Europeans Share "Hard Truths" About We Americans

Most of them are obvious, really.

Like the prices Americans pay for drugs is outrageous. Nothing surprising there. But there are a lot of reasons both historical and political why it's happening. If they want to add how to change the system and figure out a way to get it done, I'm all ears. Beyond that, is there a point to pointing out the obvious?

Most of it just seems like condescending put-downs where they have something better and need to point it out.

The most interesting thing to me is how often people from other countries think about Americans. I don't spend any time thinking about people from other countries on a daily basis, particularly not to belittle their culture or to be upset about what I think they're thinking. The fact that this article exists shows that. Are there corresponding articles about Americans sharing "hard truths" about another country? What country would they even pick?
 
Interesting points Diva. My wife and I spent most of our vacations Stateside. We travelled there almost once a year, I had a schoolfriend, married to an American whom we would visit regularly. We just loved America,

Then one day, an incident with a firearm changed all that. We were not involved, didn't even witness anything. Later we heard that a thief dragged the driver from his car whilst the car was stationary at the traffic lights. The thief then jumped into the car and drove off. The victim did no more than pull a pistol out and fired at the thief, hitting him in the shoulder. That didn't kill him, but in losing control of the car causing him to collide with one of those monster eighteen wheeler trucks, that killed him.

It was the reaction of those who thought that the thief got his just desserts that distressed us so. Here in the UK you don't see a weapon, ever. It's true that our police have a firearms unit but their weapons are only used as a last resort, they are never carried openly. Our security companies are not armed, nor are anyone else.

We still love America and reminisce so many happy times spent there, but the gun culture is something that we have called time on.
 

horseless carriage said:
Interesting points Diva. My wife and I spent most of our vacations Stateside. We travelled there almost once a year, I had a schoolfriend, married to an American whom we would visit regularly. We just loved America,

Then one day, an incident with a firearm changed all that. We were not involved, didn't even witness anything. Later we heard that a thief dragged the driver from his car whilst the car was stationary at the traffic lights. The thief then jumped into the car and drove off. The victim did no more than pull a pistol out and fired at the thief, hitting him in the shoulder. That didn't kill him, but in losing control of the car causing him to collide with one of those monster eighteen wheeler trucks, that killed him.

It was the reaction of those who thought that the thief got his just desserts that distressed us so. Here in the UK you don't see a weapon, ever. It's true that our police have a firearms unit but their weapons are only used as a last resort, they are never carried openly. Our security companies are not armed, nor are anyone else.

We still love America and reminisce so many happy times spent there, but the gun culture is something that we have called time on.
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So civilized. Wish we could have nice things here too. The gun fetish is the worst. I Don’t and won’t have one.
 
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Guns aren’t all bad. We have competition meets in different classes. They are fun (to me) to go to and watch these men and women compete for the Top Gun Awards. I have seen many women outperform men, especially with using a rifle or shotgun. I saw one lady in the shotgun category hit 50 ducks (clay pigeons) out of 50, to win. Her male competitor hit 49/50. Great match.

I spoke to one pistol shooter who told me he paid $2100 for his 9mm. I think it was a B&T. He took second.
 
Some Americans seem to love self-flagellation, I guess there is still a lot of the Arthur Dimmesdale in parts of the culture. Perhaps those more closely tied to Europeanism rather than in other areas where there was more of a break with the old world by later waves of immigration.

Or there might be a media bias that tries to shift attention from bread and butter issues of the day and the rapidly approaching future. Zeihan has become more aligned with his corporate clients, but a good deal of his prior book publications' predictions are beginning to come to pass.

Europe faces some hard truths for the next decade and more:


The article linked above feels like a domestic hit piece to me, an attempt at demoralization in an election year.
 
911 said:
When people put other people down, it’s usually about jealousy.
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I've been trying to think of an instance where I've heard Americans bashing Canada... or UK... etc. I'm sure it's done, but often it's open season on the US, I've noticed. Guns... personally I don't like them, wouldn't own one, but I never EVER fear getting shot while I'm at the grocery store. Never even saw a "real live" gun *anywhere.* But still many think that's what it's like here. 🤷‍♀️
 
CallMeKate said:
but I never EVER fear getting shot while I'm at the grocery store
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Me neither and probably neither do those who are shot intentionally or not on any given day.

STATISTICS ON DAILY GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICA​

DAILY GUN VIOLENCE IMPACTING PEOPLE OF ALL AGES IN THE U.S.​

Every day, 327 people are shot in the United States. Among those:
  • 117 people are shot and killed
  • 210 survive gunshot injuries
  • 90 are intentionally shot by someone else and survive
  • 46 are murdered
  • 67 die from gun suicide
  • 10 survive an attempted gun suicide
  • 1 is killed unintentionally
  • 90 are shot unintentionally and survive
  • 2 are killed by legal intervention*
  • 4 are shot by legal intervention and survive
  • 1 died but the intent was unknown
  • 12 are shot and survive but the intent was unknown
https://www.bradyunited.org/key-statistics
 
oldaunt said:
We have the gun culture because Europe did not send their best. Just like what we are getting from down south.
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The Americans defeated the British Army at Saratoga in October 1777. Having lost America the Brits turned to Australia. The first settlement, at Sydney, consisted of about 850 convicts and their Marine guards and officers, led by Governor Arthur Phillip. They arrived at Botany Bay in the "First Fleet" of 9 transport ships accompanied by 2 small warships, in January, 1788.

850 convicts, you would be forgiven for thinking that Australia was about to become the gun culture of the southern hemisphere. Far from it, firearm homicide rates in the US are 33 times greater than in Australia. So much for Europe not sending their best.
 
caramel said:
Most of them are obvious, really.

Like the prices Americans pay for drugs is outrageous. Nothing surprising there. But there are a lot of reasons both historical and political why it's happening. If they want to add how to change the system and figure out a way to get it done, I'm all ears. Beyond that, is there a point to pointing out the obvious?

Most of it just seems like condescending put-downs where they have something better and need to point it out.
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Pepper said:

5. "Y'all spend too much time worrying about paying taxes and not enough time making sure your taxes go to the right programs."​

Yup.
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these things are invented to stir up trouble. For example I don't suppose anyone noticed that Programs are spelled the American way... Europeans spell it Programmes.. Program conversely refers in the UK to computer code...
 
dilettante said:
Some Americans seem to love self-flagellation, I guess there is still a lot of the Arthur Dimmesdale in parts of the culture. Perhaps those more closely tied to Europeanism rather than in other areas where there was more of a break with the old world by later waves of immigration.

Or there might be a media bias that tries to shift attention from bread and butter issues of the day and the rapidly approaching future. Zeihan has become more aligned with his corporate clients, but a good deal of his prior book publications' predictions are beginning to come to pass.

Europe faces some hard truths for the next decade and more:


The article linked above feels like a domestic hit piece to me, an attempt at demoralization in an election year.
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This video stretches the topic out into uncharted territory. It points out potential benefits and challenges of immigration and migration for countries like Germany and South Africa, the economic concerns in South Africa, the UK's trade relationship post-Brexit, and the future of blue-collar work amidst demographic shifts and AI advancements.

We have to figure in Global Warming also. The devaluation of the dollar. The complexities are endless. The responses to the OP are very subjective and come from varying experiences. No one is gonna get it right. Next lets compare Canada, with China. :)
 
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caramel said:
Most of them are obvious, really.

Like the prices Americans pay for drugs is outrageous. Nothing surprising there. But there are a lot of reasons both historical and political why it's happening. If they want to add how to change the system and figure out a way to get it done, I'm all ears. Beyond that, is there a point to pointing out the obvious?

Most of it just seems like condescending put-downs where they have something better and need to point it out.

The most interesting thing to me is how often people from other countries think about Americans. I don't spend any time thinking about people from other countries on a daily basis, particularly not to belittle their culture or to be upset about what I think they're thinking. The fact that this article exists shows that. Are there corresponding articles about Americans sharing "hard truths" about another country? What country would they even pick?
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Good post. I don't see any 'hard truths' in the OP article at all. Unfortunately we pay much higher prices for healthcare and prescription drugs, hopefully if we continue to put good patriotic leaders in charge who care about all the citizens, things may slowly get better in the future. Universal healthcare would be a good start, IMO. I believe that site just posts snippets from other sources, seems to me the article is just fluff.
 
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