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Travelled through one outpost where instead of wine I was served moonshine in jam jars and came across nothing but hicks and tralier trash yokels who were caked out on meth or moonshine and who thought I was an alien from another planet even though they had never even been to the nearest town.
Many told me how their healthcare was non-existant. Alot of hard working people who lost their houses and once considered themselves "part of the blue collar middle-class" or whatever were now on the scrap heap.
Sounds like he stepped off the well beaten path. Were you 600 miles southeast of Napa Valley?
Amazing how I have lived here over 20 years and have never encountered one single Moonshine establishment.
If you set off with a backpack and flip-flops and go around the state in places without a tour guide, it's likely you could have found a extraterrestrial hippie commune as well.
If you're a writer for a magazine, you're British, and you choose to find the most flim-flam locations around California with the intention of writing a lousy review of California it's probably pretty easy to do since the state is in its final death throes as the direct result of out-of-control liberal spending policies over the past 15 years. The statehouse has been in a choke-hold by the dems since forever.
Healthcare. Every state that had a healthcare system has been stripped and bankrupted by paying for healthcare for illegal aliens. Go search up how many hospitals in California have been shut down because of that exact reason.
Mexico Mexico Mexico IS A DUMP.
The just elected a pro-Narco President.
The Federales took all the guns from the good citizens so only the gangs, military and Narco has them.
The place is one big poop hole starting from when they confiscated the guns from citizens. Without them gangs and crimes are way way way way up.
It is now an official third world nation.
Nice try...US is looking pretty ill. You guys should know being such great salesman...how marketing works...the Home PC is pretty much telling the story....esp attitude on line.....a society gets exactly what it deserves and does not realize whats going on until it is forced to say I goofed. What a p-poor time in history and u guys can't look good when the sh-t hits the fan....so musn't be any depth...which means the fundemental culture is for the compost bin without a choice one way or another.
........... the remnants of the UK's class structure and aristocracy would annoy me beyond belief if I were a citizen and had to live it day in and day out. Although the American dream is a little harder to grab on to with the economy right now, the truth is that if you work hard, you CAN pull your self up by your bootstraps here and reach the highest levels of government, business, entertainment, etc. No one will look down on you here if you are born poor but "make good", where I think in the UK you're always going to "be" who you were born to be in the eyes of some, regardless of where you go in life. We tend to base our class system here in the US on accomplishments vs. birth. Americans think the whole royalty thing is fun, but that's mainly because we don't have to put up with it--I can't imagine that too many of us here wouldn't laugh out loud at being told that we had to curtsey, etc. if we met the queen...
As far as gypsies go, I haven't spent much time in the countryside, but I've never noticed them to be a huge problem in London--more in Paris, especially at the major train stations. It breaks my heart to see little children panhandling like that.
In the UK there may be a "class system" amongst the commoners, but they are ALL servants who bow to their master.
You ought to visit the reservations of So Dak. I don't think there is any worse poverty and hopelessness in the US than the Pine Ridge reservation here. The sad part is, the reservation system is a gov't made and fostered phenomena.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mayiask
I have traveled frequently through the reservation on Pine Ridge along with the other reservations in So. Dak. The poverty is jaw dropping. The reservations were set up as a way to 'protect' the Native Americans, but offered no viable and sustainable way to make a living. It is a pool of people that, through generations, have been forced to be reliant on gov't programs to sustain their people. Education and healthcare are lacking, and alcoholism is a big problem.
There has been progress made, and many wonderful people are putting their efforts back into improving conditions, but it will take years for true progress to come about.
Nobody is forcing these people to stay on reservations. They can get scholarships set aside for them and work to advance themselves, but they don't want to. All they want is handouts.
Nice try...US is looking pretty ill. You guys should know being such great salesman...how marketing works...the Home PC is pretty much telling the story....esp attitude on line.....a society gets exactly what it deserves and does not realize whats going on until it is forced to say I goofed. What a p-poor time in history and u guys can't look good when the sh-t hits the fan....so musn't be any depth...which means the fundemental culture is for the compost bin without a choice one way or another.
Nobody is forcing these people to stay on reservations. They can get scholarships set aside for them and work to advance themselves, but they don't want to. All they want is handouts.
Many have left the reservation. Many others don't get the skills and education when they are young to get those college scholariships, or even make it to college level.
The sad reality is, tho, for those that don't get those opportunities, it is a miserable life. This has come about through generations of welfare and creating dependence by the gov't, and it will take generations for it to rectify.
Walk a mile in their shoes b4 you decide what people who have lived in these conditions can and can't do, or whether they are happy with their lives.
From a true blue American, apologies for the bad experience you had while visiting here. Truth be told, you somehow ended up in a poverty stricken area of the USA taking a tour and I have to ask you WHY? We are in the midst of the worse time ever with our economy so people are struggling everywhere throughout the USA, some worse than others. What you don't know is that although there are no jobs here for people, there are always those people who refuse to work, who might be hung up on drugs or have health issues. It isn't a good situation by a long shot but it is also far from how you describe it. You only saw part of the USA so lets say you still have to see the beautiful Mid-West and also the East Coast where I am. Have you ever been to Northern New England in the fall? There is so much more to see that is better than where you were. Come on...don't tell me that all of London/England is absolutely beautiful. You too have your fair share of poverty and people who can't afford to take care of themselves. England is notorious for not having proper dental care for their people so lots of you have absolutely horrid teeth from what I can see..sound petty? Well, when you visit a different country you gotta learn that there will be bad mixed in with all the good. I love the USA...been here my whole life, mostly on the East Coast but have been out to California and have to say that although California is busy and full of activity, has a high incidence of drug abuse and more...there are gorgeous areas there as well. Somehow you missed them and found yourself right in the midst of the worst of it all. My sister has lived in California most of her adult life, I believe her town is in Miramar Valley?? Always call her or talk via computer..anyhow, it is so amazingly beautiful there.
All I am saying is....check yourself in England for bad areas, drug areas, slums, poverty, etc. then tell me that you don't have any serious issues with your population as well.
I'm with you - I don't understand how this person visiting the US managed to find themselves in such areas. I have lived in the US most of my life and haven't seen the stuff this person has seen!
Now - when I visit the UK next year, I will do my best to avoid these areas as well:
I didn't even realise there was Indian reservations left in the United States. i thought they all owned Casinos now and were living the good life off of welfare checks and shady ancestral lineages that led to huge payouts in reperations to native Indians.
Admittedly I wasn't naive enough to belive that stereotype nor did I necessarily believe that all was sunshine and lollipops but I was convinced that Native Indians were very much assimilated in American society today. That is very much the perception sold whenever the subject is touched upon in the UK. There is a similar situation in a historical analogy with the aboriginal tribes of Australia who were similarly embroiled in struggles for land and who have faced similar problems.
You won't believe this but I happened to watch 'The Outlaw Joesey Wells' with Clint Eastwood last night. It's fascinating to hear what the reality is as it is not a subject we hear much about this side of the pond.
Hah! I can assure you rez life is not like that. Whilst there are some making money on casinos and alcohol sales (which is devastating their own communities) there are many more where bone crushing poverty is the norm. I lived in the Navajo Nation for six months and met many people living in hogans with dirt floors, and no running water or power.
Poverty and ignorance is world wide and not unique to the US - I'm sure a visit to council housing in the UK would illuminate a great deal of drugs, violence, ignorance, and laziness. The names might be different (Chav) but the mentality is the same.
Those that celebrate diversity don't consider it's downside: people from other cultures bring their culture with them. The US is heading rapidly toward typical third world squalor. I live in Germany and see my neighbors sweeping the streets in front of their neatly kept homes and reflect : this is why America used to be such a beautiful country. Different immigrants, different influences.
Nobody is forcing these people to stay on reservations. They can get scholarships set aside for them and work to advance themselves, but they don't want to. All they want is handouts.
Well that's a real blanket statement demonstrating absolutely zero knowledge of life on the reservations.
Better to keep silent and be thought an idiot then open your mouth and confirm it.
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