>>>" Canada is screwed then. "<<< That's why really cold places - Canada, Norway, Sweden - really need to be fiscally conservative and not waste money.
Look at what has happened to the two cold countries whose economy has collapsed - Russia and Iceland.
Very high emigration, people can't wait to leave.
*****
US territorial acquisition has been a combination luck (Napoleon needing to sell Louisiana) and brilliance (President Polk working out a deal on Oregon territory with UK, then trying to buy California from Mexico, to get the port of San Francisco, later instructing his ambassador to only try for the strategic (port of San Diego) and sparsely populated territories of Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico in the treaty ending the war with Mexico.)
en.wikipedia.org
When he took office on March 4, 1845, Polk, at 49, became the youngest man at the time to assume the presidency. According to a story told decades later by George Bancroft, Polk set four clearly defined goals for his administration:
The reestablishment of the Independent Treasury System.
The reduction of tariffs.
Acquisition of some or all the Oregon Country.
The acquisition of California and New Mexico from Mexico.
Pledged to serve only one term, he accomplished all these objectives in just four years. By linking acquisition of new lands in Oregon (with no slavery) and Texas (with slavery), he hoped to satisfy both North and South. |
