traveling open your eyes to how terrible the US is in many ways?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sadly Europe is on the decline.

Open border lunacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only reason right now we’re not going to London, Paris or Stockholm is the horrific crime. It’s probably the same reason they’re apprehensive about visiting any of our big cities.

Hopefully, law and order will return under our next administration.

"Horrific crime?

Stay under your bridge, troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No it’s the opposite.

Americans have a unique sense of optimism and ambition that is rarely seen in other countries.

It definitely attracts the very ambitious. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed. Unfortunately, often this has not been for the better of country, or benefitted its people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to Japan while the yen was in the toilet and had a sick time bro! I also failed to realize how low wages are in greater Tokyo for most normal people, but it was rad. Did you know the vending machines have hot coffee cans?

How was it rad, did you go their ER?

True facts, if at all possible in Japan find a US trained doc.

Too many friends have gotten hurt by their medical system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

The problem in the US is not that we have problems. It is our obstinate refusal to solve any of them while new problems continue to crop up. While many of these problems are sort of relegated to the poorest people in our country, they are increasingly “trickling up” to the middle class.

People are routinely dying from a lack of healthcare or going bankrupt from medical problems. This should have been resolved ages ago, and is simply not such a crisis in other countries.

Same with gun violence. Yes, there are a multitude of tertiary issues related to gun violence but the main issue is simply guns.

And now, we have a huge mentally ill homeless population suffering in our cities and it’s only growing.

And I think the worst part is that people seem so lonely and unhappy.

Why do we tolerate this?

When I go to my parents’ home country, it just isn’t so miserable. I’m staying in a middle class neighborhood, not a luxury hotel. I have been here often over the last 2 decades: People are grinning and bearing it. No one is shot in the street. If I need medicine I can just walk into the pharmacy and buy it for $2. People are out past 8pm having fun. People are just enjoying being with other people more.

Something is just broken at home. I really feel like I get a break abroad, from the horrible political news and violence and apocalyptic weather events. I have not felt this way before.

^^exactly. Compared to other countries we cannot do anything to improve or solve collective problems. our infrastructure is decaying because of it - it is well known. even making the smallest improvement to traffic or public space is incredibly costly because we’ve set up a system where people can easily throw wrenches into the works - and we have become so miserable and individualistic that people seem to enjoy crusading against change.

Who.appointed you to speak on behalf of the country. You don't know what is going on in people's heads. Your entire goal is to tell people to feel despair. "You need to hate America, I say, this is why!". You have an agenda.

yes … my agenda is that we should have a transit system on par with equally wealthy countries! And for my neighbors to have more of a sense of collective good so that they don’t spend their time crusading against housing development for example.

It's hard to have a sense of collective good when theres nothing that unites a diverse population.

The famous Lee Kuan Yew quote comes to mind.

There’s a ton of research that shows that increased diversity leads to less societal cohesion and trust. You could combat this by trying to inculcate a sense of citizenship and unity in being American, but the same party that pushes diversity also spends most of its time crapping on this country, and telling people that assimilation is bad. It’s a terrible combination.

+1. But yet the message “diversity is our strength” will continue to be forced down our collective throats.

Diversity in the ethnic foods is definitely a strength of the US, and I'm super grateful for it.

Thats a weak sauce argument though.

Japan has tremendous diversity of ethnic foods, in Tokyo in particular.

The interesting thing is that they're mostly run by Japanese who apprenticed overseas then came back. Here on the otherhand, our kitchens are largely staffed by spanish speaking immigrants who aren't from the ethnic food theme of the restaurant.

Anthony Bourdain did an episode or two of no reservations on that exact topic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

The problem in the US is not that we have problems. It is our obstinate refusal to solve any of them while new problems continue to crop up. While many of these problems are sort of relegated to the poorest people in our country, they are increasingly “trickling up” to the middle class.

People are routinely dying from a lack of healthcare or going bankrupt from medical problems. This should have been resolved ages ago, and is simply not such a crisis in other countries.

Same with gun violence. Yes, there are a multitude of tertiary issues related to gun violence but the main issue is simply guns.

And now, we have a huge mentally ill homeless population suffering in our cities and it’s only growing.

And I think the worst part is that people seem so lonely and unhappy.

Why do we tolerate this?

When I go to my parents’ home country, it just isn’t so miserable. I’m staying in a middle class neighborhood, not a luxury hotel. I have been here often over the last 2 decades: People are grinning and bearing it. No one is shot in the street. If I need medicine I can just walk into the pharmacy and buy it for $2. People are out past 8pm having fun. People are just enjoying being with other people more.

Something is just broken at home. I really feel like I get a break abroad, from the horrible political news and violence and apocalyptic weather events. I have not felt this way before.

^^exactly. Compared to other countries we cannot do anything to improve or solve collective problems. our infrastructure is decaying because of it - it is well known. even making the smallest improvement to traffic or public space is incredibly costly because we’ve set up a system where people can easily throw wrenches into the works - and we have become so miserable and individualistic that people seem to enjoy crusading against change.

Who.appointed you to speak on behalf of the country. You don't know what is going on in people's heads. Your entire goal is to tell people to feel despair. "You need to hate America, I say, this is why!". You have an agenda.

yes … my agenda is that we should have a transit system on par with equally wealthy countries! And for my neighbors to have more of a sense of collective good so that they don’t spend their time crusading against housing development for example.

It's hard to have a sense of collective good when theres nothing that unites a diverse population.

The famous Lee Kuan Yew quote comes to mind.

There’s a ton of research that shows that increased diversity leads to less societal cohesion and trust. You could combat this by trying to inculcate a sense of citizenship and unity in being American, but the same party that pushes diversity also spends most of its time crapping on this country, and telling people that assimilation is bad. It’s a terrible combination.

+1. But yet the message “diversity is our strength” will continue to be forced down our collective throats.

Trump continues to embolden racist trash.

Look at history though. If you look at either empires, or "forced states" that have different groups of people, there are often conflicts. Usually either a heavy hand from a strongman (Like Saddam Hussain) is needed, civic nationalism is applied by the state to give something in common, or violence erupts and ethnic cleansing occurs.

The last time the USA had as high of a foreign born population, immigration was restricted in order to give some time for more assimilation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Recently went to Taiwan, where they rank higher on the freedom index than even the US. It's amazing how things function when everyone obeys the law and it is clean everywhere. Never worried about crimes and guns anywhere. Public transport? Amazing. Regional railways that took over one hour long cost a grand total of about $2.80 FOR TWO TICKETS. Amazing when infrastructure is not built around cars and catering to car culture. Food, much higher quality. Next stop was in Thailand, where one in our party got sick. Went to the hospital and was seen immediately. Got checked out by the attending physician, took a stool sample to determine if there was an infection, and had the results in less than one hour. All of this without using insurance cost a grand whopping total of $83. Imagine how terrible it'd be in the US. Probably at least over $2000 for the same treatment and it'd take triple the amount of time. Even Thailand is so much safer with respect to gun violence and crime. Traveling really opens your eyes to how terrible the US has gotten. I honestly think we are borderline 2nd world. We aren't really that free, healthcare is unaffordable, zero guaranteed vacations, high cost of living, toxic food, terrible infrastructure, severely obese population, and out of control crime and gun problems.

Doesn't it also open your eyes to how great America is in many ways?

[Anonymous]

No one is forcing you to stay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

The problem in the US is not that we have problems. It is our obstinate refusal to solve any of them while new problems continue to crop up. While many of these problems are sort of relegated to the poorest people in our country, they are increasingly “trickling up” to the middle class.

People are routinely dying from a lack of healthcare or going bankrupt from medical problems. This should have been resolved ages ago, and is simply not such a crisis in other countries.

Same with gun violence. Yes, there are a multitude of tertiary issues related to gun violence but the main issue is simply guns.

And now, we have a huge mentally ill homeless population suffering in our cities and it’s only growing.

And I think the worst part is that people seem so lonely and unhappy.

Why do we tolerate this?

When I go to my parents’ home country, it just isn’t so miserable. I’m staying in a middle class neighborhood, not a luxury hotel. I have been here often over the last 2 decades: People are grinning and bearing it. No one is shot in the street. If I need medicine I can just walk into the pharmacy and buy it for $2. People are out past 8pm having fun. People are just enjoying being with other people more.

Something is just broken at home. I really feel like I get a break abroad, from the horrible political news and violence and apocalyptic weather events. I have not felt this way before.

^^exactly. Compared to other countries we cannot do anything to improve or solve collective problems. our infrastructure is decaying because of it - it is well known. even making the smallest improvement to traffic or public space is incredibly costly because we’ve set up a system where people can easily throw wrenches into the works - and we have become so miserable and individualistic that people seem to enjoy crusading against change.

Who.appointed you to speak on behalf of the country. You don't know what is going on in people's heads. Your entire goal is to tell people to feel despair. "You need to hate America, I say, this is why!". You have an agenda.

yes … my agenda is that we should have a transit system on par with equally wealthy countries! And for my neighbors to have more of a sense of collective good so that they don’t spend their time crusading against housing development for example.

It's hard to have a sense of collective good when theres nothing that unites a diverse population.

The famous Lee Kuan Yew quote comes to mind.

There’s a ton of research that shows that increased diversity leads to less societal cohesion and trust. You could combat this by trying to inculcate a sense of citizenship and unity in being American, but the same party that pushes diversity also spends most of its time crapping on this country, and telling people that assimilation is bad. It’s a terrible combination.

+1. But yet the message “diversity is our strength” will continue to be forced down our collective throats.

Trump continues to embolden racist trash.

Look at history though. If you look at either empires, or "forced states" that have different groups of people, there are often conflicts. Usually either a heavy hand from a strongman (Like Saddam Hussain) is needed, civic nationalism is applied by the state to give something in common, or violence erupts and ethnic cleansing occurs.

The last time the USA had as high of a foreign born population, immigration was restricted in order to give some time for more assimilation.

Blah blah. No one wants to hear the reasons why you think it’s ok to be a racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

The problem in the US is not that we have problems. It is our obstinate refusal to solve any of them while new problems continue to crop up. While many of these problems are sort of relegated to the poorest people in our country, they are increasingly “trickling up” to the middle class.

People are routinely dying from a lack of healthcare or going bankrupt from medical problems. This should have been resolved ages ago, and is simply not such a crisis in other countries.

Same with gun violence. Yes, there are a multitude of tertiary issues related to gun violence but the main issue is simply guns.

And now, we have a huge mentally ill homeless population suffering in our cities and it’s only growing.

And I think the worst part is that people seem so lonely and unhappy.

Why do we tolerate this?

When I go to my parents’ home country, it just isn’t so miserable. I’m staying in a middle class neighborhood, not a luxury hotel. I have been here often over the last 2 decades: People are grinning and bearing it. No one is shot in the street. If I need medicine I can just walk into the pharmacy and buy it for $2. People are out past 8pm having fun. People are just enjoying being with other people more.

Something is just broken at home. I really feel like I get a break abroad, from the horrible political news and violence and apocalyptic weather events. I have not felt this way before.

^^exactly. Compared to other countries we cannot do anything to improve or solve collective problems. our infrastructure is decaying because of it - it is well known. even making the smallest improvement to traffic or public space is incredibly costly because we’ve set up a system where people can easily throw wrenches into the works - and we have become so miserable and individualistic that people seem to enjoy crusading against change.

Who.appointed you to speak on behalf of the country. You don't know what is going on in people's heads. Your entire goal is to tell people to feel despair. "You need to hate America, I say, this is why!". You have an agenda.

yes … my agenda is that we should have a transit system on par with equally wealthy countries! And for my neighbors to have more of a sense of collective good so that they don’t spend their time crusading against housing development for example.

It's hard to have a sense of collective good when theres nothing that unites a diverse population.

The famous Lee Kuan Yew quote comes to mind.

There’s a ton of research that shows that increased diversity leads to less societal cohesion and trust. You could combat this by trying to inculcate a sense of citizenship and unity in being American, but the same party that pushes diversity also spends most of its time crapping on this country, and telling people that assimilation is bad. It’s a terrible combination.

+1. But yet the message “diversity is our strength” will continue to be forced down our collective throats.

Trump continues to embolden racist trash.

Look at history though. If you look at either empires, or "forced states" that have different groups of people, there are often conflicts. Usually either a heavy hand from a strongman (Like Saddam Hussain) is needed, civic nationalism is applied by the state to give something in common, or violence erupts and ethnic cleansing occurs.

The last time the USA had as high of a foreign born population, immigration was restricted in order to give some time for more assimilation.

Blah blah. No one wants to hear the reasons why you think it’s ok to be a racist.

Oh look, it’s scared.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one is forcing you to stay.

Yes, we are forced to stay. Most countries don’t just allow you to immigrate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Recently went to Taiwan, where they rank higher on the freedom index than even the US. It's amazing how things function when everyone obeys the law and it is clean everywhere. Never worried about crimes and guns anywhere. Public transport? Amazing. Regional railways that took over one hour long cost a grand total of about $2.80 FOR TWO TICKETS. Amazing when infrastructure is not built around cars and catering to car culture. Food, much higher quality. Next stop was in Thailand, where one in our party got sick. Went to the hospital and was seen immediately. Got checked out by the attending physician, took a stool sample to determine if there was an infection, and had the results in less than one hour. All of this without using insurance cost a grand whopping total of $83. Imagine how terrible it'd be in the US. Probably at least over $2000 for the same treatment and it'd take triple the amount of time. Even Thailand is so much safer with respect to gun violence and crime. Traveling really opens your eyes to how terrible the US has gotten. I honestly think we are borderline 2nd world. We aren't really that free, healthcare is unaffordable, zero guaranteed vacations, high cost of living, toxic food, terrible infrastructure, severely obese population, and out of control crime and gun problems.

Taiwan is highly at risk of being taken over by China. Then their freedom index will be "0" like China. They better hope that these countries like the US that you don't like support them in a military takeover.

So Taiwan is not highly at risk of being taken over. I have family in both Taiwan and China. The propaganda by the US is amazing - China has a lot of bigger issues and a long list of priorities they are going to work on. Beyond that, fighting and winning a war v. Taiwan is not the same, even if Trump is in office. The other thing is that in large cities like Beijing and Shanghai - it's not zero freedom. In fact, I would suggest it's a lot easier to live there between having no homeless/crime rampant and healthcare provided for citizens not to mention great infrastructure in public transportation. Rural villages not so great but the whole notion that all of China is somehow locked up and nobody can life happily is a myth. I just spent 60 days with family in China and can tell you there are a lot of happy people living in the major cities. I'm pretty sure if you go to depressed rural Mississippi you will see some miserable folks there that aren't any happier being "free" here.

Not the usual “go back there,” but if you were born in Taiwan or China, why did you leave there for the States? If not, how much of your family is there - parents? Grandparents? If any are in Taiwan, will they stay if China takes over? Thank you.