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The US has become a frightening country in many ways to a travelling EU citizen. I like to stroll around cities aimlessly but have met so many drug addicted, h

The US has become a frightening country in many ways to a travelling EU citizen. I like to stroll around cities aimlessly but have met so many drug addicted, homeless and mentally unwell people just walking around like zombies with apparently no help it's almost unbelievable in the last years. Last time i visited NY it had become so bad it honestly killed all joy - there were wandering rambling half naked people everywhere. I've never seen anything like it in the EU despite poverty in the East. I also tried taking the subway just a little bit out of the rich downtown areas and wow, abject poverty, dirt in the streets, open drug use just a few kilometers from the centre with no end in sight. After watching various documentaries about the Sackler family and the medical industry in general i've come to one conclusion, it's entirely the fault of your own deregulated oligarch controlled system and not "the brown, yellow or russian people on the other side of earth that are doing the bad things yet again". You have a wonderful country and so many great people so it really saddens me it's become so dystopian, so unequal and with so apparently little safety net for the very vulnerable.

zmgsabst 3y ago
[flagged]
- reducesuffering 3y ago
  Are you implying it’s mostly Democrat areas? Have you seen a fentanyl death map before? https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/drug_poisoning_mortality/drug_poisoning.htm https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/drug_poisoning_mor... Top fentanyl deaths are in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana…
  - AnimalMuppet 3y ago
    In addition, painting the Democrats as the party "who fought civil rights" is just nonsense. Can't reply to the GP because it's dead, but this particular bit of baloney seemed to me to be worth calling out.
- junaru 3y ago
  No US needs to address that freedom comes hand in hand with responsibility, a concept lost on the past few generations. You can do all the drugs you want if you can function under the influence but if you fail thats entirely your responsibility to deal with and not the states.
reducesuffering 3y ago
> After watching various documentaries Did you watch any documentaries about how it’s shipped from China, trafficked over by Mexican cartels, and entirely sold by Hondurans in SF?
- noxs 3y ago
  I have watched it, but have you thought about why drugs have so much markets in SF, that it needs to be smuggled all the way to the other side of the earth instead of just selling them locally?
  - filoleg 3y ago
    Yes, because you can sell them at a much higher profit margin in SF compared to “the other side of the earth”, even if you account for all the associated transportation costs. I don’t think that existence of the massive purchasing power disparity between SF and countries where those drugs are manufactured is a giant revelation to most people.
- MyFirstSass 3y ago
  So it wasn't the opioid epidemic, it wasn't the lack of safety nets, it wasn't medical deregulation and pain clinics, no it was the yellow people on the other side of earth. Jesus christ. Off course that's a problem but the way the US always blames extreme domestic problems on russians, chinese, middle easterners or anyone but yourself is pathetic in my view. You guys are the world superpower - take some responsibility, and not only by attacking or blaming other countries. And i'm not saying this to make the EU faultless, it's a shitshow over here too and for that many people are blaming middle easternes, there's always some foreigners or far away to blame and it's embarrassing. Last time i visited family in Manchester i saw similar developments but on a much smaller scale, and it's because of shit domestic politics not foreign actors. Let's blame the policy makers, the plutocrats and the people with the most influence for once and not let them excuse bad developments with hybrid warfare or some other idiotic scapegoat while they sip wine from their yachts - it's the oldest play in the book.
  - 3y ago
low_common 3y ago
What in the world are you talking about? You're not wrong on a few points, ie. the Sackler family should all be thrown in jail for contributing to the opioid crisis. However, as someone who lives in NYC, you're spewing out a false narrative that I find offensive and inaccurate. First off, have you ever visited a major city anywhere? You're going to see mentally-unwell drug addicts wandering around wherever you go. It's simply a fact of life in a metro area. Dirt in the streets? I mean, what are you even getting at here? Nice, you took the subway out of the "rich downtown areas a few kilometers away". So that could be Midtown, that could be Williamsburg, that could be Downtown Brooklyn for all we know. Tell us where exactly you went that you saw "abject poverty and open drug use"? Because as someone who lives and works in the areas within the radius of what you seem to be describing, I see a vibrant, competitive, world class mecca of culture and business. Don't ever get on here and slander NYC like that. Your cities wish they could be as cool and interesting as what we've got here. NYC is a global powerhouse and to come on here and call it dystopian is delusional. I don't know where you're from, but I bet it's not even close to as relevant as New York City.
- LightHugger 3y ago
  Not really sure if this is a parody reply because it reads like one, especially "Don't ever get on here and slander NYC like that." and "I bet it's not even close to as relevant as New York City." These problems don't exist in many EU cities though you're claiming these problems exist everywhere.
  - low_common 3y ago
    I've seen heroin addicts aimlessly wandering around Berlin, I've seen drug addicts begging in Budapest, do you need more examples? To say that these problems don't exist in many EU cities is a lie. What are you smoking? Because please pass it over.
- unmole 3y ago
  > First off, have you ever visited a major city anywhere? You're going to see mentally-unwell drug addicts wandering around wherever you go. Yeah, no. You most definitely don't see mentally unwell drug addicts wandering about in Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Hanoi or Hong Kong.
mpol 3y ago
> ...the fault of your own deregulated oligarch controlled system... Follow the money... And how do you change this? The oligarchs, the 1%, make money but don't have any of the problems. How can you make them want to change and fix society? I have argued here before that the US is not a real democracy. There are 2 parties that share power and are in service of the 1%. The rich and powerful minority has to be protected from the 99% majority of the people. How can you make the powerfull people care about all the drug deaths?

zmgsabst 3y ago

[flagged]

reducesuffering 3y ago
Are you implying it’s mostly Democrat areas? Have you seen a fentanyl death map before? https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/drug_poisoning_mortality/drug_poisoning.htm https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/drug_poisoning_mor... Top fentanyl deaths are in West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana…
- AnimalMuppet 3y ago
  In addition, painting the Democrats as the party "who fought civil rights" is just nonsense. Can't reply to the GP because it's dead, but this particular bit of baloney seemed to me to be worth calling out.
junaru 3y ago
No US needs to address that freedom comes hand in hand with responsibility, a concept lost on the past few generations. You can do all the drugs you want if you can function under the influence but if you fail thats entirely your responsibility to deal with and not the states.

reducesuffering 3y ago

> After watching various documentaries Did you watch any documentaries about how it’s shipped from China, trafficked over by Mexican cartels, and entirely sold by Hondurans in SF?

noxs 3y ago
I have watched it, but have you thought about why drugs have so much markets in SF, that it needs to be smuggled all the way to the other side of the earth instead of just selling them locally?
- filoleg 3y ago
  Yes, because you can sell them at a much higher profit margin in SF compared to “the other side of the earth”, even if you account for all the associated transportation costs. I don’t think that existence of the massive purchasing power disparity between SF and countries where those drugs are manufactured is a giant revelation to most people.
MyFirstSass 3y ago
So it wasn't the opioid epidemic, it wasn't the lack of safety nets, it wasn't medical deregulation and pain clinics, no it was the yellow people on the other side of earth. Jesus christ. Off course that's a problem but the way the US always blames extreme domestic problems on russians, chinese, middle easterners or anyone but yourself is pathetic in my view. You guys are the world superpower - take some responsibility, and not only by attacking or blaming other countries. And i'm not saying this to make the EU faultless, it's a shitshow over here too and for that many people are blaming middle easternes, there's always some foreigners or far away to blame and it's embarrassing. Last time i visited family in Manchester i saw similar developments but on a much smaller scale, and it's because of shit domestic politics not foreign actors. Let's blame the policy makers, the plutocrats and the people with the most influence for once and not let them excuse bad developments with hybrid warfare or some other idiotic scapegoat while they sip wine from their yachts - it's the oldest play in the book.
- 3y ago

low_common 3y ago

What in the world are you talking about? You're not wrong on a few points, ie. the Sackler family should all be thrown in jail for contributing to the opioid crisis. However, as someone who lives in NYC, you're spewing out a false narrative that I find offensive and inaccurate. First off, have you ever visited a major city anywhere? You're going to see mentally-unwell drug addicts wandering around wherever you go. It's simply a fact of life in a metro area. Dirt in the streets? I mean, what are you even getting at here? Nice, you took the subway out of the "rich downtown areas a few kilometers away". So that could be Midtown, that could be Williamsburg, that could be Downtown Brooklyn for all we know. Tell us where exactly you went that you saw "abject poverty and open drug use"? Because as someone who lives and works in the areas within the radius of what you seem to be describing, I see a vibrant, competitive, world class mecca of culture and business. Don't ever get on here and slander NYC like that. Your cities wish they could be as cool and interesting as what we've got here. NYC is a global powerhouse and to come on here and call it dystopian is delusional. I don't know where you're from, but I bet it's not even close to as relevant as New York City.

LightHugger 3y ago
Not really sure if this is a parody reply because it reads like one, especially "Don't ever get on here and slander NYC like that." and "I bet it's not even close to as relevant as New York City." These problems don't exist in many EU cities though you're claiming these problems exist everywhere.
- low_common 3y ago
  I've seen heroin addicts aimlessly wandering around Berlin, I've seen drug addicts begging in Budapest, do you need more examples? To say that these problems don't exist in many EU cities is a lie. What are you smoking? Because please pass it over.
unmole 3y ago
> First off, have you ever visited a major city anywhere? You're going to see mentally-unwell drug addicts wandering around wherever you go. Yeah, no. You most definitely don't see mentally unwell drug addicts wandering about in Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Hanoi or Hong Kong.

mpol 3y ago

> ...the fault of your own deregulated oligarch controlled system... Follow the money... And how do you change this? The oligarchs, the 1%, make money but don't have any of the problems. How can you make them want to change and fix society? I have argued here before that the US is not a real democracy. There are 2 parties that share power and are in service of the 1%. The rich and powerful minority has to be protected from the 99% majority of the people. How can you make the powerfull people care about all the drug deaths?