2 ms·

Maybe Sweden is different from every other country I’ve visited in Europe…but having traveled quite extensively in the EU, most countries I’ve been to don’t fee

Maybe Sweden is different from every other country I’ve visited in Europe…but having traveled quite extensively in the EU, most countries I’ve been to don’t feel much different than the US. Very immigration officer I’ve ever interacted with has been chilly, it’s not some uniquely American thing. Pretty much every rail station I went through in Europe had extremely (to my eyes) heavily armed guards standing around. I was also asked to present my passport on several occasions. At one Italian station, it happed twice within a few minutes. I’ve been on multiple trains where some flavor of police comes on, checks people’s papers, and then grab some guy and escort him off at the next stop.

piva00 15d ago
I don't mind the stern-looking armed security or immigration officers, it just feels different in the USA. Being chilly is different than being told to "move", I have never experienced such attitude getting into Schengen, at most it's a mostly quiet stern encounter. It's very hard to express in text the feeling of oppression, it's not about just armed security, it's the attitude of those, it's the attitude of the people representing the State, it feels much more adversarial in the USA than anywhere I've been in Europe. Also, it's not about being asked to present a passport but presenting a legitimate passport and being met with "you don't look Swedish". Perhaps you are just too accustomed to the feeling of the USA, as an outsider it does feel different, and way more oppressive.
Phemist 15d ago
Where are you from? It's weird to me that you on the one hand defend the US, but on the other DID notice all these armed guards everywhere you went in Europe. If you don't feel it's different, then I don't think you should have noticed it so much? Or if you do notice it everywhere, why would you equate the US and Europe without raising a critical stance against these kinds of policies on either side of the atlantic?
- piva00 14d ago
  I think you can get a sense of what kind of person they are by this kind of comments [0][1]. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49697884 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49697884 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49441324 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49441324
  - hyperlinerapp 14d ago
    A person that likes normal non woke stuff and does not like feces on the street? Seems normal to me.
    - piva00 14d ago
      > Why the fuck are we so soft on these gutter trash in this country. If you think it's normal to call people "gutter trash" I guess you're too far gone in some bullshit and should do some soul-searching to come back to your humanity.
      - Phemist 14d ago
        Anything that touches on US geopolitical/immigration policy is bound to bring out the russian troll army.
        hyperlinerapp 13d ago
        True. Communists are the worst, but especially from tech.
        Phemist 13d ago
        Granted, this one is pretty funny.

piva00 15d ago

I don't mind the stern-looking armed security or immigration officers, it just feels different in the USA. Being chilly is different than being told to "move", I have never experienced such attitude getting into Schengen, at most it's a mostly quiet stern encounter. It's very hard to express in text the feeling of oppression, it's not about just armed security, it's the attitude of those, it's the attitude of the people representing the State, it feels much more adversarial in the USA than anywhere I've been in Europe. Also, it's not about being asked to present a passport but presenting a legitimate passport and being met with "you don't look Swedish". Perhaps you are just too accustomed to the feeling of the USA, as an outsider it does feel different, and way more oppressive.

Phemist 15d ago

Where are you from? It's weird to me that you on the one hand defend the US, but on the other DID notice all these armed guards everywhere you went in Europe. If you don't feel it's different, then I don't think you should have noticed it so much? Or if you do notice it everywhere, why would you equate the US and Europe without raising a critical stance against these kinds of policies on either side of the atlantic?

piva00 14d ago
I think you can get a sense of what kind of person they are by this kind of comments [0][1]. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49697884 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49697884 [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49441324 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49441324
- hyperlinerapp 14d ago
  A person that likes normal non woke stuff and does not like feces on the street? Seems normal to me.
  - piva00 14d ago
    > Why the fuck are we so soft on these gutter trash in this country. If you think it's normal to call people "gutter trash" I guess you're too far gone in some bullshit and should do some soul-searching to come back to your humanity.
    - Phemist 14d ago
      Anything that touches on US geopolitical/immigration policy is bound to bring out the russian troll army.
      - hyperlinerapp 13d ago
        True. Communists are the worst, but especially from tech.
        Phemist 13d ago
        Granted, this one is pretty funny.