4 ms·

Please don't believe in media sensationalism. Yes, covid brought us an increase in violence, but that was simply relative to numbers that have been declining fo

Please don't believe in media sensationalism. Yes, covid brought us an increase in violence, but that was simply relative to numbers that have been declining for decades. I'm not saying that we shouldn't keep improving this in the US, but it's still an extremely safe place. Also, most of the physical violence in the US is restricted to specific cities or areas within larger cities which you should generally be able to avoid. Regarding ethnic violence against Asians, it's even more inflated by the media. The statistics don't support the narrative of regular violence against people from Asia: https://www.statista.com/statistics/251877/murder-victims-in-the-us-by-race-ethnicity-and-gender/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/251877/murder-victims-in...

dustinmoris 6y ago
> Please don't believe in media sensationalism. *) Unless the media sensationalism is from the US media against China. What happens on US streets, regardless how awful it is, is always nothing, but as soon as a single person protests in Hong Kong it's a human tragedy.
bmn__ 6y ago
> the US [is] still an extremely safe place. That's incorrect, a misleading exaggeration. In any ranking about safety, it does not occupy the extreme end, but around the median or average. It would be accurate to say that the US, in the international comparison, is at best a somewhat safe place.
- danielrpa 6y ago
  Let me avoid the word "extreme" then - it doesn't make any difference to the core of the argument. One will be happy to live in a place with "very high" safety levels instead of "extreme". I don't agree with your characterization of overall safety based on ranking positions. The US, as a few other countries, has very localized violence and that sharply skews averages. This means that it's quite possible to live in a safe area even within notoriously violent cities (which often have high violence numbers in relatively small areas). Also, by international standards, the US has very accurate reporting and crime statistics. So while you can see a few countries with surprisingly lower violence numbers, don't assume you are comparing apples to apples in terms of how accurate these countries' statistics are. So while it's true that in aggregate the US doesn't sit well in safety rankings, this doesn't mean that a clear majority of the country isn't extremely safe - as in the chances of you suffering violent crime being very low by international standards. By the way - I'm not saying it's okay to have localized violence. However, it's quite possible, and easy, to enjoy very high safety levels in the US even if you are not rich (while this isn't necessarily the case if you are poor due to limitations on where you can live).
  - bmn__ 6y ago
    To me and hundreds of millions of others who live in actually safe places (and yes, with accurate statistics), it is mind-boggling that we would have to think about and avoid "specific cities or areas within larger cities". That's not normal. That's not '"very high" safety levels'. If you want to improve, then you first have to admit to the problem and not make excuses.
Daho0n 6y ago
I was taught to always compare to those that do better, not just point at an awful shithole and say "see how good we are doing compared to them!" The US is not an "extremely safe place" compared to those that do best and it's extremely bad in racisme. No other western democracy imprison such a huge chunk of its population based on the color of their skin. Even in a relatively safe place in the US there's a way higher risk of gun violence than in any of the countries you should be comparing with. Murders is off the chart. Unless someone from HK has a good reason to want to move to the US then all of Scandinavia, most of Europe, some of Asia and some of America outside the US would be a way safer choice.

dustinmoris 6y ago

> Please don't believe in media sensationalism. *) Unless the media sensationalism is from the US media against China. What happens on US streets, regardless how awful it is, is always nothing, but as soon as a single person protests in Hong Kong it's a human tragedy.

bmn__ 6y ago

> the US [is] still an extremely safe place. That's incorrect, a misleading exaggeration. In any ranking about safety, it does not occupy the extreme end, but around the median or average. It would be accurate to say that the US, in the international comparison, is at best a somewhat safe place.

danielrpa 6y ago
Let me avoid the word "extreme" then - it doesn't make any difference to the core of the argument. One will be happy to live in a place with "very high" safety levels instead of "extreme". I don't agree with your characterization of overall safety based on ranking positions. The US, as a few other countries, has very localized violence and that sharply skews averages. This means that it's quite possible to live in a safe area even within notoriously violent cities (which often have high violence numbers in relatively small areas). Also, by international standards, the US has very accurate reporting and crime statistics. So while you can see a few countries with surprisingly lower violence numbers, don't assume you are comparing apples to apples in terms of how accurate these countries' statistics are. So while it's true that in aggregate the US doesn't sit well in safety rankings, this doesn't mean that a clear majority of the country isn't extremely safe - as in the chances of you suffering violent crime being very low by international standards. By the way - I'm not saying it's okay to have localized violence. However, it's quite possible, and easy, to enjoy very high safety levels in the US even if you are not rich (while this isn't necessarily the case if you are poor due to limitations on where you can live).
- bmn__ 6y ago
  To me and hundreds of millions of others who live in actually safe places (and yes, with accurate statistics), it is mind-boggling that we would have to think about and avoid "specific cities or areas within larger cities". That's not normal. That's not '"very high" safety levels'. If you want to improve, then you first have to admit to the problem and not make excuses.

Daho0n 6y ago

I was taught to always compare to those that do better, not just point at an awful shithole and say "see how good we are doing compared to them!" The US is not an "extremely safe place" compared to those that do best and it's extremely bad in racisme. No other western democracy imprison such a huge chunk of its population based on the color of their skin. Even in a relatively safe place in the US there's a way higher risk of gun violence than in any of the countries you should be comparing with. Murders is off the chart. Unless someone from HK has a good reason to want to move to the US then all of Scandinavia, most of Europe, some of Asia and some of America outside the US would be a way safer choice.