No one’s flinging mud but you, smiling bandit. So instead of moving this to the Pit, I’m asking you to behave yourself in accordance with the forum you’re in. Which is the normal sequence of events, as it happens. You can’t curse a thread to the Pit if the OP doesn’t offer a reason for such a move.
I didn’t see any mud being flung, Smiling Bandit. Did you read all the posts after the title?
I’ve lived in the U.S. all of my life. Athena is right. There are sections of cities and states that I wouldn’t dream of going to. If given the chance to spend a year or so away in another land…I’d have to say Sweden or Denmark. Went there on vacation the past two years. Great people and beautiful scenery.
Try Switzerland then. After National Service it’s compulsory to keep a weapon.
I think! 
Even with being a US native, patriot, veteran, hunter, gun owner and with polictal views all over the board, I can still understand why someone wouldn’t want to live here.
American can be a hard-core place where the burden is placed on you to earn-earn-earn in a never ending feeding frenzy. It can be a high speed work-a-holic power wielding ogre. Or, it can be day on the creek fly-fishing for brook trout. It can be trotting your Appaloosa to the Granger store in downtown Tinyville, Wyoming and afterwards heading to the high school football game.
I guess what I mean is that America is hard to pin down and you never know what you are going to get into when you show up. Could be good, or pretty wretched. It’s a huge place with phenomenal wealth and horrid poverty.
Definitely not a place to come if you need to be assured you’ll find what you are looking for.
If I absolutely had to pick other countries to live in they would be 1. Canada 2. New Zealand. Both for the beauty and the fly-fishing.
Please don’t judge the US from a visit to NY/Miami/L.A… There are plenty of nice towns and wonderful people that don’t live on a coast. It’s like stating you don’t like bread, when all you’ve ever tried is the crust. Try visiting out of the way places. The northern part of Minnesota, on Lake superior, is one of my favorite parts of the world. Small towns around Boulder Colorado would be a good visit. The list could be endless.
Sadly I’ve seen American tourists abroad, and I’ll admit that, as ambassadors, they do a lousy job. I could see why an opinion formed by some rude assholes may be difficult to shake.
I have had the good fortune to live outside of the U.S. for extended periods at three different times in my life. Fantastic experiences each, lots of learning going on 
I think I could have happily stayed in any of those countries because I had my family with me. I guess my family and the people I love are more important to me than any country.
I am wondering kambuckta if you are mainly basing your first preferences on language? I see more similarities between your first choices and the U.S. than differences.
I dunno, I lived in Edinburgh for years and in summer that’s about as touristy as anyplace, but I’d say that the American visitors were by and large a nice bunch. Maybe it’s different when there is no common language?
To the OP: I don’t think I could live anywhere else. Scotland is home. Even after a month away I miss the place for all its faults. If I had to choose another residence I think one of the more temperate parts of the States would be high on the list. Washington State, maybe?
The only two places I would ever live:
The U.S. and Australia.
If I could, I’d spend 6 months out of the year in each place.
kambuckta, I’m curious, have you ever even been to the States?
No offense taken, but come on…Iraq? Zimbabwe? Syria? Iran? North Korea? Belarus? Liberia? Have you even heard of these countries?
And China? What standard-of-living advantage does China have over the U.S.? I’m confused!
Somalia
Chechnya
North Korea
Mexico
Iraq
Iran
Antarctica
China
…
Get back to me on this, would ya?
Actually, Mexico looked like a fantastic country to live in to me, thinksnow. And I know plenty of people who live in China and find it brilliant: it’s quite possibly the most capitalist country in the world. Yeah, it’s rough if you’re Chinese, but you can live the life of a king there if your paycheck’s in Euros or Dollars.
Well, as an American, I have to say Australia doesn’t register very high on places I’d want to live, but that’s mostly because my impression is that it wouldn’t be much of a change – trading one fairly recently settled industrialized English speaking nation for another (albeit with some more exotic livestock). So I’d pick England, Scotland, Ireland and New Zealand over Australia. But that’s with no animosity towards Australia at all – the others would just be more interesting (and I’ve been to Scotland and parts of it are amazingly beautiful).
So I understand part of the original post, but I don’t understand the fervor with which the OP rejects living in the US except that possibly he has an enormously skewed view of Americans.
No offense taken.
I’m afraid my nation and its culture is the Microsoft of earthly societies.
Well, if you do have a pink fit, may I suggest Provincetown, San Francisco or the West Village? I’d avoid the deep South and much of the Midwest, they don’t take kindly to pink fits.
Once upon a time when I was in college and preparing for a summer in France, I thought that I might not come back. Everything about the Wtates seemed wrong and evil and unfixable. I went away for the summer and was so relieved when to get back. I could never live anywhere else permanently. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE France and make it back as much as possible, but three months is about what I can take before I need to go home.
Once upon a time when I was in college and preparing for a summer in France, I thought that I might not come back. Everything about the States seemed wrong and evil and unfixable. I went away for the summer and was so relieved when to get back. I could never live anywhere else permanently. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE France and make it back as much as possible, but three months is about what I can take before I need to go home.
Kambuckta hasn’t seen fit to explain the reasons for his/her opinion. Is this just a troll, or am I not giving K. enough time?
As several people have said, there are large parts of the U.S. I would not want to live, but it is a big country and I am very happy where I am.
On the down side, thanks to US money among other things, the rest of the world seems to get more like us every year, although not necessarily in a good way.
Fifteen Iguana
What’s trollish? Okay, it’s a pretty severe opinion, but I don’t see what the big deal is. Plus, not many trolls get through 700+ posts!
Kambuckta’s probably sound asleep, what with those pesky time zones and all.
But might I ask why people feel so threatened by the prospect of someone who just wouldn’t want to live in your country? It’s not like kambuckta called Americans a bunch of unwashed toothless heathens, or something. Although I’m sure some are. 
He/she might give reasons later on, but I don’t see how the lack of substantiation in the OP makes it a troll. The OP seems to be saying they don’t like the prospect of living in the US. So what?