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For all her ranting, she seemingly still has a U.S. passport which gives her a great deal more freedom than if she had a passport from central America. Let's se
by duckMuppet 8y ago
For all her ranting, she seemingly still has a U.S. passport which gives her a great deal more freedom than if she had a passport from central America. Let's see if she renounces her citizenship anytime soon and put her money where her mouth is.
I don't find this article particularly offensive, just extremely naive.
For all it's problems, in the U.S. we still enjoy both freedom of speech and freedom from the tyranny of socialized govt, both have reared it's ugly head in pretty spectacular ways recently..
Namely, you can end up in jail if you teach your dog to salute at Heil Hitler, or if you decide you want to present the middle finger to your govt overlords on a traffic cam, or if you think you might like to send your child to a different hospital that offers hope, no matter how grim the ultimate outcome, or if you defend yourself in your home from a robber with a knife.. Just to name a few..
The first and second amendments of the U.S. are unlike very few In the world. Statistically most people are very unlikely to encounter such gun crimes like school shootings, but you'd never know that because we have a media and culture driven by ratings and agenda.
But there is a lot of truth that people have much less value for life. That's not just a U.S. problem.. I'm a U.S. citizen, so I can criticize the mayor of London openly without fear, but their plans(or talks) to remove any and all knives from stores and the hands of their citizens is a pretty good example.. But no knife, no problem, you can do it pretty effectively with a truck, I recall 80 or so were killed a few years ago, and at least 10 were killed a few days ago in Toronto. And anyone with any sizeable amount of intellect could probably devise a plan that is highly effective by stealing a semi.. Someone with actual intelligence could probably devise a scheme to drop small IED's via drones and could probably be pretty lethal and remain effectively safe from capture, let alone any of the other mainstream methods..
And on top of it all, even with all the gun bans, one of the worst gun massacres in recent history occurred not in the U.S., but good old Europe.. Many countries have effectively banned all weapons, But that just means that the law abiding citizens are the ones who become defenseless.. I've sarcastically argued numerous times that the Charlie Hebdo attacks were fake news, and the people were just made up, after all, such firearms are actually banned there, so such an event isn't actually possible to happen, those weapons are banned..
It gets even better when looking at countries like Mexico, S. America etc, where the police may actually be part of the mob, flip a coin as to whether you'll survive if you call for help (I suppose if your passport is blue or from the euro block they probably try to take care of you for tourism sake)..
In any case, I think a recent episode of econtalk with Jonah Goldberg http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2018/04/jonah_goldberg.html http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2018/04/jonah_goldberg.html summed up a lot of truths about the place we are at in our society, especially in the U.S.. It's quite worth a listen.. Because ultimately, though the above is bad, we often forget that gives have historically persecuted people far worse, and though it's 2018 (as if somehow that means something), it's still happening ( IRS/FBI)etc..
Ultimately, These are problems govt cannot solve, and the answer the govt will give might not be an answer that's good, for average Joe at least.. But I do think, in the U.S., It's a road we are heading down..
- markoman 8y agoI always find it astounding when a gun advocate goes to great lengths to list means other than guns for committing mass murder. Why would any American, having been ministered in the ways of the gun via American gun culture/religion, select IEDs from drones, knives, or trucks to do the deed? Guns, especially rifles, are superbly optimized killing machines. Any suggestion otherwise is a pure and simple diversion from reality & truth. You cite the European Charlie Hebdo attack (where 12 people died) as 'one of the worst gun massacres in recent history' yet reveal your blind spot of the much more recent (American) Las Vegas Mandalay Bay shooting on 10/01/2017 where 58 were killed and a staggering 500+ were injured -- while attending a concert on the Vegas strip! This attack, from a 32nd floor hotel suite, truly stunned America in ways that have yet to be fathomed. Its just that these gun attacks keep coming and stealing away our attention. Witness the Sutherland Springs, TX church shooting where 27 people were killed, and then Parkland which has gained even more attention. And yet, American gun culture and politics will not permit even a Congressional debate for outlawing bump stocks, which to a large part, contributed to the loss of life at the Las Vegas shooting. No -- all you get are thoughts, prayers, a monument and don't forget the hospital bill on your way out.
- mpweiher 8y agoHmm... 1. She has dual French/US citizenship, says so in her Bio. Not sure what "Central America" has to do with anything. A lot of US citizens renounce their citizenship because of the insane tax requirements. But of course the US also makes renouncing very hard, for example taxing you on unrealized profits. It's a mess. 2. You find the article "naive"? How much experience do you have living outside the US, if I may enquire, for example in Europe? 3. Freedom of speech is actually quite comparable, and in many ways better, as for example corporations are prevented from denying your freedom of speech. The limitations the US corp. I worked for recently tried to put on employees were laughably illegal in Germany. Yes, we are a bit down on Nazi symbols. Can you guess why? 4. I would like to see what happens to you in the US if you give the middle finger to a police officer. Can you assert your 1st amendment rights from the grave? 5. "The first and second amendments of the U.S. are unlike very few In the world." Actually the first is pretty common, with very slight alterations. The second is uniquely US-American and, surprise, the US is a uniquely violent and deadly place. 6. Statistically, you are about 10x more likely to get shot in the US than you are in a Western European country. And at least 4x more likely to get killed in a homicide. So no, the violence in the US is not made up by the media, it is a statistical fact. 7. Whereas the much publicized terror attacks in Europe are exactly what you claim for the US, a statistical blip. They are only noticeable because (a) those countries are so much less violent overall and (b) media coverage of anything that can be counted as "terror" is of the charts. 8. Not sure what you mean with "one of the worst gun massacres". The Charles Hebdo attack? Sorry, that doesn't even crack the US top 10, and is not even a day's worth of gun homicides in the US.