Boss Man
Member
All of them?
Was that the joke?
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Fellow Americans, do you realize how much people envy us?
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Well, different shows for different people. I prefer something that has more of a sense of humour, rather than the vicious character of a show like Pop Idol and its international variants.
Death Dealer
Member
Lobbying politicians and bribing government officials/corruption are different things.
Try and bribe a judge in this country or slip a cop $50 to make your DUI charge go away. and you're liable to get arrested for trying it. Every cop in Mexico will take a bribe. Russia's judicial system is notorious for corruption/ bribing judges.
But would you have known that without planet money/This american life??
Doesn't make them less dependent on money.
I disagree that it's just "socially different". There are certain objective moral standards of human rights that Western civilization has decided upon, and that I agree with, that the US has failed to adopt.
Minorities, women, homosexuals, the unemployed, the poor... All these groups suffer in the US and would probably do better in other, more socially advanced Western countries, like Canada.
what if you were born in detroit
I hope you're not suggesting Canada was packing any sort of upgrade in that department. Canada was even further worse off, and with less soldiers.
People aren't comparing US to Russia or Mexico. They're just saying that the level of lobbying would be illegal in many countries in western Europe.
Alligatorjandro
Banned
Move one city over.
Slipping a cop 50$ differs from giving a politician an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii how? Or by donating millions to their election campaign?
Hell, explain this:
How the fuck is that guy not in prison for bribery?
Cleveland does have Detroit native Dan Gilbert and casinos now.
shadyspace
Banned
No. That was a fantastic episode that anyone who wants to learn about how lobbying in America works should listen to (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/461/take-the-money-and-run-for-office). It's much more mundane then one might expect and portraying it as legalized bribery is hilarious.
Boss Man
Member
I disagree with your disagreement. For instance, you mention women. You might say that the U.S. is less "socially advanced" because so much of the country is against abortion, but they're not against abortion because they hate women- they're against abortion because they believe interfering with something that is in the process of being born in order to end it is very wrong. They aren't against women's rights any more than you support murdering babies.
You might also say that it would be "morally superior" for the government to spend more money on the unemployed, but many Americans put more emphasis on work ethic and personal advancement and see that unemployment benefits are open to a lot of exploitation. The idea of taking money from people who are working in order to give it to people who would rather not is on a lot of minds.
Whether or not you agree with these things doesn't matter, the point is that they don't indicate a lack of morality.
Death Dealer
Member
Someone said Mexico is incredible corrupt. Someone else said, that's how they'd describe the US. That's why I said relatively it isn't even close to being as corrupt.
The lobbying/politics is a separate issue. Lobbying is legal is here.
Corruption measures things like tax compliance, whether you will get a fair shot in court, can you run a legit business without having to bribe corrupt officials to get a permit etc..
There are always ethical concerns about doing business in places where corruption is so endemic, you have to bribe people to get anything done.
The compassion for others amazes me.
It's like how foreigners complain about our "gun culture" and then watch everything from westerns to gangster movies.
But I enjoy not being shot
Remember, we're not more violent than the rest of the world, we're just better shots.
We look to Los Angeles for the language we use
London is dead, London is dead, London is dead
-Morrissey
I do believe some morals are better than others. I'm not 100% relativist. Especially when the mutually agreed upon Western moral standards are rooted in empathy, something the world can always use more of, I can't disagree with them. The US fails by that moral measure, which is my measure as well.
i really hope this is a joke post.
shadyspace
Banned
We let Baltimore suffer to give The Wire to you, Europe.
Hari Seldon
Member
Exactly. If the US Congress was not a fucking banana republic we would have had single payer healthcare back in the 1990s.
The local level, police, and judicial is far better than anything in Mexico obviously. The federal government is the entire problem (and some of the larger State governments to a lesser degree).
DanteFox
Member
yes it was.
shadyspace
Banned
If FDR hadn't died when he did we would have had single payer in the 40s http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Bill_of_Rights
Greece?
MWS Natural
Member
Any day of the week I could be with an Italian, Puerto Rican, Domincan, Cuban, Jamaican, Korean, Indian, Jewish or Middle Eastern woman...the list goes on and on. America is the Melting Pot.
That does not describe Greece
me·di·o·cre [mee-dee-oh-ker]
adjective
1. of only ordinary or moderate quality; neither good nor bad; barely adequate
Mediocre would be a huge step up for them
Do melting pots get any better than a Romanian-Cuban band with a moonwalking bagpiper?
I believe it, and this thread being this large in under a day sorta adds fuel to that fire.
All my cousins in Canada are stupidly against everything USA (while leeching off of the American way of life).
I understand America has its flaws, and people love to point them out. But with all its flaws, it's still the least flawed and there is a reason this place is still #1 on people's list of where they want to move.
All my cousins in Canada are stupidly against everything USA (while leeching off of the American way of life).
I understand America has its flaws, and people love to point them out. But with all its flaws, it's still the least flawed and there is a reason this place is still #1 on people's list of where they want to move.
Hari Seldon
Member
Yeah, but we didn't need it back when paying for medical care was easily affordable by the middle class.
Proper use of the apostrophe and the possessive case being one of them, I presume?
Arjen
Member
Do melting pots get any better than a Romanian-Cuban band with a moonwalking bagpiper?
I Never figured you for such an eurovision enthusiast.
shadyspace
Banned
It would have gotten passed anyway. Guy was basically King of America by 1944 and he was just about to be riding high off victory in Europe and the Pacific.
omgz, you got me!
Alligatorjandro
Banned
We are all one.
shadyspace
Banned
I still don't get the "employment with a living wage" thing, would all Americans have been given a job as a state given right? Lol.
How I wish this were true. I can't get my American wife to move back.
I have a relative that lives in a third world country, visited America, and decided he doesn't like it. Doesn't mean he's right.
Doesn't mean he's wrong for not liking it, either.
Honestly most the time Canadian just laugh at the things that become big deals in the US for no reasons. Such as the nip slip during the Super Bowl or other stupid shit like that. Most of the hate, if there is any, comes from post-9/11 era and the entire war on terror bullshit that Bush started or more recent stuff like the tea party movement. I don't think anybody here truly hates the US. It's just that from a Canadian's perspective some of the stuff that take place in the US seems ridiculous as fuck.
EatinOlives
Member
This. Reddit has probably the most circlejerk-prone community that rewards hivemind thinking. Doesn't work here. I mean, look at the posts in this topic, a much more different tone.
right, he's not wrong when it comes to his choice and where he feels at home. Doesn't mean that he's right in general.
this is all subjective. you can't say america is the least flawed.
Seems your relatives can't even stand to live in the same country as you ;p
Glass Rebel
Member
And so could I, so what's your point?
Edit: well, actually I couldn't because I'm an Albanian Muslim and Serbian chicks tend to be particular about it but still!
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