Thank heavens I don't live in the USA

[Casino218]

Protesting against the lockdown! What is wrong with them? Apparently they are finding it too hard!

Yes...we should all be running our countries according to what a movie script says.

That makes perfect sense. Screw science and data...let’s all run to the dvd collection to set public policy

Was that reply directed at me?

The science says 2.1 millions Americans will die without social distancing: that is there scientific projection.

What do you think that reaction would be to that? Keep calm on carry on or fucking chaos?

The question many of us are asking is, why don’t we allow the ones with less risk get on with life which will allow us to shield the more vulnerable longer and more effectively

Because it's not that simple? What of children, for example, who can't get back to school because of their own health conditions or that of someone in their family? Think how many people there are out there with asthma. There is an expectation that by far the majority of people with asthma will live long and productive lives. If the best we can offer them is 'stay home and miss a year's worth of education (at least)' then they are people who will be seriously disadvantaged at all things life, even in the short-term.

I am not sure, as a teacher, I am comfortable with that - effectively writing off whole cohorts of people based on illnesses that they had no control over. This is repeated throughout society - people will have to make decisions that perhaps split households, ensure that family's are split down the middle, that some people are isolated for possibly more than a year and watch others live a reasonably prividledged existence by just being able to get out and about. Two tier society over night by health - it will affect the rich and the poor alike. People having to be grateful that they are shielded? I mean yes, better than dying, but still....

I don't know the answers. People will lose out whatever decisions are made on our behalves.

@saltinesandcoffeecups America's system not only means a lack of health care for people, but check the health ratings of universal health care vs America. Universal has far better standard of health. Last time I checked Australia was ranked 2nd. America, 42. The problem is if you are used to substandard health care, you have no idea what proper health care is like. And you then have the opinions that many in America does. That money and economy is more important than life. Heck, gun rights are more important than life. It is a very sick and uncivilised culture.

Science and data says not only is America's 3rd world health system one of the worst in the world but that lockdown is saving lives. What is it about some Americans who think saving lives is not important? Call it a type of gun. They'll be drooling to save it in no time.

[Yawn] Another thread started to take pot shots at the U.S. Moving along; nothing to see here . . .

P.S. Thank you to those on here not playing and instead expressing kindness and support

@TealWater

Nancy Pelosi ...Bernie is that you?

I find america fascinating but not really in good way , i don't believe they want universal healthcare because they would have to want to use their taxes on the poorer communities and if the culture is all about bettering your self (american dream etc) then i guess in their eyes, the poorer people have done something to effect their status and if they had worked harder they wouldnt be poor. So why should they support them.

@saltinesandcoffeecups I'm in Australia, so no. Just stating facts. One of the things Australians are deeply proud of (well, 2 things) is our universal health care which means people have easy access to first class health care with their choice of Dr/specialist, paying for a bed in hospital is......something that is a foreign concept to us, and our gun control laws that has saved lives. Good health care saves lives, not arming the population with semi automatics saves lives, too. Always wanted to visit parts of America, but I would be so scared I might be shot standing in line at a supermarket, then get sent to a run down hospital where they want my credit card before they even look at me in the eye. Shudder. I am grateful I live where I live.

Never really appreciated him when he was our Prime Minister but former PM Paul Keating gave an excellent answer when on a panel on November 11 to discuss Trump's election.

“This society of ours is a better society than the United States,” said Keating. “It’s more even. It’s more fair. We’ve had a 50 percent increase in real incomes in the last 20 years. Median America has had zero. Zero. We have universal health protection, from the cradle to the grave. We have a retirement income system, with superannuation. We have high participation rates in schools. We don’t shoot our children in schools, and if they were to be shot we’d take the guns off the people who shot them. The Americans do not do this.”

This thread is so cute...lots of internet experts on America.

I’m always curious why anyone cares what we do and how we live our lives?

Nearly everyone in the US respects the lockdown policies and seem to accept that they are necessary for the time being. The protestors represent a tiny minority who have decided that throwing caution to the wind is the best strategy. Sadly, they are being encouraged by the idiotic and irresponsible occupant of the White House.

Of course people are worried about their livelihoods. The lack of a decent social safety net exacerbates the issue considerably. But the answer is not to "open the economy" or "liberate the states." 🙄 More protections and financial support for the unemployed and the ill should be implemented IMO. And a comprehensive system of testing and contact tracing needs to be put in place.

Having said that, I do find the usual anti-American attitude on MN tiresome and pathetic. It's perfectly possible to criticise policies and politicians without resorting to stupid stereotypes and inaccurate generalisations.

@saltinesandcoffeecups I was not suggesting that people were claiming unemployment as a first choice. Discussions tend to run a lot smoother if you don't put words in people's mouths.

@PickAChew

So what are you trying to say? Because if you weren’t saying that Americans would be fine and dandy with hiding under their beds as long as there was a government check rolling in I seemed to have missed your point.

Always wanted to visit parts of America, but I would be so scared I might be shot standing in line at a supermarket, then get sent to a run down hospital where they want my credit card before they even look at me in the eye. Shudder. I am grateful I live where I live.

Honestly. The USA is far from perfect. The insurance based healthcare system has led to an expensive and exclusionary system compared to much of the developed world.

But if you can afford healthcare it is excellent usually, hospitals where they check for insurance are state of the art where I live.

No one is shooting anyone in the supermarket lines, people are calm and friendly as they usually are.

Yes the President and his utterings are profoundly unhelpful but he does not control the response to this pandemic the State Governors do.

They are giving different types of responses but the significant majority of them are doing at least as well if not better than the UK government. ( Yes I am grateful I don't live in Florida or Texas but they are outliers and not the norm)

I’m always curious why anyone cares what we do and how we live our lives?

What a quaint sentiment. People are because you are not on this floating rock in the vastness of space by yourself. We are all interconnected in many ways. Extremist views can spread like a plague and America has more than its fair share in that regard.

Care

Oh FFS. "Primitive, savage and backward"? Comments of this nature are exactly why I try to avoid MN threads about the US.

Oh @TealWater you are just a peach, aren’t you. Why bother with a ‘barbarian’ such as myself. Shouldn’t you be surfing or putting a shrimp on the barbie or some other stereotypical thing you Aussies do? That’s what we’re doing here, right? Pulling out tropes and other nonsense we’ve been fed?

DotForShort To many in the UK and Australia that is genuinely how America is seen, if you want to know the honest truth. I am simply using adjectives that many people use to describe America.

@saltinesandcoffeecups we care because if the USA withholds funds from WHO then we all suffer. We care because when Smallpox was eradicated it was only eradicated through cooperation of all countries. Your president seems to be using this pandemic as his soapbox for craziness and the notion of cooperation is so far from his mind it risks all our health.

saltinesandcoffeecups What I am saying isn't tropes or 'nonsense' I've been 'fed', it happens to be factual. That's the point. I am not stating any facts that aren't demonstrably true and can't be backed up.

I am fascinated by the US at the moment. From what I’ve seen - which might be totally unrepresentative of reality - the protests seem to be mainly by white people (mostly men) who support Trump to a rabid extent, and enjoy carrying big guns and waving the Confederate flag in public. The Michigan protesters seemed to be chanting ‘lock her [Gretchen Whitmer] up’. They’ve been encouraged in this by Trump and his cronies, including horrendously dishonest media.

As for the more sane people, there is a strand of anti-government anti-authority feeling in the US psyche that I think is hard for us to understand, and I think Americans in general have a work ethic and anti-welfare stance much stronger than ours. But their health system is an absolute car crash so it must be really hard juggling the need to stay healthy with the need to earn money at the moment.

I do feel sorry for US citizens, especially in states where the governors are not helping them, and especially because of the catastrophic failure of leadership by Trump. It doesn’t make me feel superior at all: I look at it as a warning to be honest. The current UK government have already taken a few leaves out of Donald Trump’s book. But I’d certainly prefer to be in the UK during the pandemic, that’s for sure.