violent, hell yes, the way you seem to cling on to gun rights, shooting after shooting.
but it not the worst preconception i have of America
but it not the worst preconception i have of America
non Americans: do you think we are violent?
- Thread starter chuckman1
- Start date
Recommended Videos
Is the US violent? Yes and rightfully so. We never forgot our roots. We have what we have in bloodshed and we'll keep what we have or blow it to high hell so no one else'll ever have it again. You know this, and honestly it's the only way to keep out tenuous foothold in this world. The U.S. has been around 238 years. If at 02/04/1776 someone was born, and they died at 50, to have someone born that day and live to 50, etc. The U.S. is only 4 lives and 3/4ths old. And I assure you all 4 of those lives where brutal. Our sports are brutal, our hobbies are brutal. We like fast cars and explosions.
But you know what?
None of that matters. 90% of the U.S. has found ways to cope. We do, we find outlets for that. We watch our violence, or feed our violence, or play our violence rather then commit violence. You'll die if you walk in the U.S. about the same rate as anywhere else. Stay out of the alleys of Miami, don't stop in Gary, Indiana. Keep your head down in Detroit. Easy. Know the rules, and you'll have a good day.
This isn't about tolerance for violence, this is about having a 200+ year old ant hill full of the meanest red ants ever bred. Left alone they'll continue to live their ant lives.. Sure they'll kill something occasionally but it happens. Walk around that ant hill.. Just walk around it..
But you know what?
None of that matters. 90% of the U.S. has found ways to cope. We do, we find outlets for that. We watch our violence, or feed our violence, or play our violence rather then commit violence. You'll die if you walk in the U.S. about the same rate as anywhere else. Stay out of the alleys of Miami, don't stop in Gary, Indiana. Keep your head down in Detroit. Easy. Know the rules, and you'll have a good day.
This isn't about tolerance for violence, this is about having a 200+ year old ant hill full of the meanest red ants ever bred. Left alone they'll continue to live their ant lives.. Sure they'll kill something occasionally but it happens. Walk around that ant hill.. Just walk around it..
Well, kids learn from their parents!MorphBallBomb said:
That sounds like an honest description of England?s behavior a few hundred years ago.Though I?m surprised at the reputation of our police; I had no idea they had such a bad reputation around the world. I will admit that I?m white, and that might be part of it, but I?ve met nothing but pleasant police officers, for the most part. Maybe it?s because the media focuses of all of the negative things that happen with our police is the reason they get such a bad reputation?
"Do you think that the United states are violent or scary and crime ridden?"
I don't know about violent or crime ridden but yes to scary. I have 0 desire to travel to USA because I find the gun fetish very disturbing, as well as the whole patriotic USA USA USA schtick. Swearing allegiances to flags is very North Korea-esque in my book.
The stories and vids I've seen of USA cops further fuels my desire to give the USA a wide berth.
I don't know about violent or crime ridden but yes to scary. I have 0 desire to travel to USA because I find the gun fetish very disturbing, as well as the whole patriotic USA USA USA schtick. Swearing allegiances to flags is very North Korea-esque in my book.
The stories and vids I've seen of USA cops further fuels my desire to give the USA a wide berth.
Unless you are the secret monarch of the USA who rules behind the scenes and the rest of your class was part of your high council, then that guy is a twat and had no right to speak to you like that.Sniper Team 4 said:
Not particularly.
Most of the US citizens I've met are far more open and friendly at first meetings than Europeans. I even believe there's a lot more racism and such hiding in Europe, it's just far more "under the skin".
You just have a number of laws or general opinions that seem insane or dumb to me. Gun ownership being a prime one, as well as health care (I guess formerly, but not sure what has actually changed).
The rebutals offered when you enter a discussion about this also seem so ridiculous to me that I don't even reply any longer to be honest.
As far as travelling there goes. I'm simply not keen on getting my luggage broken apart and my fingerprints taken even though I haven't done anything wrong or suspiciious, thank you.
Most of the US citizens I've met are far more open and friendly at first meetings than Europeans. I even believe there's a lot more racism and such hiding in Europe, it's just far more "under the skin".
You just have a number of laws or general opinions that seem insane or dumb to me. Gun ownership being a prime one, as well as health care (I guess formerly, but not sure what has actually changed).
The rebutals offered when you enter a discussion about this also seem so ridiculous to me that I don't even reply any longer to be honest.
As far as travelling there goes. I'm simply not keen on getting my luggage broken apart and my fingerprints taken even though I haven't done anything wrong or suspiciious, thank you.
From Switzerland here and i'd answer with a short: yes.
The obssesion with guns really had a toll on you guys. Violence in general seems to be glorified a little bit much. Constantly being in a war, having many guns, being very patriotic and way to religous is not a great combination. But alot of things i can say now were already said by George Carlin 20 years ago.
Even your language gets more and more "violent". I mean if you read/watch the news it's always "War on X", be it drugs, terror or whatever.
If i'm really honest, whenever i take a glance across the ocean i'm really really reliefed living over here.
On a side note: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9ae_1428565689
Apparently the US police killed more people last month than the UK in 100 years. I mean even if you've 6x as many citizens in your country this is just nuts.
The obssesion with guns really had a toll on you guys. Violence in general seems to be glorified a little bit much. Constantly being in a war, having many guns, being very patriotic and way to religous is not a great combination. But alot of things i can say now were already said by George Carlin 20 years ago.
Even your language gets more and more "violent". I mean if you read/watch the news it's always "War on X", be it drugs, terror or whatever.
If i'm really honest, whenever i take a glance across the ocean i'm really really reliefed living over here.
On a side note: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9ae_1428565689
Apparently the US police killed more people last month than the UK in 100 years. I mean even if you've 6x as many citizens in your country this is just nuts.
I'm gonna have to disagree with some points here. You sort of sound like a guy who believes in American exceptionalism (I sort of do too).Therumancer said:
First, I'll give you that not having completely closed borders allows commers (including black market) to flourish and for triads/cartels to operate here and spread violence. But I'm pretty sure violence is mostly American vs American in the US. Also your comment about "black counter culture" sounds like a racist 50 year old who thinks they're politically correct. I'm pretty sure the majority of murders in the US are committed by whites. Maybe if you are talking about gangs, which encourage violence, I can see what you're trying to see. But black gangs started later in the USA than white, mexican, and chinese gangs. Don't beleive the media with their portrayal of all black men as thugs.
Gun shots in the hood are gonna mainly be two reasons.
Revenge (Killed my cousin, banged my girlfriend, etc.)
Drugs (Robbing, stopping the robber, killing the debtor, etc.)
It is not about "black counter culture" for god sake.
Also I have always found the term "civilized" to be complete bullshit that colonists used.
"Hey conquistador Carlos let's go murder and rape some brown people for GOD AND JESUS!!!!"
"YEAH AWESOME they are not civilized so our swords and guns are purifying the savages and bringing the light of god"
Well nuts. I'm afraid we have to...take care of you now. You know too much. I'm sorry. ;-)Frankster said:
It didn't bother us that much, but it was weird. I'd never been the target of so much hate, anger, and stereotypes before.
The United states is super violent! Forget about how things are withen the borders, only considering foreign policy they are uber violent. When was the last time the United states was not at war?
How much of the national budget is spent on "defense"?
"Terrorists" exist for a reason, and that reason is there is no other way for them to fight back.
How much of the national budget is spent on "defense"?
"Terrorists" exist for a reason, and that reason is there is no other way for them to fight back.
Hard to say. I don't know any Americans personally, so I don't really know how violent the people are in general. What I do, and I believe everyone here, knows well is that the USA has, for the last 80-odd years, practiced very aggressive and military-based foreign politics in large quantity. This, combined with your apparent love for the right to carry firearms (and the plentiful cases where that has bitten you in the ass royally) and the amount of violent action movies the U.S. exports, would at least make me confident to say that the US seems to have a more relaxed relationship with violence than at least the EU has. Here in Finland violence, or even the threat of it, is something you resort to when you've arrived at an absolute impasse, and isn't seen as anything to be glorified or be proud of.
America is so bad you feel the need to sympathize with al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, ISIL?Reasonable Atheist said:
Consider this:
The reason our military is so big, is because NATO has allowed the EU to outsource its military resources to the United States. We enable your lives to be peaceful, your defense spending to be small, and your domestic spending on healthcare, etc. to be prudent. We have aircraft carriers, so that former naval powers in Western Europe no longer have to. We keep bombers in the air 24/7, so that you don't have to. We build counter-missile installations in your countries, so you don't have to. A clandestine network of spy satellites launched by our covert space program keeps tabs on everybody, everybody including a subset of nations whose actions would threaten your own security, be it economic or territorial, far more than we ever would.
One might beg the question: "without the US and Russian cold war, nuclear annihilation would never have been a threat in the first place!". The genie cannot be put back in the bottle. History cannot be rolled back for a do over. The world we live in has nukes now.
Does China mind our containment of Russia or North Korea? No.
They might mind our increased presence in the Pacific, but to be frank, it's only to sabre rattle at them for attempting to claim chunks of the South China Sea (an extremely large area) that belong to other sovereign nations, like Japan, who also does not mind utilizing our military for their security.
Has the United States made mistakes?
Sure.
Our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq haven't been fruitful. Arming insurgents to fight the Soviets bit us in the ass, but also allowed Afghanistan to live up to its name as "the graveyard of empires". We made a gamble that future terrorism would be less harmful than the continuation of the Soviet state, and we were right. Chechnya also helped, and I don't doubt that we had a hand in that either. Occupying Afghanistan was our mistake, but hunting al-Qaeda there was not.
I have no justification for the war in Iraq, other than destabilizing the region to place power into a reforming Iran's hands while proving that Israel could be tempered. Look up the Samson Option, if you think we're the only crazy ones. Getting Israel to stop feeling threatened enough to potentially kill us all is definitely part of the chess strategy.
If you have any delusions of a kumbayah world, you should lose them now. Everything, including economics, is war by other means. Humanity has never not been in a state of war, and as long as resources are few and ideologies are in conflict, it will continue. Be glad that you are part of the hegemony, and not its enemy.
The real question is, would you rather China, or Russia, or India have geopolitical dominance? Do you miss the British Empire? Or the French? Or the Spanish?
There is a difference between sympathizing with your enemy, and understanding your enemy.MorphBallBomb said:
I sympathize with the peoples and regions this type of attacker spawns from, not the attacker itself. I want to prevent terrorism spawning from futility, as well as you know.... just killing them all as they pop up and do ridiculously evil shit.
The question is do I think America is violent, whether or not the violence is the right course of action is a different and much more complicated conversation
Finn here, from all that I've picked up in the media, the Ferguson "incident" for example, if you could call it that, rather something around the lines of "chaos" and "holy shitbiscuits". The gun fanaticism is also incomprehensible. Healthcare shenanigans are rather off-putting... Well, the general lack for an individual's well-being is what seems the most reprehensible.
Whenever someone mentions USA to me as a Finn, I always associate it with negative stuff. So, wouldn't want to live there. In general all the major world powers just seem like they're just these big bullies around the playground, only taking us into their games when they can somehow garner more influence for themselves, or to just feed us sand and give us wedgies.
Whenever someone mentions USA to me as a Finn, I always associate it with negative stuff. So, wouldn't want to live there. In general all the major world powers just seem like they're just these big bullies around the playground, only taking us into their games when they can somehow garner more influence for themselves, or to just feed us sand and give us wedgies.
A fair distinction. Apologies for implying you were a 'sympathizer' in that sense.Reasonable Atheist said:
From Australia.
It is an unfair stereotype to label all Americans violent but at the same time...
Your media seems to either constantly force feed viewers or glorify in violence.
Many of your movies are based around big Americans doing violent things to non-Americans.
You go to war on multiple fronts.
And we've really got to sit down one day and have a good talk about that unhealthy obsession you have about guns!
It is an unfair stereotype to label all Americans violent but at the same time...
Your media seems to either constantly force feed viewers or glorify in violence.
Many of your movies are based around big Americans doing violent things to non-Americans.
You go to war on multiple fronts.
And we've really got to sit down one day and have a good talk about that unhealthy obsession you have about guns!
No. Look at the rest of the world and their love of such things as soccer riots.
In the latter case, you are talk about the country that produces and consumes the most porn, but like sex in general, Americans just like it out of sight, something the randy Victorians would agree on.
Plus movies are movies, the bigger problem is real violence in news media, something which many Americans hate and something that dovetails into what Jim Sterling has talked about with people's reactions to fake violent compared to real film of people dying.
More like Americans are violence = as comfortable with it as entertainment as Europeans are with nudity, sex = something intensely private that shouldn't be put on display.Pluvia said:
In the latter case, you are talk about the country that produces and consumes the most porn, but like sex in general, Americans just like it out of sight, something the randy Victorians would agree on.
Americans are still high on WWII and when they were both top dog taking on the big baddies of the world and well loved, they've just found it very hard since then to be both world hegemon and disliked, something Britain took almost perverse pleasure in.Dwarfman said:
Plus movies are movies, the bigger problem is real violence in news media, something which many Americans hate and something that dovetails into what Jim Sterling has talked about with people's reactions to fake violent compared to real film of people dying.
It's violent everywhere! Every country in the world has violence.
I'll tell you what I think of Americans...they are loud. You're always yelling (or seems like you are) and stick out like a sore thumb in a crowd or party because EVERYONE can hear you.
I'll tell you what I think of Americans...they are loud. You're always yelling (or seems like you are) and stick out like a sore thumb in a crowd or party because EVERYONE can hear you.
Hmmm.....well our collective police force has killed over 400 people since the beginning of the year. So that's.....not great. The thing about the US is that certain groups fetishize militarization to an unhealthy extent, that and our conservative politicians are constantly pandering to the lowest common denominator by opposing gun regulation of any kind. I don't believe that the average American citizen is more or less violent than most, but our culture can definitely be seen as contributing to problems such as gun violence.
Should it? I mean soldiers dying in war is routine and nothing out of the ordinary. And whether or not your culture is pro and anti-war, the mundane and ordinary typically isn't headline worthy (at least on a national scale).Pluvia said:
Oh we'll suck off American soldiers all day, as long as they're conforming to the badass warrior stereotype we so badly want them to be. The second veterans and soldiers form a committee about rape (male or otherwise) in the military we ignore them at best, at worst discharge them dishonorably. As soon as veterans want better medical care we create a lip service program that will only cover you if you live within 40 miles of a VA clinic AS THE CROW FUCKING FLIES. It honestly beggars belief the way we shaft our wounded soldiers.Pluvia said:
As for sex education, I blame it on ludicrous "religious freedom" laws that get passed one after another in our more ignorant states. Honestly though the subject just makes me so mad that I can't even really discuss it in any reasonable way.