Englishman43

Interesting stuff indeed.

In my experience, living here and visiting many states, if you don't think the US is the greatest country on the face of the earth but one with pluses & minuses just like any other people think you are a raving lunatic. That is the most widespread " people thinking alike" opinion I've encountered anywhere.

dunroving

USA! ... USA! ... USA! ... USA! ... USA!


... is that what you mean?

Steve_

All countries have jingoism. I do agree that one thing that annoys me about the US is that people have it in their heads that the US is the "greatest country on Earth" and I have to say this is a serious flaw in the way the US goes about things. I met Dick Cheney once a long time ago now and he really does genuinely believe 100% the US is the best place on Earth - the problem is that it distorts your thinking because if you think the US is the best place on Earth it can also mean you think the US is always right... because it's the greatest place on Earth. Becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. So if the President of the US says Iraq is a nasty place, it must BE a nasty place because he's speaking on behalf of the greatest country on Earth.

The problem that the US has with this belief is that they've managed to drum it into the heads of a lot of other people in other countries as well and this creates resentment towards the US.

One of the things I like about living in Canada is that we're on the same continent and we have pretty much all the same crap America has, but without all the BS. I think Canadians do have something of an inferiority complex compared to the US, but on the other hand it is rather like sitting in a gigantic stadium watching Americans make fools of themselves on various political issues. Because you see... it is possible to have a contrary view to the US that may be better than the US view.

Living in Canada you know the US isn't the greatest place on Earth - it's just a country. And the US Constitution isn't some magical document - it's just a law.

But all countries have problems with jingoism which is why John Lennon wrote a song about it. The US being such a big source of entertainment media, having the world's most powerful military and being such a large country has a proportionally larger problem.

Pistolpete2

"And the US Constitution isn't some magical document - it's just a law."

Which certain influential right wingers seem to either be unaware of or are doing their best to ignore or overrule, which doesn't seem to make having the US Constitution TODAY that special.

goldenstate31

there is no better there is no worse! just what you prefer and where you feel most comfortable. and most importantly happy!

Xebedee

Having been around the US for bleeding ages now, I can honestly say that if Canada was sawn off and floated away (you'd probably want warmer waters...), it'd be at least 6months before the US noticed it was gone.
Except perhaps Alaskan Eskimo's and Hawaiians (who'd notice it floating by).
There's nothing ever in the news, no recognition of important Canadian dates or events, the PM could be a Klingon for all we know.........not a single moose flavoured sausage. Ignorance of that "little town called Europe" is somewhat understandable when you consider the distance and lack of time the Yanks get to actually travel; but to be as equally empty-headed about their only civilised neighbour.....????

Or perhaps "they" are worried that familiarity might invite serious comparisons and debate about how things are run on this side of the border........

Howard Morris

Look, the US has been a complete and unmitigated disaster for me. Between 2001 and 2005 I "made" $750,000. Since 2006, every penny of that has evaporated and I am now left with three houses which are just about worth the value of the mortgages and live hand to mouth to hold everthing together. I might just as well have stayed in bed for a decade but I'm philosophical about it - I call it "the lost decade"

But go back to England? Never.

For a start, All my friends have long since moved on, and I just won't fit anymore. There's a limit to how much happy memories from ten+ years ago can hold a conversation together. You can't just jump back in where you left off.

Take those rose-tinted glasses off is my advise. But I hope you are happy in whatever you decide.

Howard Morris

To be honest, the US Constitution contains nothing of importance that isn't guaranteed in every other civilised country.

Why Americans bang on about it as if it were some divinely inspired document beats me.

dunroving

Last time I checked, the right of a civilian militia to bear arms wasn't guaranteed in the UK.

The US Constitution was designed for an 18th century society and hasn't adapted much to social changes since (OK, except for one or two amendments). I agree with you that it is held in an unusual status of reverence, even when it's clear that some aspects are just plain daft.

Giantaxe

Or are an actual handicap in consensus being reached, especially on social issues. Abortion is a classic example.

Howard Morris

I said "of importance"

Carrying guns isn't considered important or necessary in most of the civilised western world. If that's the only thing that the US Constitution uniquely guarantees "ooh - look at me - I can carry a little pistol" then I don't see what all the fuss is about.

Derrygal

Thank heavens for that!!!

dunroving

Yes, I read that part, but having just re-read your post I realise I was thrown by your use of a double-negative (i.e., I think the question of whether to allow the public to carry weapons IS pretty important - I don't think it is important that we should have the right, in fact the exact opposite).

I get the impression you are pretty bitter about the US, after living there for 10 years?

dunroving

... and more recently, entitlement to health care for all(?)

I haven't had time to read the details of the recent "unconstitutionality" issue of the health care reform bill, but isn't it something along the lines that it is unconstitutional to require everyone (presumably everyone who earns a living) to contribute to a health care plan?

Pistolpete2

And as a result the interpretation/intent of right to bear arms has been abused by the gun lobby.

Switzerland apparently has the same right to bear arms as a civilian militia which is why THEY have a large proportion of the population with firearms/shotguns BUT one of the lowest per capita number of gun deaths on the planet.

Switzerland of course doesn't have the racial overtones which first justified the current enacted right to bear arms in the US and where in some states folks might actually be looking to blow certain people away.

The justification for the use of firearms simply isn't there in the Uk as it is in the US. If you use unreasonable force to ward off an intruder in the Uk and blow him/her away you will clearly be charged with murder and may be convicted. Likewise, the intruder doesn't need to arm himself with an uzi knowing full well that the resident/victim is "packing", a point apparently missed by the pro-second amendment crowd.