We live in a country that is so bloodthirsty that it has not only been involved in wars around the world for 80-90% of it’s existence, but there are mass shootings being perpetuated every week or so with no end in sight. We’re so desperate to kill one another that it’s not even safe to go a grocery store.
But at the exact same time, the laws that allow this state of affairs to continue aren’t used for their intended purpose. The 2nd Amendment is supposed to be for stopping the government from becoming tyrannical, but the ones who seem to champion it the most are the tyrants. Rights get taken away, protesters get brutalized but nothing ever really escalates like in other places. We all just decided to stop caring and move on within a week, mostly to keep our oppressors from clamping down even harder.
Sometimes it feels like the U.S. is a land full of hostages. Where the few hold the power and their armies of well paid thugs are encouraged to crush any resistance.
But I can say that I’ve visited the US and been gobsmacked. Absolutely baffled. By the way things are and the fact that 300+ million people put up with it. (Although we could probably say the same about any non-socialist country.)
Unnecessarily hostile and aggressive border guards ruin every trip before it starts.
Shops are hard to find.
And before you think about finding a shop, you better figure out if you can walk at all.
If you do walk, expect to be questioned by the police. And by well-meaning locals.
Everyone expects a tip (I understand why, but it’s a strange experience).
You have to work out the tax. That tax always seems very low to me.
Gas prices always seem very low, too, in comparison to the price I usually pay. (Then again, as I understand it, Americans spend more on their rent and other essentials than where I am, so I can see why people complain about fuel prices.)
Food prices are high! Food seemed to cost about three times what it costs where I live (pre-pandemic).
The cost of being a visitor in the US, per day, is double [edit: or triple] that in most of Europe.
I’m unsure if this is anything like what you were looking for. But my brief experience so shocked me that I am unlikely to emigrate, and any future visits are likely to be short ones. (This isn’t a reflection on people as a whole, who seem to be as polite as people anywhere, so far as generalisations are possible.)
Edit: changed a paragraph because it meet have sounded mean, which I did not intend.
Healthcare is absolute trash. If you even manage to pay for it, insurance companies decide the policy. They can force you to visit one doctor.
Healthcare workers are treated like trash and feed disinformation to the point that you might have better luck trying to resolve them yourself.
Disabled people are ignored.
Tons of our food is poisoned with boiled vegetable oils, (high fructose) corn syrup, and added sugar. (it’s probably intentional; the corporations want to reduce the effectiveness of revolutionary movements.)
Don’t forget: You have to pay the state to emigrate from the U.S.
The greatest export of the United States is their media/propaganda arm. Most of the people I meet around the EU are still heavily influenced and infatuated by the U.S. despite the reality of the situation. The country was always a shithole full of cracks where only the rich have a good quality of life. Suddenly in 2016 a few normies started to realize something was up because of Trump lacking decorum eye roll. But the vast majority of people still don’t realize that the fucked up and crazy situation has always been there getting worse bit by bit, now it’s bunch by bunch. Yet the propaganda continues evermore.
Sometimes it feels like the U.S. is a land full of hostages
You nailed it with this line. Get out while you still can. I sacrificed everything I had to GTFO 10 years ago and even living in poverty in the EU, it’s a higher quality of life than i had in the states.
I was out yesterday and was eavesdropping on a conversation of a couple of army vets. To my surprise, they were talking about how bad it is in the USA. They talked about how they wished we had public infrastructure and could do things like ban single use plastics. They mentioned how selfish and arrogant most Americans are.
I’m a Navy veteran myself, and the amount of brainwashed useful idiots and just outright dangerous people I saw was staggering. Not just impressionable kids either, it’s usually the older guys and gals who you think would be smart enough to see through it.
I’ve met incels who think Dems are scared of guns and feminism is ruining everything, I’ve met a guy who was personally offended when the Pope came to the US and said “Hey maybe things aren’t that great here” back in 2016 or so, I’ve heard stories of old men who buy into the propaganda so utterly that they think every American war is a matter of “Good vs Evil.” Most recently, I knew an authoritarian bootlicker who was both a terrible sailor and a gun nut. So every time he came in late to work we assumed that he was getting one of his guns that he never shut up about and was getting ready to shoot up the office.
A lot of casual racism and sexism too, in fact it’s even encouraged. Every port call in a foreign country calls for you to treat the locals like a threat and cheating is rampant (but only a problem when it’s a woman that cheats, I noticed.)
It totally do. I live in Poland, which is crazy enough for me to inspire my username, but i never got even close in the number of “wtf” moments about any other country as for the US. Especially that since 30 years we are constantly get our heads drilled it’s a country of freedom, democracy, opulence, equality and opportunity.
For quite a while here in Brazil, the United States was somewhat respected up until the 2010’s. Of course, those more inclined to history, humanities or left-wing politics despise the country, perhaps except the liberal leftists, who normally don’t care about the external world. The non-political minded are inclined to idealize and like the US because it’s related to the media they consume – sports, music, series, etc. Besides that, the country is largely ignored by Brazilians.
Usually the US is admired by the extreme right-wing of my country, especially after Trump’s election. For instance, here is a right-wing gathering in Brazil, where these cursed flags are displayed:
After the election of Biden, the US has been slowly losing its prestige among the right-wing nuts. They still idealize the country, but are extremely disappointed by the president.
To be honest, I rarely see those leftists, and if I would guess, they would be the liberal left. But at this point, I wonder what’s the point to consider them leftists… 🤔
As a Mexican I can say the average person here believes the US is a utopia where everyone is rich, owns a huge suburban house, has material abundance, public schools are great, there’s no crime, and you can get all of this off a blue collar worker’s wage. The US has amazing PR for normies despite the internet existing where you can see reality how it is. Hollywood, celebrities, social media stars, rich border shopping towns, and the exaggerated success stories of immigrants all help sell that image. People here see that the minimum wage over there is $7 per hour and don’t understand that everything costs more as well. I’m generalizing of course. A lot of people pay attention to the news, read books, and/or have first-hand experience with the more shitty aspects of the US empire and have plenty of criticism about them, but it might not be the majority.
As a Mexican I can say the average person here believes the US is a utopia where everyone is rich, owns a huge suburban house, has material abundance, public schools are great, there’s no crime, and you can get all of this off a blue collar worker’s wage.
As a Mexican I can say the average person here believes the US is a utopia where everyone is rich, owns a huge suburban house, has material abundance, public schools are great, there’s no crime, and you can get all of this off a blue collar worker’s wage.
This was one of the deciding factor in socialism annihilation in Europe. We were flooded with such propaganda about USA and mostly West Germany. People simply did not known such social stratification as a concept, the gap between poorest and richest income was like 1 to 6, they thought everyone lives like top labour aristocracy in the FRG…
The more i think of it, it is clear that the socialism did not lost Cold War or the economic war. Socialism lost culture and propaganda war, they sown the seeds of their own destruction for allowing the subtle lies to seep.
I have no idea how the U.S lived for so long… it should have died in the 1800s.
It is a land of hostages.
Does anyone have links to people that have immigrated to the US and been shocked at what they found here?
I can’t help with this exact question.
But I can say that I’ve visited the US and been gobsmacked. Absolutely baffled. By the way things are and the fact that 300+ million people put up with it. (Although we could probably say the same about any non-socialist country.)
Unnecessarily hostile and aggressive border guards ruin every trip before it starts.
Shops are hard to find.
And before you think about finding a shop, you better figure out if you can walk at all.
If you do walk, expect to be questioned by the police. And by well-meaning locals.
Everyone expects a tip (I understand why, but it’s a strange experience).
You have to work out the tax. That tax always seems very low to me.
Gas prices always seem very low, too, in comparison to the price I usually pay. (Then again, as I understand it, Americans spend more on their rent and other essentials than where I am, so I can see why people complain about fuel prices.)
Food prices are high! Food seemed to cost about three times what it costs where I live (pre-pandemic).
The cost of being a visitor in the US, per day, is double [edit: or triple] that in most of Europe.
I’m unsure if this is anything like what you were looking for. But my brief experience so shocked me that I am unlikely to emigrate, and any future visits are likely to be short ones. (This isn’t a reflection on people as a whole, who seem to be as polite as people anywhere, so far as generalisations are possible.)
Edit: changed a paragraph because it meet have sounded mean, which I did not intend.
Healthcare workers are treated like trash and feed disinformation to the point that you might have better luck trying to resolve them yourself.
Disabled people are ignored.
Tons of our food is poisoned with boiled vegetable oils, (high fructose) corn syrup, and added sugar. (it’s probably intentional; the corporations want to reduce the effectiveness of revolutionary movements.)
Don’t forget: You have to pay the state to emigrate from the U.S.
The greatest export of the United States is their media/propaganda arm. Most of the people I meet around the EU are still heavily influenced and infatuated by the U.S. despite the reality of the situation. The country was always a shithole full of cracks where only the rich have a good quality of life. Suddenly in 2016 a few normies started to realize something was up because of Trump lacking decorum eye roll. But the vast majority of people still don’t realize that the fucked up and crazy situation has always been there getting worse bit by bit, now it’s bunch by bunch. Yet the propaganda continues evermore.
You nailed it with this line. Get out while you still can. I sacrificed everything I had to GTFO 10 years ago and even living in poverty in the EU, it’s a higher quality of life than i had in the states.
I was out yesterday and was eavesdropping on a conversation of a couple of army vets. To my surprise, they were talking about how bad it is in the USA. They talked about how they wished we had public infrastructure and could do things like ban single use plastics. They mentioned how selfish and arrogant most Americans are.
Tell you a secret. Being in the military is deeply radicalizing one way or another. I dont recommend it though.
I’m a Navy veteran myself, and the amount of brainwashed useful idiots and just outright dangerous people I saw was staggering. Not just impressionable kids either, it’s usually the older guys and gals who you think would be smart enough to see through it.
I’ve met incels who think Dems are scared of guns and feminism is ruining everything, I’ve met a guy who was personally offended when the Pope came to the US and said “Hey maybe things aren’t that great here” back in 2016 or so, I’ve heard stories of old men who buy into the propaganda so utterly that they think every American war is a matter of “Good vs Evil.” Most recently, I knew an authoritarian bootlicker who was both a terrible sailor and a gun nut. So every time he came in late to work we assumed that he was getting one of his guns that he never shut up about and was getting ready to shoot up the office.
A lot of casual racism and sexism too, in fact it’s even encouraged. Every port call in a foreign country calls for you to treat the locals like a threat and cheating is rampant (but only a problem when it’s a woman that cheats, I noticed.)
Yes. It is that bad. 😒 How you and I ended up here is a mystery.
Definitely. Everyone I know who was in the US military is either basically a fascist or borderline socialist.
It totally do. I live in Poland, which is crazy enough for me to inspire my username, but i never got even close in the number of “wtf” moments about any other country as for the US. Especially that since 30 years we are constantly get our heads drilled it’s a country of freedom, democracy, opulence, equality and opportunity.
I wonder what people truly think about the USA around the world. The USA has enjoyed unprecedented hegemony over the world the past 30 or so years.
For quite a while here in Brazil, the United States was somewhat respected up until the 2010’s. Of course, those more inclined to history, humanities or left-wing politics despise the country, perhaps except the liberal leftists, who normally don’t care about the external world. The non-political minded are inclined to idealize and like the US because it’s related to the media they consume – sports, music, series, etc. Besides that, the country is largely ignored by Brazilians.
Usually the US is admired by the extreme right-wing of my country, especially after Trump’s election. For instance, here is a right-wing gathering in Brazil, where these cursed flags are displayed:
After the election of Biden, the US has been slowly losing its prestige among the right-wing nuts. They still idealize the country, but are extremely disappointed by the president.
I have no idea how there are still some leftists in this country that likes the US after the 2013 NSA scandal and then Trump
To be honest, I rarely see those leftists, and if I would guess, they would be the liberal left. But at this point, I wonder what’s the point to consider them leftists… 🤔
Cant wait for them to become rare for me too
I will do what a can to turn everyone that I know into evil tankies
I would rather call them useful idiots of US neocolonialism. Or puppets, if they get paid for it.
Tabata Amaral moment
As a Mexican I can say the average person here believes the US is a utopia where everyone is rich, owns a huge suburban house, has material abundance, public schools are great, there’s no crime, and you can get all of this off a blue collar worker’s wage. The US has amazing PR for normies despite the internet existing where you can see reality how it is. Hollywood, celebrities, social media stars, rich border shopping towns, and the exaggerated success stories of immigrants all help sell that image. People here see that the minimum wage over there is $7 per hour and don’t understand that everything costs more as well. I’m generalizing of course. A lot of people pay attention to the news, read books, and/or have first-hand experience with the more shitty aspects of the US empire and have plenty of criticism about them, but it might not be the majority.
🤣
This was one of the deciding factor in socialism annihilation in Europe. We were flooded with such propaganda about USA and mostly West Germany. People simply did not known such social stratification as a concept, the gap between poorest and richest income was like 1 to 6, they thought everyone lives like top labour aristocracy in the FRG…
The more i think of it, it is clear that the socialism did not lost Cold War or the economic war. Socialism lost culture and propaganda war, they sown the seeds of their own destruction for allowing the subtle lies to seep.
Brian Becker always refers to the Cold War as The Global Class War.
Capitalism creates a society wide potemkin village. and even when you live in capitalism it is an ever-present veneer.