Guns: Why Are They So Awesome?

[jonesthecurl]

I'm talking impressions only, not a sociologist, but Americans do seem to on average be less aware of the outside universe. Brits are insular too, some urban europeans a lot less so.

[chang50]

There are people there that have not left their neighborhood also.

Of course there are,and most of the Americans I've encountered on my travels have been lovely people,but the parochialism displayed on the net is staggering.Bill Bryson summed up the prevailing attitude of his countrymen thus, 'we don't so much grow up with the knowledge that our country is best,but the understanding this is true'.Apologies if my paraphrasing is not entirely accurate but the gist is.

[saxitoxin]

One thing I have noticed is that they seem to be on average much more worldly and therefore have at least considered contrasting societies more than your average American.

necessity/survival

If I leave Milton Keynes and drive 2500 km in every direction I will visit 18 different countries.



If I leave Topeka and drive 2500 km in every direction I will still be in the United States.



the entire nation of Denmark could fit inside Lake Michigan - in Belgium you have three different groups battling for ethnolinguistic autonomy in a land mass the size of the City of Tampa ... comparing any European micro-state like the UK or Liechtenstein to the U.S. or Russia is like comparing your fish bowl to the Pacific Ocean; that's why these statistical juxtapositions are meaningless

[tzor]

Saxi, you are comparing apples and oranges; The United States is the equivalent of the European Union (with the exception that the EU is still in the "Articles of Confederation" stage). There are 24 sates in your American Circle you drew. The biggest difference is that of a common language (for the most part) in the states of the United States as opposed to the nations in the European Union.

Moreover, you just used the "flyover" states for your argument, a part of the United States that has been on the loosing side of presidential elections for the past two terms.

[saxitoxin]

Saxi, you are comparing apples and oranges; The United States is the equivalent of the European Union (with the exception that the EU is still in the "Articles of Confederation" stage). There are 24 sates in your American Circle you drew. The biggest difference is that of a common language (for the most part) in the states of the United States as opposed to the nations in the European Union.

"European Union" is the name of a fairy tale told to young French civil servants before they get tucked into bed at night. It's not a real thing.

[betiko]

If You want, but the euro and the euro central bank is a reality, just like the european parliament, the european council, the european commission and a vast ect that deal with legislations, macro economics ect for 27 states. That s more people than in the US and a larger economy.
Now take Canada. The population density is a joke compared to the US. Can we compare statistics in terms of death by firearms/inhabitants?

Regarding road kills, in begium it s 800 kills/year for 11M people; in the US its 45 000 kills/year for 311M people. That is twice as much in the US proportionally, what kind of silly argument was that?

By the way, I don t know why the conversation lead to the UK in response to my previous question as that s not my nationality and I don t remember the conversation being about us/uk

[tzor]

"European Union" is the name of a fairy tale told to young French civil servants before they get tucked into bed at night. It's not a real thing.

Many people would have said the same thing to the United States under the Articles of Confederation. With the ability to freely move among the nations within the EU, people often relocated on retirement to the best nation for retired people. When France raised the tax on the rich, some of the rich simply moved next door to Belgium. So while the structure of the EU is mostly smoke and mirrors, the societal implications of the EU are massive. This will only get worse as the birth death of the Europeans will lead to the nations in the EU being comprised of mostly foreigners who have to sense of national identity, only a vague identity to the EU as a whole.

[betiko]

Well look at forums here. Whe all often speak of europeans vs americans when we make generalities. Even if we are all very different, our cultures are closer from one another compared to the american culture. So there is a european identity.

[saxitoxin]

If You want, but the euro and the euro central bank is a reality, just like the european parliament, the european council, the european commission and a vast ect that deal with legislations, macro economics ect for 27 states. That s more people than in the US and a larger economy.
Now take Canada. The population density is a joke compared to the US. Can we compare statistics in terms of death by firearms/inhabitants?

Regarding road kills, in begium it s 800 kills/year for 11M people; in the US its 45 000 kills/year for 311M people. That is twice as much in the US proportionally, what kind of silly argument was that?

By the way, I don t know why the conversation lead to the UK in response to my previous question as that s not my nationality and I don t remember the conversation being about us/uk

"European Union" is the name of a fairy tale told to young French civil servants before they get tucked into bed at night. It's not a real thing.

Many people would have said the same thing to the United States under the Articles of Confederation. With the ability to freely move among the nations within the EU, people often relocated on retirement to the best nation for retired people. When France raised the tax on the rich, some of the rich simply moved next door to Belgium. So while the structure of the EU is mostly smoke and mirrors, the societal implications of the EU are massive. This will only get worse as the birth death of the Europeans will lead to the nations in the EU being comprised of mostly foreigners who have to sense of national identity, only a vague identity to the EU as a whole.

incorrect

[betiko]

If You want, but the euro and the euro central bank is a reality, just like the european parliament, the european council, the european commission and a vast ect that deal with legislations, macro economics ect for 27 states. That s more people than in the US and a larger economy.
Now take Canada. The population density is a joke compared to the US. Can we compare statistics in terms of death by firearms/inhabitants?

Regarding road kills, in begium it s 800 kills/year for 11M people; in the US its 45 000 kills/year for 311M people. That is twice as much in the US proportionally, what kind of silly argument was that?

By the way, I don t know why the conversation lead to the UK in response to my previous question as that s not my nationality and I don t remember the conversation being about us/uk

"European UnionT" is the name of a fairy tale told to young French civil servants before they get tucked into bed at night. It's not a real thing.

Many people would have said the same thing to the United States under the Articles of Confederation. With the ability to freely move among the nations within the EU, people often relocated on retirement to the best nation for retired people. When France raised the tax on the rich, some of the rich simply moved next door to Belgium. So while the structure of the EU is mostly smoke and mirrors, the societal implications of the EU are massive. This will only get worse as the birth death of the Europeans will lead to the nations in the EU being comprised of mostly foreigners who have to sense of national identity, only a vague identity to the EU as a whole.

incorrect

D-

[WheezKalifa]

Americans love guns because we were never fuedal serfs who looked to big daddy in his castle to take care of us. Also because the communities in America with the most legal guns have the least crime.

[WheezKalifa]

It's about power, and the increased chance of survival.

Look, we are basically hard wired monkeys who have evolved too quickly to dampen some basic genetic hardwired survival instincts. Guns are basically a more efficient and deadly way of throwing a rock. Bigger better gun, means I can kill you better/faster/and more of your ilk then you can do me and mine.
It's the same with our unreasonable drive to consume and acquire vast amounts of material goods. The more we have, the bigger our stockpiles, the better chance of attracting a mate, surviving and passing on our genetic code.

So we want to be the biggest and baddest, with the most bling, toys, gold, and guns.

The chances of humanity spontaneously socially evolving past these massive chunks of ingrained destructive behaviors is slim to none.

The biggest argument for guns in every home, every night table, and every belt holster is this:

We are all fucking violent fuckheads, and damn right you need to protect yourselves from the colossal idiocy that is the sheeple society.

Now I don't like it, and I'd love not to agree with this point of view, but the logic and data are getting harder and harder to refute every year.

Johnny Rockets

This is a great explanation.

[chang50]

Americans love guns because we were never fuedal serfs who looked to big daddy in his castle to take care of us. Also because the communities in America with the most legal guns have the least crime.

You've got that precisely the wrong way round, medieval serfs were exploited by their lords and masters who didn't care about them at all,but they did have more freedom than the slaves in the US up till 1865.So in fact large numbers of Americans were worse than fuedal serfs until quite recently........