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’m in Australia. Speaking for myself, I’m as baffled by those pockets of of protest in the US as you are. We haven’t had any such protests here - yet. We are a fairly compliant society generally. Currently - also it does differ slightly between states - all of Australia is in lockdown. Travel between states is generally not permitted, and personal travel outside the home only for a few reasons (eg. shopping, exercise, appointments). Most people work from home if they can and school is online.

Our cases have been relatively low and they are now in decline as the population have stuck to the rules. Some have not, of course, and we do have the same pockets that believe it is all a conspiracy of some kind. We are lucky, too, in that our healthcare is centralised - so if I was to fall sick and needed to go to intensive care, that is a cost my relatives need not worry about.

In terms of tyranny? Not feeling it. We are already highly tracked to a level most us are unaware of. Protesting this seems - the wrong battle to choose. People are dying horribly. Any tiny freedoms we have lost (such as having our hair styled) will be returned to us, sequentially, but lives cannot.

This book is good, it discusses the misconception that the UK is similar or even the misconception that the UK understands the USA simply because we speak the same language and have absorbed ‘notions’ from film etc

Sounds like an interesting book. He's the BBC North American correspondent, isn't he?

I haven’t read the full thread but once I saw a reference to the show Ozark as an example of American culture I had to stop reading. There’s probably a reference to Tiger King in here somewhere too. It’s frightening that people think this way.

The media (esp the Fail) like to show sensationalist images but it is a teeny tiny minority we are talking about. That Ohio picture had 100 people — out of a state population of 12 million — and people are using it to generalize about a country of 328 million!

Another person has a “lovely friend” in America who is pro-gun so she is drawing from that.

Does anyone realize the logical fallacy of these conclusions?

We all watch stories like the Handmaid’s Tale and think how scary that must be but the truth is it could happen anywhere — and much more likely here than much of America. I’m totally anti-gun and I despise Trump but there are reasons why some Americans feel that cling to their civil liberties in this way. To suggest they are merely untamed outlaws is simplistic and reductive to the extreme.

Educate yourselves on how the vast vast vast majority of Americans are behaving during the lockdown and then come back and make negative pronouncements about its culture. As someone who has lived extensively in both places I can tell you that there are indeed many differences between many Americans and many British but also lots of similarities. If you think they are “completely different” I can only assume you haven’t traveled much to other parts of the world?

f you think they are “completely different” I can only assume you haven’t traveled much to other parts of the world

Maybe you should read the whole thread?

The uk certainly has its problems but I was shocked to hear how many households in Detroit - including with young children - who have had their water disconnected - some for months already - for non-payment of water bills. In most civilised countries it is unlawful to disconnect the water supply of an occupied home since access to running water is a basic human right.

Detroit has one of the worst rates of the virus - this ‘water restart plan’ launched by the mayor in March, should never have been necessary.

detroitmi.gov/departments/customer-care/water-and-sewerage-department/coronavirus-covid-19-water-restart-plan

This video sums it up for me.

American libertarian beliefs are far more extreme than ours.

Spain? We could try to ask the Mayans, Incas and Aztecs about Spain, but they seem to be unaccountably unavailable.

Abolition of Slavery: British Empire 1833. USA 1865. Spanish Empire 1886.

And the Moorcoccans would also like a word.

Detroit is just crazy with the poverty, you don't imagine it in a place just over the river from Canada but its the ultimate display of what happens in post industrial areas under extreme capitalist governance.

You mustnt talk about that, Mockers. Only the british had an empire. And they must never be allowed to forget about it even though people don't dream of doing that with even Germans and even though 99% of people do not come from the British ruling classes.

I was surprised by suggestions before the lockdown that the UK government thought people wouldn't comply. With a few exceptions, we are generally a very law-abiding nation.

I do not agree with this. None of my neighbours are complying with the social distancing regulations several had parties over Easter, they're using the Thursday night clap to bully others by ringing bells to summon people outside for the clap and then slagging them off online if they didn't go outside the clap is nothing to do with the NHS but about being outside so your neighbours can see you and then my neighbours group closely together afterwards to chat for an hour, the police have set up online reporting for neighbours to report each other because so many people are not following the lockdown and just look at all the people who quickly signed up as an NHS volunteer but then have done nothing. The British want to be seen as doing the right thing, but a large percentage are all talk from my experience.
I don't think the American and British cultures are too different. The Americans are more vocal about their rights, the British might verbally agree to lockdown but they carry on as normal because the laws don't apply to me attitude.

Alex Jones has been banned from many online platforms for spreading conspiracy theories and race hate.
To see people spouting his anti Semitic racist nonsense on here is troubling.
Also at least in the U.K. the police have the good sense to lock up people like Tommy Robinson and not allow him to rabble rouse and form armed malitias.
Unfortunately in the US these far right lunatics have free rein.

I'm curious why posters are so quick to pull up the US for comparison to the UK. I saw a thread recently something along the lines 'this is why the British think Americans are idiots'

Why all the hate for the US?

I think a lot of it is overexposure. We get far too much USA in our lives. We get abusive terms like 'boomer' that do not match our demographis, the bizzare 'Karen' thing which is overtly racist, the free and easy use of the word 'bitch' as a friendly insult between friends, etc.

We're sick of it.

WhatExit, I mentioned 'Ozark', the criminal drama, in the context of netflix recommendations to a cashier in a supermarket. I was describing the kind of holiday destination it would be akin to over here- the Lake District but that's where the similarities begin and end as 'no', you would not see that level of murder, violence or drug running in the Lake District. The statistics out there prove unfortunaely that the USA does have those problems even if you are looking at it per 100,000 of the population If you read all my posts you would also see that I also referenced the Puritans which if you are discussing the cultural differences between the US and Britain, is highly relevant. Folklore, myths and legends have defined British culture, this is not the case in the US- religion is more important. There is far greater obedience in the US, life is less coded.

Why all the hate for the US

This is not about 'hating' the US.

It's really talking about the cultural differences (in general) between 2 countries - although we do have a lot in common, there are still some massive differences - at a general level.

It's interesting to discuss where that comes from.

@Ulver I'm more concerened about you. Is the tin foil getting too tight or something?

The US doesn’t really have a proper long established history that has created a unified societal conscious. It’s a country of immigrants with so many different cultural heritages it’s a recipe for civil unrest as each try to enforce their ways of living. Basically what we are seeing is modern day tribal warfare played out with everyone thinking their god (either religious or secular) is the one to follow and worship and their way of life should dictate how everyone else lives.

In England/Scotland/wales/n. Ireland we by and large sorted that shit out centuries ago and have more of a common societal consciousness

I think a lot of it is overexposure. We get far too much USA in our lives.

And in the US we've been inundated with British popular culture for decades, starting with the Beatles, Upstairs Downstairs, etc. Yet there's no irrational hatred for the UK here, so I don't think that overexposure explains it.

Abolition of Slavery: British Empire 1833. USA 1865. Spanish Empire 1886.

The 13th Amendment - "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

So slavery is still allowed in the US in some circumstances.

Unfortunately in the US these far right lunatics have free rein.

@Ulver I agree, things would be much tidier here if we could imprison people for their political views like they can in Cuba or North Korea.

So slavery is still allowed in the US in some circumstances.

Only in the sense that people serving sentences for criminal convictions can be required to work instead of watching telly all day, but thanks for playing.

@Mysterian Considering you also have jails and prisons than slavery is also legal in your country

@MissConductUS.....That pesky Freedom of Speech thing

Yet there's no irrational hatred for the UK here, so I don't think that overexposure explains it

No hatred here.
It's just a very different culture (in general) - and it's interesting to see that there are massive cultural differences despite the massive American influence on our culture.

"So slavery is still allowed in the US in some circumstances."

Only in the sense that people serving sentences for criminal convictions can be required to work instead of watching telly all day, but thanks for playing. - So it's "slavery" in the "slavery" sense of the word. You do know you just agreed with me don't you?