To think the USA and UK should become 1 country

[FortyDoorsToNowhere]

As the title says.

I think it should happen, not sure why exactly other than to pool out resources.

We wouldn't need a bridge sockreturningpixie, you big silly!
No bridge to Hawaaii, after all!
I have lived in both, and while the enthusiasm and optimism of America is very energizing, the insularity and insecurity is not.
Healthcare, with the right insurance, is excellent, but I knew sooo many people with no insurance at all, and that is scary.
On the one hand, in the US, you can get fired for not much, on the other hand you can start up a business from scratch a lot easier over there.
On the one hand service in restaurants is fab there, and eating out is fun, on the other hand the supermarket food is worse, and very uniform.
It wouldn't work. We are too different. After being there a few years, I realised that we actually have more in common with our European neighbours that the U.S, and that's where we should be. Everything the U.S imports here doesn't translate to our culture and way of life, and ultimately is bad for us.

Math - can I ask you though, why you think that the USA is ahead of the rest of the world? I find that statement odd to be honest especially when you equate it to a much better education system - the USA frequently collaborates with scientists and engineers from other countries, including the UK. One example is the Mercury and Apollo programmes; they had a significant amount of UK educated scientists helping with design and development (around half of the engineers on Mercury were British). And the fuel cells used on Apollo were designed originally by Frances Thomas Bacon - born and raised in Essex.

What I meant by that (and I said pulled ahead in the past tense, referring to the twentieth century - the rest of the world is very much catching up now) I suppose was that America was turning out engineers and science grads, plus agricultural and mining grads in huge numbers, and often from humble beginnings, thanks to the existence of the state university system and free public schools. The career of Dwight Eisenhower is an example of someone coming from pretty much nowhere.

The result of all that encouragement of engineering was domestic appliances, cars, radio and then tv, consumer culture and the world's largest economy, the manufacturing base necessary to conduct war on two fronts (WW2), the military-industrial complex and eventually the space programme -- while other countries of course produced scientists and engineers and contributed valuable expertise, only America and the USSR had the resources to get rockets off the ground. Two very different systems in some ways, but both concentrated on turning out graduates in science and engineering and jobs in those areas were available even in hard times (because of government policy in both cases).

And of course funding the Marshall Plan, which was a major factor in rebuilding western Europe. The plan and other aid could not have been accomplished without an American GDP in the late 1940s of c $260 billion.

I used to think US supermarkets were terrible, and then I discovered Wegmans. They are FABULOUS and they do a great quiche. So even that aspect was much improved for me.

Math - I hope you didn't feel that I was trying to start some kind of UK is better than USA conversation. Indeed the USA helped rebuild Europe after WWII (wouldn't have been in anyone's interest not to) Collaboration that benefits all is a good thing - if it hadn't been for WWII, according to some documentary I saw, we'd probably be 50 years behind where we are now technology wise - a lot of that came from collaboration between countries in an effort to beat the other side.

Spamm - I too found the supermarkets somewhat lacking, and then I discovered Wholefoods!

I wish we had Barnes and Nobel over here - we did have Borders, and they shut down before I returned. Oh to have a huge book shop with coffee, desks and hours of free time....

What about Yorkshire teabags?!
I couldn't live without 'em

What about cream or worse coffee creamer in tea?!?!?! I'm looking at you, McDonalds in Topeka who refused to let me have some milk in my tea!

I get Tetley and Barry's. I would never drink tea west of the Mississippi unless in SF and points north.

In all fairness, Panera bread used to do a pretty nice tea (plus bread that actually tasted of bread). Plus gorgeous soups...

I'm having a mental block - SF?

Blimey, the US has gone downhill. I just visited over Xmas - it's on security lockdown. Everywhere you look, there are posters that say:

If you see someone doing suspicious, report it.

If that's not the four horsemen, I don't know what is.

Also, the annoying uptick with which they end sentences. I hate it.

And, the food is really bad - I used to be terribly nostalgic for it. This time, I had vomit-burps every single day I was there. Nice.

Have they put bins back in public places in the UK now, or are they still on lockdown too?

Where in the world were you, Crowler? Never heard of a poster like that!

Were there really signs saying "If you see someone doing suspicious, report it"? That doesn't even make sense grammatically!

I love regional American cuisines. Amazing seafood in New England, Tex-Mex in the Southwest, New Orleans creole and Cajun cooking. Yum.

Oops sorry - there were lots of "If you see someone doing something suspicious, report it!" signs.

I saw them in the airport & shopping malls - I was both in Orlando and DC. It's Orwellian.

I really like New England food as well.

Just a few areas where there are massive clashes between UK & US cultural expectations:

• Health care
• Female reproductive rights
• Religion
• Gun laws
• Working hours (about 40 per week in UK, 48 per week in US)
• Holiday days (20 min in UK, 9 in US)
• Education
• Taxes (39% of GDP UK, 25% of GDP US)
• Politics
• TV (particularly adverts)
• Pet ownership (ok, I'm getting a little bit silly now)

Even being completely partisan and not declaring one to be better than the other, the incompatibility of these areas would make this impossible. As it goes, I prefer the deal we have in the UK but I am incredibly biased by having been born and raised here.

How are your TV commercials different? And pet ownership? The only commercial I've ever seen was one for Lelli Kelly's. :D

Hmm, I was just in DC before Christmas and they're still doing the "if you see something, say something" campaign in the metro. Maybe I am just overused to it but it doesn't bother me.

Are there not signs or announcements about reporting suspicious packages or anything like that in London?

Oh, I want to know about the pet ownership and commercials also! And the working hours.

No - maybe a few signs in airports/train stations saying "if you leave your bag unattended it will be confiscated".

In the US they have these posters with models acting out their suspicions saying "See something? Hear something? Better safe than sorry. Report it". It really bothers me because it's an obvious attempt to encourage people assume that everyone around them is a terrorist, and support the ridiculous infringements imposed by Homeland Security/TSA et al.

They also have advertisements for weapons manufacturers in the South with the American flag waving behind them.

In the US they have these posters with models acting out their suspicions saying "See something? Hear something? Better safe than sorry. Report it". It really bothers me because it's an obvious attempt to encourage people assume that everyone around them is a terrorist, and support the ridiculous infringements imposed by Homeland Security/TSA et al

How odd - I have never seen those. Who did they say to report 'something' to?

You didn't answer my question though... do they still avoid putting bins in public places in the UK in case of bombs?

Frankly that worried me far more than any signs.

The last time I was in London (a few years ago), there were signs in the tube saying things like "Report suspicious activity."

I remember the signs from the 80s too, when IRA bombings were happening. One had a numbered list of what to do if you saw an unattended package. On one such sign, someone had written in an additional number with the instruction "Fucking run."

The only thing I've ever heard of is a campaign in inner cities to encourage people to report crime, because of the "stop snitchin" or "snitches get stitches" way of life there.

Hmmmm. I am not a terribly optimistic or credulous person -- but I honestly think the primary goal of the "see something, say something" campaign is to keep the subway safe. I really do.

I don't think we're being encouraged to think everyone around us on the subway is a terrorist, but I do think that we're being encouraged to think that anyone could be. Which is true. I do not like thinking that way, but I see that technically it is true.

But -- many, many people in the US really do not like or endorse some of the practices of the TSA or the NSA. In a way I think those signs raise awareness of the issues that many people have with them: I see one, and though I am reminded to look out for suspicious packages, I am also reminded that I'm really worried about infringements on our privacy and also really worried about how unsafe the world has become. So the reaction provoked is complex for me, and I hope for other people, as I think it's important that people be thinking about these issues.

I'm going to have to check the tube next time I'm on it - I don't think there's any "report suspicious activity" signs on it. Undoubtably it's more pervasive in the US.

You didn't answer my question though... do they still avoid putting bins in public places in the UK in case of bombs?

I have this idea in my head that they did this for a while after the 7.7 bombs but now they're back to normal... ? Maybe someone else can confirm this. I do remember having difficulting finding a bin in the UK at some points but not recently. This did drive me insane.