791–800 of 1001 posts
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What are their complaints with "the way things are going in the US?"
They are very upset with what they see as growing authoritarianism from the government -- particularly wrt many covid interventions. (for what it's worth, I mostly disagree but I do see signs of growing authoritarianism among many on both the left and right)
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1. Many of them were armed 2. That was because the Trump administration refused to send in the national guard for several hours after the terrorist attack on January 6th. If the government does not stand up to terrorists attacking the US Capitol, then yes, they can take the building quite easily.
they were armed? do you have a source for that? The gun charges were dropped.
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> It's the same in the US, and basically every country in the world. Some places are dangerous, others aren't. No, it's really not. I spent a number of years living in Seoul, and you can have a 25 million people metro area with virtually no areas you wouldn't go to alone at night. They may exist, somewhere, but you really have to struggle to find them. That plus no loud and aggressive people on the streets, basically…
> Culture really matters I agree with you wholeheartedly. The cultures of SK and the US are very, very different. Particularly, south Koreans are all united by being under the constant threat of devastating war as long as almost any of them have been alive.
There's something admirable about the idea that a government would not take away all the guns. The idea that people should not have to give up all of their ability to fight. The idea that people should not be entirely dependent on police for their defense. And the idea that physically weaker people (often women) can defend themselves against the strong. Does this idea work? Surprisingly well. If you had to guess the…
> But the U.S. murder rate is not all that remarkable, really The US is at 4.96/100,000 for 2012. For reference, Angola is better at 4.85. Bulgaria and Romania, the poorest countries in the EU, are at 1.3. France is at 1.2. If by not remarkable you mean 3 as bad as other developed countries, sure. The numbers are only for intentional homicide, not even counting accidents and suicides which are also made worse by the…
What is it about Vermont, where you can walk around with concealed assault weapons, that makes it safer than "Europe"?
Czech Republic is an exception, it's a shall issue European country. The majority of gun owners also have concealed carry permits. Homicide rate is very low, only 0.9.
Why?
"the homicide rate in Europe was 3.0 per 100,000 population." - https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/gsh/Bookle...
https://vermontbiz.com/news/2019/october/23/vermont-has-3rd-...
"Vermont Business Magazine Vermont reported the 3rd lowest murder rate (1.8) compared to other states. This was 3.1 points below the national average of 4.9 homicides per 100,000 individuals, according to a new report from safewise.com(link is external). In fact, the three states from Northern New England had the lowest murder rates."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_laws_in_Vermont#Summary_ta...
There's something admirable about the idea that a government would not take away all the guns. The idea that people should not have to give up all of their ability to fight. The idea that people should not be entirely dependent on police for their defense. And the idea that physically weaker people (often women) can defend themselves against the strong. Does this idea work? Surprisingly well. If you had to guess the…
In the US. But look at the effect it has on your neighbours. The most violent and dangerous countries in the world are in Central America, and that is a direct result of the US being awash with guns.
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> But the U.S. murder rate is not all that remarkable, really The US is at 4.96/100,000 for 2012. For reference, Angola is better at 4.85. Bulgaria and Romania, the poorest countries in the EU, are at 1.3. France is at 1.2. If by not remarkable you mean 3 as bad as other developed countries, sure. The numbers are only for intentional homicide, not even counting accidents and suicides which are also made worse by the…
Agreed with all of the above, but it addition, isn’t it obvious gun owners in the United States are much more likely to support any likely authoritarian government? They are mostly right wing, and the right wing in the US increasingly leans authoritarian.
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> Luckily the modern left is the only group of people who let their prejudices dictate their perceptions. I never said they had a monopoly, but I'm not going let them off the hook just because they've got competition. Their displays of that repulsive tendency also clash more harshly with their rhetoric.
Well enjoy your endless conflict, because what you describe as your biggest issues with the modern left is simply a trait (some would call a flaw) that affects all people. I would work on something more concrete when it comes to your issues with a political leaning if I were you.
I.e. not assuming they have slimy, horrible negative personal qualities because of the group they belong to.
When this is your 'thing' and main claim to legitimacy, it hits harder when you're hypocritical about it.
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> I winced when you started the comparison with Brazil and Mexico. What about Greenland? > ...anybody who's visited Mexico knows not to go random places alone. It's the same in the US, and basically every country in the world. Some places are dangerous, others aren't. > ...if Brazil and Mexico are our points of comparison, we're... not in a situation I'd want to be in, to put it diplomatically. Put it undiplomaticall…
> It's the same in the US, and basically every country in the world. Some places are dangerous, others aren't. No, it's really not. I spent a number of years living in Seoul, and you can have a 25 million people metro area with virtually no areas you wouldn't go to alone at night. They may exist, somewhere, but you really have to struggle to find them. That plus no loud and aggressive people on the streets, basically…
South Korea homicide rates are 300% higher than Czech Republic, which is a shall issue country, and most permits are for concealed carry.
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I think these are two pretty different situations. If civilian gun owners in the US tried to overthrow the US government, the US military would crush them in a heartbeat. Hell, with the level of militarization of many local police departments in the US, it might not even take the US military. You can't really compare that to a reluctant, unpopular war fought in someone else's territory. The US was never going to comm…
" the US military would crush them in a heartbeat " I think what we've seen in prior civil wars is that portions of the military will support both sides.
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So I guess you don't have fire extinguishers in your house, car or place of work, only buy car liability insurance because it's the law, or home insurance because it's required by your mortgage holder? No insurance for your personal property? I've owned guns for self protection in the same 40+ years and have never needed them for self-protection, but I also haven't needed any of the other above forms of insurance exc…
By that logic, we should also have grenades, missiles, and perhaps a tactical nuclear weapon at home, just in case. Probably won't need them, but who knows. > I've owned guns for self protection in the same 40+ years and have never needed them for self-protection, but I also haven't needed any of the other above forms of insurance except the last which came in really handy when my apartment was hit by a natural disas…