I would rather be poor right here in Canada than poor elsewhere. I think that this is a global set of crises, and that you can't really avoid it anywhere in the world. China is linked to the global import/export economy, and to the U.S., too. India is economically linked to China, and even to North America (think telemarketers). Brazil and Russia rely easily as heavily on exports as Canada to generate wealth.

What do we have? Progressive social policies. If we can't afford them, some of them may have to change a bit. But the fact remains that we have a lot of good institutions, ones to base even a poor society on. I'm sure an American, Australian, or Briton would make the same arguments.

If you throw peak oil into the equation, the cost of producing and transporting changes dramatically. Will China and Japan be as competitive if the price of oil and coal skyrocket?

There are some equilibrium shifts taking place, and I think ultimately the average lifestyle of North Americans will change because the world is a place of finite resources. But I'm not convinced the solution lies in trying to find the one place that will do the best. And there are just too many variables for me to actually figure out which one will do the best.