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  • Current Events & Politics Moderators: deficiT | tryptakid | Foreigner

What does the USA do better than other countries?

mal3volent said:
you just said "Yes, in self-defense you could certainly wound them or even kill them in Europe, but that's after already being attacked, not by "feeling threatened" or by someone entering your property"
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Oh I meant just entering your property, like getting a ball out of your garden,
not stealing shit, or breaking in. I know for a fact that at least in some US states you can get shot for walking through a farmer's property.
That's something that cannot happen here. Someone robbing the farmer's tool shed, they might get a bullet in their head.

You break in, you die. I don't care, and the law would be on my side.
I panicked because someone broke in.
 
December Flower said:
Oh I meant just entering your property, like getting a ball out of your garden,
not stealing shit, or breaking in. I know for a fact that at least in some US states you can get shot for walking through a farmer's property.
That's something that cannot happen here. Someone robbing the farmer's tool shed, they might get a bullet in their head.

You break in, you die. I don't care, and the law would be on my side.
I panicked because someone broke in.
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I'm curious, you have such a gung-ho attitude towards guns to protect you from people trying to harm you/break in to your home, does that extend to people who might try to rob/attack you in public? If so, why are you so critical of us Gun laws? I agree they aren't perfect, but your views don't seem to be much different than an average American .
 
Cream Gravy? said:
t helps that y’all have more homogenized cultures. Sure there’s the Turks brought into Germany to fill the role of labor post war, but aside from them and asylum seekers in recent years, most of Germany, most of France, most of England (well maybe not England after the empire collapsed) is filled with people of the same background and culture. In the U.S. we have a melting pot, and we don’t agree on anything because our culture is a mish-mash of every culture on the planet.
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Oh totally <3 I understand why the US has a gun culture different from most of Europe (not just the melting pot theory, but also historical reasons to do with a frontier culture, westward expansion etc). I was just making a point about positionality: what seems common sense to one culture can seem completely alien to another (even a culture otherwise very similar) simply because their lived experiences wrt whatever's the issue is so different.

That old saying about 'walking in another's shoes' helps to explain a lot of hidden differences in the way different cultures handle things.
 
December Flower said:
I know for a fact that at least in some US states you can get shot for walking through a farmer's property.
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That’s a misconception. Simple trespassing is not a kill worthy offense that I know of. You’re not allowed to brandish a weapon at someone unless you have reasonable assumption that they’re there to do you or your property harm. Now I’m sure some judges take a laidback stance on that and let farmers shoot people for simple trespassing, but technically it isn’t legal.
 
Another thing I like:

Yankmericans seem generally more open in their attitudes to others (despite the gun and fear of others thing).

By that I mean they seem more inclined to risk an unknown employee despite the lack of credentials, or to risk investing in a business proposition by someone without an amazing track record, to try new things and to embrace change. That is quite a positive contrast to European attitudes, which tend to be more insular and inwards looking and more deferential to hierarchies etc - ime.

I'd also say there's a similar trend when it comes to things like dating or picking up - Yanks seem more forward, less inhibited and more open ime. In Europe, it's almost seen as weird and awkward to go up and talk to someone you like - almost like you're a freak. The attitude in the US seems completely different in most places.
 
Cream Gravy? said:
I always forget about them, no offense to the Swiss. But again, highly homogenized culture with low violence and a highly armed populace with mandated two year military service. No wonder everyone gets along there.

I can’t overemphasize the way our melting pot helps us to learn hate.
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You can decide between military and civil service.
Back when I was 18 this was the rule in Germany too, and I did civil service

However, I have to say it's positive that Americans can deal with all this stuff.
Honestly, if the situation here would turn into the situation in some US states, I'd not leave my house anymore
Kudos for having the guts to send your kids to public schools, especially in some of the more urban areas, I'd homeschool them for sure, and I can understand anyone who does.
mal3volent said:
I'm curious, you have such a gung-ho attitude towards guns to protect you from people trying to harm you/break in to your home, does that extend to people who might try to rob/attack you in public? If so, why are you so critical of us Gun laws? I agree they aren't perfect, but your views don't seem to be much different than an average American .
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But how are they going to rob you when you're not allowed to carry guns in public and people with prior convictions cannot even acquire guns at all? You get all this psychological testing and they really look at your prior convictions..

With a knife then? Even those are illegal to wear in public.

Also: try robbing a Bav with a knife, you're going to have it sticking out of your own throat in a second.
I can't really speak for that case anyways, because it never happens. Maybe in the cities, or up in Berlin?

I'm actually not as much against your gun laws as I am against the entire culture around guns in the US.
Here they're self-defense, if ever critically needed, and hunting (which you have to do if you acquire a hunting license)

I have an issue with your gun laws however, which is that background checks are quite lenient.

Cream Gravy? said:
That’s a misconception. Simple trespassing is not a kill worthy offense that I know of. You’re not allowed to brandish a weapon at someone unless you have reasonable assumption that they’re there to do you or your property harm. Now I’m sure some judges take a laidback stance on that and let farmers shoot people for simple trespassing, but technically it isn’t legal.
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doesn't that fall under the castle doctrine?
 
December Flower said:
Kudos for having the guts to send your kids to public schools, especially in some of the more urban areas, I'd homeschool them for sure, and I can understand anyone who does.
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Ohhh man yeah I’d homeschool if I had kids. I wouldn’t put my kids in public school if anything because it no longer is an effective education. Over the past ten years public schools in America have become a joke. Seen it first hand.

I worry for my nephew though always. He’s in middle school and that’s the age kids start getting violent here. We have a huge culture of bullying in our schools. I’m not surprised when kids snap and kill each other. I pulled a knife on my “friends” once when I was 14 because they were constantly bullying me in both violent and verbal fashions. Needless to say I was branded the “freak” but I’d still have pulled that knife on them in hindsight.

So Do y’all have bullying in public schools? Like are kids ruthlessly mean to one another without any adult intervention in Germany or elsewhere in Europe?
 
CfZrx said:
obesity
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Is a choice. It’s easy not to be fat, exercise and eat right. Americans are lazy, yes we’ve got fat people. It’s just more ingrained in our society that “eating well” is more worthwhile than being healthy.
 
CFC said:
Another thing I like:

Yankmericans seem generally more open in their attitudes to others (despite the gun and fear of others thing).

By that I mean they seem more inclined to risk an unknown employee despite the lack of credentials, or to risk investing in a business proposition by someone without an amazing track record, to try new things and to embrace change. That is quite a positive contrast to European attitudes, which tend to be more insular and inwards looking and more deferential to hierarchies etc - ime.

I'd also say there's a similar trend when it comes to things like dating or picking up - Yanks seem more forward, less inhibited and more open ime. In Europe, it's almost seen as weird and awkward to go up and talk to someone you like - almost like you're a freak. The attitude in the US seems completely different in most places.
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Really? You should come to Germany, we're always told we're too forward romantically/sexually.

We don't fuck around, we're very efficient and to the point when it comes to that subject.
Cream Gravy? said:
It helps that y’all have more homogenized cultures. Sure there’s the Turks brought into Germany to fill the role of labor post war, but aside from them and asylum seekers in recent years, most of Germany, most of France, most of England (well maybe not England after the empire collapsed) is filled with people of the same background and culture. In the U.S. we have a melting pot, and we don’t agree on anything because our culture is a mish-mash of every culture on the planet.
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I really wouldn't say the same background and culture.

People 2 villages away from me have an entirely different language and many different cultural distinctions.
Even though Europe is so "dense" in comparison, don't forget that people couldn't travel like we do.

Even just within German culture there's such a big clash of different cultures and origins, traditions and so on.
Most our immigrants are Turkish, yes, also Russians and Polish, their cultures are quite different from ours.

But yes, culture is much more defined here in Europe, I agree on that. We can say "that building was built in this style, so the Romans must have built it", etc pp. We know whose culture belongs to whom, and how it got here.
 
December Flower said:
Here they're self-defense, if ever critically needed, and hunting (which you have to do if you acquire a hunting license)

I have an issue with your gun laws however, which is that background checks are quite lenient.
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well it's mostly self defense here, too, and also all these angry, hopeless, (sometimes racist) mentally ill young men who decide to shoot up grocery stores, churches, and schools. That's a huge problem but the lawmakers here don't have the balls to take meaningful action against it.

Also the uvalde killer could have killed just as many with handguns , so not sure banning semi auto rifles would completely prevent that, even if you could get that law passed.
 
December Flower said:
doesn't that fall under the castle doctrine?
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Sorta? Like I said it kinda falls on the judge you’re put before. The castle doctrine laws really just say if you feel threatened in your home, use whatever force is necessary. Generally that’s killing, because a dead man can’t talk to defend his trespassing reasoning in court. But for instance, a man in Texas near my hometown was aquitted for killing two men robbing his neighbors house as they ran through his yard to escape. But then he faced so much civil lawsuits from the dead mens’ families that it bankrupted him and he had to sell all his property just to pay legal fees to win in civil court.

So there’s a heavy incentive not to kill unless necessary; you could loose everything in civil court even if you’re acquitted in state court.
 
Cream Gravy? said:
Ohhh man yeah I’d homeschool if I had kids. I wouldn’t put my kids in public school if anything because it no longer is an effective education. Over the past ten years public schools in America have become a joke. Seen it first hand.

I worry for my nephew though always. He’s in middle school and that’s the age kids start getting violent here. We have a huge culture of bullying in our schools. I’m not surprised when kids snap and kill each other. I pulled a knife on my “friends” once when I was 14 because they were constantly bullying me in both violent and verbal fashions. Needless to say I was branded the “freak” but I’d still have pulled that knife on them in hindsight.

So Do y’all have bullying in public schools? Like are kids ruthlessly mean to one another without any adult intervention in Germany or elsewhere in Europe?
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Not with knives :eek:

There's so much adult intervention though, can't really afford to bully kids.
I remember putting a kid in a headlock because he called me something among the lines of "weirdo" or "crazy person",
and the same day he showed up on my door with his mom, they gave me a speech for like 2 hours,
then my mom did the same, then my dad came home and nearly gave me a black eye,
and then i got a reprimand from the school, fuck me I didn't even hit him.

mal3volent said:
well it's mostly self defense here, too, and also all these angry, hopeless, (sometimes racist) mentally ill young men who decide to shoot up grocery stores, churches, and schools. That's a huge problem but the lawmakers here don't have the balls to take meaningful action against it.

Also the uvalde killer could have killed just as many with handguns , so not sure banning semi auto rifles would completely prevent that, even if you could get that law passed.
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I think the "culture" I mean that is celebrated there so much stems from the two-party system in general.
One party says "hey there's no need for guns anymore, we should give them up", only leads to the other party holding even tighter to their guns, celebrating more and more what it means to own one, etc.

We don't have this high polarisation around guns, yknow
 
Cream Gravy? said:
Sorta? Like I said it kinda falls on the judge you’re put before. The castle doctrine laws really just say if you feel threatened in your home, use whatever force is necessary. Generally that’s killing, because a dead man can’t talk to defend his trespassing reasoning in court. But for instance, a man in Texas near my hometown was aquitted for killing two men robbing his neighbors house as they ran through his yard to escape. But then he faced so much civil lawsuits from the dead mens’ families that it bankrupted him and he had to sell all his property just to pay legal fees to win in civil court.

So there’s a heavy incentive not to kill unless necessary; you could loose everything in civil court even if you’re acquitted in state court.
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See. In Germany you go to jail for that, there's no wiggle room.

In the US you can do a lot by influencing a judge or a jury,
think Al Capone proved that well, before the issue was taxes :ROFLMAO:
 
December Flower said:
See. In Germany you go to jail for that, there's no wiggle room.

In the US you can do a lot by influencing a judge or a jury,
think Al Capone proved that well, before the issue was taxes :ROFLMAO:
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For sure, our legal system is very corrupted. I don’t rely on it being sound. Just being a different skin color can affect your outcomes in court.
 
CfZrx said:
No "1st world country" does homelessness quite like the US in my experience. Oh, and obesity :) And school shootings!
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I meant factually positively better things, not "best at controlling the world through financing crazy dictators, then declaring them terrorists a few years later" haha

I mean things like: "American Football", i'm sure you're the best at that

Cream Gravy? said:
For sure, our legal system is very corrupted. I don’t rely on it being sound. Just being a different skin color can affect your outcomes in court.
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that alone is completely mind-boggling.

I'm glad for human equality movements in the US, they are very determined at confronting an infinitely powerful foe.
I had high hopes when the Bern was hyped

CFC said:
The US does Olympic medals better, especially in Athletics and Swimming. Which is a reflection of the generally very effective college sports system run by US universities.
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Yeah but you suck at skiing + shooting at the same time :ROFLMAO:
I kid, that sport is ridiculous
 
CFC said:
There's not a lot of snow in the UK to practice skiing on. Instead we go to Austria every season and get pissed on mulled wine and smash up ski lodges :geek:
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ridiculous

edit: US has less national sports that are completely and utterly ridiculous than Europe.
 
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