Bob

I saw a 18 wheeler try to take a roundabout the wrong way, heading towards me...almost a underpants situation that, but I was able to stop and reverse to give him space to sort himself out. Not much fun.

There's a few around town too, especially in the shopping areas. Have been for quite a few years apparently, but it's still a little scary at times.

Elvatoloko

Awsome, I LOVE it!

tuxedocat

People under 25 can't tell analog time.

MarylandNed

Although there's also a much better chance that when you go see a movie (or just go to school or to a shopping mall) that some madman will show up and empty a loaded gun in the joint.

Elvatoloko

Yeah, true but I'm not easily scared after having lived in Mexico and Central America for a while. Being a law enforcement officer, I never leave my trusty .40 cal behind so that if I am ever confronted with this, I will have some arguments to reply with and hopefully, I will not be the only one to do so.

If we had to live our lives based on statistics, there are few places besides a bunker where we would live. If you stop going to the movies or move away from the U.S. because some nut shot a movie theater once in a lifetime, you won't ever fly again, drive your car etc. etc. The truth is that it can happen anywhere, just like if you buy a lottery ticket, you may win...

The question should be, what are YOU doing to correct those things that bother you?

I came to this ountry not in search of paradise as it does not exist on earth and I'm not in a hurry to get there due to the pretty drastic entry requirement.

Every place has its advantages and disadvantages, it's up to each individual to decide what best suits them. If you move away form your country of origin in the hopes that you will find a place free of problems and challenges, you will be disappointed. Why move half a world away and complain about the different views people hold, the unavailability of certain products, the lifestyle the healthcare system etc.?

Why move if your life is going to be lived looking in the rear view mirror?

This seems to be a little schitzophrenic, seeking change, but only in some areas and only to a certain point.

An expatriation should be thought over very carefully. Its is definitely not for everyone. I would even dare say that only a small percentage of people can be totally successful in their expatriation. My maternal grandparents were italians and lived in France for over 60 years until they passed away. I cannot remember a time when they did not long for their native land as it often happens with people who move more by necessity than choice.

I've lived in Europe, in the U.S. and in Latin America; each place has its charms and things that I don't like. I have family in each of those regions and all of them live where they live because they want to. I guess it comes down to what suits you best and what you are willing to sacrifice.

There is no 'perfect' country to live in in the absolute and looking for one is futile. Happiness is a self-motivated feeling that you need to find in yourself. No one or nothing can 'make' you happy. I chose to be happy where I'm at and work at changing what bothers me and this country allows you to become part of its society and participate to the fullest. That may not be important to you, but it is to me. I lived in France for 18 years, you can become a French citizen, but you can't become French. In their eyes, you will always be a foreigner and God forbid should you look different, that will last for generations. I lived in Mexico and it's the same, no matter how long you live there, no matter what you do, you will always be an outsider. As a naturalized Mexican, you are kept out of any government job and out from serving in the armed forces. The won't even trust you with a broom there, you couldn't be a street sweeper working for a municipality there if you tried. You just don't become Mexican. I lived in Honduras and Panama and it's the same thing. (To a lesser degree in Panama). My cousins have been living in Costa Rica since their early teens, but they will never be Ticos. I don't know about the U.K. I don't know if you truly can become British.

I chose to live here and to adopt the country that adopted me, 'for better or worse, in the good and the bad times, in health and illness', it's the commitment I have made and the rule by which I live. What has worked for me in all of those places, is to respect people and do my best to understand their way of life, their culture without constantly comparing it to my native circumstances.

I see it as my responsibility to do my part in fixing what I think is wrong with this country, knowing I will never be able to solve all the problems. All we can do is to add our own little grain of sand to build something better.

Complaining about things makes you feel better temporarily, but does little to better the world if you stay at the complaining stage.

This has been my experience and is not necessarily valid for the next guy that comes around but that's what I'm gonna stick to.

Just a tought.

MarylandNed

Which is exactly why I asked the question in the first place i.e. to find out what people liked least about the US. At the same time there was a parallel thread that asked what people liked the most.

Egon

Well no, if we lived lives based on statistics we'd choose to live in statistically safer places, or which there are quite a few. It's not a case of 'The US or a Bunker' I'm afraid.

And statistics can be distorted and manipulated - like referring to the cinema shooting as 'once in a lifetime'. While that's true, the same can be said of Virginia Tech, Columbine, etc etc. I think I'm also right in saying those chaps on 9-11 didn't go on to fly any other planes into sky-scrapers but I don't think they'd be good examples of rehabilitation working.

Being horrified or concerned about gun control (or lack of) isn't the same as imagining other places are perfect - nor is it about never going to a movie theatre again, though hearing you use the 'my gun keeps me safe' argument I'm actually wondering if even that's worth a rethink.


I do - and you can.

MarylandNed

Exactly. Many people with the opportunity to move abroad consider multiple options. Knowing the pros and cons of living somewhere is an important step in making a decision. I have read (figures differ depending on the source) that somewhere between 33% and 40% of US homes contain at least 1 gun. That makes you think twice about where you let your kids go. Recently a young child was killed in Virginia after he found a loaded gun in a parked truck and accidentally shot himself. These things (and worse) happen with frightening regularity in the US and don't always make the news.

I enjoy living in the US. Life here has a lot going for it. At the same time, there are many things that I don't like and it's important to recognize that. It's not a case of complaining. Just because many people prefer life here to life in the UK doesn't mean that you can't discuss the things you don't like about the US.

Jerseygirl

I was surprised to receive a routine letter from my daughter's middle school. It advised parents to ensure that before they let their child go to a friend's house...they knew that all firearms were safely locked away.

I am also surprised at the filmsy excuses some Americans give for owning guns.

MarylandNed

Likely in response to an incident of some kind that you never heard about.

Yeah...particularly this one: "Because it's my constitutional right."

Elvatoloko

All of those are good points. There are many myths and realities regarding guns and gun control or lack thereof. It is a multi-faceted issue that can't be boiled down to a few phrases or pronouncements. If you are concerned about guns, then you should not move to the U.S. Mexico, Central or South America and the Carribean. You should probably stay out of Africa as well.

I am a law enforcement officer and I carry a gun all the time so for me, it's part of life. Debating gun control in the U.S. is a valid premise but one has to realize that with more than 200 million guns out there, the cat's already out of the bag and no one will propose measures to get all those guns turned in or confiscated in the foreseable future.

This also makes a lot of criminals stay on your side of the Potomac as they know that chances are they will be looking down the barrel of a gun if they break into a house in Virginia

I think that in some cases guns make you safer and in others they don't. All accidents are preventable in one way or another but we chose not to take the proper actions and accept the risk that accidents will happen. You explain to your kids that playing with kitchen knives is probably not a good idea, the same should go for guns and any other dangerous item. It's a pipe dream to think that all dangerous things will be banned and no accidents will ever happen again.

You can't expet every accident involving vehicles, sharp tools and guns to make the news. It's each person's individual responsibilty to teach their children how to be safe with guns or to stay away from them.
I opt for the teaching part. Rarely do children who have received some instruction on how to use a gun suffer from gun accidents. You teach your kids how to swim so they don't drown if they fall in some water, why not teach them how to safely use a gun since they are everywhere just like water? Pretending they're never going to come into contact with one is as foolish as pretending there is no chance they will ever fall into a body of water.


Guns have a particular mystique, especially when it comes to guns in the U.S. The debate always rages on regarding guns in the U.S. among European expats here. You rarely hear that same debate among expats in other countries where guns are everywhere too, such as Brazil, the Caribbean islands, Central and South America etc. There, somehow, guns are more acceptable to expats.

Guns have been a reality in the U.S. since the inception of the country and will remain so for the rest of our natural lives, there is little point in finding this to be shocking. It's a fact of life here.

I yet have to see a study not based on the ideology of one side or the other of this issue that would prove either side's point.

The issue has too many facets to reduce it to equating the presence and availibilty of guns to more violent crime and gun deaths. The correlation is weak at best and dissapears if you introduce other variables.

Maryland, for example, has a higher rate of violent crime than Virginia with half the guns. The rates of homicides in every major U.S. city in the 1990's were close to 50% higher than now with less guns. There are more guns out there now and less crime across the nation. This shows that guns cannot be the only factor.

The bottom line is, if you don't like guns and are concerned about them, don't move to the U.S., if you don't like rain, don't move to the U.K.

MarylandNed

That's much too simplistic a view. There are pros and cons to living anywhere so you have to weigh the pros and cons in order to make informed decisions. Different people will have a different tolerance for various levels of threat to their safety (perceived or real) or standard of living. You can't just rule out somewhere simply because there are one or more cons. You have to determine if you can live with it and then manage it as best you can.

kimilseung

There should be an internet law regarding "if you do not like.......then don't......"

I don't like the liberality of attitudes to guns in the US, but I have moved here and do not intend to move away and object to people who more or less say if you don't like it f*$k off. I will continue to voice my opinion in my community when I think it right to do so.

Sally Redux

How on earth do you equate guns and rain?

Guns droppeth as the gentle rain over here I suppose.

SultanOfSwing

It was such a non-argument at the best of times. A cursory look at these very forums will show plenty of born and bred Americans who don't much care for guns, for crying out loud. For that matter, if you don't like rain, don't live in Seattle. See, I can do it too ...

Guns, in and of themselves - are only tools - they are not the problem. It is the glorification, almost to the point of fanaticism of them and the often cavalier attitude that many (not all, I hasten to add) gun ownership advocates have with regards to using them to take a life, that I, personally, have a problem with. The argument that guns make us safer is also, I feel, a bit of a flawed one, but whatever.