USA: A shithole country

[Stressedlines]

see peter, you have made yourself a Hypocrite.

A good society does not have KKK, Fox news channel and a shithead president.
A good society gives everyone equal freedom of speech.
Those 2 even if you dont like the first bunch, you said 'everyone' should have freedom of speech, but apparently you dont believe that at all, so you have rendered the rest of your argument moot.

Why dont we have equal votes here?

umm, the everyone wants to work gets a job, sound s a lot like communism utopia BS, so go ahead and show me where this exists anywhere

where dont we get a proper education here? I have enough issues with education system, but i think ill let out enough rope and see what happens

the police force kills only black people and minorities? source please, as you are saying "let them kill all white people, everyone else should be allowed to do what they want"

The rich here actually pay almost ALL the taxes, which has been sourced a lot What everyone complains about is that they should pay MORE, but seems like nobody wants to reduce the budget Just more hands out

Maybe I need to go back to Sweden, since your education system has failed you a lot and make sure my family members there are okay

[JECE]

Stressedlines: This is a silly article, but your rebuttal to the list peterlund provided is very lame. You're the one who needs to educate yourself.

For example, you really don't see why you don't have equal votes in the States when Democrats won the Presidential elections by number of votes cast and there is rampant gerrymandering such that the Democrats would need to win by 11 points this year to regain the House?
https://www.brennancenter.org/publicati ... 18-midterm

[Stressedlines]

JECE, we are not a Democracy, we are a Federal Reupblic and always have been, This has been like this for over 250 years, so my rebuttal is factual and on point, You simply dont like the system, but everyone DOES get to vote. Just because the system does not give you the result you think matters, is not my fault nor does it mean I have to further educate myself. I have educated myself to know that everyone does vote (who actually gets off their proverbial ass and does it) and the fact that some areas are so heavy Democractic/Republican does not change that fact at all

How does Gerrymadering help in any race OTHER than in a congressional seat? Presidential, Governor, sentate, etc Gerymandering had squat to do with Trump...nothing at all

So, tell me how much else I have to educate myself on how a Federal Republic works again.

And since you decided to cherry pick one item, and of course skewed the conversation to something not on topic, so that you can try to attain some "you are so dumb' advantage over me, how about filling me in on the rest of my rebuttal, and stop looking for whateevver little skewed error you can find.

This is the problem, you dont like the system, but it is the system, always has been, and you know how to change it, right? Did gerrymandering help the democrats lose all those governorships? nope, not even a little bit. Did it help trmp win? nope, clinton did that all by herself, as well as people like you always looking down your nose at anyone who disagrees with you.

[JECE]

This is a silly article

I meant to say 'thread', of course, not "article".

So, tell me how much else I have to educate myself on how a Federal Republic works again.

You could start with figuring out that there isn't a clear-cut distinction between a republic and a democracy, ha ha.

I posted about this on the old forum:

The question of whether the United States is a 'republic' or a 'democracy', as it is popularly discussed today, appears to have originated in the mind of Karl Rove during the Bush administration. Similar to his attempt during the Bush years to switch the blue and red party colors of the Republican and Democratic Parties, the strategy was (as Merirosvo suggested) based on subliminal messaging.

The question of 'republic' vs. 'democracy' itself is rather silly. Democracy simply means 'government by the people' (Greek δῆμος/demos, 'people', and the suffix -κρατια/cracy, 'power'/'rule', i. e. government), as you will find in the first definition of the dictionary. Anything from communist one-party vanguard rule in the name of the proletariat to liberal representative democracy by secret and universal suffrage sees itself as a 'government of the people'.

'Republic' was once used in a similar way to 'commonwealth' and could literally refer to any state, any government or even a community striving for the common good. The word retains a similarly positive meaning in common parlance today, except that monarchies are now excluded from the definition. This isn't to say that monarchies can't reflect the popular will. Often monarchs, including hereditary monarchs, don't base their authority on divine right but rather on an elective basis (in elective monarchies), vague popular notions (think 'King of the Belgians') or ratification by the legislature (ancient Germanic traditions still present in Spain).
http://webdiplomacy.net/forum.php?threadID=1403675

[ksako8]

A good society takes care of its school kids.
A good society takes care of their sick.
A good society is not flooded with guns.
A good society gives a job to everyone that wants to work.
A good society make sure everyone gets a proper education.
A good society gives equal chances to all ethnic groups regardless of skin colour.
A good society lets everyone enjoy their civil and human rights.
A good society gives everyone equal freedom of speech.
A good society gives everyone an equal vote.
A good society does not have police force that kill black people or other minorities.
A good society let the rich pay more taxes than the poor, not the opposite.
A good society has its fiscal budget in balance.
A good society does not have KKK, Fox news channel and a shithead president.

USA fails on all accounts, hence it is clearly a shithole country!

A good society has freedom. Bam!

And the US scores relatively low on that.

[Tom Bombadil]

Meanwhile Denmark has banned burkas.

At least shithole America hasn't done that yet.

[ksako8]

Denmark is not Sweden Tom

[Tom Bombadil]

Denmark is not Sweden Tom

I'm aware. Not sure what Sweden has to do with anything though?

[Incrementalist]

A good society has freedom. Bam!

And the US scores relatively low on that.

In most respects the USA is very free, but law enforcement is completely out of control. Prosecutors, police, and the prison system have run amok because it never costs them anything when they're wrong; if there's a settlement, the taxpayers foot the bill.

[peterlund]

A good society has freedom. Bam!

And the US scores relatively low on that.

In most respects the USA is very free, but law enforcement is completely out of control. Prosecutors, police, and the prison system have run amok because it never costs them anything when they're wrong; if there's a settlement, the taxpayers foot the bill.

How free do you feel when you are an unemployed miner in Virginia?
How free do you feel when you barely can get food onto your dinner table?
How free are you when you have no college education and do not know anything about the world outside Virginia?
How free are you when you are afraid to visit the nearest city during night or even day time due to excessive gun violence?
How free do you feel when you barely dare to sent you kids to school?
How free are you if you are black and risk being harassed on a every day basis by a prejudiced white population and its police force?
How free are you when you cannot get a job due to your low education level?

To exercise your possible freedoms you need resources like money, safety and education. And this is why freedom in USA is not at all for everyone and that is unfair and that is once reason why USA is not a good society.

[peterlund]

see peter, you have made yourself a Hypocrite.

A good society does not have KKK, Fox news channel and a shithead president.
A good society gives everyone equal freedom of speech.

Those 2 even if you dont like the first bunch, you said 'everyone' should have freedom of speech, but apparently you dont believe that at all, so you have rendered the rest of your argument moot.

In USA right wing groups has unproportionally much more to say in the public debate compared to the working class people, due to sponsoring from rich white people promoting a low tax agenda for the rich. And these sponsors also seem to promote a prejudiced racists agenda.

Why dont we have equal votes here?

Only 50% take part in elections. They do not have any vote at all. And why is it so? First you make the registration process overly complication. That is one way to exclude less educated and less politically interested normal working people from the election process.

where dont we get a proper education here? I have enough issues with education system, but i think ill let out enough rope and see what happens

I think it is really bad when only families with a good income can send their kids to college. It is even worse if kids do not even complete the high school system. USA badly needs to increase the percentage of kids getting into college. Over here our government is lending out money to with good conditions for the purpose of making a university education possible for everyone with interests in pursuing it.

The rich here actually pay almost ALL the taxes, which has been sourced a lot What everyone complains about is that they should pay MORE, but seems like nobody wants to reduce the budget Just more hands out

The super rich in USA pay a lower percentage if their income in taxes than the people with normal incomes. That is unfair.

[Vaporwave]

Btw, is it true that a car is a 'must' in the US? I've noticed they have tons of distance between various places

I still remember my trip to Miami years ago, the most beautiful city I've seen in my life, then I returned to my pigsty full of angst and frustration

That's why I hate travelling, what's the point in seeing modern and gorgeous developed cities only for me to come back in the end to my own filthy, vile and corrupted country? It depresses me beyond repair

[Senlac]

Finding happiness in any country can be challenging (I’ll use geographic areas, not nations, to illustrate).

Born, raised & educated in Europe. Unhappy at 24 & knowing the place I was living was unlikely to change, so moved to Africa.
Found happiness, but also discovered over 12 years that Africa is too dangerous to raise a family (during those 12 years, the one year in South America was no better).
Returned to Europe for 4 years. Made money, not happiness. North America for 12 years, made plenty of money, but not much else. Definitely not happiness.

Finally aged 53 I found a nation in Central America where I am truly happy & content.

Were the other many nations shitholes? No. Did I find lots wrong with them? Yes. Was it their fault? No.
If your not happy wherever you are, make yourself of value to somewhere else & go there. If you are happy, be grateful & enjoy it.
If folks in another country are happy living there lives in a way you would not be, ignore it as it’s not your problem.
Find somewhere to be happy & thank God you made it before you died.

[StevenC.]

Btw, is it true that a car is a 'must' in the US? I've noticed they have tons of distance between various places

Yes, this is generally the rule. The powers that be decided a long time ago to invest more in highways and cars than public transport. So we have a really extensive interstate highway system but poor rail and bus transportation almost everywhere. Without extensive public transport, it is nearly impossible to get around without a personal car.

[Octavious]

Btw, is it true that a car is a 'must' in the US? I've noticed they have tons of distance between various places

Yes, this is generally the rule. The powers that be decided a long time ago to invest more in highways and cars than public transport. So we have a really extensive interstate highway system but poor rail and bus transportation almost everywhere. Without extensive public transport, it is nearly impossible to get around without a personal car.

There's a remarkable difference between different American cities. In New York you'd be mad to own a car. The city combines the congestion of London with the driving ineptitude of Paris on a bad day. Local drivers seem incapable of handling box junctions, and New York has more box junction than normal road. It is blessed with an efficient, if somewhat antiquated, underground railway that almost makes up for it.

A place like Austin, by way of contrast, is very car friendly and openly hostile to any other form of transport. Even walking is difficult, with remarkably few footpaths available. They also enforce the ridiculous jaywalking law (ignored in places like New York and none existent in the civilised world) which was invented for the sole purpose of making walking difficult and encouraging car ownership.

[Octavious]

If you need to go a long way, fly. Long distance road travel in the US is intolerable in its torturous monotony

[Vaporwave]

Thanks Octavious and Steven, I've noticed huge distances myself between various points when visiting
and in movies Americans are always in a car driving somewhere

[Randomizer]

I was just watching "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" which mentions the privatization of public transportation in some cities to then eliminate it. This would then create demand for cars to replace it.

[flash2015]

If you need to go a long way, fly. Long distance road travel in the US is intolerable in its torturous monotony

Where have you been in the US? It depends which roads you take. If you are sticking to the big interstate highways (e.g. I-95 along the east coast or take I-87/I-90 from NYC to Niagara) it can be as boring af. If, for example, you take the parkways from NY to Boston or take the 6/17 going northeast from NY and cut across the scenery is much more interesting.

A big reason for actually visiting the US **is** the national parks and all the scenic drives (grand canyon, yosemite, yellowstone, rockies etc.). Of course the amenities on the US side usually leave something to be desired as they usually give monopoly contracts to companies to manage the food/accommodation etc. within the parks (e.g. I think a company called Xanterra has a monopoly in Grand Canyon National Park). The differences are very start if you compare amenities at yosemite or glacier national park vs. the amenities on the Canadian side (e.g. Waterton Lakes National Park and Banff National Park). Differences are even more stark at Niagara. The Canadian side of Niagara is a wonderful place to stay. When I cross the border back into Niagara Falls, NY it feels like I am visiting some third world border town.

[Smokey Gem]

I like visiting the US so I go on tours like " The school shooting Tour" or " Follow the Manson family outing" even Ted Bundies favorite dump sites". I love US culture. If it about the scenic national parks ect . why do you develop them ????