In the U.S., I exaggerate only very slightly to suggest that a driver's license (and even automobile ownership) are seen as a fundamental human right,

Or perhaps more accurately, a necessity. Because, in many parts of the US, it is a necessity period.

The only reason driving isn't a "right" is because, in spite of it being a necessity, we may deny it based on residency status.

The driver education in the US is a complete joke.

I don't know if the problem is driver education, as much as a disinterest in following those rules. Every driver in the US learns those things. They just aren't considered very important.

But why do you care what others do?

I'm not the person you're asking, but, chiming in, I don't care what others do personally. Though one downside of things is that automakers often don't bother designing/making a car with a manual for American drivers, since so few Americans opt for one. For an individual who buys cars used, it also makes it a lot harder to find one.

Airbus is run by software. Boeing by pilots.

That continues to be true with existing aircraft and designs. It had less to do with the two companies have a huge philosophical difference than the fact that Airbus had a lot of clean sheet designs and Boeing did not, and it was easier for Boeing to not use fly-by-wire.

When Boeing does do a clean sheet design (777, 787 and maybe the replacement for the 737) it adapts fly-by-wire and the systems are more or less equivalent to how Airbus aircraft are flown.

The problem is Canadians employ the metric system, but with US cars calibrated in imperial units, they cannot be allowed on Canadian roads and the cost of conversion is prohibitive.

Where are you getting this from? All you need to do is check riv.ca to see if your car is admissible for import. If it's over 15 year old it's automatically admissible, and under 15 years almost everything is admissible. Cars in the US are required to have metric on their speedometers anyway. If it's admissible and has DRLs, it's good to go, no changes needed.

The biggest problem with importing cars into Canada--1.) US dealers are prohibited by automakers from selling new cars to residents of Canada (and vice versa) and 2.) Canada import duty has to be paid.

So we are choosing to be more efficient than fast?

In regards to aviation...definitely. In fact, most of the time we don't actually fly as fast as the 707 used to. We probably fly 50-100mph slower than we did twenty years ago. In combination with congestion, flights across the US take about an hour longer than they would have in the 70s or even 80s.

Airlines have been purposefully flying slower and aircraft manufacturers have been designing aircraft whose fuel efficiency sweetspot is slower.

Isn't it possible though that you never run into such a person because they're basically hidden (they wouldn't be in the work force, they wouldn't be producing anything that would bring them notice)?

How about Panera?

We assume that thieves have no conscience at all, otherwise they wouldn't be thieves.

The reality is that they have a mixed conscience, and might in some way feel better about what they're doing if they're not entirely thieving about things.

More often than not, if a thief has the chance to steal some money but not all the money, they will leave some of it there.

Three kinds of security:

Some would make the argument that there are only two types. Biometrics is really something you have, and saying that it is something you are instead of something you have is a distinction without difference.

I can now vote in the US' is worth it - which seems to be the only other *practical* difference between a GC-holder, and a citizen.

I would argue that that difference isn't there. As a green card holder, you can contribute federal (and most if not all state) political campaigns.

For many campaigns, the calculus works out to $75 per vote. That is, once the election is over, each vote cost about $75.

So get our your checkbook and use $75 as a starting point for your favorite candidate(s).

As for giving up your UK passport, eh, that's not really enforced.

Hmm. These days Russia is often lumped together with Brazil, India and China. (The so-called BRIC nations, sometimes called BRICI when Indonesia is added.)

These are large, populous countries which aren't exactly developed but are growing quickly economically. Russia is a bit more developed, but growing slower.

Though Third World is a difficult concept to define, it often meant a nation which was not developed in the Western sense of the term, and either was developing or in the process thereof.

As an individual who has a degree in Economics, and a second in Russian, I think that Russia reasonably fits the definition of (advanced) "Third World." It's a developing nation, with pockets of development and wealth.

Germany's Autobahn is a very modern system, built with incredibly strict tolerances ..ish.

It is modern in the urban/suburban areas. But you can still find parts of the Autobahn that have no emergency lanes and short slip on/slip off ramps. It also so happens that these part of the Autobahn are in rural regions which have no speed limits.

But see... the fingerprint cannot be stored on the card

Which naturally implies that you should do your best not to touch the card with your bare hands.

At attempt to do this (container deposit) in Ohio was rejected by voters sometime (I think) in the 1970s, perhaps 1980s. For some reason the topic was dropped thereafter and never picked up again.