Is the US a shitty place to live?

Sub-Human

Sub-Human

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Every time I open the news, there's a racial problem. White cops shooting black kids, white cops shooting latino kids, then these same black and latino kids rioting and looting. The education system rates poorly on the international scale yet tuition fees are some of the most expensive you'll find. Complaints about nutrition and the shit they put into US products. The US debt. The justice system, the political lobbying, surveillance etc.

Sitting in the comfort of Europe, I wonder - has the US become a shitty place to live? Is it, perhaps, just the media focusing on the negative?
 
I think the United States are still a pretty good place to live. We only hear about the bad stuff so much because the good stuff doesn't sell in newspapers.
And, of course, it depends on your personal situation how good a place it is to live in. Just because I wouldn't have any issues living there doesn't mean that it's easy living for everyone.
 
Yeah, any place looks shitty compared to the Netherlands. Pretty god tier around here. Then again, bad shit is still going down.
 
Sub-Human said:
White cops shooting black kids, white cops shooting latino kids, then these same black and latino kids rioting and looting.
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To be fair, everybody shoots everybody in this country now-a-days. I don't think race is really a factor anymore, it's just what we as a country like to do.

North America is basically like one giant warzone. Even since the Pre-Columbian Meso American era, Aztecs were sacrificing people by the hundreds (and sometimes even thousands) on a daily basis.

Killing people has just become something of an American (and I do mean continental, not national) culture I guess.
 
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Marionettetc said:
I think it's a little silly to base your view of a country on news media, especially when you don't even live there.
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How do you view Asian, African or South American countries? Did you travel to each one of them to form an opinion?

If I've never lived in the States then news is the only way for me to know what goes on in there.
 
Sub-Human said:
Marionettetc said:
I think it's a little silly to base your view of a country on news media, especially when you don't even live there.
Click to expand...

How do you view Asian, African or South American countries? Did you travel to each one of them to form an opinion?

If I've never lived in the States then news is the only way for me to know what goes on in there.
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You could rely on movies.

Personally, I use GTA
 
Sub-Human said:
Marionettetc said:
I think it's a little silly to base your view of a country on news media, especially when you don't even live there.
Click to expand...

How do you view Asian, African or South American countries? Did you travel to each one of them to form an opinion?

If I've never lived in the States then news is the only way for me to know what goes on in there.
Click to expand...

I think you missed the point of what I was responding with, sensationalist news media doesn't convey an accurate picture of whats going on in a country. You DON'T know what's going on there, just like I don't "really" know what goes on in Asia, Africa or South America.

You base your view of a country based on what pops up in the news? That's naive.
 
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It all depends really. Compared to a lot of the world it isn't shitty, but there is a ton of shit wrong here. Education, debt, racism, violence, too much advertising, corporations have too much power, etc.
 
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Since there are so many people participate the green card lottery every year, I don't think US is shitty enough. :P
 
Sub-Human said:
Marionettetc said:
I think it's a little silly to base your view of a country on news media, especially when you don't even live there.
Click to expand...

How do you view Asian, African or South American countries? Did you travel to each one of them to form an opinion?

If I've never lived in the States then news is the only way for me to know what goes on in there.
Click to expand...

I get what you're saying (trust me as an American with dual citizenship) but you have to take into account where you are getting your news on US issues. US media is largely corporate owned and have a certain viewpoints and agenda. It also tends to skew to the sensationalist side of things. I recommend boring ol'PBS and NPR myself and believe it or not Canadian news covers US issues in a pretty unbiased way(IMHO). On the other hand Ive seen many a French news segment where they have interviewed the most stereotypical "Ignorant American" and passed it of as the common view of all Americans. So it goes both ways I feel; America is not all Detroit and Texas so to speak. Our heavily populated urban coastal cites are quite Progressive. Parts of the East and West Coasts are very similar to parts of the EU Ive have lived in/visited/Studied abroad in. I think also you have to take the size of the US into account and compare it to say the EU average to get a better counter example to weigh the US figures against. The Scandinavian countries have a much smaller population and a higher standard of living on the average as other have stated.
 
The US, like many other developed nations, has amazing parts and a David Lynchian underbelly. The crime and class inequality are microcosms of global trends.

Work hard and maybe your kids can come up if they do too. If you aren't willing to play the social game, there's a good chance you could be generationally left behind.

The 20th century (from a US perspective) grew the pie against other nations while simultaneously shrinking the ownership percentage of everyone outside the elite/rich. So the opportunity/opulence seems comparatively excellent while likely gutting the possibility that it can be sustained. One thing I've noticed is that people making $100k a year don't like to be told theiy're poor but they also seem to have a desire to mentally associate with a "populous" perspective.

I'm not an economist or anything but I think things are evening out globally and 21st century is producing a landscape where a greater number of countries are legitimately competitive. Whether that's politics or some other force, I'd be interested to hear about other countries situation.
 
Sub-Human said:
Is the US a shitty place to live?
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If you're poor. Yes.

Sub-Human said:
Sitting in the comfort of Europe, I wonder - has the US become a shitty place to live? Is it, perhaps, just the media focusing on the negative?
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Don't worry. We will catch up fast. Europe is with a lot of things a bit slower compared to the US, but eventually we will get there in time I suppose.
 
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Crni Vuk said:
Sub-Human said:
Is the US a shitty place to live?
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If you're poor. Yes.
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Isn't this everywhere? Not sure it's exclusive to the US.

Sub-Human said:
Sitting in the comfort of Europe, I wonder - has the US become a shitty place to live? Is it, perhaps, just the media focusing on the negative?
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Crni Vuk said:
Don't worry. We will catch up fast. Europe is with a lot of things a bit slower compared to the US, but eventually we will get there in time I suppose.
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Is it more complex to "fix" socio-economic issues in Europe due to the EU and national governments? Does it work in a similar way to State/federal here in the US?

Seems like there are many similarities between the two when you consider how the societies are striated by class (and geography in some cases).
 
I go on a couple sites with predominantly non-U.S. posters and such, and holy cow. They seem to entirely base everything they think about the US on propaganda or something. There are a lot of things to criticize here, but they all say just about the same exact things and they repeat them ad nauseum. It's weird. A German might get mad and claim all Americans think all Germans are Nazis, and then turn around and say all Americans are fat. It's baffling.
 
Juza The Cloud said:
Sub-Human said:
Marionettetc said:
I think it's a little silly to base your view of a country on news media, especially when you don't even live there.
Click to expand...

How do you view Asian, African or South American countries? Did you travel to each one of them to form an opinion?

If I've never lived in the States then news is the only way for me to know what goes on in there.
Click to expand...

I get what you're saying (trust me as an American with dual citizenship) but you have to take into account where you are getting your news on US issues. US media is largely corporate owned and have a certain viewpoints and agenda. It also tends to skew to the sensationalist side of things.
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Yep, I've noticed that.

That's why I usually look at BBC and CNN, because they seem more 'global' and thus more or less neutral in their coverage of the US.
 
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