Canada vs. America

Sarah Vowell is an American writer who believes that Canada’s society is better than America’s society. Yet we are not given information where we are told how valid her argument is. She was born and raised in America, so how much does she really know about Canada’s society? Visiting is not the same thing as living there and getting the whole perspective. She compares American cowboys with Canadian Mounties and argues that Mounties are so much better. They only have one rule and they treat everyone equally, while America is still dealing with inequality. She can criticize America since she has lived here and dealt with it, but I don’t think she really has the right to say that Mounties are so much better. It can appear that way at first on the surface, but since she hasn’t really lived there and experienced everything she can’t know the whole true story about what really happens underneath everything. She says that Mounties are “squeaky-clean icons” and they don’t have a “dark side”. But how would she actually really know this?
Vowell also criticizes on America’s patriotism. She states that America hates and puts down other countries to make it look better. This could be true to a certain extent. But then she goes on to say how Canada is very patriotic also, but not to the extreme case of the United States. She states that Canada is humble in loving their country. This could be true, could not be true. Vowell does not have enough experience to see past the surface. Her whole argument of Canada being better than America is not valid.

Into the Wild

Christopher Johnson McCandless aka “Alex” is crazy. Yes, I understand people get tired of society and everything about it, but to leave everything and wander off to Alaska? That’s a bit extreme. Why couldn’t he have just moved away on his own and started a whole new life away from his family? He didn’t have to give up his $25,000 in savings to charity, nor abandon all of his possessions and car. He should have started a new life in a different, more rational method. He graduated from Emory, excelled in academics and athletics, and grew up in a “well-to-do” family; it’s not like his life was in horrible circumstances to where he just wanted to up-and-leave. He basically left everything, for nothing. He was very irrational in his doing of all of this. He traveled west through the United States, even ended up in Mexico at one point. But Alaska? He was basically committing suicide traveling there with nothing but a little .22 caliber rifle. Jim Gallien, who was the last person Alex hitch hiked with, warned him and told him that he was insane to be heading to Mt. McKinley. Gallien gave him his boots, and his lunch for the day. Most of the people that gave Alex rides became connected to Alex. People liked Alex. Ronald Franz even wanted to adopt him! Jan and Bob Burres also became attached to Alex; Jan felt maternal towards him being that she wasn’t close to her only son.
Alex didn’t believe in the whole materialistic view of the “American Dream”. That was what he disliked so much about his family. He was also a non-conformist, and disliked society very much. Running away into the wilderness with nothing whatsoever however, does not fix anything. It just endangered him abandoning everything and going off into the wild all alone. Christopher Johnson McCandless was overly irrational in his decision to leave everything and travel out west and to Alaska with absolutely nothing.