Europeans US Obsession

I have faith Americans will fix what is broken about our politics.
Seems haters would invest themselves in pursuits that serve them.

 

I knew.

LOL!!

AA

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Also best BBQ!!

Although Argentina has got it going on as well.

AA

 

Many or most Europeans are envious of Americans. We have much more freedom and Liberties than they do. And we kicked most European countries arses at one time or another. This is what my good friend from England tells me.

 

You know when the British were asked in a Poll which Foreign Military General do you feel was the Kingdom's greatest and most feared foe?

Out of all the choices the British could have named guess who was?

General George Washington.

AA

 

And prosperity and influence.
Even southerners have gotten over defeat. You'd think England would have by now, too.

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AA, where is the best BBQ? And what staple side dishes accompany it?

 

I'm not posting anything out of spite. I'll give you a few reason why I prefer to be Australian.

1. Your political system just seems crazy to me. I can't fathom living though months and months while trying choose a new president. Here, the government can announce a snap election and we could have an entirely new government in a month or two. Also I find your politics incredibly polarised. I believe for a nation to function there should be some 'grey' areas between the major parties, points where they agree on. In Australia we have what's called Parliamentary Privilege, where what's said in the house, stays in the house. Australian politics can be brutal, but at the end of the day, opposing politicians can still be friendly away from politics. I just prefer the Westminster system of government. Most Australians don't like extremes in politics but rather a balance. I've been watching the slandering between Trump and Clinton. They wouldn't get away with this in Australia, they'd be labelled wankers straight away. I find them both too extreme. By the way, we don't directly elect our Head of Government or Head of State. There are other procedures and checks and balances put in place.

2. I'm a huge advocate of universal healthcare. What I fear, and most Australians do, is Australia sliding into an American style of healthcare system. Medicare my not be perfect but Aussies love their universal healthcare. I have friends who are totally right wing but they still hand over their Medicare card when they see a doctor.

3. Australians don't have a fixation for religion. We are mainly non religious but sit on the fence believing in God or not. Actually, hardly anyone gives a sh!t about religion.

4. Maybe I'm reading to much into this, but America seems to have a race problem. Is it the media is over concentrating on shooting of blacks? We have our race problems too. Just this week videos immerged of 'carers' physically abusing indigenous kids in a youth detention centre. This stopped the nation on both sides of politics.

5. I've been through this before in another thread some time ago. I'm not in anyway envious or even jealous as someone attempted to point out. Whatever you have in America I also have in Australia whether it be technology, entertainment, access to education, healthcare, lifestyle, even food etc. Australia also has its unique Australianess. I also have the freedom to move around the country and travel abroad. I have freedom of thought and freedom of association. Freedom of speech, supposedly. As Australia doesn't have prevision for freedom of speech in our Constitution like America has. For a few decades there has a push (from the left) to write an Australian Bill of Rights. Australia must be the only developed nation without its own Bill of Rights, but every attempt has been thwarted by the right.

6. American elitism. For me, America is not the greatest nation on Earth. Neither is Australia nor can any nation claim this. America does things amazingly well, but things poorly also. I find your industrial relations and worker's rights a bit weird. I'd rather be an unskilled worker in Australia than America. I find employers funding healthcare insurance for employees kind of strange. It's also nice to know that where ever I work, I'll be paid at least the national minimum wage. I'd rather be poor in Australia than America.

So,, being American has absolutely no advantages over being Australian.

 

To each his own. I think it's fine we do things our way and you do things yours.
You don't want to be like us, we don't want to be like you.

 

Cognitive dissonance.

 

Well, number 6 smacks a tad of resentment, but thank you for your list.

And what you don't have in Australia is world class museums. We can't really compete with the Mother Continent, but US museums are head and shoulders above anything you will find in Australia. Symphony orchestras, too. And world class universities. But I've got to admit, we couldn't hold a candle to you all in the dwarf tossing competitions, so maybe we're even culture-wise.

Don't talk too loudly about the advantages of being an unskilled worker in Australia though. The unskilled workers of Mexico who much prefer to be unskilled in the US might head your way.

But I forget, Australia has a much saner immigration policy than the US, confining unwanted immigrants on some dreadful island somewhere. For that I applaud you.

 

So like in the last year 6 Americans wanted to move to Europe. This was to avoid prosecution from crimes they committed.

And 1,500,000 Europeans wanted to move to America to live better.

 

There are about 65,000 illegal immigrants in Australia. The majority come from the UK, USA and China.

 

Here is an interesting perspective of an Indian guy (IT probably) who moved from the US to Australia. What you may find surprising (I don't) is that he's experienced a lot more racism in Australia then he ever did in the US. He also notes that the prices in Australia are extremely expensive, up to twice as high as they are in the US, taxes are much higher too

...I feel Australians are a tad racist (see my update below). Not sure how's Sydney, might be more mixed, but living in Canberra with almost entirely white population. Not in your face racism, but more subtle. They don't regard their immigrant community well

However, every so often, I do become a target of "out-of-the-blue" racism just because of my skin color. Its generally teenagers (surprisingly) or people who never went to college, that find it their responsibility as "authentic Australians" to make a "curry eater" (was called that just y'day) out of me. That sentiment is obviously misguided, and something I didn't see in equivalent American crowd (and I even hung out with Jeep safari off roading red necks in Utah. Yes I felt out of place there, but none of them went with their racism in-my-face, and in fact actually were nice to me).

But, in Australia, when things get racist, people with hearts in right place are not as vocal, and the sense of justice is there, but hidden. Sometimes someone speaks, but you can't count upon it.

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-...idering-immigrating-to-one-of-these-countries

Mind you, this is not to bash Australia, it's an amazing country, but your description of the US vs Australia is obviously not completely accurate. The US does need universal healthcare badly though.

 

So you think I should move to America solely for the museums?

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It's not strictly racism, it's called Boganism. Look it up.

 

Well, in the US and most other countries it's called racism, even when it's exhibited by the lower classes of the society

 

I was just pointing out that there are indeed some things in the US you can't find in Australia. Culture is important to me. If I had to live in Australia, the paucity of fine art and music would weigh heavily on my spirit. But your mileage may differ. I think it may be a conservative trait to appreciate high culture. But this thought has just occurred to me.

 

Lol. No, please don't come to America.

 

What's interesting about Australia is, it's been built on immigration. Australia started to lose its Britishness in the 1960s when a large influx of immigrants from Europe migrated to Australia to feed the heavy industry. 15 kilometres up the road we have (or had) the largest heavy industrial plant in the Southern Hemisphere, so my part of the world is greatly multicultural, and I like it that way. After 1976 Australia had an influx of Asians, after the White Australia Policy was canned. The Asian population now is about the same percentage as the Africa-American population by percentage, around 12.5%.

Racism and bigotry is nothing new. When southern Europeans first arrived were called 'Wogs' by Anglo-Australians. Northern Europeans were fairer so they blended in more. After 1976 there was a definite fear of Asians and Aussies feared the Yellow Peril. Australians had the fear Australia is going to be swamped by Asians. Vietnamese were the first to arrive. There was a fear that we would be importing Viet Cong terrorists. Sounds familiar hey? *****s, Gooks, Zipper Heads etc was used by racists. The Vietnamese community is the fourth or fifth largest ethnic group in Australia. No problems.

There has been a more and more Indians coming to Australia. My doctor is an Indian, nice bloke. As more and more Indians arrive, naturally they'll be the brunt of racial slurs just as Vietnamese, Italians, Greeks etc before them. Today, anyone of Middle Eastern appearance is a target by bigots, while Muslims have been living in Australia for over 140 years with no issues. You also have to remember Australia has the most populous Muslim country 200 kilometres from our doorstep.

Blame our politicians, especially those on the right and our primarily right wing media. They are preaching fear and divisiveness instead of unity, so naturally Bogans jump on the bandwagon.

 

I think every county has its uniqueness in some form or another. Australia is its landscapes and fauna and flora, and naturally our indigenous people. Some like it, some not. There are those on the right who want to preserve Australia's 'unique' culture, or the Australian way of life. No one as yet can put a finger on Australia's unique way of life because Australia is so diverse and we are the product of many cultures. Australia started to lose its Britishness in the late 1960s.

 

Overrated in that Nationalism is for plebs. You favor regionalism and internationalism. More centralization.

 

I absolutely did not mean to bash Australia, I sincerely admire the country and the people, it's an amazing place. I want my kids to move to Australia . I just did not completely agree with your description of the US as a racist and extremely politicized place. The reality is quite different from what you might read in the media or on the web.

PS The US does need Universal Healthcare... like 20 years ago.

 

You're going to get quite a few people disagreeing with you here on this.

If you're working, have a reasonable income, life is pretty good. Real estate prices in the cities are going through the roof. We'll soon have an entire generation of renters.

Just keep a look out for our unique fauna

 

That's the problem, too many people believe it's a bad thing and too many special interests are way too eager to reinforce these misconceptions. Too bad Obama's totally botched Obamacare fully confirmed their worst expectations. Hard to convince anyone in the virtues of universal healthcare after Obama's broken promises about controlling the cost and letting people keep their doctors. Oh well

Sounds good.

 

You know what they say about the grass always being greener.

 

Funny how this thread is titled "Europeans US Obsession", and the most posts are from an Australian who is so obsessed with America, that he cant stop saying how great Australia is and he would not want to live in America.

 

You think nationalism is for plebs?
I don't care about regionalism. Internationalism? I think that is under way. The internet will with time create new cross-national identities separately of the state that used to have the monopoly.
Not use what you mean by centralisation.