Been seeing a lot about how the government passes shitty laws, lot of mass shootings and expensive asf health care. I come from a developing nation and we were always told how America is great and whatnot. Are all states is America bad ?
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America is a country with over 300 million people and it’s bigger than Western Europe. There’s going to be a lot of variance. Someone growing up wealthy in San Fransisco is going to live in a different America than someone growing up with a single waitress mother in Louisiana.
The average homicide rate in the US is 5 per 100,000. The town of Boca Raton, FL has a homicide rate of 1 (less than half of the European average of 2.5) and Baltimore / St Louis / New Orleans can sometimes reach 30+ on bad years (worse than some Brazilian and Mexican cities).
When you ask about the shitty laws, we have to remember that the US is almost like 50 different countries in one. Every single state you will have a different experience as well. In Illinois school districts kids in elementary school may take home school laptops free of charge. In Panhandle Florida the kids aren’t getting that.
In Florida you can go to a one of the many kava bars or smoke shops and purchase a kilogram of kratom. If you drive through Louisiana with that kratom you can get charged with a felony comparable to being caught with heroin.
Do you get what I’m saying? There are many different Americas - even in the same geographical area. In SE Florida there are a wild mix of different ethnicities and cultures. There are Haitians, Jews, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, Brazilians, Vietnamese, Jamaicans…
You can live in the same city but have a totally different experience. The Brazilians may hang out with mainly other Brazilians and go to the Brazilian restaraunts / clubs / grocery stores and not ever go to the Jewish deli that all the Jews love as a staple of the town. It’s like you walk around the same area and depending on the cultural lens you put on, you experience a different reality.
HAVING SAID ALL THAT
I think America is a good country to live in. Why? Because it’s better than the vast majority of the world. You earn more money. You are safer. You have more opportunities and there’s better infrastructure, healthcare, etc than in vast majority of the world.
Yes, there are serious problems. Wealth inequality is splitting the country in two. Healthcare is expensive. There’s an opioid epidemic. We have high rates of gun violence. Etc etc
But having come from a relatively well-off third world country, I’ve seen the difference in QOL first hand and it’s massive. America is a good place to live.
US is almost like 50 different countries in one.
While this is obviously true, it’s important to note that the US certainly isn’t unique in this regard. Non-Americans often underestimate how diverse the US is. Americans often underestimate how diverse other countries are.
No. it’s not that bad.
I grew up poor, without many opportunities. No free ride, college etc. I grew up in a small town, without much going on.
I was able to work hard, put myself through college, buy a house, and raise a family on my single income, and live comfortably. I have medical coverage, we have new-ish vehicles.
That being said, the opportunity is there. But, it is NOT given to you. You do have to work for it.
But, again, nothing has been “given” to me. I didn’t have the advantage of having rich parents, or large inheritances (or- well, ANY inheritances). I didn’t have a family member give me a 4,000sq-ft house they purchased in 1952, for 1,200$.
Every single thing I own, I have worked for.
Now, there are a few sides to this argument-
There are a lot of people who don’t want to work. They see someone who is doing financially well, and believe they have some claim to someone else’s fortune. I do not agree with this.
On the other side, we don’t have universal healthcare. This is a touchy subject.
I do believe we need it, but, HOW we get that, is a different story.
Our government has proven time and time again, if you give them a simple task, they will fuck it up, royally, and hemorrhage money. Our medical system as a whole, is completely fucked. It’s not the doctors getting rich. Its the damn insurance companies, and all of the bureaucracy and bullshit involved. Granted, doctors aren’t living on sticks. But, do remember- they literally spent OVER two decades of their life in school, to learn how to be a doctor. Its expected they should have a salary greater then someone who works at your local fast food place.
I realize, lots of people will disagree with my post. And- for that, I don’t give a shit. If you don’t want to be poor, then take control over your life. Identify an in-demand profession, which has good compensation, and work for it. Quit blaming everyone else due to you working at McDonalds because your liberal arts degree, isn’t marketable.
Also- OP- lots of the people you talk to on social media, are statistically younger, in the 20s, and still trying to figure out how to live life.
Edit- Also, one more thing. Drama sells news. News outlets are only going to show news, which people want to watch. People don’t tune into the news to watch good things happening. They want to see the bad. As such, news and social media can give inaccurate vision of how things actually are. (Unless you live in Chicago or NYC. Then- it’s actually even worse than the news shows)
You sound like an American boomer.
Well healthcare for everyone would be nice (I have it) but How??
I worked hard, didn’t study, have a house and family. Everyone not having house and family are lazy.
I mean there are other things but dude you are the American stereotype!
Yup.
Suppose I am the youngest boomer ever.
Nearly a half of a century off too.
But, in either case, everyone has the opportunity to apply themselves, and seek out a better life. Can blame others, or bash on me for being a “boomer”. But, in the end, the only one who can improve you, is you.
If, universal basic income became a thing, poor people are still going to be poor. The price of milk is just going to go up to compensate for inflation, and you wouldn’t be much better off.
Still very out of touch. I personally am doing okay, however anything I have is due to the sheer luck of knowing some one who knows someone. That is more or less the way of life is it not?
One thing your generation does not understand, is the sheer crushing depression that everyone I know has been dealing with. Yes every generation has had to face doomsayers, death, wars, things that can create just as much depression. However, at the end of the day, all they needed to do was work to get ahead. Now imagine all of that, continuing to work, and then listening to how their peers handled all the same issues but yet… my generation still cant own a single thing? Some of us are LUCKY to be afforded that oppurtunity, where a majority of us are just fucked.
I agree with you though, I dropped out of Highschool, had a kid at 17, got into a trade and I’m doing okay. Even then, I’m not alright. I am just being anecdotal of course, and comparing myself to others is not fair, and I wouldnt say America is absolute shit, but then again it really is. Hard to say otherwise when half the country is doing their absolute hardest to remove human rights, opportunities, and being so incredibly distant and toxic to anyone with a different mindset.
One thing your generation does not understand
I’m under 40.
I was in school when 9/11 happened.
I was a grunt in the military during the iraq war.
I was around when the market collapsed in 2008-ish.
I lived on a diet of Ramen noodles and crackers for years, in the early 20-teens.
My “college degree” is actually worth less then nothing now. I paid one hundred thousand dollars, to a fucking school, which was not accredited, and no longer exists. There were no bailouts for me. And, every so often, I get reminded of it, when I see another lawsuit ad against them on the news…
is the sheer crushing depression that everyone I know has been dealing with
For literally a decade, I also fought through those issues. Doctors will just give you lovely trazodones, and other drugs, to “make you happy”. The worst part, is they make sure you know, it’s YOUR fault.
I lived through the fun of trying to decide if I wanted to pay the bills, or get something to eat.
I recall, all of the wonderful… insomnia which results from depression.
And, best of yet, the feeling of having all sorts of fun bills arrive.
It never really ends either. It just gets funner… and the risks get higher, especially when you have kids involved.
That being said- I might be doing OK now, but, life has not been rainbows and daisy’s for me. Thanks… to a short stay in the armed forces, I am quite certain my emotions are beyond repair, and well. I can’t hear worth a damn.
But, I did learn a few useful things in the military.
- Adapt, and overcome.
- Drive on.
Edit, matter of fact, I still have issues with depression. Knock on wood though, my kids are fantastic at making me forget about it. But, life still has its ups and downs. Although, I generally do a pretty good job of hiding it. Although, it still takes a significant effort to want to “do things”
Another veteran under 40 here, also with depression. BSCS. I suffered a violent career upset / ending and lived in my car for a few months. Two years later I own my own house and have paid off the loan on said car making two thirds of what I used to.
You’re going to work your testes off but it can be done. Writing this from aforementioned car on a security guard shift as my second job.
Hope all is well. Also- How are you?
Sorry for the delay. Suffered another job loss a few months ago and had to work my second job like crazy. A couple accounts are in collections. I flew to see family in Japan, got another job and am looking at ways to boost my income and get ahead. No one’s going to do it for you.
THIS.
Seriously. Turn off corporate media and throw it in the garbage.
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And America can’t be bothered to build safe bike lanes. I refuse to ride my bike on the road. Anyone who doesn’t like me riding on the sidewalk can fuck off
I will give you that. The DC area is incredibly cyclable / walkable and it’s nice, considering how scarce and expensive parking is.
No, despite what always online Europeans who have never visited will like to tell you. We’re just very big and very vocal, so you hear about us all the time. Bad news spread faster then good news. Are you going to be reading news about how good our tap water is, our public restrooms always available, boring stuff like that? Probably not! But that’s stuff you’ll notice if you do actually visit. We also are much more friendly and welcoming then other countries. We’re also tend to be less racist because we vocally talk about our racial problems rather then sweep it under the rug and pretend it doesn’t exist. I’m sure I’ll get downvoted by some people who don’t like to hear that, but they won’t be able to refute.
Edit: Why is everything America related online swarmed with Europeans trying to shit on it. It’s so exhausting and extremely pretentious. No wonder people have a distorted view of it online.
As an European, I was tempted to downvote you. But not because your very valid points but because you started your whole speech by stating defensively that only people who never been to the US tell bad stuff about America, that’s unfair.
I have relatives in the US and I’ve been there for several occasions. Except the midwest and Texas, I’ve been in most of the States and, it’s true, America is like 50 different countries.
But on average, what I can say is that I love interacting with Americans, speaking with them it’s like talking with some old friends, even in NYC (known by other Americans for being very un-american) I found friendlier people than in my home country. Kind of ironic that the only bad chats with Americans happened online.
I’ll skip about the tap water, it’s probably excellent, but to me born and raised in Switzerland, it always tasted like bleach, probably because of the added fluorine, I don’t know. It’s still better than tap water in UK, Turkey and half Europe and by far safer than most of Asia and Africa.
Finally, visiting America as a tourist is great, and I dreamed of living there as a child, but as an adult, I feel safer and more taken care in Europe, both from a healthcare point and from labour safety. But I live in a privileged country, if I lived anywhere else in the world, I would still chase the “American dream”.
What really saddens me about America, while the people are great, the nature is amazing and the spaces are immense, is that is governed by corporations and bribes and make shows like House of Cards a documentary.
