AmerLisa

I'd say this is a pretty true statement.

Steve_

Totally disagree, Americans always seem to me to be much more scared of their govt. and "making waves" than British people are.

My sister reckons it's because so many Americans immigrated from Germany.

hungryhorace

+1

Americans have a deep rooted sense of mistrust and 'dislike' of their government. The same can absolutely not be said of the British; the British look to their government for a solution in a significant aplomb. The NHS anyone?

Pulaski

You can't make such sweeping generalizations about nations of tens of millions of people, however, I do believe that 60%+/- of British citizens believe that the government is the answer, whereas 60%+/- of Americans believe that the government is the problem.

hungryhorace

Sure you can. Americans as a rule have a deep mistrust of their government. Like nothing ever experienced in the UK in fact. The British historically look to their government for the solution. Just look the the result of the 1945 election if you need a historical reference.

Pulaski

I'm British, or at least that's how I started life. However I subscribe to the US view of government; I don't believe my view of government, as a British citizen, is unique, therefore your sweeping generalization is flawed.

hungryhorace

A generalisation means it applies to the majority. The majority of British people look to their government as the solution, rather than private industry like the Americans do. Heck, your average American doesn't even want the state involved in their healthcare; that's how ridiculous their aversion is to government here.

You only need to look at the formation of the welfare state, mass nationalisation of industry after WWII, and the period of the consensus to evidence how completely different British & American attitudes are towards government.

Here's a litmus test: when you are next back in GB, walk up to a few people and ask them two questions:

1. What do you think of the current train service since privatisation?
2. Would you vote for a government that would dismantle the NHS?

Indeed, going further, politicians in England won't countenance even suggesting they would do anything to negatively affect the NHS because they know the British public would not tolerate it.

Pulaski

Which is what I said! ..... Except I added that the generalization applies to approximately 60% of the population in each country. Disagree with that if you must, it might be 70%, but certainly not more in the US because there seems to be a hard core of Democrat voters, perhaps 30% of the population, that want more government programs and government regulation of just about everything.

oxford_ak

My partner who is a UKC moved to join me last year, other than her occasional complaints about expensive health insurance/short maternity leave period I think she has come to like it here in the states. She was also lucky to have found a decent job 6 months after arrival.

britishamerican

Thanks for posting!
Oh wow! How good is that?! 6 months is not so bad to have found a decent job.Did she find it very difficult? Was it a lot of online applications on websites like Monster?