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I personally LOVE the US, love the food, the easy do it right now way of thinking, love the shopping, the possibilities..... compared to Europe the US feels way closer to home, (I am colombian)
like any place on this planet you have things u love and things u can't stand
so lets see what we don't like about the US
in my case I dislike two things:
lack of public transportation in most cities (c'mon America, you need pedestrian oriented cities, you need metros/trams/buses, people should be able to get from point A to point B without having a car!!! it's ecological, healthier for the masses, its sustainable!!!)
and the worst is race obsession (I cannot stand the media and the national obsession with race, so America is a multiethnic society, but so are tons of countries nowadays, GET OVER THE WHOLE RACE THING ALREADY, its like beating a dead horse!!!) every time you read American news someone is complaining and getting offended because someone else said or do something (VERY ANNOYING!!!)
My biggest problem with the U.S. tends to be the stranglehold that big business/corporations in the post-Industrial era have on the workers. In our culture, it is accepted that in order to "make it", you need to work X amount of hours. 55, 60, 70, 80 hours per week. In part, we haven't revolted against the commonly-accepted practices of overworking your force. In part, instead of wanting less or needing less, we all want more and more. The combination of the two have left families overworked with less time or ability to care for our offspring or to simply sit back and relax together.
In that same vein, Americans tend to also get the short end of the stick when it comes to work benefits, including but not limited to, maternity/paternity leave, sick days, PTO, and health insurance.
I don't know if we'll ever get over the type of consumerism/need-for-goods that would be necessary to take a stand, but I think it's the one thing that makes living abroad most attractive for me.
--
A really random, less political one: I think the U.S. undervalues and under uses it's central business districts. The town square is a nice idea for many, but it is simply just underutilized in our car/plaza shopping culture. It'd be nice if we could all interact more in a town square - music, readings, walking, boutique shops. The way life is here in many communities, we drive by ourselves to a parking lot, enter a store for our needs, depart, and return to the car that will return us to our homes. This has been something urban planners have been attempting to restore for some time, but the way our country evolved, it'll never not be a problem.
My biggest problem with the U.S. tends to be the stranglehold that big business/corporations in the post-Industrial era have on the workers. In our culture, it is accepted that in order to "make it", you need to work X amount of hours. 55, 60, 70, 80 hours per week. In part, we haven't revolted against the commonly-accepted practices of overworking your force. In part, instead of wanting less or needing less, we all want more and more. The combination of the two have left families overworked with less time or ability to care for our offspring or to simply sit back and relax together.
In that same vein, Americans tend to also get the short end of the stick when it comes to work benefits, including but not limited to, maternity/paternity leave, sick days, PTO, and health insurance.
I don't know if we'll ever get over the type of consumerism/need-for-goods that would be necessary to take a stand, but I think it's the one thing that makes living abroad most attractive for me.
My biggest pet peeve with the US is how hyper-partisan politics has become. Instead of working together the two established political parties have conditioned their adherents to hate anything and everything the opposition party has done, and the party-line idiots sit there and shout pejoratives at each other without realizing the parties they're defending are really nothing more than two sides of the same slimy, self-serving coin. Neither Republicans nor Democrats give a crap about the average citizen. Both are beholden to special interests at the extremes.
My biggest pet peeve with the US is how hyper-partisan politics has become. Instead of working together the two established political parties have conditioned their adherents to hate anything and everything the opposition party has done, and the party-line idiots sit there and shout pejoratives at each other without realizing the parties they're defending are really nothing more than two sides of the same slimy, self-serving coin. Neither Republicans nor Democrats give a crap about the average citizen. Both are beholden to special interests at the extremes.
Beautiful.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Irene-cd
and the worst is race obsession (I cannot stand the media and the national obsession with race, so America is a multiethnic society, but so are tons of countries nowadays, GET OVER THE WHOLE RACE THING ALREADY, its like beating a dead horse!!!) every time you read American news someone is complaining and getting offended because someone else said or do something (VERY ANNOYING!!!)
I'm guessing you've never been to Europe, don't know any/many Europeans, and don't have much interest in checking out European news sources. Same crap, different races there.
My biggest problem with the U.S. tends to be the stranglehold that big business/corporations in the post-Industrial era have on the workers. In our culture, it is accepted that in order to "make it", you need to work X amount of hours. 55, 60, 70, 80 hours per week. In part, we haven't revolted against the commonly-accepted practices of overworking your force. In part, instead of wanting less or needing less, we all want more and more. The combination of the two have left families overworked with less time or ability to care for our offspring or to simply sit back and relax together.
In that same vein, Americans tend to also get the short end of the stick when it comes to work benefits, including but not limited to, maternity/paternity leave, sick days, PTO, and health insurance.
I don't know if we'll ever get over the type of consumerism/need-for-goods that would be necessary to take a stand, but I think it's the one thing that makes living abroad most attractive for me.
--
A really random, less political one: I think the U.S. undervalues and under uses it's central business districts. The town square is a nice idea for many, but it is simply just underutilized in our car/plaza shopping culture. It'd be nice if we could all interact more in a town square - music, readings, walking, boutique shops. The way life is here in many communities, we drive by ourselves to a parking lot, enter a store for our needs, depart, and return to the car that will return us to our homes. This has been something urban planners have been attempting to restore for some time, but the way our country evolved, it'll never not be a problem.
I agree with all that and add our horrible healthcare system. The healthcare itself appears to be great, but how we pay for it, a total failure. Our education system is getting that way too. College is outrageously expensive and it's becoming something only the wealthy can afford for their children. No one wants to increase taxes to fund our K-12 schools either. This country really doesn't put much priority on education or affordable healthcare.
I'm guessing you've never been to Europe, don't know any/many Europeans, and don't have much interest in checking out European news sources. Same crap, different races there.
I live in Europe babe... This is why I said that compared to Europe America feels closer to home!
Immigrants from 3rd world countries who come here and disrespect the US because they associate themselves more with their homeland.
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