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America Rant (Warning- Ra... ah yeah already said that)
16 years ago
OK first off:
I do not hate this guy. I feel sorry for him because he is being dicked by his insurance company, which is very crappy. And I have chatted with him before and enjoyed it. And i realise this has colored his perception of the issue right now.
That being said: His journal: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1026649
Down towards the bottom, someone said something about they were thinking of moving here. That is the only part of this entire post that is pertinent (that sub thread). He comments why the hell someone would want to move to America.
I replied that basically, becuase its a good country. (I did not use great, perfect, et cetera, just good).
Read his replies, I will not paraphrase them.
So my rant is such:
WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH THE AMERICA BASHING!?!?! Yes, I know (to save you these comments) there are idiots like GWB and the right wing, and I KNOW IT IS NOT PERFECT (so spare me that comment line).
and I am not talking the 2-Gryphon "america" rant (which was fairly spot on) which details problems but also points out not everyone is like that. I am talking the hard core "nothing good about America exists" thinking that seems to start showing up.
But to say we are a third world country, and the only reason we are listed as first is propaganda and the nukes to back it up is utter BULLSHIT.
He listed Education (will give him that one that its lower than many first world, but WAY HIGHER than any third world by leaps and bounds)
Crime (where if you look at strictly overall crime, yes, but understand, that includes EVERY crime, from a petty misdemeanor to big stuff, and I would be part of that, having a petty misdemeanor, and when it comes to rape and murder, two BIG crimes, we are not in 3rd word territory, and in fact have half the rape rate per capita of Canada). and even the site says it shows a bit of an unfair skew becuase americans are far more likely (73%) to report the crime, compared to most countries. In fact, in per capita Crimes, ENGLAND has more.
Heck, us being gun happy people, even murders with FIREARMS we are nowhere close to the level of the top 3. (http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/c.....-with-firearms ) we rank 4, but at approximately 9000 per year, we are at HALF of #3 (Thailand at 20,000) and WAY below South Africa (31,000), and we have a metric FUCKTON of guns here (hell, I have 2; a shotgun and a pistol).
GDP (highest in the word. Second only to a union of countries, by that technicality its a group of countries),
Health Care: Well this is a bit complicated. We talking average lifespan (ranked #47 at 78.14 years), Infant Mortality (6.37 deaths/1,000 which ranks us about Italy, or roughly #146-150), or Public funding on Healthcare (#3 at $2,051.00 per capita. More than Canada even). I could go along with all the stats I find all day.
So almost everything he puts forward have no merit.
I have been to Mexico Border towns. THAT is third world. As I so indelicately put, Juarez is a squalid pisshole in comparison to a US city. Does it mean all of Mexico is? No. But i have not been to all of Mexico, and it is considered a third world country. (what I have read of other cities there, even Mexico city, is it is still crowded, dingy and dirty. Its the bit resort towns that are nice and clean).
My point is, DON'T BASH the USA if you are full of shit. Because I will call you out. America needs a good amount of work, and my cynical side says we are sliding ever towards a less free country that is slowly getting the Big Brother society. We have things to work on (like a public health care system).
that being said, we are NOT a third world country. And however fashionable it is to bash America, I would suggest taking a hard look at yourself if you plan it, especially if you LIVE here. You could live in Swaziland, or any other place that really IS third world (you know, where clean water is a luxury).
I do not hate this guy. I feel sorry for him because he is being dicked by his insurance company, which is very crappy. And I have chatted with him before and enjoyed it. And i realise this has colored his perception of the issue right now.
That being said: His journal: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/1026649
Down towards the bottom, someone said something about they were thinking of moving here. That is the only part of this entire post that is pertinent (that sub thread). He comments why the hell someone would want to move to America.
I replied that basically, becuase its a good country. (I did not use great, perfect, et cetera, just good).
Read his replies, I will not paraphrase them.
So my rant is such:
WHAT THE FUCK IS WITH THE AMERICA BASHING!?!?! Yes, I know (to save you these comments) there are idiots like GWB and the right wing, and I KNOW IT IS NOT PERFECT (so spare me that comment line).
and I am not talking the 2-Gryphon "america" rant (which was fairly spot on) which details problems but also points out not everyone is like that. I am talking the hard core "nothing good about America exists" thinking that seems to start showing up.
But to say we are a third world country, and the only reason we are listed as first is propaganda and the nukes to back it up is utter BULLSHIT.
He listed Education (will give him that one that its lower than many first world, but WAY HIGHER than any third world by leaps and bounds)
Crime (where if you look at strictly overall crime, yes, but understand, that includes EVERY crime, from a petty misdemeanor to big stuff, and I would be part of that, having a petty misdemeanor, and when it comes to rape and murder, two BIG crimes, we are not in 3rd word territory, and in fact have half the rape rate per capita of Canada). and even the site says it shows a bit of an unfair skew becuase americans are far more likely (73%) to report the crime, compared to most countries. In fact, in per capita Crimes, ENGLAND has more.
Heck, us being gun happy people, even murders with FIREARMS we are nowhere close to the level of the top 3. (http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/c.....-with-firearms ) we rank 4, but at approximately 9000 per year, we are at HALF of #3 (Thailand at 20,000) and WAY below South Africa (31,000), and we have a metric FUCKTON of guns here (hell, I have 2; a shotgun and a pistol).
GDP (highest in the word. Second only to a union of countries, by that technicality its a group of countries),
Health Care: Well this is a bit complicated. We talking average lifespan (ranked #47 at 78.14 years), Infant Mortality (6.37 deaths/1,000 which ranks us about Italy, or roughly #146-150), or Public funding on Healthcare (#3 at $2,051.00 per capita. More than Canada even). I could go along with all the stats I find all day.
So almost everything he puts forward have no merit.
I have been to Mexico Border towns. THAT is third world. As I so indelicately put, Juarez is a squalid pisshole in comparison to a US city. Does it mean all of Mexico is? No. But i have not been to all of Mexico, and it is considered a third world country. (what I have read of other cities there, even Mexico city, is it is still crowded, dingy and dirty. Its the bit resort towns that are nice and clean).
My point is, DON'T BASH the USA if you are full of shit. Because I will call you out. America needs a good amount of work, and my cynical side says we are sliding ever towards a less free country that is slowly getting the Big Brother society. We have things to work on (like a public health care system).
that being said, we are NOT a third world country. And however fashionable it is to bash America, I would suggest taking a hard look at yourself if you plan it, especially if you LIVE here. You could live in Swaziland, or any other place that really IS third world (you know, where clean water is a luxury).
America is a great country, spoiled by a lot of the people who live there. Not all, just a lot. But then, so is the rest of the world.
Have a fishie. =3
Only problems is, all the other countries that I've heard about suck worse, so it looks like I'm stuck with it.
You've been saying what I keep talking about on my D-Art journals.
I love this country. Particularly after being to other countries and seeing the state of things there...
And yeah, it's not perfect, but it's far from downright *bad*.
(BTw you never directly linked your D-art account anywhere I saw, so haven't read anything you have written).
We disagree a large amount. I for one, am cautiously pro Obama. I dont support him 100% (maybe..oh say 60%) but i support him more than the right wing, which is only on gun control. Pretty much everything else about the right wing (anti-environmentalism, stupid religiousness, etc) I despise with such fervor because i USED TO BE ONE.
I have literally sat on both sides of the fence. Now I am somewhere in the middle (left leaning, with some hard spikes of Libertarianism that keep me from being liberal).
We disagree a large amount. I for one, am cautiously pro Obama. I dont support him 100% (maybe..oh say 60%) but i support him more than the right wing, which is only on gun control. Pretty much everything else about the right wing (anti-environmentalism, stupid religiousness, etc) I despise with such fervor because i USED TO BE ONE.
I have literally sat on both sides of the fence. Now I am somewhere in the middle (left leaning, with some hard spikes of Libertarianism that keep me from being liberal).
See, you have me pegged as a stereotypical Right Winger.
I'm a Conservative Independent with right leanings.
But I'm not against looking after the environment. I'm against using that as a means to a political end.
'Stupid religiousness' is as callous as saying 'Stupid atheism' which I have never said. Everyone has a right to their belief, and as long as they don't shove theirs down my throat and disrespect mine, I'm hunkey dorey.
I don't support Obama's decisions. I am, after all, one of the people he works for and it is both my right and my place to make observations.
I hope this has cleared more things up for you regarding me.
If I were a serious journalist or a serious observer, I would be more level-handed and objective, or at least would try to be.
But as it stands, I'm just a man who has his own place, works to support himself and is working towards his dream rather than ride anyone's coattails who comments on what he sees.
Incidentally, if you've read most of my earlier DA journals, you would see that I diss Republicans frequently as well. For example, I *like* Sarah Palin. I do. But I don't want her to be president or VP because she's too inexperienced, which is the problem I have with Obama.
With Obama I don't like him *and* I don't think he's fit for presidency. Not by much, but even less so than Palin.
Anyway, that's all I'm saying on that.