3 ms·
> I'm just going by what Americans themselves are telling me about their country Ah, this makes sense then :) Definitely visit the US...I can tell you that th
by bmmayer1 7y ago
> I'm just going by what Americans themselves are telling me about their country
Ah, this makes sense then :)
Definitely visit the US...I can tell you that the Americans who travel tend to lean heavily "liberal" in their politics (in other words, anti-police), which would explain that your perception of American life is definitely skewed in favor of this view.
Note that yes, of course, we do have major problems with our police, especially with regard to militarization of the police and abuse of power, especially in poor communities. But the actual reality of the relationship between Americans and the police is nuanced and complicated, not as obvious as your well-traveled American friends would have you believe :)
- mcv 7y ago> Definitely visit the US. I would love to, as soon as the situation in the US has become a bit more sane and less xenophobic. Again, too many stories of even US residents getting denied access or getting held for hours trying to enter the country legally. However, I get my view about the US mostly from the internet. From discussions like these, from new stories, from even law enforcement experts telling people not to talk to the police. I know different people have different views on the police, but on the whole, putting all those different perspectives together, the total picture doesn't look great. It's probably totally fine for a middle class white person from a decent neighbourhood, but the fact that it's good for some demographics but bad for other groups, that honestly doesn't make the big picture any better, even if I happen to fit in the demographic that's probably the safest.
- bmmayer1 7y agoYou're welcome to visit NYC, round of drinks on me :) For what it's worth, I've traveled to many, many countries, and I've never encountered in real life what I expected based on the internet or stories or anything else. Our country has problems like any other but I hope you get to form a fair impression.