What is this culture you keep referring to?
6 year old shoots teacher in Virginia
- Thread starter The Corinthian
- Start date
Where do I start? The lack of a social safety net, the focus on money and corporations with little or no workers rights, the disgusting health care system designed for the rich and that allows poor people to just die on the streets or in their homes, the racism, the death penalty, the indoctrination from birth that somehow America is the greatest country on earth, the influence of evangelical Christians. That's before we even mention guns and the fact that millions of kids there have to do fecking drills in case they get shot at by a school shooter. American's appear to live in fear of the government and in fear of their fellow citizens. Any culture based on fear is to be condemned. I think it's all utterly vile but that's just me.
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but in America you might get killed in a shop by a lunatic with a machine gun or your kid might be in mortal danger if a class mate decides to have a bad day.
I've been to the US a good few times - LA, Seatlle, Arizona, Vegas, Boston, NY, Washington and a few other places. I have to say never did I even think that people were carrying. Only now I realise that in lots of those places its quite possible people were armed. I dont think I would go back. Now that I realise that people have guns. Easy access to guns.
Just doesnt happen in NI as guns are not easy to get.
And these are not problems elsewhere? I am not arguing that America is the greatest place in the world, we are far from it, but it is not a cesspit. The vast majority of people and places in this country are decent and good, but this is the only country I have lived in so my frame of reference may be off. There are plenty of people on this site who have lived here and elsewhere, so maybe they are better off giving perspective as I may be way off.
I don't care if you think NI is a cesspit, maybe it is. I'd much rather live there than America. By the way, if you look at what Ive been saying, I havent mentioned violent crime once (though I could have)
I'm not talking about the American people - i'm talking about the type of culture there and the political landscape that keeps it that way. The place is a fecking joke.
cant you get fired from your job in lots of states just like that?
Many of them aren't no, or certainly not to the same extent.
Interesting, whilst it doesn't give the exact details it does suggest that the rationale for guns for self-protection is a bit over-statedIt's hard to know, but based on data from the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), a twice-yearly poll of crime victims conducted by the federal government:
How Often Are Guns Used For Self-Defense? (thetrace.org)
Yeah from what I know of, certainly amongst the supposed first world, all of those things are hyper-critical in the US. The disparity between how it projects itself and what we know of from all the information available is massive and I can't think of another well off country that's like it.
Seems to be harder to get by in the US because of the extremes. If you're comfortable with a decent paying job and health insurance you're fine and I'm sure it's a great place to live but for anyone that doesn't have one or the other of those it's a hellscape.
Not addicted, but I would defo have 3-4 guns/rifles if I lived in the US.
As someone who has lived in 3 different countries and visited several others i can say this.
The vast majority of Americans are decent people and little different that anyone else,
Why?
Once again can I say I've nothing against Americans. Would be great if you actually read what I wrote before responding.
Yep it's just you
There is a social safety net, it's limited by design, unlike in the UK, where for some people it's a life choice, Americans are patriotic because that's how they're taught, there's a can-do attitude which isn't that common elsewhere.
When I was a kid we had to drills in case someone bombed us, as for religion, you are located in NI, where you have had religious sectarianism for centuries, being Catholic meant you were a second class citizen, I'm not religious but that's a case of pot and kettle IMO
A limited safety net is not a safety net. You agree on indoctrination since you acknowledge that's what they are taught. Can do attitude is total bollocks and not unique to America anyway even if it were true.
You acknowledge you even had drills as a kid in your day so to you that's normal (it isn't) and then some mis-informed and irrelevant bollocks about northern Ireland. This the best you got?
Those drills were in the UK although I do know they were done in the US as well
Anti-Catholic stuff in NI is misinformed bollocks is it?
The American attitude is that if you want something it's up to you to go and get it, the safety net is there to ensure you can survive, not get comfy and make a life choice.
They are taught to be proud, rightly or wrongly, of their country and it's history, British kids seem to be taught that much of the history of the last 3/400 years is something to be ashamed of
I haven't read the whole thread, so sorry if this was mentioned. Can the parents get into any legal trouble for allowing the kid to access and use the gun?
Yes. Virginia law requires any loaded gun in a home to be kept securely out of the hands of a child under 14. Local DA has already signaled that they would be looking to press charges if applicable.
Yes they can if that was the case, at the moment we don't know where the gun came from
What drills in the UK are you inventing here mate? I grew up through the troubles in NI and there were no drills here.
1. This and your other replies just make it seem like you've got a chip on your shoulder against people who claim benefits. (and yes, I know you're referring to the scroungers but it's not hard to see where you'd go if pushed). How about you direct your attention to those at the very top earning billions and paying zero in tax by design and choice, helped by the system, rather than the measly few at the bottom avoiding work and not being able to pay tax and being failed by the system?
2. The safety is not there to ensure you can survive in America, hence why people aren't surviving, hence why they're turning to opioids or suicide. The poverty is more like a third world country if you haven't got the right connections. And it's not just your typical poverty, but choosing between being able to pay your bills whilst working a respectable job or to go to the hospital because that job doesn't provide you with insurance and an ambulance is $2.5k to come out and get you if you get ill. Anyone below comfortably middle class has to make a decision over their own wellbeing and if they take a sick day, they'll get fired in short order. If they demand even basic necessities or any form of company help towards living daily life as an average person, they'll get fired in short order. You're a number to the businesses in America more so than anywhere else of comparable stature.
It's a 'if you want something go and get it...but make sure you're at least from a well off family and/or get a scholarship otherwise get fecked.' approach which is grossly unfair and it grows in disparity every year.
America is a haven for the rich and a hellscape for anyone else.
Where are British kids taught that much of their history of the last 300/400 years is something to be ashamed of? I wish that were the case!
How is that even possible? All eyes should be on the parents at this moment.
Thanks
The police may know, we, the public don't, everyone assumes the kid got the gun form his home, he probably did, but it's not entirely impossible that he found it in the local park or wherever
Edit: Police have now confirmed the gun used was the mothers, she's likely in deep doo-dah now
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As an immigrant, I think that America is the greatest country in the world, at least from 1940 to today, and Americans should be really proud of their country. That's why so many people from other countries want to immigrate here.
Yes, there are problems, and yes, some countries in Europe are equally good, but there is no other country that is better. And of course, even in those countries, there are good areas and bad, as in the States. Obviously, a small country like Denmark is more homogeneous than a huge country like USA. One difference is that it is much harder to relocate from (for example) Bulgaria to Denmark, than to relocate from New Jersey to Arizona. This is one of the great freedoms in the USA: if you try a little, and you are not afraid to search, you can find a place and a job you really like, and you are still inside the same country.
There is a lot of anti-Americanism in many parts of the world. Some of it is paid for by particular interests, for example Russia. Some other is ideological. And some other is simply out of jealousness. For example, in Greece there are (today!) a lot of communists who hate America because they really believe (or they pretend to believe) that life in communist countries (USSR, Cuba etc) is actually better than in the States. Even today, you cannot argue with them that Cuba is a failed state. All those people need to find something to reinforce their views, so they magnify every negative story from America. And focus on the negatives only. If you talk to them they will tell you that life in America is terrible and the health system is terrible and the health system in Cuba is wonderful. It is funny that some of them have immigrated to America but none of them have immigrated to Cuba!
I love this post. Excellent.
I need to look for some humour cos the situation here is so fecked wrt guns.
The mother should be held responsible in some way.
legally purchased, fine. But you shouldn’t be keeping a loaded gun in the house for a 6 year old to know where it is and have access to it. That weapon should be locked up in a safe where that kid has no chance of getting to it
And that's a good thing? I bet it's doing wonders for critical thinking.
That's a big nope from me. No country is better than the USA huh? Deluded mate. Hilarious you believe anti-americanism as you put it is because we are all commies or because we are 'jealous'. Just sums it up. In what way is America better than other countries? By many metrics it's considerably worse than most other first world countries.
People emigrate there because they think they will make more money there than they will in their home country. That's the main reason.
If insurance companies got involved which would allow victims (families) to sue the gun owner I think it might make an impact on reckless gun ownership. If all firearms required seperate insurance maybe this country could get a fecking grip on the leading cause of death for kids.
Yep, require insurance for gun owners, just like an automobile. Another route is to tax the hell out of guns &, perhaps more importantly, ammunition.
Even disregarding the legality of it. That is some seriously irresponsile parenting letting a six year old get their hands on a gun
Parent of the year award? Who gives a 6 year old access to a firearm?
They are not taught that but may be they should be. A lot people are completely ignorant of their own countries history because it's preferable to paint ourselves as the good guys in the history books used in schools.
Hi, would one of you be able to expand on the process it would take to bring in constitutional gun reform in the US? Genuinely interested.
True gun reform would likely require the repealing of the second amendment. I believe this because any gun legislation would be open to being voided by a conservative court at any time due to being in violation of the 2nd.
As for the process, it will be almost impossible. Only one amendment, the 18th, has ever been "repealed". That amendment banned alcohol, so repealing it was popular with the voting public. The process to repeal that amendment was the adoption of a new amendment, the 21st. Even that was a close thing as it was ratified by the minimum number of states needed to do so (75%). 2 states (the carolina's....shocking) refused to ratify and 8 refused to even have a vote.
Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution - Wikipedia