Why America is the most screwed of all

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 25 Nov 2009, 22:58

Vortex wrote:Err .. have any of you naysayers actually visited America or worked there???

I lived there for a year when I was 6 y.o. I can say with all honesty it's a great place to be a 6 y.o.

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 25 Nov 2009, 23:32

Vortex wrote:Err .. have any of you naysayers actually visited America or worked there???

I lived for six months in Fort Worth and spent three months on a road trip from Florida to California. Fortunately I was only four at the time, so I don't remember very much of it.

I've worked in Montreal, but that's a whole other story.

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 25 Nov 2009, 23:34

RenewableCandy wrote:
Vortex wrote:Err .. have any of you naysayers actually visited America or worked there???
I lived there for a year when I was 6 y.o. I can say with all honesty it's a great place to be a 6 y.o.

Maybe 2 years makes all the difference.

RGR · Post by **RGR** » 26 Nov 2009, 00:40

[quote="johnathome"

Ludwig · Post by **Ludwig** » 26 Nov 2009, 02:34

Vortex wrote:Err .. have any of you naysayers actually visited America or worked there???

I have visited America 5 times and worked with Americans daily for 5 years, before I was made unemployed. I liked America, and on the whole found Americans considerably more likeable than the English.

I have only visited the East and West coasts, which are a far cry from the Bible Belt. There are plenty of people on the coasts with a liberal, sceptical and ironic take on the world, so no one should take this video as representative of all America.

But even in the more liberal parts of America, there is a real problem with sustainability. The sprawling cities were built around the idea of the car as the main medium of transportation. Few parts of America would be comfortable to live in without heating or air con - in much of the country, both are necessary due to the continental climate.

In addition, growth is the principle on which America was founded, so it figures that the end of growth will hit America hard, from a psychological point of view. Even more liberal Americans are used to a lifestyle that is pretty profligate by most standards.

2 As and a B · Post by **2 As and a B** » 26 Nov 2009, 08:43

Americans? Yes I have been there and met them.

The rest of the world has moved on. Immigration has mellowed the American psyche somewhat but America is essentially still stuck in a 17th century Puritan mentality.

Ludwig · Post by **Ludwig** » 26 Nov 2009, 12:35

foodinistar wrote:Americans? Yes I have been there and met them.

The rest of the world has moved on. Immigration has mellowed the American psyche somewhat but America is essentially still stuck in a 17th century Puritan mentality.

That is looking at it very simplistically IMO. Many different factors have influenced the American psyche. Far more people emigrated to America in search of a materially better life than ever emigrated there for religious reasons.

Individualism and, not to put too fine a point on it, greed are two of the founding principles of the American way and they came from very different sources to the thinking of the Pilgrim Fathers.

johnathome · Post by **johnathome** » 26 Nov 2009, 16:11

RGR wrote:I will fly to England, hunt you down, and flog you mercilessly with my Terrible Towel, which still hangs in the closet.

Terry Bradshaw is one of my all time favourites, am i off the hook now?

*EDIT*

So it WAS you

fifthcolumn · Post by **fifthcolumn** » 26 Nov 2009, 16:14

I reckon Mobbsey is fairly intelligent. His presentation was very good and his conclusion was Britain is f***ed.

It's notable that the conclusion was lacking a plan of action.

On the contrary the North Americans are action oriented.

They will try to DO something instead of just go into crash position or ostrich position like back home.

Whether they will succeed or not is another matter but I'm throwing in my lot with them.

contadino · Post by **contadino** » 26 Nov 2009, 17:15

fifthcolumn wrote:On the contrary the North Americans are action oriented.

They will try to DO something instead of just go into crash position or ostrich position like back home.

Yes, they'll go to war and steal others' resources. Venezuela this time.

Fortunately, the ostriches in London won't notice and join in - because they're cooling their head.

RGR · Post by **RGR** » 26 Nov 2009, 17:44

[quote="johnathome"]

RGR · Post by **RGR** » 26 Nov 2009, 17:48

[quote="fifthcolumn"]

2 As and a B · Post by **2 As and a B** » 26 Nov 2009, 19:01

Looks like we've gone full circle back to the OP.

QED.

Adam1 · Post by **Adam1** » 27 Nov 2009, 20:13

This is a classic...

We need good people like [Palin] who aren't afraid to speak up for reality.

(8.02 mins into the video)

eatyourveg · Post by **eatyourveg** » 28 Nov 2009, 12:35

My last upfront experience of America was in the mid 80's. I was there for several months, riding round all over the place on a motorcycle, ended up crossing it in an extremely haphazard fashion.

My impressions were that the yanks were very insular, didn't seem to fully appreciate the sheer grandeur of their country, most of them lived to a decidedly sub-uk (at that time) living standard, and extremely friendly as individuals.

They needed to get out more (of the USA), the general sense of geography was a D-Minus.

Has it changed?

PowerSwitch

Why America is the most screwed of all

the difference between Americans and Brits

Re: the difference between Americans and Brits

Re: the difference between Americans and Brits