benefit from

The increased property values in areas with well funded schools.

[Silent Type]

19. Good point. I'll add that one next time someone gripes.

[Chainfire]

6. I can't get high-speed internet at all. No fiber out in the country.

When it rains my land-line internet fails. I send and receive data at the speed of an abacus. Try to send a photo over Gmail, twenty minutes if at all. Where it really hurts people in the rural areas is that there is no possibility of remote work for most jobs so instead of bringing data to us, we have to go to the data. I would really hate to see what REA would look like if implemented today.

[KentuckyWoman]

8. Internet should be a utility.

I hope some of that Infrastructure money helps wire up your part of the world.

[Chainfire]

11. Of course it should be available, but nearly half the country would see it as a hand-out; socialism!

It is interesting to me, that within 600 yards of my house is a main-trunk fiber cable, but it ain't for us.

[MichMan]

20. What utilities are "free" ?

Not electricity or natural gas.

[KentuckyWoman]

26. Nothing is free.

Internet is just as essential in the modern world as electric, natural gas, clean water. If FDR could get electric to Fiskburg KY, we can get half decent internet out there.

[NowISeetheLight]

7. What Are They Saying?

What are they saying about our situation here in the US? Do they despise the MagaTs as much as we do? Are they as mystified at the ignorance and stupidity as we are? I hope so.

[Enter stage left]

10. I don't bring up politics with the locals. Nor religion. Best way to keep good relationships.

[NowISeetheLight]

12. I Understand

Both the Masonic lodge and the American Legion postvi belong too have two rules. No politics and no religion.

[Enter stage left]

14. LOL, the same rules the McIdiots* have...

*Old farts that gather at the local McDonald's virtually every morning.

[MarineCombatEngineer]

9. Well, most major truck stops in the US have free internet

for us truckers, don't know about the 4 wheeler side of the stop, but truckers do get free internet.

[Enter stage left]

13. We're in a city run campground with full hook-ups 1/2 mile from downtown.

Good (not great, but good) internet. NO CHARGE.

Remember, 2000 people in town.

[NowISeetheLight]

15. Park N View

Back in the 90s when I drove OTR there was Park N View. They had these little hubs in the parking lot with a phone jack. You could subscribe and had phone (and dial up) access. I actually worked on my BS online from the road. I had an 80 foot phone line cable and would plug in every night. If you had a coax cable you could also get cable TV. Those were the days.

Googled it and found an old newspaper article. Trip down memory lane.

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/1997/03/09/park-n-view-links-truckers-to-net/

[FakeNoose]

16. I believe it's wifi that the campground provides for their customers

Or maybe the wifi is provided by the Canadian government, I don't know.

See there are many public places in the US (hotels, restaurants, college campuses, stores, malls, etc.) that provide free wifi. The companies bear the cost (it's not that much) and it's a freebee for their customers. Unfortunately the rural areas in the United States are missing out because the cost of getting the internet out there is greater than the payback to the users.

The US government is supposed to step in and bear the cost of making wifi and cable/internet available to those rural areas. It's just one of those things that takes time and not everybody is voting to get the work done. It will happen though. Especially if we keep electing Democratic Presidents, it will definitely happen.

[former9thward]

18. There are free internet spots all over the U.S.

You didn't know that?

[Enter stage left]

21. Of course I knew that, I was a Realtor Broker for 25 years, and internet savvy for longer than that.

BUT, a town of 2000, with no McDonald's, only 2 fast food restaurants, and really inexpensive city parks providing internet service is almost unheard of in the western US, and we have driven ALL of it in the last 9 years.

Please don't think I know what I'm talking about, OK!

[former9thward]

22. Well you are using an anecdotal story about that town to infer the worth of the entire U.S.

Is Canada #1 in your view?

[Enter stage left]

23. Not necessarily number one, but better than most of the western US.

[former9thward]

24. I live in the Phoenix area and I wonder if the thousands of Canadians who visit here

agree with you. And the tens of thousands of Canadians who have homes here.

[Enter stage left]

25. We're full-time RV-er's, we've spent time in the Phoenix area, Tucson, Casa Grande...

and the internet sucks.

We can get a wi-fi signal almost everywhere we go, but we can't get a good internet connection.

If you haven't traveled like we have, you don't understand the issues we have with internet connections.

Many, if not most of the Canadians you are talking about are in a campground or area where they are paying a premium price for internet. Ask them what they think of the prices and connection reliability.

We're paying the US equivalent of roughly $27/ night, with good internet.

In Phoenix, Tucson, Casa Grande, we'd be paying US $55-80 a night, and hope we had good internet.

We have traveled over 70,000 miles across the US, coast to coast, from East Port, Maine, to Neah Bay, Washington, including coast to coast across Canada from Vancouver Island to Prince Edward Island. We know what good internet service is.

Thank you for your enlightened input.