As an American I can tell you that it’s better to just beat that dead dog. Well, horse really. Elephant. It’s definitely an elephant. Now get out your flail and go to town at that bitch. And continue the beatings until the problem is resolved.
Serious question: If the american health care system (which may be the most prominent thing stopping migration currently) would become a socialized-financed commodity how much %GDP would America loose?
Probably none, because the people wouldn’t go bankrupt because of a broken leg and be able to spend the money and be able to keep spending money on something worthwhile instead. Breaking people’s necks financially by means of medical bills is not a great thing in the long run for the economy.
I don’t speak the language, but my guess is that the Portuguese equivalent of “beating a dead horse” uses a dog instead?
in pt-br: chutando cachorro morto
literal translation: beating a dead dog
in pt-pt: bater no ceguinho
literal translation: beating the little blind person
Yup you guessed it right.
That’s why I don’t travel to the US even though I’ve only been to Hawaii so far. Food is a huge problem, either you poison your body with chemicals or you’ll have the most stressful time of the day eating because of the waiter nagging you every two minutes if you like your food or want anything. Because they think that constitutes “good service”. No other country’s restaurant culture is like this, wtf??
either you poison your body with chemicals
One huge reason why I’m considering getting out. My immune system is very angry because of this.
nagging you every two minutes
I make no apologies for anyone on this: we lost our way. My best guess is that at some point, we had this down pat by bringing a “touch of class” to dining establishments through emulating servant culture of the early 1900’s. This is well portrayed in costume drama as near-psychic level ability to anticipate the diner’s (master’s) needs in a well-choreographed experience. That only works if you can anticipate people through a long-term working relationship, or diners have very well-rehearsed table manners. I think it got corrupted over time as a lot of this fell out fashion, and what we’re left with is diners that are wholly unpredictable and wait staff that have no idea what they’re emulating.
Local Korean restaurants around town brought their dining culture with them, and it’s loads better. Wait staff have their head on a swivel from the waiter’s station, but only engage when flagged down. This is immeasurably more pleasant.
Don’t forget mass shootings!
Brazil has >3x the murder rate of the US. I get that dunking on the US is super fun but theres a gulf separating the two countries
Not really clever. And as this is posted in a .UK, I’d like to remind you all that the UK isn’t doing too well, and they’re the laughing stock of the EU.
Enjoy Brexit!
As as EU citizen I have zero interest in moving to the UK.
But I would still much much rather live in the UK than the US.
That country is straight up fucked on a fundemental level.
It could be worse. Russia lost many of its highly skilled workers who fled the country, while their criminal vets now exact retribution if they lived though the meat grinder.
China has a massive gender imbalance and has a yawning generation gap that cannot be filled. Not to mention an economy that will take serious gymnastics to fix.
Some others like Iran are trending in a slightly better direction, but are far from free and brutally repress anyone that speaks out.
Despite our struggles, everything we have is worth fighting for. Remember to vote! It’s what separates us from authoritarians and managed democracy.
I briefly considered moving to Toronto, because I loved the time I spent there a decade or so ago. Then I saw the cost of both renting and owning there, and couldn’t believe it. I’m in a very privileged position, but fuck me I wonder how many manage to raise a family there!
Bit mean considering you are our guest. You may as well just throw in a jab at our teeth.
Modern medical advancements take time to come to former world powers. You’ll get there some day!! ;)
Don’t worry, Brexit is a self-fixing problem.
Mostly old and poorly educated vote for Brexit -> UK leaves EU -> skilled EU citizens with no personal commitments to UK (family, spouse, wanting to not return to previous country anyway) will leave including doctors, nurses, and elderly care staff -> NHS struggles -> care homes struggle -> old people die off faster -> ratio of young to old voters rebalances -> in 20 years time vote to rejoin EU -> rejoins EU.
Isn’t doing too well because of 14 years of Tories. Who have just been removed from power and replaced by what looks like, so far, quite a competent Labour government. Devolution of more powers is being looked at, and both left and right wing parties are talking about proportional representation. We’ll see what happens, but I’m optimistic about our future.
America, on the other hand…
The murder rate in the USA is very high compared to its peers, at 6.383 per 100,000. Canada, for example, has a rate which is almost three times lower at 2.273 per 100,000.
Brazil has a murder rate of 20.606 per 100,000. I think I’ll stick with our tipping culture and lack of public health system.
Thank goodness this was downvoted! It’s so offensive. Or something. 🙄
Why so high here vs. Canadia?
That’s an interesting question. People like to blame guns, but
The United States’ homicide rate of 3.8 is clearly higher than that of eg France (1.0), Germany (0.8), Australia (1.1), or Canada (1.4). However, as per the FBI, only 11,208 of our 16,121 murders were committed with firearms, eg 69%. By my calculations, that means our nonfirearm murder rate is 1.2. In other words, our non-firearm homicide rate alone is higher than France, Germany, and Australia’s total homicide rate.
That’s from here, which is an interesting but long discussion of the topic:
https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/01/06/guns-and-states/
https://slatestarcodex.com/2016/01/10/guns-and-states-2-son-of-a-gun/
Edit: I’m not saying guns aren’t part of the explanation, but they don’t appear to account for the majority of the difference.
A massive percentage of yous have been huffing leaded petrol fumes almost directly from exhausts for decades and yous are still wondering why you’re a bunch of murderous warmongering cunts? 😂
20.606 per 100,000
Bro either you converted something wrong or you’re saying a fifth of the population dies every year because of murders
I’m using the notation where a period indicates a decimal and a comma separates three digits. The murder rate is twenty and six tenths per one hundred thousand.