Europe is not a single, homogenous country. The US resembles the UK far more than it does, say, Italy.
If you genuinely wanted to ask what the US could learn from European countries, maybe you should’ve asked. Your OP was patently unconcerned with any such reasonable questions, as posters and mods alike have already commented.
Some rebuttals:
Yes, isn’t it terrible that the British government investigated allegations of racism? You must be so proud that US police forces aren’t currently facing any allegations of racism or corruption.
Yes, illiteracy is hilarious.
Cites?
Now you’ve really lost me. Riots involving Asians are an indication of a failing state, but involving non-Asians aren’t? Please, expand upon this.
That says more about your perceptions than it does about British dentistry.
Ah, yes. I forgot that little known “insult trumps all” rule in debating. Again, you’re saying more about your own opinions than any verifiable facts.
Again, you’ve not posted any cites or facts to support any of your opinions. Post some hard evidence that crime is out of control in the UK, that foot and mouth is being spread by the pyres (and so on) and maybe you can salvage a little respect out of this.
Mods, is there any point in leaving this open (in GD, at least)? This isn’t going anywhere soon. Puddleglum’s displayed no interest in debating or learning, merely a desire for insults.
I think the whole crime rate thing is a misconception based on miscomparisons, I’d like to see an unbiased comparison of crime rates, one that uncludes murders.
I would like to second Minty Green’s motion. This pile of bigoted, uninformed drivel (I’ll bet that **Puddleglum ** has never even been to Europe) needs to be moved to the Pit to be properly answered. I will say that, looking at Puddleglum’s track record, he is at least consistent in the tone and level of intellect displayed in his posts.
Except that your healthcare isn’t universally available.
What do I have to do to prove that the Conservative government privatised the NHS? it’s a fact, not an opinion.
What is an opinion, however (shared by the majority of patients and staff alike), is that the health service has declined steadily since it started being run as a capitalist enterprise. OK, capitalism seems to satisfy some people, great, just don’t expect the whole world to gawp in wonder at it.
But to your second question;
Why should it? why should anything try to be like anything else instead of following it’s own best judgment? it’s a fallacy to imagine that you can transplant the successes of one country or culture into another by mere slavish copying. Inspiration is what’s needed, not imitation.
And like Mattk said WTH does it matter which particular race is instigating the riots, sure, our race riots involve Asians, yours don’t, what’s the significance (other than that it props up your crumblingly poor arguments)?
Anyway, i think that’s all I’m going to contribute to this thread, I’ll admit that the UK has problems, some of them serious, Puddleglum you’re kidding yourself if you don’t do the same with regard to the US.
[sub]brief note for ‘normal’ Americans: please don’t think I’m anti-US or anything, it’s ignorance we’re fighting here, not each other[/sub]
I believe there could be a Great Debate on “how do we get Europe to like us?”, but this ain’t it. The OP is so lacking in rational argument and chock full o’ outrageous stereotypes (stereotypes that I don’t believe even the OP takes seriously) that I don’t think any debate will come of this; it reads simply as a rant about those stupid furriners. Off the the Pit.
In the US healthcare is universally available you just have to pay for it. If you can not pay for it you can be declared indigent the government will pay for it.
The Conservatives have been out of power and Labor has had a huge majority for over 4 years now. The NHS didn’t work under the Tories and it doesn’t work under Labor, the problem is not who is admistering it it is a fundemntally flawed system.
I agree that the US should not be more like Europe, but there are some here in the US who think that we could solve all our problems just by copying the Europeans. They have taken the opportunity of Bush’s trip to Europe to unfavorably contrast the US with the supposedly more enlightened Europeans. However they ignore the facts that Europe is faced with many of the same problems as the US and have been less succesfull than the US in solving those problems.
In the US we have full employment, low taxes, and government surpluses. Our crime rates are falling, race relations are better than ever, new medicines are constantly being developed and our agriculture sector is the most efficient in the world.
In Europe most countries have high unemployment, high taxes, and government deficits. Crime rates are soaring, racial violence is increasing, health care is rationed or of poor quality, and massive subsidies keep agriculture inefficient.
Despite these facts there are those in America who think that we should change our ways to be more like them because some Europeans think that we are unsophisticated.
Puddleglum, you are a freaking waste of oxygen. Your posts have always been redolent of the rancid odor of rotten arguments and curdled reasoning.
Your WWII references are particularly vomitous. How dare you mock the suffering of people who had to survive Nazi tyranny as best they could?
You had better start apologizing to the Dutch posters PDQ, Chuckles. Comparing carefully monitored medical procedures to spare the suffering of terminal patients with their own consent to Nazi killing of the handicapped is horrible, particularly when addressed to people who lost family members in this way.
How is Amsterdam a cesspool? I’ve been there and thought it was the second most beautiful city in Europe (Sorry, but Prague wins) Yes, the Netherlands is a lot more tolerant than the US, but I see that as a virtue.
Holocaust jokes, reeeaaalll funny. :rolleyes:
You are about as expert on the world of arts and letters as a mermaid is on rollerskating. They may be books you don’t want to read because they don’t have big pictures you can color.
It’s obvious you’ve travelled little, or if you have, you were incapable of storing information in the vacuum inside your microcaphalic skull.
In other words, shut up and stop embarrassing us Americans who have to suffer just from inhabiting the same continent with such a purulent pustule of filth as yourself!
wow, that, of course, will be news to the AMA who call the number of uninsured Americans a “national health crisis”.
But then, I’d expect nothing more of puddleglum who repeatedly offers up his half baked, skewed, illogical, uninformed opinions based on incorrect, incomplete or simply erroneous data, on a wide variety of topics.
BUt, please, don’t change - I’d simply hate it if you started ‘debating’ the liberal side of things
Except for Japan, Australia, France, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Greece, Switzerland, Monaco, Andorra, San Marino, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Norway, Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, Iceland, Finland, Malta, Germany, and Israel, all of whom have a higher life expectancy than the US.
You GD folks are a trip. Why did this abortion of a thread get even one reply? That being said,
I’m sorry, glee. We’ll try to do better next time. And this thread wouldn’t be complete without the standard O’Rourke rant:
I know what are really thinking, you bastard, go ahead, just say it. You feel that we Americans think life is a John Wayne movie – with good guys and bad guys, as simple as that. Well, you know something, Mr. Marx-Lovin’, Socialist-Saluting, Commie-Sympathizer? You’re right. And let me tell you who those bad guys are. They’re us. Americans. WE BE BAD. And you’re jealous.
We’re the baddest-assed sons of bitches that ever jogged in Reeboks. We’re three-quarters grizzly bear and two-thirds car wreck and descended from a stock market crash on our mother’s side. You take your Germany, France, and Spain, roll 'em all together and it wouldn’t give us room to park our cars. We’re the BIG BOYS, Jack. The original, giant, economy-sized, new-and-improved ass-kickers of all time. When we snort coke in Houston, people lose their hats in London. And we’ve got a MasterCard credit limit higher than your piss-ant metric numbers go.
You say our country’s never been invaded? You’re right, little buddy. Because I’d like to see the needle-dicked foreigners who’d have the balls to try. We drink napalm to get our hearts started in the morning. A rape and a mugging is our way of saying “Cheerio.” Hell can’t hold our sock hops. We walk taller, talk louder, spit further, fuck longer and buy more things than you know the names of. I’d rather be a junkie in a New York City jail than king, queen and jack of all you Europeans. We eat little countries like yours for breakfast and shit them out before lunch.
We’re the lords of the shitheap and don’t you forget it.
G’DAMN STRAIGHT!!!
First, you’re the second non-native in the past week or so to describe Amsterdam in such glowing terms. I had always been under the impression that it was kind of dirty, not all that interesting, and generally not up to the levels of a Paris or a Prague or even a Rotterdam.
Have I had a mistaken impression all this time? Should I pop by Amsterdam post haste to rectify my error? Let me know, since cheap summer airfares are just starting.
Second, I’m normally a pretty moral guy – shall not steal, shall not kill, etc. But please consider this:
I totally dug Amsterdam.
A The Rijksmuseum, chockfull of Hals, Van Eycks, Vermeers, and Rembrandts.
B. The Van Gogh Museum
C. The Rembrandt House
D. The Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art
E. The Tattoo Museum
F. Drake’s (The biggest all-gay store I have ever seen)
G. The men. Dutch men are HOT!
H The cool Indonesian restaurants
I Great place for cheap airfares to Asia and Africa
It’s a very walkable city and it’s a lot cleaner than Paris or London. It has a funky boho section if that’s what you want, it has a cosmopolitan selection of restaurants, and it’s very welcoming to gay folk. I definitely recommned a trip.
and you have full permission to use any of my lines.
Hey you know what? I actually asked a disgruntled German why it seems they don’t like us and his answer was “You still think we’re all NAZI”.
Stupidly, I answered “No we don’t”
Thanks for proving him right.
I’d also like to add that prostitutes in Amsterdam pay taxes on their income, are constantly tested for disease and have organized union representation. Hardly the ‘cesspool’ you describe. From the limited knowledge I have of Amsterdam (where’s Clog Boy when we need him?) it strikes me as a little bit harder core Las Vegas. I, for one, would like to see prostitution legalized in the U.S.
How do we get Europe to like us? Well, we could distance ourselves as far as we could from people like you, and make sure Europe gets the memo.
I was going to come back with this huge ranting reply (it’s still all lined up in my head), but then i thought, “what’s the fucking point?”. I’m all for fighting ignorance but this isn’t just ignorance, it’s wilful offensiveness. Fuck it, that’s not worth my time.
On a different note… I went to Amsterdam a few years ago and loved it. The architecture’s wicked.
Here’s Clog Boy. But now I’m too late. Y’all have done an excellent job refuting the “statements” about the Netherlands in the OP.
Well, maybe manny needs a little enlightment. Dude. Rotterdam beats Amsterdam? That hurts, man. When was the last time you were here? Granted, the city WAS a lot dirtier in the early 80’s. But that’s all gone now. Should you ever be in the area again, I’d be more than happy to show you around. I always call it “the smallest metropolitan area in the world”. 750,000 inhabitants, easy to navigate on foot or bike, and the cultural diversity of much bigger cities.
And yes, the prostitutes pay taxes. It’s a condoned profession (technically, it isn’t 100% legal - but that’s a minor detail), why shouldn’t they pay taxes? Owners of coffee shops pay taxes too.
Cesspool? Killing the elderly? Murdering handicaped babies?
Sweet Jesus, puddlegum. What the fuck is wrong with you?
Hey PuddleofPiss – Talking as someone who has visited your country on quite a few occasions as well as all of Europe, I really think you should do yourself a favour and buy a passport because it is painfully clear you don’t know a damn think about that of which you speak.
You’re sad and ignorant, dude. So very sad, so very, very ignorant.
Is this a good moment to mention Amsterdam’s Banana Bar ?
Hey! I spent a coupla weeks in Amsterdam back in 1980, when I was 19 (Coldfire was probably still in rubber pants at the time) and I thought everything was JUST FINE.
Great goddam city to be in when you’re 19: excellent music, excellent dope, excellent beer, excellent women, and you can quote me on that.
