The number one problem with America...
- Thread starter UnendingRequiem
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SpiritWolf
Warlord
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aimeeandbeatles
watermelon
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I don't think they had spaceships and airplanes in the 19th century...?
Terrapin
Prince
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- Apr 15, 2003
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- 505
They still don't. But you seem to after how despite this, sizeable chunks of the US public nevertheless think they do?
Possibly.
- Commercialisation and trivialisation of ether media? (Well, US TV news has been crap for decades, esp. its reporting on international affairs. US public often described as wonderfully entertained by it, but abyssmally badly informed.))
- Shift of public identity from citizen to consumer? (To be entertained and pandered to.)
- Erosion of public institutions, at least partly through political agendas casting doubt on any kind of federal administration and "government" in general? (Including actual loss of competence through declining status and standards. When did the public status of US civil servants peak historically?)
- Reduction of trust between groups of the US public - "tribalization" and a return of collective rights and thinking? ("Monocultural" neighbourhoods, gated communities?)
- Erosion of the status and credibility of academic research, and science in general, in favour of politically motivated think-tank products? (Tied in with eroded trust in the government, which traditionally underpins the academic system as "disinterested" and thus assumed to simply produce "true facts", making it appear as statements on a level playing-field with "think-tank research"?)
And it's not as if all of this doesn't also plague for instance Europe and elsewhere either. Some of it might be more pronounced in the US? Ahead of a curve?
Only intelligent post on the whole thread. Well done.
Fr8monkey
Deity
That is all part of the Conspiracy, man!!!
Miles Teg
Nuclear Powered Mentat
The number one problem with America is and has always been conspiracy theorists.
warpus
In pork I trust
Problems with America:
- One political party, lack of democratic choice
- Corporations control said party
- The best selling beers suck
- People working at fast food joints don't say "thank you" and "you're welcome"
- Ya'll look like Canadians
- Your major news networks are a bunch of sensationalist crap
- Religion in politics
- The lack of establishments that sell poutine
- Lack of social mobility
- Suburban sprawl
- No high-speed rail
- You measure things in feet, furlongs, and poodlecocks
- No ketchup flavoured chips
- No fries supreme @ Taco Bell (seriously, what the hell, that's the best thing there)
- No universal healthcare
- Too many people in jail
- Too many gun-related deaths
- Detroit
- Net neutrality is under attack
- In some places it's hard to find an establishment that will sell you take-home beer
- Crazy Texans decide what textbooks everyone in the country gets to use
- Crappy cricket team
- The TSA gets to see or touch your penis if you want to fly
- Long holdups at your airports when flying in and/or out of the country (Seriously, I'm Canadian, we're friends, we should have a special line that moves faster or something)
- Everyone's corrupt
This is coming from someone who generally likes the U.S. Every country has its faults, don't hate me for bringing up the obvious
- One political party, lack of democratic choice
- Corporations control said party
- The best selling beers suck
- People working at fast food joints don't say "thank you" and "you're welcome"
- Ya'll look like Canadians
- Your major news networks are a bunch of sensationalist crap
- Religion in politics
- The lack of establishments that sell poutine
- Lack of social mobility
- Suburban sprawl
- No high-speed rail
- You measure things in feet, furlongs, and poodlecocks
- No ketchup flavoured chips
- No fries supreme @ Taco Bell (seriously, what the hell, that's the best thing there)
- No universal healthcare
- Too many people in jail
- Too many gun-related deaths
- Detroit
- Net neutrality is under attack
- In some places it's hard to find an establishment that will sell you take-home beer
- Crazy Texans decide what textbooks everyone in the country gets to use
- Crappy cricket team
- The TSA gets to see or touch your penis if you want to fly
- Long holdups at your airports when flying in and/or out of the country (Seriously, I'm Canadian, we're friends, we should have a special line that moves faster or something)
- Everyone's corrupt
This is coming from someone who generally likes the U.S. Every country has its faults, don't hate me for bringing up the obvious
Where in America is this?
Hell, near me we have a Duane Reade (like CVS, Walgreens) that sells beer by the growler (64 oz. re-usable container)
timtofly
One Day
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2009
- Messages
- 9,445
Licensed restauraunts will loose their licsence if convicted of allowing someone to take home their alchoholic beverage.
warpus
In pork I trust
A couple years ago me and my friend hit a deer outside of Washington D.C. on our way to visit a friend in North Carolina.
Sidestory: The cops that showed up at the scene were the nicest cops ever - which surprised me a great deal given the stories I keep hearing about douchebags cops abusing their power, etc., especially in the U.S.
Anyway, we stayed at a hotel in some nice looking suburb of Washington D.C. I can't even remember what it was, but it was generally a decent looking town - not run down or anything. It wasn't suburbia either.. Looked like some decently sized town that's right outside of Washington D.C., or a part of it, or whatever.
In any case, given what we just went through (hit deer, it flew at the windshield right in front of me, scared the crap out of us... we were in shock), we wanted to buy some beer. We drove all around town looking for some sort of a convenience store that sold beer.. or a beer store.. or liquor store.. or whatever. Eventually we found one, but it took forever. We asked a LOT of people and they didn't know.. It's like we were in some weird bizarro-land type place where alcohol doesn't exist.
It's anecdotal but I'll never forget it cause it was just so weird.
edit: yeah, I didn't mean take-home as in "take home from a restaurant or a pub". I'm tired, didn't word that very well. I could have said "Couldn't find a place that sold beer", but there were plenty of bars around, so I didn't.
Formaldehyde
Both Fair And Balanced
They were probably dumbfounded you hadn't found even one convenience store, supermarket, or bodega when nearly every single urban block has at least one.
OTOH, you should have seen the look a Canadian convenience store clerk gave me in an area with few American visitors when I asked him why there was no beer in the refrigerator section. I had no idea one establishment in the entire area would have the sole right to sell such a commonplace commodity.
Mango Elephant
Deity
Um, yes they do, or at least they do here.
That's a good thing. It's like, living in the country and the city at the same time.
amadeus
Serenity now
- Americans who think the U.S. should be like Western Europe
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