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The prison system in the U.S. is actually a business and we are putting people in jail for far too many minor offenses. The proliferation of guns in the U.S. and the deaths by guns show that this country could do better without all the guns. Religion in the U.S. is a joke. We have close to 40% of the population who rejects evolutionary theory and another sizeable portion who believe that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old, thanks to those who think the Bible is the word of some God. We are a joke of a country in many ways. Oh and one other thing, just because I live in Texas doesn't mean I'm another gun toting Christian. Actually the opposite.
I think you have accurately portrayed the views of left wing European politicians, but having lived in Europe for a number of years (as opposed to a visit), I think the average European has a much more positive view of the US than you know, and if the immigration laws were not so heavily skewed to counter/limit European immigration in favor of third world nations (particularly Latin and South American nations), the immigrations statistics alone would demonstrate many Europeans want to be here, and still view the US as a place of freedom and opportunity.
That's because they don't necessarily follow up the current events
The prison system in the U.S. is actually a business and we are putting people in jail for far too many minor offenses. The proliferation of guns in the U.S. and the deaths by guns show that this country could do better without all the guns. Religion in the U.S. is a joke. We have close to 40% of the population who rejects evolutionary theory and another sizeable portion who believe that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old, thanks to those who think the Bible is the word of some God. We are a joke of a country in many ways. Oh and one other thing, just because I live in Texas doesn't mean I'm another gun toting Christian. Actually the opposite.
If I thought the way you did about my country I would move out. Have you considered that option? Surely you would be happier somewhere else. France maybe.
The United States does a lot of things well. Even criminal justice, in many ways, is done very well here. But the incarceration rate is not one of those things done well, to put it mildly. Mass-incarceration clearly is not the solution.
Some states actually understand this - remember, criminal justice is mostly conducted by the states. And the states which tend to have lower incarceration rates tend to have lower crime rates as well. They're accomplishing what the Lock-'em-up-and-throw-away-the-key! states are failing to accomplish. And they're doing it without spending the ridiculous amounts of money it costs to incarcerate such large percentages of the population.
So what's wrong with those high-incarceration/high-crime states? They're more interested in the warm fuzzy We're-gettin'-tough feeling than actually lowering crime, that's what. They just can't bring themselves to face reality - ie, the evidence of how the real word works - and see that their methods are failing. So on they go, doing the same thing over and over, without any real results.
The prison system in the U.S. is actually a business and we are putting people in jail for far too many minor offenses. The proliferation of guns in the U.S. and the deaths by guns show that this country could do better without all the guns. Religion in the U.S. is a joke. We have close to 40% of the population who rejects evolutionary theory and another sizeable portion who believe that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old, thanks to those who think the Bible is the word of some God. We are a joke of a country in many ways. Oh and one other thing, just because I live in Texas doesn't mean I'm another gun toting Christian. Actually the opposite.
Well, you are in the minority when it comes to guns. The latest Rasmussen Poll shows that 68% of Americans would prefer to live in an area that allowed citizens to own guns.
Here in America, we're kind of all about freedom. Sorry that upsets you.
I'll only really agree with the Prison part.. We need to utilize a lot more alternative sentencing and lighter sentences.. Yeah, that's not popular, but.. There's too many people locked up.
I'll only really agree with the Prison part.. We need to utilize a lot more alternative sentencing and lighter sentences.. Yeah, that's not popular, but.. There's too many people locked up.
Both ends of the spectrum need to be trimmed. The laws need to stop incarcerating people for drug use and the rapists and murderers need to be killed.
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We Are America. Let Europe Be Europe
Quote:
Originally Posted by Texan2008
I am a citizen of the U.S. and this is basically how I view the U.S. now and how a number of people throughout the world especially Europe see us as a country. I think the U.S. is and has been the laughing stock of other parts due to these 3 societal things. Anybody want to respond either from the U.S. or outside.
Why in the cornbread world must America have to be another Europe? I like America just like the way it's been for more than 200 years, and we ought to be thankful that we still have the things we do have, like freedom, liberty, and prosperity (in spite of recent intentions by our government to rid us of those things).
I think you have accurately portrayed the views of left wing European politicians, but having lived in Europe for a number of years (as opposed to a visit), I think the average European has a much more positive view of the US than you know, and if the immigration laws were not so heavily skewed to counter/limit European immigration in favor of third world nations (particularly Latin and South American nations), the immigrations statistics alone would demonstrate many Europeans want to be here, and still view the US as a place of freedom and opportunity.
No, no there's no admiration for the US in Europe otherwise we'd look to change Europe-wide culture to emulate it. Prison Happy, Gun Happy, Religion Happy are attributes that in Europe are scorned.
We don't have a prison culture, nor a gun culture - in fact we are as a group adverse to it and reject it wholesale. Religion again is almost dead as a native thing in Europe. Europe is a growing secular region and has been for a long time.
In respect of looking to the US in regard to freedom, that's a sad joke. I don't think you have a clue how Europeans view the US as a country.
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We Are America. Let Europe Be Europe
