Share your thoughts on this

[Nightshade]

Man, other than that being completely incorrect and a massively retarded generalization, you're spot on.

How many other countries have you been to in your life? Just curious.

I was in the Marines DB, and I've only been to Canada.
Just because I haven't traveled much doesn't mean that I'm not aware of how people in other countries view the US. However, simply because they hold these views doesn't make them accurate, or in DiscoDouche's case, even quasi-intelligent.
I have VERY low opinions of certain aspects of America, but mine are based on personal experience, not TV.

[Mr.Magnetichead]

Man, other than that being completely incorrect and a massively retarded generalization, you're spot on.

How many other countries have you been to in your life? Just curious.

I was in the Marines DB, and I've only been to Canada.
Just because I haven't traveled much doesn't mean that I'm not aware of how people in other countries view the US. However, simply because they hold these views doesn't make them accurate, or in DiscoDouche's case, even quasi-intelligent.
I have VERY low opinions of certain aspects of America, but mine are based on personal experience, not TV.

If you're in a room with 200 people who are representatives of their countries and 199 of them tell you that you are a fucking idiot then yes...you are a fucking idiot.

Your basis is also based on complete misconceptions and assumptions. You cannot understand other countries opinions of America when you yourself have never been on their side of the fence. You can never know how you reallyappear to others without looking in a mirror.

[Nightshade]

How is my opinion of America and Americans based on misconceptions and assumptions?

[DiscoDave]

My housemate (Gareth) went to America in 2001 when he was 16, when he was in Florida he was given a leaflet which advertised a gunnery range where for $30 he could fire an entire live magazine of an MP5 sub machine gun.

I can't think of any other nations that do this. If kids are being exposed to this at such an age, how do you think this will effect them growing up.

So nightshade, if you don’t think guns cause the immensely high-homicide rate in America, what does?

As I said, guns do not create safety.

Here in the UK our police officers were offered the "protection" of having access to firearms. Surprisingly we declined.

In 1997, a total of 32,436 persons died from firearms in the U.S.

For the UK for the same year, it was something like 201.

Yes, you do have a far larger population but still, the figures are shocking.

[Nightshade]

How many other countries have you been to in your life? Just curious.

I was in the Marines DB, and I've only been to Canada.
Just because I haven't traveled much doesn't mean that I'm not aware of how people in other countries view the US. However, simply because they hold these views doesn't make them accurate, or in DiscoDouche's case, even quasi-intelligent.
I have VERY low opinions of certain aspects of America, but mine are based on personal experience, not TV.

If you're in a room with 200 people who are representatives of their countries and 199 of them tell you that you are a fucking idiot then yes...you are a fucking idiot.

Now that I think about it, I disagree with this statement. Here's an example: If I'm being told by 100 people that have never owned a Rottweiler that they're vicious dogs, that doesn't make them correct. It makes them idiots that have watched too much TV.

[R00k]

How many other countries have you been to in your life? Just curious.

I was in the Marines DB, and I've only been to Canada.
Just because I haven't traveled much doesn't mean that I'm not aware of how people in other countries view the US. However, simply because they hold these views doesn't make them accurate, or in DiscoDouche's case, even quasi-intelligent.
I have VERY low opinions of certain aspects of America, but mine are based on personal experience, not TV.

If you're in a room with 200 people who are representatives of their countries and 199 of them tell you that you are a fucking idiot then yes...you are a fucking idiot.

Your basis is also based on complete misconceptions and assumptions. You cannot understand other countries opinions of America when you yourself have never been on their side of the fence. You can never know how you reallyappear to others without looking in a mirror.

That's just retarded. 199 people who don't know me will be able to define what kind of person I am with their opinions?

And an American's opinion of Americans is based on complete misconceptions and assumptions?

Therefore, people with no personal experience on the situation can define it correctly and with authority, but people who have lived the experience themselves are just trying to "make assumptions" about what it's like?

Christ, that almost sounds like Bush/Cheney logic.

[Nightshade]

My housemate (Gareth) went to America in 2001 when he was 16, when he was in Florida he was given a leaflet which advertised a gunnery range where for $30 he could fire an entire live magazine of an MP5 sub machine gun.

I can't think of any other nations that do this. If kids are being exposed to this at such an age, how do you think this will effect them growing up.

So nightshade, if you don’t think guns cause the immensely high-homicide rate in America, what does?

As I said, guns do not create safety.

Here in the UK our police officers were offered the "protection" of having access to firearms. Surprisingly we declined.

In 1997, a total of 32,436 persons died from firearms in the U.S.

For the UK for the same year, it was something like 201.

Yes, you do have a far larger population but still, the figures are shocking.

Yeah, ask the West Yorshire cops how they feel now after one of their own was gunned down the other day.
I've said this in many other gun debates, guns do not cause violence. People with no respect for human life cause violence. This is why gun laws are stupid, because they don't address any of the reasons why people shoot each other, and they only hassle legitimate gun owners.

[4days]

sums up america in a nutshell

you mean the way the kid destroyed everything in the same zipcode as the target?

[Ryoki]

Personally i think most of the world has a love-hate view of America. We love you guys and we hate your guts at the same time.

The reason we shout at you is because we care too much not to.

My $0,02

EDIT: America is like the goodlooking son you always thought would make a great lawyer and Leader of People suddenly being on crack and destroying his life, aimlessly flailing about himself taking down anyone around him.

[Nightshade]

The funny thing is, I wouldn't dream of telling someone from another country that they're fucked up about issue X for reason Y. Yet, many of you Euros feel eminently qualified to hold forth on how the US does many things wrong for whatever reason. OK, foreign policy issues I can understand, but what makes any of you able to comment of how our domestic situation works or doesn't work?

[menkent]

for the record, as an american, i think slipknot is a great reason to kill people... namely slipknot fans.

[DiscoDave]

My housemate (Gareth) went to America in 2001 when he was 16, when he was in Florida he was given a leaflet which advertised a gunnery range where for $30 he could fire an entire live magazine of an MP5 sub machine gun.

I can't think of any other nations that do this. If kids are being exposed to this at such an age, how do you think this will effect them growing up.

So nightshade, if you don’t think guns cause the immensely high-homicide rate in America, what does?

As I said, guns do not create safety.

Here in the UK our police officers were offered the "protection" of having access to firearms. Surprisingly we declined.

In 1997, a total of 32,436 persons died from firearms in the U.S.

For the UK for the same year, it was something like 201.

Yes, you do have a far larger population but still, the figures are shocking.

Yeah, ask the West Yorshire cops how they feel now after one of their own was gunned down the other day.
I've said this in many other gun debates, guns do not cause violence. People with no respect for human life cause violence. This is why gun laws are stupid, because they don't address any of the reasons why people shoot each other, and they only hassle legitimate gun owners.

Yes, whilst the police were deeply shocked by this, they still said they didn't want more firearms other than what the special response squads already have as they rightly beleive it would do more harm than good.

[Nightshade]

I feel the same way about Insane Clown Posse and Juggalos. And Southern Baptists.

[Nightshade]

My housemate (Gareth) went to America in 2001 when he was 16, when he was in Florida he was given a leaflet which advertised a gunnery range where for $30 he could fire an entire live magazine of an MP5 sub machine gun.

I can't think of any other nations that do this. If kids are being exposed to this at such an age, how do you think this will effect them growing up.

So nightshade, if you don’t think guns cause the immensely high-homicide rate in America, what does?

As I said, guns do not create safety.

Here in the UK our police officers were offered the "protection" of having access to firearms. Surprisingly we declined.
For the UK for the same year, it was something like 201.

Yes, you do have a far larger population but still, the figures are shocking.

Yeah, ask the West Yorshire cops how they feel now after one of their own was gunned down the other day.
I've said this in many other gun debates, guns do not cause violence. People with no respect for human life cause violence. This is why gun laws are stupid, because they don't address any of the reasons why people shoot each other, and they only hassle legitimate gun owners.

Yes, whilst the police were deeply shocked by this, they still said they didn't want more firearms other than what the special response squads already have as they rightly beleive it would do more harm than good.

I freely admit that there are large cultural differences between the US and other countries, and there are a lot of things that I detest about the US. But you just can't sum up large, complex social issues with simple answers. If the way the cops roll in Britain works, great. It wouldn't work in the US. Germany has, from what I understand, almost socialist policies when it comes to employment and public assistance. Not gonna fly here, we have too large a population.
And yes, the US has a HUGE number of retards. Just like every other country.

[DiscoDave]

The funny thing is, I wouldn't dream of telling someone from another country that they're fucked up about issue X for reason Y. Yet, many of you Euros feel eminently qualified to hold forth on how the US does many things wrong for whatever reason. OK, foreign policy issues I can understand, but what makes any of you able to comment of how our domestic situation works or doesn't work?

We have your country's issues and politics shoved down our throats daily so we are fairly qualified to comment on your government’s well known policies.

Don't forget, we did used to own you

Edit: And yes, i do agree that British gun policies wouldn't work in America because your gun problems are so engraved and so deeply rooted that it's impossible to turn back. Thats exactly what the UK is trying to avoid.

[R00k]

My housemate (Gareth) went to America in 2001 when he was 16, when he was in Florida he was given a leaflet which advertised a gunnery range where for $30 he could fire an entire live magazine of an MP5 sub machine gun.

I can't think of any other nations that do this. If kids are being exposed to this at such an age, how do you think this will effect them growing up.

So nightshade, if you don’t think guns cause the immensely high-homicide rate in America, what does?

As I said, guns do not create safety.

Guns' existence and availability to law-abiding citizens is not what creates problems - it is the culture of idiocy and lack of respect in some circles that causes problems.

No one is saying guns create safety, any more than they cause people's actions. Although you could argue that they have a more direct effect in creating safety, because just the existence and availability of guns in certain areas can be a deterrent to violent criminals, who would otherwise have no second thoughts on breaking into a home.

Here in the UK our police officers were offered the "protection" of having access to firearms. Surprisingly we declined.

In 1997, a total of 32,436 persons died from firearms in the U.S.

For the UK for the same year, it was something like 201.

Yes, you do have a far larger population but still, the figures are shocking.

Here in the U.S. they banned guns in certain cities, and in those cities violent crime skyrocketed.

It may seem as simple as taking everyone's guns away to you, but that is far from the case. You can't go into a country where guns have been freely available for 200 years, and then take them away from all the law-abiding citizens. How can you think that would really reduce violent crime? It would be more like a shopping spree for armed robbers.

edit: I also wonder, out of those 32,436 gun-related deaths, how many were the result of idiots not locking their guns up, and being responsible with them? Because if you are arguing a connection between guns and violent crime, you would have to discount those from the figures. And again, those deaths wouldn't be due to guns, they would be due to personal irresponsiblity. Just like giving a kid a set of car keys without ever teaching him how to drive won't be the car's fault when he runs off the road and kills himself.

[Nightshade]

By the way, did I mention that I love fucking off at work? There's hardly anyone here today and I'm not doing a goddamned thing other than posting here and doing homework.

[Nightshade]

The funny thing is, I wouldn't dream of telling someone from another country that they're fucked up about issue X for reason Y. Yet, many of you Euros feel eminently qualified to hold forth on how the US does many things wrong for whatever reason. OK, foreign policy issues I can understand, but what makes any of you able to comment of how our domestic situation works or doesn't work?

We have your country's issues and politics shoved down our throats daily so we are fairly qualified to comment on your government’s well known policies.

Don't forget, we did used to own you

Yeah, until we and the frogs kicked you the fuck out. PWNED.

[R00k]

By the way, did I mention that I love fucking off at work? There's hardly anyone here today and I'm not doing a goddamned thing other than posting here and doing homework.

I love it. :icon32:

[DiscoDave]

It may seem as simple as taking everyone's guns away to you, but that is far from the case. You can't go into a country where guns have been freely available for 200 years, and then take them away from all the law-abiding citizens. How can you think that would really reduce violent crime? It would be more like a shopping spree for armed robbers.

edit: I also wonder, out of those 32,436 gun-related deaths, how many were the result of idiots not locking their guns up, and being responsible with them? Because if you are arguing a connection between guns and violent crime, you would have to discount those from the figures. And again, those deaths wouldn't be due to guns, they would be due to personal irresponsiblity. Just like giving a kid a set of car keys without ever teaching him how to drive won't be the car's fault when he runs off the road and kills himself.

Please read my edit in my previous post as you posted just after i edited it.

Not all those deaths are violent (obviously many are accidental) but they should be accounted for anyway as its the fact they're dangerous and simply most shouldn't be allowed to obtain them, or actually need them.

I'm curious, why do you think home owners need a gun? I think most of the time their neighbor has a gun and their one does etc.

Ask that question in countries like the US and the UK and you'll get two very different answers.

I don’t think your media helps because they seem to create a climate of fear and paranoia in your country.

[DiscoDave]

The funny thing is, I wouldn't dream of telling someone from another country that they're fucked up about issue X for reason Y. Yet, many of you Euros feel eminently qualified to hold forth on how the US does many things wrong for whatever reason. OK, foreign policy issues I can understand, but what makes any of you able to comment of how our domestic situation works or doesn't work?

We have your country's issues and politics shoved down our throats daily so we are fairly qualified to comment on your government’s well known policies.

Don't forget, we did used to own you

Yeah, until we and the frogs kicked you the fuck out. PWNED.

You wouldn't even have a country without us euro's. The only real americans are the natives, you're all decended from europeans

[Nightshade]

Yes, but in spite of that we learned to walk upright.

[MKJ]

ZING

.. wait that affected me, too

[+JuggerNaut+]

The funny thing is, I wouldn't dream of telling someone from another country that they're fucked up about issue X for reason Y. Yet, many of you Euros feel eminently qualified to hold forth on how the US does many things wrong for whatever reason. OK, foreign policy issues I can understand, but what makes any of you able to comment of how our domestic situation works or doesn't work?

BUT THE GUY SAW HOW AMERICA WAS WHEN HE VISITED FLORIDA.

[DiscoDave]

Actually he went to Florida, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New York... and also has various friends in America.