Metis wrote:Goodspeed wrote:Metis wrote:Laurence Drake wrote:Europe would be a superpower if its people hadn't all moved to america
That's one reason why America is so strong -- many of the most adventurous of the people of other countries came here to live.
Lol more like the rejects
Those who will end up being pioneers and frontiersmen usually don't fit in well in a controlled and regimented society.
LOL. I’m British but I live in America and I can tell you that people have far greater freedoms in Europe.
Some Americans ask me how I like living here, but they say it so it’s obvious they just wanna hear me say ‘oh America is so great, it amazing. So much better than where I come from’, which they are only ever dimly aware of. I emigrated here for the sake of my wife’s career. She’s an academic and she’s American but she was struggling to land a job in Europe. I’ve lived and travelled all over the world. I’m the kind of bee that’s willing to fly to where the honey’s sweetest. I like living here, everywhere has upsides, but it wasn’t my first choice and we’ll probably move back to Europe or go to Asia once she’s done her time here.
It’s all about population density. America doesn’t really have much. For every square mile in America there are roughly 85 people. Britain 650. This means the cost of living here is cheap, which in turn means you have the freedom to buy more stuff. I’m about to invest in a very high-end sauna which I couldn’t have dreamed of in the UK, but here it’s just easy. Back in the UK getting together the cash to buy the sauna is one thing, but then finding the space and making sure you’ve got the ventilation and permissions and paying the guys to deliver and install it etc... etc...etc... But here it’s just easy and that’s fun. But then everything’s easy here, which has been a nice change of pace for me.
Low population density also means that competition is weaker. Now I’d never play away from home, and back in the UK I did okay with the ladies before getting married, but American women go TOTALLY gaga for Briowl. Sometimes it’s actually embarrassing the way they gush over Briowl. It’s not just Briowl’s pretty face, kickin’ bod and ‘cute British accent’ (I put that in inverted commas because I don’t have an accent. I just speak English the way it’s meant to be spoken. Quick tip: - The key is to use the jaw and tongue muscles, don't just let your mouth fall open and the words spill out. It’s called enunciation. Clearly defined vowel sounds are what gets the girls wet boys), but it’s also about just having better social skills. Living in close proximity to lots of people from all different walks of life and from all over the world just makes you better at dealing with people.
Perhaps 30-35% or more of Americans are functionally retarded. That figure is maybe only 10-20% max in Europe. It varies obviously, but stronger competition and tougher living conditions just makes Europeans better equipped to deal with stuff. When you live in a small town in America, cut off from the outside world, easy job, easy life and you don’t interact with and haven't ever really interacted with different people, you just end up not very fit to survive outside of your little fishbowl, with a very small frame of reference and little things scare the shit out of you. The functionally retarded are very easy to dismiss, which means you never have to worry much about a big fish coming along and swallowing you up, because you are the pike and they are the minnows and I really enjoy being in that situation.
That applies to the workplace too. The strong US economy provides greater opportunities and with people being spread out a lot more you just don’t get anywhere near the same type of competition for jobs in the US, so you don’t have to be as smart and/or qualified as you do in Europe. The US economy isn’t stronger because Americans are better. America just has a lot of natural resources and land.
Finally, when people are living, tightly packed, bumping into one another, fisticuffs happen. Britain is a much more violent place where you have to be ready to dish out a knuckle sandwich from time to time to defend what's yours. So you get handy. That's why despite having less than a third of the population of the US, Britain has almost the same number of world boxing champs and is about to completely clean up the heavyweight division. It's nice to just relax and not worry about having to lay out some chump who thinks he can get one over on you, but it's also nice to know that if any shit does go down you are much more likely to come out on top.
So life is easier here but the downside to living in America is that:-
1) The food is woeful. Sure British food isn't great but in UK I could take a mini-break to Paris or Seville or Bergamo or to many other places where the food is sensational. Here the food is mainly garbage and never ever even remotely near the same level as in those types of places in Europe.
2) There is almost no cultural life whatsoever. Go to a music festival with world class acts? No. Comedy gig with performers who aren't total shit? No. Museums, Art shows with stuff worth seeing? No and no. Cultural district that you can't completely cover in 15 mins? No. Theatres? Operas? Plays? Fucking anything worth seeing? No, no, no and no. Nothing. Diddly-squat. Zip. Nada. Now I don't really like to go to much of that stuff on a regular basis, but I do like it to be there, I like to have the option should I want it. That's freedom.
People came from Europe to America for a range of reasons. Sometimes it was famine, war, persecution, escaping justice whatever. Most of the time I think they experienced what I have. Life is easier here but a bit less civilised.
Now those first few boatloads of 'pioneers' didn't come to America fleeing religious persecution as a lot of people think. They actually hated tolerant British society and wanted the freedom to persecute others for not sharing their religious beliefs. Unfortunately that has stuck to some extent which is why the US is always 20-50 years behind Europe in terms of granting civil liberties. 13 states still have sodomy laws which include having anal sex with your wife in your own home. Now that might be legal archaeology but still there are plenty of examples. Governments place far more control on what you are and are not allowed to do in the US compared with Europe. Easy isn't the same as free.
Back to the subject of this thread. China will be the leading global superpower in the lifetime of most of the people on this forum. But China was the first leading global superpower (Song Dynasty) and the last time China held that position it behaved a fuck of a lot better than when the West was dominant, so we can all relax about that. As a member of the country that held the largest empire in human history (I also have Mongol blood so whichever way you define it I am that) to members of the soon to be former leading superpower I have some advice for you. Don't try to fight it. China has 4x pop. Just focus on developing your people through civilising activities such as the Arts and maybe we can see that retardation level fall to a more manageable level.
Hillary not Trump will help you in that effort, but enough of you seemed to have realised that by now :)