What do you think of the US?

[azzy-m]

i think it's... a huge mess. used to want to live and study there for college but not anymore.

[Mari]

I have nothing against the people who live there, but USA policies are utter garbage, their constant anti-socialist propaganda machine in the news circles is fucking stupid, I hate the patriotism that makes it almost impossible to talk about any of the atrocities or shifts in the world certain actions have caused (Mainly; Wars). Gun policies are ridiculous, everything about it is ridiculous on the policy side. Untrained cops shooting civillians left and right. Student debt. People having to choose to buy medicine or healthy food. Absolutely barbaric.

I also really don't like the fact that they're one of the biggest polluters (2nd? or was it 1st?) and main culprits for the climate change but so much of the population is so hell bent against commuting or any sort of recycling because literally everything has to be about convinience. Everyone recycles plastic and cardboard ATLEAST where I'm from, most people do more. It's so stupid. It grates on my nerves so much.

[LordVincent]

I also really don't like the fact that they're one of the biggest polluters (2nd? or was it 1st?) and main culprits for the climate change but so much of the population is so hell bent against commuting or any sort of recycling because literally everything has to be about convinience. Everyone recycles plastic and cardboard ATLEAST where I'm from, most people do more. It's so stupid. It grates on my nerves so much.

this lol like I hate how whenever you bring up the negatives about the us, there's always that one douchebag that goes "WELL IT'S NOT YOUR COUNTRY SO NOT YOUR PROBLEM!!!!" implying we should shut up and not care just because we don't live there. Well hun I WOULD, weren't it for that the US is taking the liberty to not only fuck shit up for themselves but for EVERYONE ELSE TOO. Their prude attitude, their overly capitalist approach, the global warming denial... all of it finds its way back to the rest of us.

Stop fucking shit up for everyone else, then you can be free to fuck your own country up as much as you want.

[SilentHamster102]

I mostly don't care about US, we have many our own problems here in Russia.

But there is something I like about US - gun laws and gun culture in general. We can only dream when stupid government will stop restricting our right to have weapons. And when it will stop prohibiting handguns (Browning HP one love ) this will be the best day in my life.

Also, American cars were awesome when they made full-size (at least mid-size) sedans and personal luxury coupes.

[ble]

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[Mari]

@LordVincent

Oh my god ikr. The fact that climate change deniers are even given the time of day is so utterly idiotic it makes me want to go and smack people with books. The US is so backwards in the stupidest areas.

[vothnthorvaldson]

The only thing I'll say about the US is that it's a country full of contrasts. There is so much to hate and to love that I don't know how I would even start.

[spicy_sweets]

Two years
that may be a new record

[SuperRazz]

I find it fascinating how US has diverse cultures and people contained in just one country. Although, I find their PC and hookup culture to be...odd. And their legal drinking age is too high! And the colleges/universities , why are they so damn expensive??

What I dislike the most about US is how most people from my country perceive US as some kind of Utopia. The Caucasian features is the standard of beauty everyone is aiming for, and if you've worked or visited there? You must be rich. And the American white male? I'm sure they're all individually handsome in their own ways but the way they're fetishized here makes me cringe... Anyways, their food sure tastes good (although a bit fattening)

[LCT_m_a_d]

Agreed,
In the midwest, culture is very different from the coasts. And we're not what most people think of when portraying the US. (EC WC and MD/VA). Especially as black american.

It's really hard to give the US a collective perception without stereotyping subcultures unless you specify a specific concept. Even the most educated observers fall victim to this portrayal unfortunately.

[Trevor]

i think the big things we see from those hating the US today stems from a couple of factors:

-Imperialism

-General fall out from the cold war: (the cold war didn’t end long ago and it featured both the US and The Soviets sparking and sponsoring civil wars all over Africa, Asia and The Middle East, in particular, the US funded insurgent groups led by people like osama bin ladin at this time)

-incredibly reactionary politics: (we make huge world affecting decisions based on reaction more than investment, for example the war on iraq because of 9/11 which leads back to imperialism. killing sudam hussein led to an uprising in terror groups due to no dictator keeping them in check)

[Reign]

I’m glad to live in America, not to say other countries aren’t good. But the thing I DO NOT like about America and the way it’s run is the constant policing and hypocrisy against other countries. It’s good to help other countries, but not burden them by adding to wars and saying they can’t have weapons but the U.S. can. I mean, weapons aren’t good at all, unless you’re defending yourself, family, or others for good reason, instead of just picking fights to pick them.

[TACOBERTO]

Ok SPICY-EST of takes incoming but I really love living in the US. Having family living and having visited Mexico I 100% prefer being here in the US.
I'm not going to be arrogant though and I do recognize that we don't exactly have the best image on the world stage but I think that's the difference between international perception of the US government and the average US citizen. I'd like to stick up for my fellow Americans and say that we're decent people and the majority of us aren't supportive of our government's ultra-interventionist agenda

[GesuGesu]

The security when passing through US customs is insane compared to with entering other countries.

[KoreanTacos]

Our 7-11s and mcdonalds suck, like really suck. Embarrassingly sucky.

[vothnthorvaldson]

For some reason I thought you were speaking about immigration, so my previous message was off topic.
Well, actually I had problems with both immigration AND customs pretty much all the times.

[vfinnigan]

Whose obsession with killing things? I've enjoyed hunting and fishing... for food and quality time outdoors only. And the people making the biggest financial contributions to wilderness conservation are hunters and anglers.

Beware of making any generalizations about an entire country, even if it is your own.

[UrMom]

Congratulations, bro. You replied to a comment I made, like, 3 years ago.

Geez, Brenda, it's not all about you! Honestly, I don't remember the thought process I back then regarding that. I was probably aiming at game hunters who like taking out endangered species, and companies that dump waste, overly consume resources and demolish massive acres of wildlife habitats for urban development. Who knows, though, I'm just guessing based on how hippie dippie I was.

No point in arguing with me now, my mental and emotional investment has moved on.

[vfinnigan]

It wasn't killing Saddam Hussein that did that. It was taking him out without having accounted well enough for what would happen afterward, especially given intel making it clear that, as bad as he and the Baath party were, there were far too many people just as bad or even worse waiting to take advantage of the new post-Baathist government's abundant weaknesses.

Now another war with Iraq after our first go-round with Saddam's forces in Desert Storm was pretty much inevitable given that Saddam had 12 years to comply with the terms of surrender, and he never did. I'm not thrilled with the timing of it, though.

We went to Afghanistan in response to 9-11. This was far from being reactionary, considering it was not by far the first time Al Qaeda attacked the US. There was the first World Trade Center attack in 1993, then the bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and the attack on the USS Cole in 2000.

Compared to the rest of US history, this relative lack of reactionary behavior is actually pretty normal. Pearl Harbor and 9-11 each killed in the neighborhood of 3,000 people. I have to wonder how many more innocents have to die before we're not branded "too reactionary."

[Merle]

I lived in the USA for a year, but am from Europe.

The scariest part really is how patriotic you Guys are. Having to say the pledge of Allegiance in School every morning, praising Soldiers left and right (I mean, apart from actually caring for veterans, the homeless population) Being so ofterly proud of a Country that you had the random Luck to be born in.
-> some of that stuff is what they teached us in Germany to look out for and be wary off (we educate a lot on this topic, as you can imagine)
That part really scared me but also, I kinda felt sorry for that amount of indoctrination. I don´t think you can love your country without loving every other country, and you can´t determine it´s value to you, if you´ve never left it. That´s just some bull.

And then,it baffeled me how excessively you protect your rich people. Some of you actually believe that a poor kid has the same opportunities as a rich kid, if only they try hard enough - lol.

Let´s not even start on religion... and how much influence is still given to that very individual belief; and how much bad that obviously brings, Misseducation, lack thereoff, Hate against other religions or not heteronormative people..

Yeah, there was a lot in the states that left me speechless in a bad way.

But I also couldn´t help but fall a bit in love with this spacious Country. The scenery is beautifull, you can drive for miles and miles and miles and not see a single house (In any European Country I lived in, that never happened), the endless highways, the national parks are a true national treasure...

And also the other side of the people and their belief there, how much they value freedom and, every so often allow for many different aproaches to live to coexist; how many different ethnicities life close together and the big mix of cultures it creates (the only true american culture I can think off)

I am torn on this Country. A part of my heart certainly belongs there and I will never forget my time there. I hope you will turn around your politics and start to value social equality and equity a bit more, as well as the protection of nature. And maybe remember your roots of imigrants fleeing oppression. That would make for a truly special country, not a strange mix of horrendous stupidity and unevitable beauty...