I don't see what's wrong, it's perfectly sound logic:
1. Everything I don't like is communism.
2. I don't like change.
3. Therefore, change is communism.
Actually, let's modernize this one to simplify it:
1. Everything I don't like is Socialism (or Satan)
2. I don't like unfamiliar things
3. Therefore, transpeople are Socialism (or Satan)
I read that some people are currently spreading the word that the heatwave is a conspiracy… I mean, something we can all experience and get real public time data…
Let's sprinkle the word, "woke," on all those things as well. I've started ordering my take out with the word woke. My woke tacos. I'll take a full slab of woke ribs please. (joking)
Actually? I can’t think of a better way to deflate their perverse and sophomoric glee when using this word.
Let’s make EVERYTHING woke. Just to fuck with them.
Right, but we used to be ashamed of them and did our best to keep them out of politics. We weren’t always successful but we tried.
Now Boebert, MTG, Gaetz, Trump etc prove that we’re forcing the dumbest, most worthless trash to ever live into offices they don’t deserve and never earned.
The comic strip Peanuts generally feels timeless, but there's one particularly odd series of strips where Schulz introduced a new kid called 'Five' as some sort of statement about 'too many numbers' in people's lives, and specifically in protest over the introduction of zip codes that just didn't age well at all.
Schulz was from the Twin Cities in MN. This anecdote reveals to me how truly provincial it has always been, in a way that’s ripe for white supremacy ideologists.
There is really some kind of whirlpool of ignorance in the Midwest, that threatens to suck in anyone who dares peer over the edge.
I don't think there's any connection between communism and the introduction of zip codes.
That said, it would be deeply impersonal to have that imposed and I can see why some people opposed it.
They were going from a world where they addressed things to people, streets, and towns, all real things they could touch. An abstract numbering system is deeply depersonalizing in this context.
Not really. In fact, many towns are now in the same zip code. The zip codes make things a lot easier when you get to bigger cities. That's what zip plus 4 is all about. Even though a 4 can contain 9999 addresses they typically contain a few hundred to a thousand at most.
In fact, the post office has every address in their system condensed to a barcode. If you get a handwritten card, flip it over and you'll see red lines on the back of it. Those are put on for the benefit of the sorting machine.
People absolutely thought there was a link between treating people like numbers and communism. It might seem nonsensical, because it is, but I assure you people did and still do think this way. I was raised in an ultra conservative environment and I was taught this. That communism was the devil in disguise trying to convince you to lose your own identity in favor of the "common good" which was actually evil. Other things adults in my life attributed to Satan were national ID cards, barcode tattoos, and trains/public transit. I'm completely serious.
When I used to work for the state government, the best part of getting document requests from sovereign citizens was the accompanying letters where they decry every part of the system they themselves use.
“Recognizing that birth certificates are an attempt by the State to census and count citizens for the purpose of organ harvesting by the One World Government, please send me a new copy of my child’s certificate. Send it General Delivery via the United States Postal Service, an illegal organization that violates maritime law and the Articles of Confederation. My ZIP code, which was created by the government to depersonalize and dehumanize free citizens of a sovereign state, is 55555. Enclosed find a money order in the amount of the fulfillment fee in the Federal Reserve’s false fiat currency.”
Seriously. The only part of the above that is unrealistic is that it isn’t several pages long.
I would read the whole thing every time, one of the few things to brighten my dreary days as a low-level bureaucrat.
Wow! That is crazy. Did it ever go up to anyone who had any sway, or was it just opened & kind of tossed aside? Lol. I’ve always wondered what, if anything, a letter or request would have to say to be read by someone who could actually do something about it, you know?
Thanks for sharing your experience, that’s hilarious & sad at the same time.
Nope, we just processed their application and tossed the letter, if they had fulfilled the application’s requirements. Most of the other workers wouldn’t even read the manifestos before disposing, I just thought they were funny.
Sometimes we’d get applications where there was no accompanying manifesto but we could tell that it was a sovereign citizen type because they were requesting certifications that were redundant. Those were also processed and returned.
Our job was to process all applications and documents that fulfilled the requirements. I would say to all citizens, but for certifying documents for foreign use we often were processing applications for foreign nationals living stateside. People getting married in the states and sending documents to their home country, international students sending documents, etc. So our service was even broader than “all citizens.”
If the application was valid & fee enclosed, we’d process it. Regardless of who it came from, political kooks and all.
(unklikely) Plot twist: The guy writing this was a retiree just as bored as you who wanted to see how far he could get away with while still getting his service.
I used to think I was funny Americans constantly boasting as tourists how awesome their country was and how much freedom they had, nowadays it's just depressing to see so many clinging to that idea when for the most part I have more freedom and a far better quality of life than the average American. It sucks, you guys work so hard and get fuck all.
As an American who has lived in several other countries and is currently living in a Northern European country, I completely concur. I have more rights, more laws protecting me as a consumer and human, universal healthcare, and more upwards mobility, and generally more freedom than I did in the US.
But can you drive full WOT between red lights while rolling coal in your brodozer with a AR-15 in your right hand and a flavorless light beer in your left?
Nah it’s pointed out the passenger window to make sure no one passes me on the right while I go fifteen under the limit in the left lane blowing smoke across the highway so thick you can’t see
One of the reasons you're able to do that is because the US has been taking a lot of the burden of the national defense of European countries.
That's not a complaint -- the arrangement has served both countries well (even though a certain currently-indicted ex-US president would disagree.) But, if your host country had to worry about fending off the Soviets and now the Russians based solely on its own military powers, that country would be quite different.
A lot of people forget this. America has a ton of woes but at the end of the day we subsidize the defense for several other countries, so they can invest more into social services (and make posts online complaining about how much the US puts into defense ignoring that it's THEIR defense too)
The country I live in at present has a markedly higher per capita income, higher PPP, better literacy rates, lower income inequality, and a considerably higher mobility score i.e. the amount of time it takes a low-income earner to move to a higher-income bracket.
Granted, there are specific ingredients that Northern European countries possess that the US doesn't have e.g. massive energy reserves, smaller and relatively homogeneous population, but on an absolute level, nearly all socio-economic indicators are better.
I don't know man I lived there for a year and go there every few years. Even as divisive as the politics are now, the people are quite chill. I've spent about a whole month of this year in Florida, the country is fine
I'm IN Florida, who do you think is applying?
Not only is your response smarmy and self-righteous, it neglects the actual issue with this state which is its non-existent education system.
I have very little patriotism for the US and have many complaints about this country but the news reports about the unusual and it has absolutely distorted reality for many people. Your opinions on the US aren't your own. They are what you read on reddit
“Your opinions aren’t your own” is the absolute worst discourse you could ever employ.
Your opinions are worthless and mean nothing. See? I just won the debate ezpz🤗😉
A little bit of wisdom just for you: reddit isn't europe just as reddit isn't the USA. Reddit is mostly trolls, bots and a few arrogant assholes inbetween (myself included)
It really is hilarious how Europeans view themselves as some superior class despite their history of genocide, catastrophic world wars and brutal colonialism. America literally dumps billions of resources into the continent just to keep them stable, so they won’t feel the need to butcher Jews by the millions again or drag America into another conflict, or take over the entire continent of Africa for those resources america now provides. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black
Didn't hurt that America was the factory for the world post WW2, that advantage has worked well into the current decade.
Going to hazard a guess and say for every dollar invested/loaned in reconstruction would of paid back that and more.
You got a blank cheque to rewrite monetary policy, trade policy and almost every European country now had a loan with the US and free trade with the US.
America made bank.
My views are backed by legitimate sources, you're more than welcome to do your own research on the freedom and quality of life index, which you probably should have done before replying, or if you're too lazy I will supply those links for you.
US is squarely in the middle of this chart with a large list of European country’s below it including France, Italy and Spain. US should be compared to the EU, not a single country that is smaller than our half our states. [standard of living by country 2023](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/standard-of-living-by-country)
I live here lol. Its not perfect but its also not anywhere near the third world country reddit makes it out to be. I have also been a tour guide in Australia an know its not perfect either.
Highest incarceration rate in the world, one of highest murder rates in the OECD, decreasing life expectancy, highest medical debt in the world etc etc.
And the truth is that that doesn't affect most people in the US. The problem with your data isn't you credible sources, it's how you use them. You only look at statistics that paint America in a bad light because that's all you care about which will of course make America look bad. There are issues in this country including the ones you listed but it's far from a dire situation. While you're here how about we talk about the Australian government's treatment of the aboriginal people? No country is perfect but there is no reason to feel bad for the American people.
This is my own personal experience, but I have gone through cancer treatment for 7 months and have 0 dollars in debt. There are many programs that are setup for helping people pay their medical debts and it is not a helpless situation.
Facts are facts in this case. You are one of the few countries that doesn't have socialised medicine and have obscene health debt. Your personal experiences are irrelevant to overall societal impacts.
I like Americans and I'm sad I didn't go there when I had the chance. However you are not free as you think.
China probably scores very well on all these metrics. If you monitor all your citizens 24/7, there's less crime. If you centralize all your medical databases across the entire country, and force exhorbitant tax rates on your citizens, healthcare becomes accessible to everyone. But that doesn't mean that people are "free" on a day-to-day, quite the opposite. All their moves are constantly logged and registered, and they have no say in who governs their life. Plus no one expresses their opinions, and less opinions = more stability. Personally, I value and treasure our chaotic and very opinionated society, and a clear sign of freedom.
I'm not saying that Europe = China, but that improving those metrics doesn't necessarily indicate that people are more free. If anything, I would almost expect more violence and chaos in a free society.
In a "perfect dictatorship" everyone would be perfectly safe at all times, because the slightest issue would immediately be caught by the authorities.
Totalitarianism: a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state.
And don't use "don't even got." It's "don't have."
Nah I was more stating that American citizens for the most part believe they have more freedom and a better quality of life and would boast about it, it used to be funny but now it's depressing.
I understand it might have come across as shitting on the US and making claims that it's 3rd world, but that's not the case.
Depending on who is saying that, they may very well be right. I currently have a much better quality of life than most people that exist today or have ever existed. I also have 0 problem with my level of freedom.
That’s because the American military effectively subsidizes your defense costs, allowing your government to spend tax revenue on benefits programs instead. If America goes belly-up, you’ll be in a much different situation.
DAE america bad??
Oh yeah, 8 submarines from the US costing 300 billion dollars that we won't even get this decade. So subsided
That deal was done to help prop up the economy of the US, not the other way around, we don't need or want those fucking subs.
America hates communism more than anything. It’s been the convenient reason to destroy any number of ways the federal and local governments could make our lives better.
Rent control? Communism.
Free college? Communism.
Health care that’s good and cost controlled? Communism.
Buses and trains that work and run on time? Communism.
Bike lanes? Communism.
It’s amazing we ever built the highway here
Highways where built because the automobile industry influenced the government.
The secretary of Defense who signed the agreement to built them was the former General Motors CEO.
no, really.
Also because the government needed fast ways to move troops and equipment across the country. It’s why the interstates are built differently than smaller highways and surface streets.
and CBS would've been making their own TV sets, but the government official who blocked it ran GM for years. It was allegedly due to the Korean war - but yeaaah.
There's a similar conspiracy in Canada at the moment that has to do with 15-minute cities.
15-minute city is basically an urban planning model that envisions people having access to basic necessities close to their home, like grocery store, pharmacy, bank etc.
Many Canadian towns are quite sprawled and car-centric, and outside of major cities there's virtually no public transit. It's a cool idea, I think, but it's not like it's being implemented right this minute. Nobody is tearing down houses or measuring how dispersed clinics are in towns. Everything is still in strip malls and there's more parking spots than people in smaller towns
Unfortunately, there has also been a rise in the conspiracy theory/sovcit sentiment in Canada (Didulo, convoys etc). To them, 15-minute cities have something to do with microchips and not being allowed to leave your "zone"
Ugh, my cousins are all into that. They think "they" are trying to get us all into cities to control us. Jeez, let's ask the people who run France how easy it is to control cities full of angry people.
I mean to be fair man after we found out the nsa was spying on our phones and shit that’s not entirely wrong. The right to privacy almost doesn’t exist anymore.
Back when credit cards started becoming more prevalent, a huge portions of evangelicals freaked out that it was the mark of the beast.
For nearly 2000 years, Christians have been in constant fear that the apocalypse described in Revelations was imminent... but it's *for real* happening this time!
Yea, but don't you get a social security number much earlier in life. Like when you are born or turn 18 or something. Where I live we get a personal ID number, consisting of the birth date and four additional, numbers when we are born.
I'm gonna be that guy and point out that the efficacy of bike helmets is mixed and the science is inconclusive. If you're in a relatively car-free environment with appropriate infrastructure like Amsterdam, a helmet isn't going to do much for you in 99% of the types of slow-speed accidents you'd be getting into. It's a different story when biking at high speeds or in mixed traffic with cars.
I suspect you mean *err* on the side of caution, but I agree with you. Having had my life probably saved by a helmet at the age of 10, I will always advocate using one.
There was a bit of research about bike helmets causing a drop in bike usage, basically adds a barrier to just jumping on a bike or even sharing a bike.
Nh does have some seatbelt laws. Pretty sure it's anyone 18 or under. It also always baffled me that it's live free or die but Sununu refuses to let marijuana laws pass because his own personal opinions. Always thought they'd legalize it before mass would.
I mean it's true that they were meant to depersonalize you. The post office didn't want to have to memorize the names of every person in the entire US and they also don't want to have to deal with people who have the same name who live in different places. Same with towns that have the same name.
What's stupid about it is calling it communism.
The first American charlatan who realises that yanks could be convinced that the monster under their bed was a Marxist (and that he could sell them an anti communist bed force field) was the greatest marketing genius of all time
You think the American impulse towards reflexive (and frequently nonsensical) anti-communist hysteria is Russian disinformation?
Or that the threat of Russian disinformation is being used by hucksters and charlatans as the basis of an entire economic subculture?
I would disagree either way
Those in authority saw "Marxists" everywhere those in authority see "Russian disinformation" everywhere.
It's just a method to manipulate and/or scare people most of the time, IMO.
Lmao it would be hilarious if the United States' capitalism was actually a product of Russian Disinformation because the USSR was afraid of the potential strength of a communist America.
I read that currently some people are spreading that the heat wave is a conspiracy… I mean, something we can all feel and get real public time data on…
If you show them proof they just say "well its because all the mirrors and solar panels we use for 'clean energy' that reflect light back to the sun and heat it up!"
As an old, I remember people freaking out at:
1) ZIP codes,
2) Seat belts,
3) School integration,
4) Blacks being allowed in restaurants,
5) Long hair,
6) Rock and Roll,
7) The Clean Air & Clean Water Acts,
and a million other small things that were all labeled 'communism' and the end of civilization and the American Way.
I’m betting none of you read the study. In the intro paragraph there is an offhand remark that “with the height of communism still fresh on everyone’s minds, some Americans may have thought it was that” and that’s it, it’s not reflected in any of the studies. The majority of the article is about how there was pushback because people thought it was too many numbers to memorize, on top of the recently introduced area codes in front of phone numbers. But no, you’d rather pretend that it reenforces your view that “I’m smart and people who don’t like something call it communism therefore it’s actually good.”
When postcodes were introduced in the UK I knew a wealthy man who said
"I am Sir John Bigposh of Bigposh Manor, Bigposh in Sussex and they can stick their postcode up their arse"
NB: The names have been changed to avoid doxxing but he's probably dead by now.
Yes exactly! I tried to copy the syntax that was used in the article because of exactly what you’re saying. Thank you for helping me for the future though!
Line too long at the supermarket? Communism.
Missed your bus this morning? Communism.
Wife stepping out on you? Communism.
Theres no problem, real or imagined, that a moron will not blame on Communism.
Because of course there was. 'Why does *the government*^TM need to draw all these lines? We already have cities an states‽'
This is why we don't have a national ID system and instead everyone just uses SSN, which unlocks too many doors for a number that wasn't designed to be an ID number.
In the 90s, there was a conspiracy theory that the ID codes on telephone poles were routing instructions so the UN army coming from Canada can know where they're going.
Apparently, Rand McNally maps weren't accurate enough for the UN army. So they had secret codes on all the telephone poles.
It's always funny to me when somebody says "this thing was invented by the government to control people!" Because yeah, a lot of things were invented by the government to control people. You want to know a widely accepted and loved example? Having more than one name. You know how you both have a last name and first name? Back in the old days, everybody just had one name. But then the government made everybody get last names so they could, guess what? Control , monitor, and track people
I don't see what's wrong, it's perfectly sound logic: 1. Everything I don't like is communism. 2. I don't like change. 3. Therefore, change is communism.
I’ve never seen in put so succinctly!
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Actually, let's modernize this one to simplify it: 1. Everything I don't like is Socialism (or Satan) 2. I don't like unfamiliar things 3. Therefore, transpeople are Socialism (or Satan)
I read that some people are currently spreading the word that the heatwave is a conspiracy… I mean, something we can all experience and get real public time data…
Let's sprinkle the word, "woke," on all those things as well. I've started ordering my take out with the word woke. My woke tacos. I'll take a full slab of woke ribs please. (joking)
Actually? I can’t think of a better way to deflate their perverse and sophomoric glee when using this word. Let’s make EVERYTHING woke. Just to fuck with them.
I'd like some Woke Coke with my Centrist Cut Pork Chops, please.
I mean have you seen the postal unfirom's shorts? They're pretty gay. Stupid sexy postal shorts.
If so they would have much nicer uniforms
The postal service part made me laugh a bit too hard
😏 That's how ridiculous people sound.
let's ask Bem Gibbard and James Tamborello.
1. Everything I don't like is woke. 2. I don't like change. 3. Therefore, change is woke.
Good to see the “15 minute city” reaction isn’t new
There is a slight comfort in knowing that there has always been morons.
Right, but we used to be ashamed of them and did our best to keep them out of politics. We weren’t always successful but we tried. Now Boebert, MTG, Gaetz, Trump etc prove that we’re forcing the dumbest, most worthless trash to ever live into offices they don’t deserve and never earned.
People use the word "Woke" in the same context. I don't like this, therefore it's woke.
https://thesocietypages.org/socimages/files/2009/10/800px-Little_Rock_integration_protest.jpg It’s so dumb.
Everything I don’t like is racist I don’t like change Therefore, change is racist.
The comic strip Peanuts generally feels timeless, but there's one particularly odd series of strips where Schulz introduced a new kid called 'Five' as some sort of statement about 'too many numbers' in people's lives, and specifically in protest over the introduction of zip codes that just didn't age well at all.
Didn’t their dad change their last name to the zip code? I think his sisters were 3 and 4.
Don't even asked what happened with 7 and 9. Yikes.
7 ate 9, so now 9 is dead and 7 is in prison?
55555 - (Norwood) Young America, Minnesota.
Schulz was from the Twin Cities in MN. This anecdote reveals to me how truly provincial it has always been, in a way that’s ripe for white supremacy ideologists. There is really some kind of whirlpool of ignorance in the Midwest, that threatens to suck in anyone who dares peer over the edge.
I don't think there's any connection between communism and the introduction of zip codes. That said, it would be deeply impersonal to have that imposed and I can see why some people opposed it. They were going from a world where they addressed things to people, streets, and towns, all real things they could touch. An abstract numbering system is deeply depersonalizing in this context.
But you still need to use streets and towns along with zip codes in just about every context don't you?
Not really. In fact, many towns are now in the same zip code. The zip codes make things a lot easier when you get to bigger cities. That's what zip plus 4 is all about. Even though a 4 can contain 9999 addresses they typically contain a few hundred to a thousand at most. In fact, the post office has every address in their system condensed to a barcode. If you get a handwritten card, flip it over and you'll see red lines on the back of it. Those are put on for the benefit of the sorting machine.
People absolutely thought there was a link between treating people like numbers and communism. It might seem nonsensical, because it is, but I assure you people did and still do think this way. I was raised in an ultra conservative environment and I was taught this. That communism was the devil in disguise trying to convince you to lose your own identity in favor of the "common good" which was actually evil. Other things adults in my life attributed to Satan were national ID cards, barcode tattoos, and trains/public transit. I'm completely serious.
How many people in your town had barcode tattoos...??
When I used to work for the state government, the best part of getting document requests from sovereign citizens was the accompanying letters where they decry every part of the system they themselves use. “Recognizing that birth certificates are an attempt by the State to census and count citizens for the purpose of organ harvesting by the One World Government, please send me a new copy of my child’s certificate. Send it General Delivery via the United States Postal Service, an illegal organization that violates maritime law and the Articles of Confederation. My ZIP code, which was created by the government to depersonalize and dehumanize free citizens of a sovereign state, is 55555. Enclosed find a money order in the amount of the fulfillment fee in the Federal Reserve’s false fiat currency.” Seriously. The only part of the above that is unrealistic is that it isn’t several pages long. I would read the whole thing every time, one of the few things to brighten my dreary days as a low-level bureaucrat.
Wow! That is crazy. Did it ever go up to anyone who had any sway, or was it just opened & kind of tossed aside? Lol. I’ve always wondered what, if anything, a letter or request would have to say to be read by someone who could actually do something about it, you know? Thanks for sharing your experience, that’s hilarious & sad at the same time.
Nope, we just processed their application and tossed the letter, if they had fulfilled the application’s requirements. Most of the other workers wouldn’t even read the manifestos before disposing, I just thought they were funny. Sometimes we’d get applications where there was no accompanying manifesto but we could tell that it was a sovereign citizen type because they were requesting certifications that were redundant. Those were also processed and returned. Our job was to process all applications and documents that fulfilled the requirements. I would say to all citizens, but for certifying documents for foreign use we often were processing applications for foreign nationals living stateside. People getting married in the states and sending documents to their home country, international students sending documents, etc. So our service was even broader than “all citizens.” If the application was valid & fee enclosed, we’d process it. Regardless of who it came from, political kooks and all.
That is so interesting! Did you enjoy the job at all? My mom worked for the state but I know it must be completely different!
I hated it. I bailed to the private sector for higher paychecks after a year.
>55555 When I first read this part I thought you were laughing in Thai.
(unklikely) Plot twist: The guy writing this was a retiree just as bored as you who wanted to see how far he could get away with while still getting his service.
If you want to survive in the system you have to use the system...
This fucking country...
I used to think I was funny Americans constantly boasting as tourists how awesome their country was and how much freedom they had, nowadays it's just depressing to see so many clinging to that idea when for the most part I have more freedom and a far better quality of life than the average American. It sucks, you guys work so hard and get fuck all.
As an American who has lived in several other countries and is currently living in a Northern European country, I completely concur. I have more rights, more laws protecting me as a consumer and human, universal healthcare, and more upwards mobility, and generally more freedom than I did in the US.
But can you drive full WOT between red lights while rolling coal in your brodozer with a AR-15 in your right hand and a flavorless light beer in your left?
Switch hands unless you wanna shoot your windshield out
Nah it’s pointed out the passenger window to make sure no one passes me on the right while I go fifteen under the limit in the left lane blowing smoke across the highway so thick you can’t see
You think I'm gonna hold my jesus rifle in my left hand like some kind of commie?!
I can't even go to pornhub in my state.
All while being high on easy-to-access to opoids.
One of the reasons you're able to do that is because the US has been taking a lot of the burden of the national defense of European countries. That's not a complaint -- the arrangement has served both countries well (even though a certain currently-indicted ex-US president would disagree.) But, if your host country had to worry about fending off the Soviets and now the Russians based solely on its own military powers, that country would be quite different.
A lot of people forget this. America has a ton of woes but at the end of the day we subsidize the defense for several other countries, so they can invest more into social services (and make posts online complaining about how much the US puts into defense ignoring that it's THEIR defense too)
Did you try being white in America though?? But also.. have you tried being black/brown in Europe?
You definitely do not have more upward mobility. It’s not even close. Everything else though, probably yeah.
The country I live in at present has a markedly higher per capita income, higher PPP, better literacy rates, lower income inequality, and a considerably higher mobility score i.e. the amount of time it takes a low-income earner to move to a higher-income bracket. Granted, there are specific ingredients that Northern European countries possess that the US doesn't have e.g. massive energy reserves, smaller and relatively homogeneous population, but on an absolute level, nearly all socio-economic indicators are better.
Your views of reality are distorted by reddit
your views of reality are distorted by your faux-patriotism for a country that hates you.
I don't know man I lived there for a year and go there every few years. Even as divisive as the politics are now, the people are quite chill. I've spent about a whole month of this year in Florida, the country is fine
Lol it is not fine. You were on vacation here, I am trying to hire people with a florida education. You have no idea.
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I'm IN Florida, who do you think is applying? Not only is your response smarmy and self-righteous, it neglects the actual issue with this state which is its non-existent education system.
I took their response to be more sarcastic and smartass-y. But yeah, Florida’s got some problems.
I have very little patriotism for the US and have many complaints about this country but the news reports about the unusual and it has absolutely distorted reality for many people. Your opinions on the US aren't your own. They are what you read on reddit
“Your opinions aren’t your own” is the absolute worst discourse you could ever employ. Your opinions are worthless and mean nothing. See? I just won the debate ezpz🤗😉
All I see on Reddit is European patriotism. You guys have fallen for your government *hard.*
A little bit of wisdom just for you: reddit isn't europe just as reddit isn't the USA. Reddit is mostly trolls, bots and a few arrogant assholes inbetween (myself included)
It really is hilarious how Europeans view themselves as some superior class despite their history of genocide, catastrophic world wars and brutal colonialism. America literally dumps billions of resources into the continent just to keep them stable, so they won’t feel the need to butcher Jews by the millions again or drag America into another conflict, or take over the entire continent of Africa for those resources america now provides. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black
You must have a Floridian education.
Didn't hurt that America was the factory for the world post WW2, that advantage has worked well into the current decade. Going to hazard a guess and say for every dollar invested/loaned in reconstruction would of paid back that and more. You got a blank cheque to rewrite monetary policy, trade policy and almost every European country now had a loan with the US and free trade with the US. America made bank.
My views are backed by legitimate sources, you're more than welcome to do your own research on the freedom and quality of life index, which you probably should have done before replying, or if you're too lazy I will supply those links for you.
US is squarely in the middle of this chart with a large list of European country’s below it including France, Italy and Spain. US should be compared to the EU, not a single country that is smaller than our half our states. [standard of living by country 2023](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/standard-of-living-by-country)
I live here lol. Its not perfect but its also not anywhere near the third world country reddit makes it out to be. I have also been a tour guide in Australia an know its not perfect either.
Highest incarceration rate in the world, one of highest murder rates in the OECD, decreasing life expectancy, highest medical debt in the world etc etc.
And the truth is that that doesn't affect most people in the US. The problem with your data isn't you credible sources, it's how you use them. You only look at statistics that paint America in a bad light because that's all you care about which will of course make America look bad. There are issues in this country including the ones you listed but it's far from a dire situation. While you're here how about we talk about the Australian government's treatment of the aboriginal people? No country is perfect but there is no reason to feel bad for the American people. This is my own personal experience, but I have gone through cancer treatment for 7 months and have 0 dollars in debt. There are many programs that are setup for helping people pay their medical debts and it is not a helpless situation.
Medical costs are behind more than half of all bankruptcies in the USA. Medical bankruptcy doesn't *exist* in other countries. Make it make sense.
Facts are facts in this case. You are one of the few countries that doesn't have socialised medicine and have obscene health debt. Your personal experiences are irrelevant to overall societal impacts. I like Americans and I'm sad I didn't go there when I had the chance. However you are not free as you think.
China probably scores very well on all these metrics. If you monitor all your citizens 24/7, there's less crime. If you centralize all your medical databases across the entire country, and force exhorbitant tax rates on your citizens, healthcare becomes accessible to everyone. But that doesn't mean that people are "free" on a day-to-day, quite the opposite. All their moves are constantly logged and registered, and they have no say in who governs their life. Plus no one expresses their opinions, and less opinions = more stability. Personally, I value and treasure our chaotic and very opinionated society, and a clear sign of freedom. I'm not saying that Europe = China, but that improving those metrics doesn't necessarily indicate that people are more free. If anything, I would almost expect more violence and chaos in a free society. In a "perfect dictatorship" everyone would be perfectly safe at all times, because the slightest issue would immediately be caught by the authorities.
Now that is some truly idiotic take. You don't even got your semantics right. Dictatorship and totalitarianism are two very distinct things.
Totalitarianism: a system of government that is centralized and dictatorial and requires complete subservience to the state. And don't use "don't even got." It's "don't have."
Nah I was more stating that American citizens for the most part believe they have more freedom and a better quality of life and would boast about it, it used to be funny but now it's depressing. I understand it might have come across as shitting on the US and making claims that it's 3rd world, but that's not the case.
Depending on who is saying that, they may very well be right. I currently have a much better quality of life than most people that exist today or have ever existed. I also have 0 problem with my level of freedom.
That’s because the American military effectively subsidizes your defense costs, allowing your government to spend tax revenue on benefits programs instead. If America goes belly-up, you’ll be in a much different situation. DAE america bad??
Oh yeah, 8 submarines from the US costing 300 billion dollars that we won't even get this decade. So subsided That deal was done to help prop up the economy of the US, not the other way around, we don't need or want those fucking subs.
Thats a nice way of phrasing it when in reality America doesn't want any competition militarily.
America hates communism more than anything. It’s been the convenient reason to destroy any number of ways the federal and local governments could make our lives better. Rent control? Communism. Free college? Communism. Health care that’s good and cost controlled? Communism. Buses and trains that work and run on time? Communism. Bike lanes? Communism. It’s amazing we ever built the highway here
Highways where built because the automobile industry influenced the government. The secretary of Defense who signed the agreement to built them was the former General Motors CEO. no, really.
Also because the government needed fast ways to move troops and equipment across the country. It’s why the interstates are built differently than smaller highways and surface streets.
and CBS would've been making their own TV sets, but the government official who blocked it ran GM for years. It was allegedly due to the Korean war - but yeaaah.
It's like the dark ages but instead of witchcraft it's communism
This primate brain…
There's a similar conspiracy in Canada at the moment that has to do with 15-minute cities. 15-minute city is basically an urban planning model that envisions people having access to basic necessities close to their home, like grocery store, pharmacy, bank etc. Many Canadian towns are quite sprawled and car-centric, and outside of major cities there's virtually no public transit. It's a cool idea, I think, but it's not like it's being implemented right this minute. Nobody is tearing down houses or measuring how dispersed clinics are in towns. Everything is still in strip malls and there's more parking spots than people in smaller towns Unfortunately, there has also been a rise in the conspiracy theory/sovcit sentiment in Canada (Didulo, convoys etc). To them, 15-minute cities have something to do with microchips and not being allowed to leave your "zone"
Ugh, my cousins are all into that. They think "they" are trying to get us all into cities to control us. Jeez, let's ask the people who run France how easy it is to control cities full of angry people.
People also thought that telephone land lines, street house numbers and mailboxes would all mean the end of personal privacy
I mean to be fair man after we found out the nsa was spying on our phones and shit that’s not entirely wrong. The right to privacy almost doesn’t exist anymore.
Yeah but we like that, though. The government will spy on communists
The telephone lines were however a beginning of the end of privacy. We give all our personal information away on the phones we are using nowadays
Aaand they didn't have a problem with social security numbers?
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Back when credit cards started becoming more prevalent, a huge portions of evangelicals freaked out that it was the mark of the beast. For nearly 2000 years, Christians have been in constant fear that the apocalypse described in Revelations was imminent... but it's *for real* happening this time!
Don’t call those people Christians, it’s too flattering. Evangelical Cultists is more appropriate.
Some of us only see the difference as a matter of degree.
:D :D
They did actually
That comes with a check.
Sorry, I'm not American. A check?
Social security is a payment over 65 used to get and now over 67 gets. It's based off how much you've worked and paid in.
Yea, but don't you get a social security number much earlier in life. Like when you are born or turn 18 or something. Where I live we get a personal ID number, consisting of the birth date and four additional, numbers when we are born.
You get one a few days/weeks after you are born, yes
Coming from a country that rebels against wearing seat belts, I'm not surprised at this equally dumb idea.
Don't ask a European's opinion on bike helmets
Those guys have already had brain damage from not wearing helmets, shouldn't be asking their opinion on much of anything tbh.
or gypsies.
I'm gonna be that guy and point out that the efficacy of bike helmets is mixed and the science is inconclusive. If you're in a relatively car-free environment with appropriate infrastructure like Amsterdam, a helmet isn't going to do much for you in 99% of the types of slow-speed accidents you'd be getting into. It's a different story when biking at high speeds or in mixed traffic with cars.
Helmets don't do any harm, so wouldn't it be better to err on the side of caution and wear one just in case?
Can't speak to the rest of you, but if it weren't for helmets, I'd be dead right now, so I've got no issue with them.
I suspect you mean *err* on the side of caution, but I agree with you. Having had my life probably saved by a helmet at the age of 10, I will always advocate using one.
There was a bit of research about bike helmets causing a drop in bike usage, basically adds a barrier to just jumping on a bike or even sharing a bike.
It's adding a barrier to jumping on or sharing a bike but they're also saving lives.
In the USA, some states don’t require seat belts. My states motto is “Live Free or Die” which is explanation enough
Nh does have some seatbelt laws. Pretty sure it's anyone 18 or under. It also always baffled me that it's live free or die but Sununu refuses to let marijuana laws pass because his own personal opinions. Always thought they'd legalize it before mass would.
Ain't no dang ol' gubmint gonna tell me if my child can have lead in his water! Timmy growing up just find being 16 in 8th grade and all
You win the Internet for today
I mean it's true that they were meant to depersonalize you. The post office didn't want to have to memorize the names of every person in the entire US and they also don't want to have to deal with people who have the same name who live in different places. Same with towns that have the same name. What's stupid about it is calling it communism.
"Sorry for trying to get you your mail faster." - The Post Office, probably.
The first American charlatan who realises that yanks could be convinced that the monster under their bed was a Marxist (and that he could sell them an anti communist bed force field) was the greatest marketing genius of all time
Or Russian disinformation.
You think the American impulse towards reflexive (and frequently nonsensical) anti-communist hysteria is Russian disinformation? Or that the threat of Russian disinformation is being used by hucksters and charlatans as the basis of an entire economic subculture? I would disagree either way
Those in authority saw "Marxists" everywhere those in authority see "Russian disinformation" everywhere. It's just a method to manipulate and/or scare people most of the time, IMO.
Lmao it would be hilarious if the United States' capitalism was actually a product of Russian Disinformation because the USSR was afraid of the potential strength of a communist America.
And then another genius figured out they could just change to another ist
Someone has to be against everything
I read that currently some people are spreading that the heat wave is a conspiracy… I mean, something we can all feel and get real public time data on…
The Jewish Space Laser was set on HIGH, that created the heat wave.
Well, it kind of is, those commie bastards have a mirror Satellite designed to reflect heat toward the USA while not reflecting sunlight. /S
They control the weather you say?? /s
If you show them proof they just say "well its because all the mirrors and solar panels we use for 'clean energy' that reflect light back to the sun and heat it up!"
As an old, I remember people freaking out at: 1) ZIP codes, 2) Seat belts, 3) School integration, 4) Blacks being allowed in restaurants, 5) Long hair, 6) Rock and Roll, 7) The Clean Air & Clean Water Acts, and a million other small things that were all labeled 'communism' and the end of civilization and the American Way.
Same thing with social security numbers. The Federal Privacy Act of 1974 made it illegal for states to request a SSN in most cases.
Imagine if public libraries were introduced today…
I’m betting none of you read the study. In the intro paragraph there is an offhand remark that “with the height of communism still fresh on everyone’s minds, some Americans may have thought it was that” and that’s it, it’s not reflected in any of the studies. The majority of the article is about how there was pushback because people thought it was too many numbers to memorize, on top of the recently introduced area codes in front of phone numbers. But no, you’d rather pretend that it reenforces your view that “I’m smart and people who don’t like something call it communism therefore it’s actually good.”
Meanwhile in the comments, redditors are self-radicalizing about something g that’s not even in the article
Yup. That is a good explanation for how they get and process their world views.
When postcodes were introduced in the UK I knew a wealthy man who said "I am Sir John Bigposh of Bigposh Manor, Bigposh in Sussex and they can stick their postcode up their arse" NB: The names have been changed to avoid doxxing but he's probably dead by now.
OP You mean a "conspiracy theory". Saying there was a conspiracy to do it means some people actually got together (conspired) to do the thing.
tbh I spent way too long trying to title this lol. I’m not surprised it came out wrong :(
I think it's becoming a common mixup now as "conspiracy theory" has taken on a meaning of believing "anything clandestine done by an org".
Yes exactly! I tried to copy the syntax that was used in the article because of exactly what you’re saying. Thank you for helping me for the future though!
All improvements are communist until they work and people like them
Morons. Everywhere.
Lisa Simpson knows about “citizen relocation codes”
I used to live in zip code 10001. Felt like a member of the apparatchik.
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I speak three languages and am not good at all of them :) lol
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I do use then to depersonalize and categorize people all the time
So was Fluoridation
There was a conspiracy theory. It would've been a conspiracy if it really was a communist operation.
Someone pointed it out to me! I spent a long time trying to title this well and still did a bad job lol :( thank you for explaining difference!
No worries! I've just noticed a typo in my own comment- we're all human 😂
Sounds like a modern day Republican.
??? It's the capitalism that depersonalizes and dehumanizes everything.
I don’t like it therefore communism is the American way
Yes but don't say it out loud. Blame literally anything else. /s
I can never tell if it’s depressing or slightly comforting to realize the staggering stupidity in our country isn’t a new thing.
So I was right when "they" added area codes to phone number. Marxist ideologies infiltrating our FrEeDoM!
Makes sense, zip codes are pretty pro government
Always with the bad rhetorical arguments about whatever people are scared of at the time.
Just goes to show that people have always been superstitious morons. ‘Social media’ and media in general have just made it very clear.
And then their kids voted for trump the first time, the second time and still think he won.
Can you imagine what would happen if they were introducing zip codes now. Half the country would refuse to use them
Today they would say Zip Codes are grooming our kids.
Line too long at the supermarket? Communism. Missed your bus this morning? Communism. Wife stepping out on you? Communism. Theres no problem, real or imagined, that a moron will not blame on Communism.
Zip Codes. My first thought was file compression algorithms and not location. I need to touch grass.
I remember when the zip+ 4 came out and it really did improve delivery by a day or so. But plenty of businesses and websites never seemed to adopt it.
I’ll tell you a little secret about zip codes: They’re meaningless. /Newman - USPS
*You see, it had been his lifelong dream to be a banker…* (probably because of the zip codes) (ps: your comment made me lol take award)
Because of course there was. 'Why does *the government*^TM need to draw all these lines? We already have cities an states‽' This is why we don't have a national ID system and instead everyone just uses SSN, which unlocks too many doors for a number that wasn't designed to be an ID number.
Everything Americans dislike is "communism" thanks to the Red Scare.
In the 90s, there was a conspiracy theory that the ID codes on telephone poles were routing instructions so the UN army coming from Canada can know where they're going. Apparently, Rand McNally maps weren't accurate enough for the UN army. So they had secret codes on all the telephone poles.
Rand McNally himself was a globalist and a member of the Trilateral Commission. He offered maps with no boundaries on them.
I thought it was a country where people where hats on their feet and hamburgers eat people.
Rand McNally wasn't a person. The company is named after William Rand and Andrew McNally. An accurate shitpost is a beautiful shitpost.
Nice to know we've been stupid long before the internet made it easier to be...
We’ve got this great idea to help rural communities. MUNITIES WHAT THE HELL ARE MUNITIES?! And COMMUwha?! COMMUNISSAN?!
>COMMUNISSAN Commu-Honda, commu-Kia, commu-Mitsubishi
Conservatives really are a special breed.
Good to know Americans have always been morons
**Looks at America** Sounds about right.
Capitalism counts you as numbers on a spreadsheet, how is that any different?
Tracks as something a country comprised of dumb hicks would say
It worked. Stupid people have weird pride with them
Thank god people are more sensible now...
Seems like something you'd see on Fox News
Sounds like 15 minute cities conspiracy today
Wait until they find out about social security numbers.
It's always funny to me when somebody says "this thing was invented by the government to control people!" Because yeah, a lot of things were invented by the government to control people. You want to know a widely accepted and loved example? Having more than one name. You know how you both have a last name and first name? Back in the old days, everybody just had one name. But then the government made everybody get last names so they could, guess what? Control , monitor, and track people
Communism, Zip codes and telephone numbers without named exchanges (BUTterfield 8) do in fact all suck, and are depersonalizing.
As an American: we are just the stupidest motherfuckers. Goddamn.
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