Why Europeans, Asians etc... Are Often Baffled By US Political Beliefs

I've lived all over the world and have friends on just about every continent. I love when I see some American Conservative call the entire rest of the world stupid because it often finds the Conservative point of view downright incredible. I mean it's not just stupid, it's incredible to them.

Think about if you had never lived in the USA.
So in your country, you've never seen anything like our gun violence problem. Even in the worst ghettos, you've never seen anything like 30 gun-violence crimes a day. Or 20. Or 10. Or 5.
or 1.
It just doesn't happen. So an American tells you that in the last few months, America has dozens of people shot in malls, in theaters, their young children have been shot by the dozens in schools and over a thousand other people have been shot one at a time, in crimes that are so common, they don't even make the news.
And their solution is less gun regulation and of course, more people should have guns. And of course there should be no universal background checks because the cost of those checks might make it tough for people on food stamps to buy guns (seriously, some whackjob parroted John Lott's soundbyte on that one!).
Of course you wouldn't understand them.
You would think they were insane.
And you would be right.

 

This depends on the country you're talking about.

Most of Europe has considerably less gun violence than us, but a lot of other areas have worse gun violence despite stricter gun policies.

It's hard to legally obtain a gun in much of South America, yet several of these countries have worse gun violence than us -- like Bolivia and Ecuador.

South Africa has a higher murder rate than us as well.

 

I'm talking about countries where three conditions exist:
1. the government is stronger than the criminal element (So Mexico, Colombia and many other countries would be excluded right there)
2. the gun laws are both strict and enforced
3. The penalties are severe.

 

You'd probably also want to add the conditions that the countries have geographic advantages (like not bordering failed states or being surrounded by water), they have small and mostly homogeneous populations, and/or having low wealth disparity.

America tends to fail at authoritarian measures mostly because we are stubborn and diverse, and we have borders that aren't really possible to protect consistently.

It's why libertarian stances are often more practical, at least with social policy.

 

Lol! Looks like somebody got upset about my "Europeans don't understand American politics" thread. Notice the knee-jerk need to post a counter-thread when feeling offended. This is not the first time a lefty has done this with one of my threads in the last few weeks.

And they call conservatives "reactionary." Psh!

 

Americans just don't worship government enough, and choose to still remain free despite the somewhat higher risks and the constant pressure and berating by progressive authoritarians.

 

A weird world minority. Loud as hell, though. I think it's all that furious stabbing on keyboards about the need to be armed to repel the enemy which apparently comprises over-emotional men being a bit womanly and an blatantly hyped fear of terrorism which they amusingly buy into wholeheartedly.

 

I'm equally baffled when I look at the rest of the world and I see genocides, military coups, brutal dictators, armed communist uprisings, and militant religious groups. I wonder the people in the rest of the world put up with this stuff. Why don't they just shoot these maniacs?

We hear a lot about how the rest of the world has less gun crime than the United States. We hear nothing about how the United States has less civil disturbances/war than the rest of the world. We don't have a FARC type group in the Rocky Mountains. We don't have a warlord bent on genocide roaming our country. We don't have living conditions like Bosnia or Georgia. We don't have militant church groups ruling our government by force of arms.

Yes, the current gun crimes that have made the national news are despicable. But I consider the alternative and it occurs to me that gun control is not the way. If we are seeing a rise in mass shootings then we should look for the root cause. Access to guns is not the root cause of the anger. Simply removing guns from the hands of our citizens may stop a few shootings but it doesn't solve the actual problem. Removing guns does not remove rage.

Removing guns may stop a few mass shootings but the alternatives to an armed society might be much worse. The rest of the world has shown us just how bad it can get. We have seen what can happen when one group has guns and authority and the other group is helpless. Just ask a Tutsi ... if you can find one.

 

you use examples from third world countries and failed states. northern Europe fits none of your suggestions

 

When we see a country where the people are not allowed to defend themselves then we view the country as third world or failed. Thank you for pointing that out.

Where is Bosnia? Where is Georgia? Don't the militant church groups in the Middle East live in wealthy and economically advanced countries?

Yes, there is relative peace in a small portion of northern Europe. While we're talking about northern Europe, do you remember the name of that kid in Norway? You know ... the one that shot all those kids on that island. Was it Breivik? That kid committed what the people who live in the conditions of northern Europe would consider to be a horrible crime. If he had shot 60 kids in Cambodia during the '70's it would not even have made the news.

I repeat ... having a society with guns can lead to some horrible crimes but the alternative can be much worse.

 

LOL!! Nothing on the topic. No facts (like I provided). No examples (like I provided). Just an owned little girl whining. Poor baby. Want a tampon?

So easy to refute. Please provide an example of your mass genocide, brutal dictators etc... in a country where:
1. the government is stronger than the criminal element (So Mexico, Colombia and many other countries would be excluded right there)
2. the gun laws are both strict and enforced
3. The penalties are severe.
oh. you can't? Yeah we knew that. Fail.

Wow! A Massacre in Norway! It made world news! And how many have occurred there in the last 20 years? One? oh. And How many people were killed by guns in the USA in the last three days? 60+? oh. Well there's that, isn't there. Fail.

And again, this isn't even about taking guns away. I OWN a Glock .17. This is about common sense laws on ownership. background checks, not carrying them into bars, military grade weapons etc...

 

Why should people in America care about foreign peoples opinions on domestic social policy when it doesn't effect them in the slightest? I could argue about how European countries are generally worse on free speech issues.

When you don't understand the politics behind something then it's not hard to figure out why you don't understand the arguments. America is a big target for black market dealers on guns and drugs (normally in places like big cities) so guns are always in circulation, America generally has more guns than most other countries anyway and many people are still supportive of gun rights in some areas. Also not to mention it's also a constitutional rights so getting it changed is already very difficult.

So considering all of this would banning all firearms by the federal level be effective at this point, I would say no. If changes happen progressively and you actually start convincing people first you'll have a better chance than trying to do it with only a part of the country supporting these laws. If you can understand this then you'll realize you'll need to get local changes first and it will be a very slow process not to mention to ban all guns you would need a constitutional amendment so you've already got a lot of support to get.

 

Not just gun issues though, Europeans and Asians would be baffled by most things right wingers support.

 

Of course, people in Europe and Asia don't worship government at all either. But Conservatives are willing to constantly misconstrue their freedom and keep on getting us wrong.

 

Every country in the world has guns.

And lots of them.

 

Eveleigh Street, or commonly known as the Block in the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern is probably the worst and most violent "ghetto" in Australia. The Block is mainly inhabited by indigenous Australians. An area of high unemployment and poverty. Violence, mostly alcohol fueled is a very common every day occurrence. Shootings are rare.

 

I don't compare European countries to South America or South Africa, they are not a yard stick I hold myself by.

I'd also like to know, where in Europe has worse gun crime stats that the highest in the USA. I doubt this very very much. I don't disagree that there is gun crime in Europe, but I've never read any numbers or reports nearing the US stats.

 

Just to clarify, mine was a parody of the utter stupidity of the target thread.

 

I think American politics and policies are very narrow minded when compared to Europeans , possibly because Americans are more practical while we are better in theory , a combination of both is probably best .
American society is much much more competitive on a personal level than European one and this sometimes ruins people's psych and personality.

*I am talking about a "European average" , of course the north is nothing like the south and the south is nothing like the east.

 

Nazi Germany, communist Romania, Cuba, Italy, just to name a few.

 

lol. having guns and controlling who have them are diiferent

 

This is true. My friends in Europe can't fathom how someone could lose their savings, their house or go bankrupt, just because they got really sick or in an accident. That simply doesn't happen anywhere else in virtually all of the modern world.

What countries have you lived in where they worshipped government? Oh none? Yeah that was pretty obvious. So basically, you're just parroting the phrases fed to you? Yeah, we knew that too

It is so typical of ignorant and unsophisticated Americans to criticize anything not exactly like their own little world. The concept that people from other countries might take an interest in world affairs is unfathomable to them. These are the idiots who make no effort to understand local culture and worse, try speaking English LOUDER when they are abroad and someone doesn't understand them. I see it all the time and often try to keep them out of the trouble they're usually headed for.
Whereas, people who are more sophisticated and traveled appreciate the fact that if you drive a few hundred miles in Europe, you get to experience a dozen cultures and usually several languages. Yet no one in any country I've ever been to, has a great love of government or politicians. This disdain is pretty universal the world over. Do they love their country best of all? Usually, yes. Just like Americans do. Do they claim that their country is better than every other country in every possible way? Of course not. Few people in the world are that stupid.
Of course, some of them are found here

 

Many people in the world live under oppressive governments. And it is America that has defended, and is defending, democracy for much of the world.

Suppose that Americans ever surrendered their guns, and perhaps a century later lost their democracy. What would eventually happen to the rest of the world? Perhaps it is difficult for you to see it, but it is American civilian guns securing the future of democracy in Europe.

 

americans defend nothing but their own interests. they do , however, bully many nations

 

Well, inferior people from inferior countries like in Europe, Asia, or Canada will come up with these silly ideas. Their countries suck, and there's simply no reason to pay much attention to losers- especially ones from inferior countries.

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Translation: I got bullied in school. I get bullied at work. I see everything through the bullying lens. I'm from Canada.

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Translation: I got bullied in school. I get bullied at work. I see everything through the bullying lens. I'm from Canada.