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"You can't possibly be serious"

Again, you don't know New York.
Business is the business of New York
I haven't seen anywhere, where people chase the American dream, more than here.

"Are we talking about the same city here? "

We are obviously not, since you live in Canada.

"The one with more per-capita government spending than anywhere else in the U.S.?"

The sheer energy, desire to succeed, and capitalistic fervor of New York's peoples (even the immigrants from Africa) has to be seen to be believed.
Its not the government that runs the businesses in New York.

The more densely populated an area is, the higher the % of government spending.

A rural area does not need mass transit, sewer systems, water systems, etc. In addition, closer proximity means more disputes w/ neighbors and more crime.

Along with the higher % of government spending in a city like NYC is a much higher rate of economic activity per square mile than in Wyoming.

Hence it is not surprising that local government is more important in a large city than in a rural state or county. That also explains why the 'Rats do better in the cities and the 'Pubs in the country. The 'Burbs are split.

A minimalist mayor would not work in NYC. An activist mayor would not make a good sheriff in rural America.

But some people think one size fits all. Whatever.

Me -- I like rural and urban America, and I live in the 'Burbs.

Unfortunately for you, I don't live in Canada. In fact, I'm sitting here in Manhattan as I type this.

New York City is more similar to a Third World sh!t-hole than a bastion of capitalism. You either have a lot of money in this town, or you don't have any. But you'll never starve no matter how poor you are, because this city has social services and taxpayer-funded financial support for every misfit and dysfunctional creature who washes up in the harbor.

The sheer energy, desire to succeed, and capitalistic fervor of New York's peoples (even the immigrants from Africa) has to be seen to be believed. Its not the government that runs the businesses in New York.

The "capitalistic fervor of New York's peoples" is a function of the city's chaotic environment and unwillingness to admit that a huge number of these immigrants have no business being here in the U.S. Most of these hard-working immigrants oeprate in a black market economy that has nothing to do with capitalism and everything to do with a social order that is collapsing before our eyes.

You might consider the Chinese guy selling pirated CDs on a street corner to have "capitalistic fervor," but I sure as hell don't. In fact, I find it bizarre that anyone could even keep a straight face while using such a term to describe someone who sells stolen goods at a "retail site" on a government-operated right-of-way. And I'd say the same thing about the bodega owner who hasn't filed a W-2 form in years, the African immigrant who contracted anthrax a couple of months ago from the animal skins he was importing (illegally) for the bongo drums he was producing in his basement, etc.