What is up with America?

thinkabouit · 01-07-2022 10:27pm

Lived in America for a year in 2018 and still a fantastic country depending where you are and I would happily move there tomorrow out of this dump.

Don't believe all you read or listen to from Media outlets.

TheValeyard · 01-07-2022 11:11pm

USA - Yeah its a weird one alright. I mean look at all they have achieved, influence on industry, economic development, art, culture through branding, Hollywood, music, International presence, military and logistical capabilities, its incredibly impressive.

Yet, they have this clusterfcuk of numpties (right and left of the spectrum) who are never happy and seem to try wreck everything. You'd wonder if those United States would not be better breaking off into other states as this forced union and chasm of ideological differences in some regards seems to creep closer towards a domestic conflict or increased terrorism.

It's a bizzare nation, but people forget how absolutely massive it is with a huge variety of cultural and ethic groups and traditions.

I've honestly no idea how the fcuking place works at all.

y0ssar1an22 · 01-07-2022 11:23pm

the wealth inequality is huge to the point you cant even choose what school your kid attends.

hyper partisanship in everything, even though 90% of sane people meet in the middle.

not having a social net for people who require it, leading to a huge mental health issues, and homelessness and then crime.

the easy importation of illegal drugs, and the willingness to prescribe 'legal' drugs.

a refusal to prosecute crimes, or let criminals out.

lots of stuff, prob lots more i have left out

ancapailldorcha · 01-07-2022 11:27pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119278354#Comment_119278354

It worked via decentralisation. It welcomed people from all over the world and its population exploded as a result. People emigrated to get better lives and, as you rightly point out, the US made huge strides in the fields of science, engineering, the arts and technology.

Alaska is not Florida but both enjoy a high degree of control over their own affairs while having populations that identify as American with loyalty to the nation first and foremost.

Maybe it always had to be a two-party system. Maybe there always had to be an external source of pressure to keep the experiment functioning. Something like the Cold War perhaps. Without such pressure, we see rampant individualism leading to the desecration and destruction of the social contract as extremists are openly showing contempt for individual liberty and no concern at all for duty or responsibility.

Real feel of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD off this. They were probably moaning about Gauls being allowed to wear togas or something equally insipid as Attila burned their cities.

Danno · 01-07-2022 11:54pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119278425#Comment_119278425

Without such pressure, we see rampant individualism leading to the desecration and destruction of the social contract as extremists are openly showing contempt for individual liberty and no concern at all for duty or responsibility.

A totally contradictory statement in itself. You cannot cloak your admiration for the American dream with disdain for it.

xxxxxxl · 01-07-2022 11:58pm

I don't get it if it's such a Terrible place why are people trying to get in hand over fist from Mexico South America for example. They must know the score at this stage. So why go. As the way the USA is made out it's no better than some of the places these people are fleeing in droves.

Loafing Oaf · 02-07-2022 12:03am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119264437#Comment_119264437

theocratic, libertarian loons

Could hardly be both of these at once could it?

threeball · 02-07-2022 12:41am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119278523#Comment_119278523

Most of the people trying to get in come from countries which are ran by gangsters. Narco states where you can be taken out and beheaded or hung from a bridge on a whim. Its not hard to be better than these places yet fall far short of the standards you'd expect from true 1st World countries.

02-07-2022 12:43am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119278543#Comment_119278543

Stupid question and deliberately so.

xxxxxxl · 02-07-2022 12:44am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119278629#Comment_119278629

But they have terrible human rights apparently banned abortion. You can be mowed down in a school by gun toting nuts. The supreme court is dismantling Democracy As a Person of colour you will be gunned down by white supremacist cops. I could go on. Why would you go to that hell hole we are being told about.

Danno · 02-07-2022 12:59am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119278638#Comment_119278638

Isn't amazing how the poor unfortunates trade hell hole A for hell hole B at a whim... mind boggling stuff I tells you!

Danno · 02-07-2022 1:03am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119278661#Comment_119278661

Actually, sorry - I shouldn't have posted that. Apparently I should have been with the latest "data" and anyone risking everything to do so is all down to ~~Global Warming~~ Climate Change. Damn, I lost my moral compass, albeit for a brief moment. Now, where is my Twitter account to offer all an asundry my unequivocal apology to?

xxxxxxl · 02-07-2022 1:06am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119278661#Comment_119278661

I tend to agree with the person I quoted. But you would be led to believe the USA is one step from the handmaid tales and Re introducing slavery. They can't have it both ways. You either accept the USA is a far better place or you go with some kind of Escape from new york/ mad max.

joseywhales · 02-07-2022 2:19am

I've lived in UK, Canada and now usa(Maine). I have to say my quality of life has never been better and I pay less tax, plus the access to wilderness is unparalleled in the western world. So I'm pretty happy. I bury my head in the sand when it comes to politics and I avoid the TV channels. Obviously my case is specific but there's nowhere else I'd rather be right now.

kowloonkev · 02-07-2022 3:48am

A lot of people who have never lived in the US s***ting all over it. And we call them ignorant. Same as Irish people discussing their opinions of how people in Russia and China and India should live. It's hilarious. Ireland is the benchmark of society lol

Manic Moran · 02-07-2022 5:27am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119278745#Comment_119278745

Vastly prefer BBQ over lobster, so I'm a bit further South. Other than that, though, my experience and opinion matches yours. Though I do try to vote as best I can so I don't entirely ignore politics.

threeball · 02-07-2022 10:57am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119278638#Comment_119278638

Still safer than the shítholes these poor souls are leaving. Spend some time in Honduras and you'll gladly take your chances of being shot in America.

thinkabouit · 02-07-2022 11:09am

People complaining about no safety net, there's that amount of work and money/opportunities to be earnt there you shouldn't need it.

Imagine a welfare system like ours over there sure nobody would bother to get up out of bed

Dyr · 02-07-2022 12:33pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119279744#Comment_119279744

Lads **** on Amerikey, Oul Micky Martin telling us PRSI is going up to pay for welfare, 22 billion a year for a health service most working people avoid like the plague and pay for private health insurance to do so, 23 per cent VAT on most purchases.

Best little country in the world to be on the govt payroll

Drunken Oaf · 02-07-2022 8:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058252278/what-is-up-with-america

It's hardly just America. Look at this country, there's barely a month goes by without some fringe lunatics cooking up a scheme to take our freedom to drive, holiday, minimum alcohol pricing, carbon taxes etc etc. I look around Dublin and I see it everywhere- Fairview being destroyed by the cycling lobby, the move to a cashless society, even something formerly enjoyable like a trip to McDonalds isn't worth the hassle any more- one open till to force people to use the self service kiosks, standing around for up to 15 minutes since they adopted the make to order mode, everything in 2022 seems to have had the fun taken out of it. There was a bid to bring in a 30km limit to pretty much all of Dublin, it was defeated but they will be back. All of it designed to simply frustrate people into giving up their cars. Nobody can guarantee, for example, that we will not face some degree of Covid restrictions this winter, While in England, the idea of nightclubs shutting, pubs closing early, restrictions on gigs and sports events, and other stuff from our lockdown lite last winter are simply not going to happen, and with Boris in charge will never happen again.

Overheal · 05-07-2022 2:00pm

There was a mass shooting at the opening of a 4th of July Parade in Chicago, IL

https://twitter.com/sophie_walsh9/status/1544037187150221312?s=20&t=V5-CIngUAXLQFwzYLuAjeA

A Republican gubernatorial candidate offered his thoughts and prayersTM and then promptly told people " LETS MOVE ON AND CELEBRATE FREEDOM" shortly after a suspect was named whom showed evidence online they had attended Trump rallies and draped themselves in a Trump flag.

https://twitter.com/MarkMaxwellTV/status/1544036494616285185?s=20&t=q2i6iIeMTb7W71UhZn-55w

America is where it is because fucksticks like this think the Party and the Gun is more important than the Person. They'd gladly bleat that America is a Republic, not a Democracy, etc. and then cheer as a coup happens that overturns the whole thing, so long as it owned the libs and protected the guns and kept the women in line.

That's why when I went on social media this morning what I saw was survivor footage, selfies of people covered in other peoples blood and bodily tissues. All those cops and good guys with guns around and shucks, someone left the door to the parade unlocked. Oh well, it was the shooter's right to get that weapon, God BlessTM.

Quin_Dub · 05-07-2022 2:17pm

For me , the things that make the US a great place are also what make it an awful place - depending on how the cards you are dealt play out.

That unshakable belief that anyone can achieve anything that they set their minds to and that the US is "the greatest country on Earth" creates a mind-set and drive that has given the world countless discoveries and developments.

Their Entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to take risks is largely unsurpassed and is a great thing.

However - The flip side of that mind-set is the belief that all failures are because you didn't work/pray/try hard enough and that all failures are the fault of the individual. Allied to that ,there is also an almost universal refusal to objectively analyse their country to recognize the failures and try to correct them. Any suggestion that the US is anything less than magnificent is almost viewed as treasonous.

The US is a brilliant place to be successful , but it's a pretty terrible place to be average or worse.

That belief that all failures are down to the individual is a large part of why the average American seems to be so vehemently against the concept of the social supports that are taken for granted elsewhere - "Why should I pay for universal healthcare? , if they can't afford it , then they just haven't worked hard enough"

Dyr · 05-07-2022 2:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119293257#Comment_119293257

How many people were shot dead in Chicago the previous weekend?

50 people shot, 9 killed in weekend one month ago

https://www.foxnews.com/us/chicago-memorial-day-shootings-fatalities

42 shot 9 killed two month ago

https://www.foxnews.com/us/chicago-violent-weekend-murders-people-shot

Could you point us to your posts about these shootings?

Overheal · 05-07-2022 2:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119293569#Comment_119293569

Or yours?

Drum up more false equivalencies. 6 dead and 25+ injured in seconds, not over a 3 night weekend. All those cops around too.

https://twitter.com/petersagal/status/1544032976945790977?s=20&t=xTkfFLmuMrBL3k55yijuLA

https://twitter.com/RobertMaguire_/status/1544026347940593664?s=20&t=UL7Fi9OhuHmQvw9oI_1izA

Dyr · 05-07-2022 2:55pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119293573#Comment_119293573

Why would I? I'm not the one engaging the selective hand wringing

Chicago is a **** warzone, but you don't seem to be too concerned about all the shootings until you can score a point off one.

Overheal · 05-07-2022 2:56pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119293655#Comment_119293655

Why would I? I'm not the one engaging the selective hand wringing

...

you don't seem to be too concerned about all the shootings until you can score a point off one.

So I again ask where are your posts about those shootings mentioned in the screen grabbed post, to really show me over about how genuine your own concern is.

Also for none of those shootings did I tell anyone to just move on and celebrate freedom, so..

Real Donald Trump · 05-07-2022 3:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119293569#Comment_119293569

Only matters when it's whitey who pulls the trigger, they don't give a toss when it's black on black or black on white.

Overheal · 05-07-2022 4:10pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119294000#Comment_119294000

I don't think I have a similar example of a 'black on black' racially motivated parade mass shooting on my bingo card. Can you provide an example?

I similarly can't think of such an example where a black shooter was evidenced in a racially motivated mass shooting of whites in parade.

But anyway, nothing about the shooting evidences a race motivation. It was a mixed race crowd, typically white.

What I found interesting and noteworthy about it most, is how quickly a Gubernatorial candidate for that state said "Let's move on and celebrate freedom" while some people were still wiping off the blood and brain chunks off themselves because he was concerned the shooter expressed the same political views that he did.

Dyr · 05-07-2022 5:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119294000#Comment_119294000

shootings with illegal firearms or black shooters is basically invisible mode. 312 murders in chicago so far this year

Bit like when a black guy runs over a load of white people and its dismissed as a police chase. 🤔

Funny old game, eh?

05-07-2022 5:01pm

Sounds simplistic but social media anonymity is a huge driver of the societal divisions we see today in America. Healthy debate has been completely stifled via anonymous bot accounts and you have radical loons voices rising to the top inciting these bases even more. Look at Boebert, Gosar, MTG. How are these viewed as sensible stable candidates? As for Biden, well says it all that a very weak candidate has risen to the highest office.

I'm a firm believer online anonymity has to go amongst the social media giants. Once there can be some sensible dialogue between the Reps and Dems about the current position of the country, the US can get back on track but for now the decline is very very real.

Sensible debate will never happen with the radicals in Congress and even more radical candidates coming behind them. It's constant petrol on the fire at the moment. Reading comments across Twitter on the Highland Park shooting it was just tonnes of people apportioning blame to the opposite side of the fence. Thoroughly depressing to me.

What is up with America?

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