Is it really hard to fathom why many people despise the US?

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 10 Jun 2015, 16:21

Why do American police kill people?

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015 ... -countries

Here are the numbers.

Post by **kenneal - lagger** » 10 Jun 2015, 16:47

Moral? If you go to the States avoid the police!!

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 10 Jun 2015, 17:26

kenneal - lagger wrote:Moral? If you go to the States avoid the police!!

Or be better armed than them.

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 10 Jun 2015, 20:16

Better still, just don't go there.

raspberry-blower · Post by **raspberry-blower** » 14 Jun 2015, 21:16

Another story from the US of A that makes you scratch your head and say WTF?

Zero Hedge: Texas cops raid, shut down lemonade stand run by 7 year old girls

Put into context:

I’m still waiting for a bank executive to be sentenced.

So obviously the bigger threat to US citizens is, in fact 7 year old girls selling lemonade rather than financial criminals who have impoverished millions.

George Carlin was right. The American Dream - you have to be asleep to believe it..

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 17 Jun 2015, 10:34

Jeb Bush or Donald Trump? Who'd you prefer for POTUS? (Not that the Democrats are any more democratic of course).

As one guy said, "Donald Trump just declared that he will be the greatest job creating president in history; this from a man who tried to trademark the phrase, "You're fired".

US politics is increasingly desperate, failed and end-of-empire corrupt.

3rdRock · Post by **3rdRock** » 17 Jun 2015, 10:51

Trump for president? American politics stinks!

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 17 Jun 2015, 10:57

3rdRock wrote:Trump for president? American politics stinks!

It would not surprise me. If it weren't for the tragic consequences of electing clowns like Bush etc, it would be enjoyable to watch the election show. Their performances are embarrassing.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 18 Jun 2015, 14:57

Donald Trump paid actors to cheer at his presidential campaign launch

They got $50 each. They sold their souls for $50 dollars. Welcome to America. (Mind you, you Brits might vote in arsehole BJ as twat-in-chief at the next election. Nothing surprises me.)

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 19 Jun 2015, 19:13

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 19 Jun 2015, 21:43

One of my facebook friends from across the pond just posted this:

On The Massacre in Charleston
I am sure someone, a politician, a civic leader, a talking head on the news will be quoted as saying, "This is not who we are as a nation." That would be a lie, designed to deflect the responsibility of who we are as a nation.
It is who we are as a nation. We, as a nation, have a long and despicable history of murder, genocide, racial intimidation, and the promotion of hate as a political vehicle to gain power and wealth.
We do it here at home and we do it abroad. We celebrate it. We, as a nation, admire violence no less so than the Spartans of ancient Greece. We glorify violence in our culture. We are bored by anything less than the thrill of a kill.
It is who we are as a nation because we, as a nation, haven't made any affirmative commitment to change who we are. If you think, "Well, I didn't do this - I am not responsible," then think again. If you accept it as a part of our nation's daily life and do nothing to change it, how can you claim that you're not responsible? None the less, We, as a nation, will collectively say, "I did not do this."
Who would proudly raise the confederate flag over the SC capital? Who would see that flag flying there, at a concert, a sporting or political event and only see it as a quaint relic of the past or that it honors tens of thousands of people who suffered and died in the Civil War - albeit for the preservation of human slavery and lining the pockets of the profiteers of human misery? Who accepts that as just "they way we are?"
This nation does.
(this is a political site so I ask any elected official to tell us how you might justify your lack of initiative to change this culture of violence that marks this nation as a "killer country." I am betting none will - they fear, more than most, retribution from the hate mongers.)

vtsnowedin · Post by **vtsnowedin** » 22 Jun 2015, 02:00

Change the American culture? Why would I or anybody else want to? Sort out the gangland murders and other drug induced crime and Americas murder rate (the whole rate not just the gun murder rate) is not that much higher then other countries and we have much more freedom and security because of the American gun culture. Think of invading America with it's 300 million guns in private hands. Even if only one gun owner in five shows up for the battle there will be no place where an invader can get out of his tank to take a wiz without getting some important part shot off.
They need to spend a sufficient amount of money treating mental illness to keep these nut jobs off the streets while they are not in control of themselves, but restricting gun ownership will not keep sick people from doing sick things.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 22 Jun 2015, 07:34

So let's just try a thought experiment. If by magic all private gun ownership ceased by lunchtime today, just which countries do you fear will invade the USA?

And why do you think that countries without much private gun ownership do not tend to get invaded by others?

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » 22 Jun 2015, 08:15

vt I see no evidence of mental illness in the latest mass murderer. The man spoke to his victims for a hour, and was said afterwards that he was almost dissuaded from his intent. He was radicalised by a subculture that is widespread and tolerated in your society, in the same way that similar attacks were tolerated in Germany in the 1930s or the way that otherwise rational men said 'we had to destroy the village to save it'. It is the same as the preaching of hate found in ISIS or other similar groups.

I have two children who have mind mental illness. They can be violent but they attack out of fear, irrational fear they can neither predict or control. They are terrified of violence in others, and have neither the inclination nor the capacity to plan a violent attack for days or months ahead.

3rdRock · Post by **3rdRock** » 22 Jun 2015, 08:30

Is it any wonder that they've got a problem with racially motivated attacks.

Take a look at the following list of white supremacist groups currently operating in the good old US of A.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_w ... ted_States

Seconded only by Germany it would seem.