Views on America

LizKurz

the only thing in danger is leftovers

Lmfao! So true, so very true!

LizKurz

I Love America ... but then I'm American ... and its HUMP DAY so who cares we all live and share this lovely planet so no matter your views there's one thing we can all agree on....

GAS PRICES ARE WAY TO HIGH !!!!!! :grumble: :grumble: :grumble: :grumble:

I might be the only American that thinks they're too low. We paid close to $8 a gallon for four years when we lived overseas. You know what we did. Biked, walked and didn't drive much.

America is the only country with a way off balance of carbon emissions compared to our population. I would love to see gas prices triple. I think we could finally more towards more public transportation, which would help the poor out as well as the planet.

sexforjaffacakes

I would love to come live in America, like most things about it, not all but enough to want to live there,
I'm English and living in Ireland which is not the combo in the world but not to bad,
I love how most Americans are proud of there country, hanging the flag out etc. you don't see that much anywhere else.

You see it quite a lot in Scottish cities, especially Edinburgh!

Fridaydalek

I am English and don't think we are any better, though. We all have our flaws. We have far too much culture of entitlement, and I think a lot of people are very lazy here in the UK.

My word, that's so true. "Entitlement culture" is the downside of a welfare state, and it's an issue that really divides me politically; on the one hand there should be aid for those who really need it... on the other hand, you've got layabouts who think they're owed something for nothing and fiddlers who know how to work the system. That's why I'd love to see some of the US work ethic here in the UK.

I'm not a huge fan of US politics, it has to be said... and there are many US citizens who feel the same way, I'm sure. But I'd really rather live in the US than Russia, China, Iran... at least in our western democracies no-one's going to round us up in the middle of the night for disagreeing with the state.

biznoche

I'm a caucasian American. There are a million negative things I'd love to say about America, but I will just stick to...it's such a beautiful place with so much to offer...it's a shame we don't pull our heads out of our a***s.

RobynC79

I am Australian (wee seem to be the majority on this thread..), but I've lived in the US for the past 6 years or so.

I came to work - the US has a much better scientific research industry than Aus. So that's a great thing. The other huge difference I note where the US has Australia solidly beat is that here, personal excellence is considered a good thing. In australia we have this thing called the 'Tall Poppy Syndrome" which means that anyone who sticks their head above the crown, metaphorically speaking, should expect to get chopped down. So saying that you've done a great job, have a great idea or are better than your colleagues is not appreciated. In the US this is considered normal practise, and it's so refreshing to see people strive to improve themselves and then make it clear how hard they worked for that success.

On the other hand, there are things I will never comprehend. The gun thing is just madness to the eyes of aussies - we have something like 100 random gun-related homicides per year. In the whole country. The blind adherence to the 'right to bear arms' with no critical consideration that more guns is not actually a good way to prevent shootings.

Religious prejudice represented as 'social issues' ... I saw this thing in the NYT suggesting aussies don't vote on social issues, like abortion and gay rights. But we do vote on social issues, just different ones. Universal healthcare, free access to education, protection of workers' rights through strong unions, all these are 'social issues' that are not religiously informed.

Voluntary voting in the US is also a puzzler. Compulasory voting means saving money on motivating people to vote, and means motivation need not be driven by appealing to extreme views. The 'apathetic middle' is the moderate voting block that keeps countries from veering into exremism, but they don't vote here. I think that's the root of so many problems with US politics.

And foreign policy is tricky one. Australia has the great advantage of being almost small enough to be irrelevant on the world stage, so we're not faced with the same set of responsibilities that by a combination of historical and economic factors, the US finds itself beholden to. Australians go to war too, even though the populace is more cautious about it in general.

ARDuBaie

Our politcal system is broken.
We try so hard to do right by the individual, that we now overburden the many.
We have become so politically correct that we cannot speak freely.
We are overtaxed and underserved.

It's too bad, because the U.S. is one of the better places to live and I would never leave, but we're stressed to the breaking point. History says that this Empire will one day crumble too. I'll probably be dead by then.

:flowerforyou: :flowerforyou:

dinovino_59

Americans, compared to Europeans, are out of shape and a bit on the lazy side.

Wow, last time I checked we were and still are more productive than our European friends.....

Key data show that the disparity in productivity results at least partially from fewer hours worked by European workers. As recently as 2007, Americans worked five weeks longer than their counterparts in Europe, spending about 180 more hours on the job.

Post facts not your one sided opinion!

Ladyiianae

I am American and I feel blessed to have been born here. I don't always agree with what the people in charge do...especially those in charge of the military. However, I respect with EVERY FIBER of my being the men and women IN the military and thank them for keeping me and my loved ones safe.

On another note, I want to go to Scotland SO bad!!!!

warmachinejt

soldiers get thrown rocks in one neighborhood and greeted on the other. You know it's also about that country's propaganda and who controls the district
I lived in Colombia until I was 11 years old and the druglords must have really hated the drug enforcement efforts from the US but I think some people are happy that the US helps us.

kayleesays

I don't get the fact that, while many European countries start school early for their children (like around 4 years of age), Americans don't start until around 6 years of age.

American children have the option to go to pre-school or headstart at 4 (nearly all, if not all do, I believe), and public school begins at 5.

Other than that, I'm on board with you.

savage22hp

Do we have warts ? ...... Yes
Does the world dislike the USA ? ...... Probably
Do we stick our nose in too much of others business ? ..... Could be
Would there be a United Nations without the USA ? ..... No
Has our military brought instability to the world ? ..... No , but we have added to it
Has our military brought stability to the world ? ...... No , but we have added to it
Am I glad Rick Santorum is out of the presidential race? ..... No , he was not my pick but we need everyone's voice heard. ( it is beyond ironic that others want to decry the lack of liberty at the hands of Christians by attempting to silence them )
Am I glad that those who do not wish to live in the USA can leave ?......... Yes
Would I welcome them back ? Yes , but only on equal standing with other immigrants who go through the process of legally being here
Do I own a gun ? .....yes
Do I know how to use it ? ....yes
Have I used it to end life ? .....yes , hunting to provide for my table
Religion ? ...... Unashamedly Christian , not in name only , but truly seeking to follow Christ
Tolerant ? ....... Yes , but not accepting everything as truth
Do I love my Country ? Yes , enough so that I couldn't resist looking at this thread and being saddened by my fellow countrymen
Enough said by me ? ....... Absolutely

adrian_indy

I could make a long list about the pros and cons of America, but I'll give you the top of each. America in unity cannot be stopped from achieving any goal. Sadly we are rarely united.

Con-I do not blame politicians for the current mess in this country, I blame the citizens. Blaming a politician is like blaming a snake when it bites you, it's in it's nature. We have more people in our nation that put more thought into who they are going to vote for on American Idol than for the presidency. Amd for the majority of those who do vote, they are slaves to a two party system and continually vote for the party, not the person. The idiocy of it can be seen today, as many liberals who hated Bush and his policies are silent as Obama continues them. On the flip side, the conservatives who could find no fault in Bush hate Obama.....for the same policies. Makes no sense.

treehugginpam

This! There are lots of individual Americans who are lovely, but the system itself just seems so messed up.

As someone from a "1st world" country, it actually seems completely barbaric that you have to pay for health care in America. I have never in my life met anyone that thinks paying for healthcare is a good thing. In Scotland, and presumably the rest of Britain, the NHS (national health service) is one of our most valuable things.

Also, the guns thing, that is **** scary. I'd never seen a gun in my life till I went on a school strip to the American embassy in London, and it terrified me, can't imagine living somewhere where the police all carry guns and people can actually buy them legally.

And the uber religion - Americans always seem to be terrified of the dangers of fundamentalist Islam yada yada, but don't seem to realise that fundamentalist Christians probably do more harm - as far as I'm aware, the muslim religion doesn't affect laws on a daily basis.

I never met a racist person until I was 16/17, I have yet to this day meet a real homophobic person (beyond ewwww that's gross in highschool), and yes our laws (at least in Scotland, I understand it's more entwined in England) are LAW and not RELIGION. The religious argument has no place in politics.

I think the reason America is so internationally disliked is that it always seems so "big headed", marching into national affairs and acting like king of the world, when it's still internationally regarded as er "stupid". Again, not individual americans, but the stereotype of the dumb american is still very very much alive, and I dunno why, if it's the system, or if it's the steady stream of "only in America" stories (ie people suing mcdonalds for getting fat etc).

It's like, I get it, you're uber capitalists, but you need to find the balance between socialism (GASP! OMG I SAID IT!) and capitalism - when you have people in the ghetto starving and turning to real proper dirty crime for money, or people literally dying of illnesses because they can't afford health insurance, the capitalism has gone too far. If you want your world where you can chase your dreams and become rich, you need to understand it is not possible for EVERYONE to do this - there will always be waiters and street sweepers and people on minimum wage with no health benefits - and to have a truly complete society you need to take care of these people.

Massive rant there, I just have quite strong views, and I wanted to put them carefully so I didn't offend any of the good Americanos :P

And finally, my biggest issue with America... THE PHRASE IS COULDN'T CARE LESS! COULDN'T! COULDN'T!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw

I love everything you just said, and the video cracked me up. "I could care less" is one of my biggest pet peeves!!

dsjohndrow

There are a lot of great things about America. I love the National Parks from the Coast of Maine to the Rockies, the Gran canyon and places like Yosemite and Buck Island National Reef - there is probably no other place with such diverse landscapes.

I love the atmosphere in which I am free to work where I want, to take the jobs I want, to go to school for what I want, and having served a short time in the Army, I realize that all this is not how people live in other places.

I have traveled in 13 countries outside the US and in all them I found poverty and wealth. I found people with the same basic life pains from addiction to health care concerns. I also found people of faith and those in dire need of hope.

What I love about America the most is that we have chance to get off our *kitten* and do pretty much anything we want to. We can work hard, become educated or we can blame someone else because they made it and we didn't. We are free to do both.

You know, it's like this weight loss game. You can work at it and others might pass you by, and you may pass others by, but for those the keep doing it, they eventually make it.

netchik

I'm another one who's lived in many places; Australia, South Africa, Papua New Guinea and The UK for the last 13 years.

I envy the patrotism that Americans display. Here in England, every time we try to display british pride we are labelled racist.

I hate the american medical insurance system - it upsets me when people can't afford to go to the doctor - how is that looking after the people?

Politicians suck the world over. Not because they are bad people, but because of the favours that get called in once they've reached the top jobs. Even the good guys will have to make bad decisions at some point.

I love that anyone can make a fresh start in America. But I hate that minority groups and immigrants suffer so much persecution at the hands of the fanatics. I'm sorry - your family was an immigrant at some point too!

There is a perception the world over that Americans blame everyone but themselves... Like "I tripped on my shoelace, so I'll sue Nike". Really?

HOWEVER all the bad stuff, I hope this is just a perception issue - like apparently ALL australians are drunks, ALL british don't shower, ALL South africans are racist, and ALL New Guineans are cannibals.

macpatti

You can't even SAY something like that over here...

Really? Where in America do you live that you can't speak your mind?

kapeluza

Bad

Terrible education. Seriously, it's horrible.

savage22hp

I Love America ... but then I'm American ... and its HUMP DAY so who cares we all live and share this lovely planet so no matter your views there's one thing we can all agree on....

GAS PRICES ARE WAY TO HIGH !!!!!! :grumble: :grumble: :grumble: :grumble:

I might be the only American that thinks they're too low. We paid close to $8 a gallon for four years when we lived overseas. You know what we did. Biked, walked and didn't drive much.

America is the only country with a way off balance of carbon emissions compared to our population. I would love to see gas prices
triple. I think we could finally more towards more public transportation, which would help the poor out as well as the planet.

Too bad the food produced here is very dependent on the fuel. walking to the store is great if there is food there when you arrive , in quantities adequate to feed all , and at a price that can be afforded . I know what you mean in decrying the amount of fossil fuel consumed but the un necessary trips in the family car isn't all thats at stake here . We have by and large regulated ourselves into being a service and consumption economy . Let's at least retain the ability to feed ourselves and export food overseas too .

Hannah_Banana

I don't post very often, but I thought this was a very interesting topic.

I did a cultural exchange in New Zealand, and I found honestly very little different. Except perhaps that Kiwis really REALLY like rules. As a pedestrian, and seeing a "Don't Walk" sign, an American will walk up, look both ways, and cross if there is no oncoming traffic. As a Kiwi, it says don't walk, so you don't walk. That's a small example, but the mindset really permeates the culture (or so I noticed from my travels). Not saying its a negative thing, just something I found very interesting.

I don't seem to share (anyone's?) views so far. I'm an atheist conservative - what I suppose you could more or less call a libertarian. I firmly believe in capitalism and small government. Small government is exactly what the founder fathers wanted and is the exact OPPOSITE of socialized healthcare, public assistance programs, heck even income taxes.

I guess I'm a little confused by the people who say that Washington would be turning over in his grave because we *don't* have a socialist society? The Founding Fathers tried to limit government powers as much as they possibly could. Socialism is the complete opposite of that, it's giving the government too much control over your life. I believe it is the responsibly of the people, not the federal government, to care for the less fortunate through charity and *gasp* religious organizations.

Also, in regards to gun rights... The quickest way to tyranny is to take away the commoners right to bear arms. The law was put into place to help protect people from a corrupt government. What separated the millions of Jews rounded up and taken to concentration camps and the Warsaw Ghetto during the Holocaust? Those in the Ghetto had guns, and they fought back because they had stolen guns and other weapons from the Nazi troops. If the Germans hadn't FIRST made it illegal for a Jew to own a gun, it may not have prevented the Holocaust altogether, but there would have been a lot less sheep led to slaughter. Also - I don't own a gun, though I may get one in the future if the country continues to spiral downhill. :ohwell: