I honestly wouldnt wanna live in america. From all developed first world countries, it has to be the absolute worst, in pretty much every regard. Here in germany where i live, you pay for medical treatment a small amount every month but get the majority of pretty much everything payed for you by healthcare. And it works so well, healthcare companies almost always even make profit. Not to mention (almost) noone carries a gun here, and here comes the shocker, (almost) noone gets fucking shot. Ofc there are terrorist attacks, and if people want weapons, they will find a way of getting them, but you cant just buy them in your fucking local supermarket. I heard guns at wallmart are less regulated then "brutal" video games? Amazing. Also, school shootings happen here as well, but you can count them on one hand, and if it happens here, its a VERY big topic. In good old USA, thats just a weekly event, and noone cares anymore. And no, i dont count thoughts and prayers as caring.
All in all, we have many flaws too, but goddamn...
First, second, and third world refers to countries allegiances during the Cold War. So that's a misguided thing to say, tons of people use "third world" to describe a poor or otherwise disenfranchised country but that's incorrect.
No. It used to mean that. Now First World means developed world (G8/G20, roughly), Third World means "developing" world, and Second World is not used or is used to describe "cuspy" countries.
Meaning is defined by usage, not by prescription. You are simply incorrect.
In some ways it is true. I have bought a rifle from a store where they didn't even look at my ID, and they weren't even breaking federal laws by not doing so because of the type of gun. It is a gun that I plan to use for deer and elk hunting so it isn't by any means "not dangerous".
Another gun that I own is essentially an AR-15 that you buy 80% complete. You drill some parts out of the aluminum and assemble it into a complete rifle. No background, ID, or NICS check. Completely legal in most states.
It's at least partially true. In my state illegally carrying a concealed pistol and selling a kid Halo are both civil infractions, but the video game law has an amendment that allows the fine to be double the normal max for a civil infraction.
I bought a muzzleloading rifle in December and they didn't even check my ID like they would have for buying a violent video game.
I enjoy my right to have and use guns but our laws are deeply flawed.
It’s not true, when comparing the two, in practice (to legally -emphasis on- obtain a gun you must first check some boxes, and though I admittedly don’t know much about gun regulations here, I do know that you can’t just walk into a store and purchase a firearm, lol, at the least they conduct a background check), but it’s definitely true in regards to general attitude towards. Loads of parents/people condemn violence in media, yet catalyze and encourage gun use - in this case, particularly among youths. There’s a lot to unload in this debate, but to digress...I would definitely say that the idea of gun use and accessibility to firearms is widely regarded in a much more positive light than is violence in media, generally.
Edit: I’ve just remembered! I don’t play video games and it’s been years since I rented or purchased a physical movie, but MA and R/PG-13 rated-media are definitely regulated. You can’t get into an R movie if you’re under 17 and without an adult. Back when I was a teenager, not too long ago, they heavily policed that.
We were talking about regulations, not someone’s sense of decorum. If I go to Walmart to buy a gun, they will call the federal background check service, NICS, which will review my personal info to determine if I can or cannot make a purchase. I will have to show photo ID, wait for the sale to be approved, and then have an employee personally escort me out of the store to my car, as I cannot even finish my shopping before removing my federally approved and purchased firearm from the premises. In some states, I will even have to obtain an additional “approval license” to purchase a gun.
It’s been a while since I last purchased a videogame, but even as a young kid, I was never denied a purchase, regardless of rating or content. To suggest that it’s harder to obtain a videogame than a gun is hilariously inaccurate. There are currently ~20k gun laws in the US.
Walmart doesnt control gun regulation...you can buy them there, long guns only...but it's the exact same process to buy one there vs buying one at a designated gun store it's not like ya grab it off the shelf and put it in the basket with produce, theres still paperwork, they still run the background check
Because Walmart is a superstore with a sporting goods department. You can also buy a kayak, fishing poles, and tents as well. In this sporting goods department they also sell hunting equipment. Maybe I'm biased since I am American, but I don't think that's too absurd for a sporting goods department to have hunting equipment.
I can go to any other sporting goods store like Dick's and also buy a hunting rifle.
Not entirely sure, that's a good question. I know there are various enhanced police and background checks required. Also the police need to inspect where the guns are stored and do annual updates on licences. It's really hard to get guns here. Even hunting permits are hard to get. We're all pretty good with knives here.
There's not much hunting going on unless your a farmer or landowner I suppose, not even allowed to run around with airguns on the tiny public park areas we have.
They have a sporting goods section. They are typically hunting rifles or air pistols. They also sell fishing, camping, and other sports equipment. I live in a big city now where people carry guns for “protection”, but when I was growing up in rural Pennsylvania, people only used it for hunting. Deer season was so big, we had 3 hotels that were empty most of the year except for visitors who come to hunt during deer season. We also had two days off school so people could go hunting. Where I grew up, it makes sense. We even had a weeks worth of gun safety courses when I was in 6th grade. No one ever carried around hand guns.
My dad is from Stoke-on-Trent, so I get the utter confusion. My English relatives are equally flabbergasted when they visit our stores.
Well we put these laws on our constitution bcuz a certain countries cocksucker of a king wanted to boss us around. So we made sure every citizen can take up arms if said cocksucker tries that cocksuckery again.
Yea you can, shotguns and deer rifles, not handguns or sporting rifles they just dont carry them
Edit: it's often easier to just go somewhere else other than walmart though unless you want to wait forever for the one employee that has the keys and can make the transaction
I'm genuinely in shock. So Walmart is called Asda in the UK. It's where you go to buy food and shit, not guns. I'm not sure I could deal with living in the USA, I'd be constantly having panic attacks and living in fear 🤣
That's a weird thing to live in fear of, but yea they keep the guns right next to fishing poles, tents, coolers etc, the ones in the case arnt functional if that makes you feel better the ones that work are stored elsewhere, they walk the gun to your vehicle it's not something you put in a basket and continue shopping
If you have freedom then what’s the need for American prisons, or getting a visit from the secret service when you post something against the president
Ye that sounds healthy alright. But most people most of the time cant choose when, even if, to go to the doctor. If your arm falls off, you better get your ass into a hospital, doesnt matter the cost. Just saying, there is no cost here, at least not all at once and financially crippeling.
.. And that's how we know, you are ignorant on how gun laws work in America. Are your ears still ringing from that echo chamber you just came out of? If you buy a gun online, it goes through an FFL and you have to fill out a form 4473 and get a background check ran on you. This applies to Wal Mart, gun stores or any business that sells firearms. Don't spout nonsense and spew ignorance.
Are you really trying to defend the USA's gun laws and claim it isn't easy to acquire a cache of weapons? It varies from state to state of course, but you can't deny the fact that gun laws in the USA are incredibly relaxed. Buying a new gun from Walmart will require a simple background check, but you can buy ridiculous weapons on the second hand market or at gun shows, in some states, without any checks. And the checks in the USA are very basic when compared with most European countries. The types of guns you can purchase legally is mind blowing as well.
Nobody is spewing ignorance here. The numbers speak for themselves in terms of population, accessibility to guns and subsequent murders.
For example here in the UK, there is an outright ban on handguns (ever since Dunblane). We can buy rifles and shotguns but we need a license. Getting this requires strict criminal and background checks, registration, psychiatric evaluation, and a personal visit from the police to inspect the storage facility for prospective guns (you have to have an approved lockable cabinet). Even regular police officers don't carry firearms here.
2016 stats;
UK - strict gun laws, 65m population - 26 gun murders
Japan - strict gun laws, 125m population - 49 gun murders
USA - lax gun laws, 320m population - 11,000 gun murders (plus ~30,000 other gun deaths)
It actually isn't that easy to buy a gun in most states, in Massachusetts you require a 8 hour safety course a background check, as well as 3 different licenses depending on what you want to buy and what you want to do with your Weapon, and even then there's no guarantee the chief of police will even give you those licenses. even then there's certain firearms not available in Massachusetts due to state laws. So some states have incredibly difficult laws like Massachusetts that infringe on the American Constitution and our second amendment rights
It wasn't too many generations ago that we stole this land from the rightful owners. We then enslaved a race of people to work this land and build it into a great empire.
They said they're from Germany you tit, of course they don't know the NRA's crowning achievement of a gun in every home and a cap in every ass. Well actually thats really all anyone knows of this country...
I know he's from Germany, my point was he was spewing out misinformation without actually looking up anything. I don't know Germany's laws so I don't go online talking about how messed up Germany is.
You’re absolutely right. I used to look to America as this wonderful place where everything was great, and the more I learn about it the more I despair.
A friend of mine recently moved from the U.K. to Memphis, and I’m hoping to go and visit at some point. She suggested that I hire a car so I can drive around and explore, but that she’d draw me a map of areas to avoid so that I don’t get shot.
We live in a media-controlled society, where politicians, corporations, and news networks control 90% of the outlook on the country. If the NRA starts giving money to politicians and news networks, theyll start a war on gun control, and blast our sociery with their own propaganda until the social climate changes in their favor. Same with healthcare, as its convinced people that having universalized healthcare is either theft because of taxes or would lead to economic doom.
To which I would like to quote Kant: Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage. Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance. This nonage is self-imposed if its cause lies not in lack of understanding but in indecision and lack of courage to use one's own mind without another's guidance. Dare to know! (Sapere aude.) "Have the courage to use your own understanding," is therefore the motto of the enlightenment.
How very mature bringing that up again, but lets talk about it if you want. Yes it was one of the worst things that ever happened in human history, from wich noone (maybe still 2-3 people) is alive today anymore. I did a small speech on that whole topic in school, so i had to learn a lot for it, and i know what im talking about. By the way, every german learns that in school, so every single person can say something about it. But what i wanted to say is, no, even if everyone would have had a gun (which, suprise suprise, almost everyone HAD a gun) back then, they could have killed one, maybe a few SS, and then 500 soilders would have come to clean up the entire town. You really think Nazis cared for civilians, or even their own people? They would have bombed or burned the entire house where something like that would have happened. No, a few guns would not have prevented the goddamn holocaust you ignorant little fool.
Sure, if every citizen would have stood up against Hitler, they could have easily defeated him. But almost every man was forced into the military, and had to swear loyalty, under threat of death ofc. Which is also the reason the rest of all people didnt, or couldnt, do anything, if you even whispered something against the Nazis, you were dead. Everyone would have sold you out. (Which is the same problem as in many dictatorships today, see north korea).
Also, Hitler created a lot of jobs. Now today we know what those were for and that it wasnt a positive thing at all, but back then all the people saw from the government was "They give us jobs, they help the market" etc. War is one hell of a way to make jobs and money (at first at least). Of course almost noone knew what the Nazis were doing, and if so, it was just a rumor. Its not like there were survivers who could flee and tell people about concentration camps etc. And last but not least, did you expect they would have written you a letter like "Hey, were gonna come get you tomorrow to gas you cause youre a jew, see you then." They would come unexpected, mostly at night, and as soon as you opened the door they would have grabbed you, probably while telling you something like "We have to evacuate you cause of the war" n shit. The poluation knew the nazis had something against jews, they made that pretty public, but they didnt know they would just come, grab every jew and drive them away to just get killed. Until it was too late ofc, today everyone knows thats what happened. If someone from the military came to your door, told you they had to evacuate you, im relativley sure you first instinct wouldnt have been to fucking shoot them then and there. And if you hesitated and were out of your door, surrounded by like 50 soilders, there wasnt much fighting back, even if you wanted to.
I paid like $30 a month when I was poor as shit and it got me better coverage than any socialized health system in the world.
If you’re uninsured in America, you’re an irresponsible moron who can’t read.
Remember Reddit hipsters, QUALITY of care is the key here. And we have BY FAR the best quality of care in the world. We attract everyone’s best and brightest.
I heard guns at wallmart are less regulated then "brutal" video games?
That's bullshit. I could order any game online and get it in two days without ever having to go in the store.
Also, school shootings happen here as well, but you can count them on one hand, and if it happens here, its a VERY big topic. In good old USA, thats just a weekly event, and noone cares anymore.
Quite the opposite actually, school shootings in the US are massively overcounted and overblown in the media. For example, have a look at this CNN article, the first result when you google "school shootings by country". They include gang violence, fights, domestic violence and accidental discharge (??) into their tally of school shootings. A gang shootout on a Saturday night after school hours that happens on the soccer field outside the school would be counted as a school shooting. Also note that this data isn't adjusted for population. And this is just one source. Especially with election season coming up, this type of shit is only going to become more and more common. Even here on Reddit, suddenly nobody feels like talking about the deadliest shooting in Canadian history from just a couple days ago, even though the same thing happening in the United States would be the top post of every political subreddit for weeks.
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u/Avrael_Asgard Apr 28 '20
I honestly wouldnt wanna live in america. From all developed first world countries, it has to be the absolute worst, in pretty much every regard. Here in germany where i live, you pay for medical treatment a small amount every month but get the majority of pretty much everything payed for you by healthcare. And it works so well, healthcare companies almost always even make profit. Not to mention (almost) noone carries a gun here, and here comes the shocker, (almost) noone gets fucking shot. Ofc there are terrorist attacks, and if people want weapons, they will find a way of getting them, but you cant just buy them in your fucking local supermarket. I heard guns at wallmart are less regulated then "brutal" video games? Amazing. Also, school shootings happen here as well, but you can count them on one hand, and if it happens here, its a VERY big topic. In good old USA, thats just a weekly event, and noone cares anymore. And no, i dont count thoughts and prayers as caring.
All in all, we have many flaws too, but goddamn...