to think we really are 2 completely different cultures - the USA and the UK - just looking at the 'rebellion' taking place

[chomalungma]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8228769/Bleak-figures-China-US-economic-hit-virus.html

I know it's only some Americans. I know that it's a massive country with many many more people than the UK

But these scenes are astounding. People flocking to beaches. Protesting about lockdown.
Protesting with guns about lockdown

You just can't imagine these scenes in the UK at the moment.
Especially not the Ohio Zombie picture

It just amazes me - sometimes you think we are very similar to the USA, and then many times, you realise we are completely different.

I ha w always thought we are really different cultures /it is just the common language that muddles it and makes us think we are similar when we really are not.
And don't buy the 'Special Relationship' stuff either.

NoMorePoliticsPlease

The most shocking difference is how the virus has highlighted levels od poverty as Catriona did in the south. Detroit has a huge number of people whose water has been cut off due to bills default. They are in lock down with no running water, toilets or anything. Handwashing ?

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think in the UK you can ever have your water cut off even if you're massively behind with bills?

@MockersxxxxxxxSocialDistancing ....Ummm no. It wasn't the part of paying income tax. Its that whole Taxation without Representation. I find it very interesting and very telling that you think the colonists should have paid income tax to pay for the War plus take responsibility for the .war on New World soul. A war that started on European Soil that most Americans had never sat foot on. A war that the Colonists did not want as it severely impacted our trade with the French and had absolutely no say so in. There is that whole pesky representation thing again

I do think the vast majority of us are trying to stick to government guidelines and we do understand why lockdown has happening, we might not be enjoying it but we know it’s for the greater good.

This ^^ The state I'm in hasn't experienced any protests and everyone seems to be complying with the stay-at-home order, wearing face masks, etc. Our (Republican) governor has issued clear instructions and isn't taking much notice of what Trump says- respect for him has increased, IMO, and my friends are Democrats!

I'm a Brit living in the US and of course the culture's completely different. The US is a massive melting pot of cultures, totally different from a small island with less than 20% of the population of the US.

It's pointless to even compare them.

*I meant respect for the governor, not Trump!

I did wonder to myself how long it would be before Tommy Robinson and the EDL/extreme Brexiters start protesting in the UK. However it might not get them much love on social media.

@NomorePoloticsPlease.....You can't use Detroit as an example. Just for the simple fact that Detroit is dying due to the death of the Anerican Auto Industry. It has lost 60 percent of its population in the past 15 years or so and even at one point actually filed bankruptcy. I have not heard of Deteoit residents going without water due to failure to pay bills. Most states with Shelter in Place orders have suspended utility cut offs during the Pandemic. However, it would not surprise me at all if residents of Detroit were going without water due to infrastructure failure. There is a small city about an hour north of Detroit called Flint. Flint ihas been in a water crisis for several years now. Their water is not physically safe to consume due to lead leakage into the Flint River

@chomalunga Not wearing Red and marching in formation would have won the war for the British alone.

Not wearing Red and marching in formation would have won the war for the British alone

Probably would have helped elsewhere as well

My state is also full of people complying with lockdown, and not protesting. Everything stopped mid-March - it's been a long haul and I'm sure it will continue. It's a very similar level of lockdown to the UK but it's been going on a bit longer.

It appears to be working - our hospitalisation rate is falling, our death rate is 20 per million population. Our big challenge at this point is trying to keep it out of group homes.

Our governor was asked recently what she thought of Trump's pronouncement that only he could decide when the states should open. She said something along the lines of 'I'm too busy to keep track of everything the White House is saying. I have no response.'

She's putting together a plan for reopening but has no plans to rush it.

Detroit has a huge number of people whose water has been cut off due to bills default. They are in lock down with no running water, toilets or anything. Handwashing ?

Google says...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/mar/12/detroit-water-shutoffs-unpaid-bills-coronavirus

Yes, they needed to defend themselves against fierce animals but they were attacking the native Americans and trying to steal their land rather than defend themselves against them.

@bettybattenburg

I think you mean to say “We”.

After all, it was the English that settled America. Almost all of my own ancestors were English.

Why OP would you bring up that we're different

Of course we are. Why would we have anything in common with Americans?

@HannaYeah

After hundreds of years, having English ancestors is pretty irrelevant, don't you think? I find it bizarre when Americans refer to themselves as English/Irish/Italian when they may have never set foot in those countries! You're an American, not English.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/hnsgrassegger/george-soros-conspiracy-finkelstein-birnbaum-orban-netanyahu

Soros is a target for all kinds of nonsense as is Bill Gates. Two Jewish left wing philanthropists targeted for their political views.
You have absolutely zero evidence that Soros did any such thing. And no Qanon conspiracy sites are not legitimate sources .

How is a bunch of Trump supporters protesting funded by Soros?
Ffs I can’t tolerate this level of idiocy

Of course we are. Why would we have anything in common with Americans

Shared history
Shared culture via TV and other media
Common language

@AmICrazyorWhat2

I was replying to a comment about what was done in America to the indigenous population while it was being settled, by people that had come here primarily from England.

An example of the different culture is in the people given discounts and told 'thank you for your service'. In the US it's usually the military; in the UK it's the NHS.

The biggest fear here I think is that health services will be overwhelmed and we won't have the access to the NHS we're used to, so if the virus doesn't get us, something else might.

My US family don't really get that. If you can't afford to go to the doctor because your work's insurance has such a high excess, and then you can't afford most medications if it does pay for you to be in hospital, the fact that hospitals may be overrun and you couldn't get treatment isn't such a shock to the system. And yes, people do die - not from being turned away in a crisis, but from not taking sick leave to recover because they need to pay the bills, from not taking drugs they can't afford, from ekeing out insulin (lots of news stories last year). As various friends of mine have found, if you pay for insurance that guarantees the equivalent of the NHS with all its faults, the cost of living becomes often much higher than here, even if you can have a big house.

@Ulver

Not saying Soros is behind any current protest.

I’m saying I doubt anyone will be protesting at all beyond a handful. Because mostly, we don’t actually protest here. Unless getting paid to do so and bussed in from other places.

And, it’s not anti-Semitic to be against one man and his constant interference in the politics of my own country. The money that organizations he owns spend here to manipulate our politics is documented by law.

Accusing people of hateful things is pathetic.

In the US it's usually the military; in the UK it's the NHS.

This has certainly changed for the present in the US. Healthcare workers on the front line are getting the discounts and the thanks.

“As various friends of mine have found, if you pay for insurance that guarantees the equivalent of the NHS with all its faults, the cost of living becomes often much higher than here, even if you can have a big house.“

I was shocked to read on here that after giving birth, new mothers in the U.K. are put in a ward with other people! I have not heard of anyone even having to share a room with even one other mother in at least 30 yrs. and midwives are somewhat rare, Ob-Gyns are typical. Even if you are very poor and have Medicaid paying your bills, you still have your own room. Every hospital room I’ve ever heard of has it’s own private bathroom (30 yrs ago, when DS was born, my room had a whirlpool tub for after birth. And that was a small town hospital) TV, meals chosen from a menu and room for DP to sleep. Our lowest Public hospital near here does have some semi-private rooms, meaning for two, but not in the maternity ward. So I don’t think it’s comparable to the NHS

@bettybattenburg For sure the settlers took land from the native Americans which led to repeated bloodshed in which the native Americans came off worse. I mention this is the context of the dangers the settlers felt and their desire to bear arms, not a comment on their rights to do so.

@Indiemeg I think you're right on why Americans and Canadians are so different to each other. Their routes to independence were so different.

I just adore the US, have spent lots of time there but have barely scratched the surface yet. Such a vast, beautiful and diverse country. But I do fear for the poor communities with less of a safety net at this time than in European countries.