EatingPanCakesOnHerGrave wrote:...ungrateful assholes abound who know how to work the system.

for every few dozen poor people who manage to squeeze a few bucks out of the system while doing maybe not everything they could do to earn "an honest living", there's a zillionaire robbing the entire nation blind for staggering amounts of money (and more) that dwarf the sum impact of every "welfare king/queen" imaginable. want to meet an ungrateful asshole who knows hot to work the system? talk to any rich person, just about. tax evasion, lobbying, tax breaks, embezzlement, fraud, kickass legal and pr teams for protection, this is just the tip of the iceberg. look at what corporate scandals actually break, and who actually gets taken in, and the devastating scope of the crimes involved -- the billions of dollars stolen from the general public of california by enron and their buddies, the damage caused by the intentional blackouts, there's people hooked up to electrical machines just to stay alive, what happens to them in a blackout? now consider the fact that for every one corporate crime that actually gets exposed and taken to trial, there are dozens that are covered up. and one thing you gotta love about the enron thing -- many tons (literally!) of documents were shredded before they could be used as evidence. thousands of pounds of paper! that's how much stuff we don't even know.

I don't think anyone could dispute the following:

1. in simple geographic terms the U.S. comprises many of the most beautiful and liveable places on earth. Culture be damned, there are many great places to live in the USA.

2. the U.S. produces a lot of wonderful culture. Music, visual culture, sports, etc. The U.S. produces more good rock music than anywhere else. Period.

Travelling from Canada into the U.S. is always strange, and more jarring than I expect. The two countries feel very different to me. I can't imagine identifying with "the American experience." And I cannot fathom being an American patriot given that I'm convinced the U.S. has always been an imperial project (and a crucial aspect of American imperialism is its disavowal in "American exceptionalism"--empire without imperialism; ie, (neo)liberalism).

The fact that the Democratic Party represents "the Left" is, if not hilarious, terrifying. Where else but in the US does one get not socialist-left opposition parties but instead "liberals?" Liberals! I think American republicanism is a crap political philosophy. Period.

If that in itself makes me "anti-American," so be it. I think China rests on crappy political philosophy, too; but few Chinese would accuse me of being "Anti-Chinese." The whole founding fathers and ideals business--I find it extremely sinister. I mean, it was a bourgeois revolution. A bunch of capitalists and puritans wanted to have it their way. Great. "You" did it. "You" have more billionaires and churches than anyone else. Best of luck with that.

. . . but there's lots to love about the the geography and culture of the U.S.

EatingPanCakesOnHerGrave wrote:

Rodabod wrote:One thing that pisses me off about the USA is the lack of welfare.

...we have conditioned others by subtly creating a class structure where people are taught not to evolve or better themselves.... For every person who truly needs these kinds of benefits, totally uneducated, ungrateful assholes abound who know how to work the system. I'm not going to bust myself to pay taxes and support a wide majority of ingrates who don't even attempt to improve their situation by working or getting an education. Partly society is to blame but you have to become self aware and work around it to succeed. It is a cyclical thing and poverty and ignorance aren't going away. My utopia is to have welfare free society where everyone is enlightened.

I wasn't joking.

When I was in the US, I was pretty shocked when I saw the state of some of the homeless people with literally nothing but a shopping trolley full of shit. I don't like it how you get pretty crap health care if you don't have enough money for private care. It's a shame that if you are born into poverty then it is a very, very difficult road to get out.

My father works for the fraud-squad for the Department of Social Security here in the UK, so as far as here is concerned, I know what's going on with regards to people doing fuck all purely because they can, but this doesn't mean that welfare doesn't help a lot of people who do end up working. I was on benefits for a while.

tommydski wrote:that 'big dig' project in boston was inspiring on a brunel-esque feat of engineering level wasn't it?

i heard it keeps flooding though.
is this true?

I just drove through it an hour ago, and as usual, it just looks "meh". It was an insanely complex project though.

Yeah, apparently it floods a bit. Kinda worrying to think about as you enter the tunnels to drive underneath Boston Harbour.

positive qualities- 1)variety of climate and physical landscape 2)the diversity of the people.
negative qualities- 1)lack of adequate benefits and/or opportunity for those without money/with a criminal backround/mental health disorders/substance abuse problems (these are the homeless people spoken of in earlier posts) 2)the bullheadedness of some americans who believe the fear driven nationalist rhetoric that is becoming more and more common these days (which can lead to generalizations by those in other countries that all americans are like this).

This gets a solid:

"Depends on where you are in the US"

See everyone else's posts for good reasons/examples why.

I'll stay. We'll fix. Grandkids thank.

I'll argue "no, not really" OVER "Depends on where you are in the US" in that home is what you make of it. All places have their own nuances, their share of good people and bad people. Home is what you make of it.

Seems like a lot of people either really love or really hate Texas, for example. Few people in between on that state. And I figure most people have made up their minds on that state regardless of personal experience....and any personal experience simply confirms that made up mind. And I think that's true of any place, any country, any region of the world.

pancakes, you've really eaten the right-wing line. Welfare cheats are bleeding us dry! Oh no!

The total portion of the federal budget spent on Aid to Families with Dependent Children (which is what people in this country mean when they say "welfare") is about 1%. I'll say that again - ONE SINGLE PERCENT. Now process that with the fact that we have no universal healthcare and we JUST started covering prescription medicines for the poor and elderly (in an incredibly complex, incomplete way).

Tell me again how we overspend on social welfare.

jason smith wrote:One car had "88" on the back, which is hate code for heil hitler.

Fucking Dale Jarrett and his White Power agenda!

(I find it hi-fucking-larious a new yorker is schooling a michgander[?] on NASCAR)

rzs wrote:positive qualities- 1)variety of climate and physical landscape 2)the diversity of the people.
negative qualities- 1)lack of adequate benefits and/or opportunity for those without money/with a criminal backround/mental health disorders/substance abuse problems (these are the homeless people spoken of in earlier posts) 2)the bullheadedness of some americans who believe the fear driven nationalist rhetoric that is becoming more and more common these days (which can lead to generalizations by those in other countries that all americans are like this).

And a positive caveat: the negative qualities you've listed are a lot more changeable than the positive ones.