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I can't say I hate any bit of the UK. Sure our politicians are double dealing but that's the way politics works, through compromise and argument. Its annoying when they go back on election promises such as a pledge to oppose tuition fees being raised but what can you do. Our country is in a pretty decent shape at the moment. We are a vibrant multi-cultural society and while integration remains a problem and there are racial tensions all over the show I do feel that we are living in an age when someone can be who he/she is without fear of repercussions.

To

Not being odd or anything but I would prefer to live in the society depicted in the second picture where people are allowed to present their views without fear of reprisals or being mistreated by the establishment as opposed to the society of blind nationalism and Jingoism.

'I do not agree with what you are saying but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.' Voltaire

yani wrote:
'I do not agree with what you are saying but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.' Voltaire

More fool him.


I agree with everything else you posted.

Mr Mystery wrote:

hemingway wrote:Hm. Politically?

The Gun Grabbing platforms of the Liberal Party of Canada and the NDP gak all over not only the Canadian tradition of sports shooting and hunting, and the sacrifices our grandfathers made to preserve a free society, but also the common law right to self defense. (this point makes me wonder why you brits, with your nanny-statism and CCTV everywhere and draconian gun laws aren't standing up for yourselves a little more)

Because we realise that owning a gun doesn't mean anything, as you're never going to overthrow your Government? And indeed the only reason to have a gun for home defence is if the laws on guns means anyone you'd need to defend your home from is likely to be packing?

Simply put, we're just not that paranoid. And a frying pan upside the head does the job just as well.

btw, most Canadians feel that way too.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:

Mr Mystery wrote:

hemingway wrote:Hm. Politically?

The Gun Grabbing platforms of the Liberal Party of Canada and the NDP gak all over not only the Canadian tradition of sports shooting and hunting, and the sacrifices our grandfathers made to preserve a free society, but also the common law right to self defense. (this point makes me wonder why you brits, with your nanny-statism and CCTV everywhere and draconian gun laws aren't standing up for yourselves a little more)

Because we realise that owning a gun doesn't mean anything, as you're never going to overthrow your Government? And indeed the only reason to have a gun for home defence is if the laws on guns means anyone you'd need to defend your home from is likely to be packing?

Simply put, we're just not that paranoid. And a frying pan upside the head does the job just as well.

btw, most Canadians feel that way too.

Thats only because you're all buried under hundreds of feet of snow...and thats during the summer.

Cheesecat wrote:I hate people who complain about there country.

You may be right. Especially since the majority of us live in rich 1st world countries.


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Frazzled wrote:

KamikazeCanuck wrote:

Mr Mystery wrote:

hemingway wrote:Hm. Politically?

The Gun Grabbing platforms of the Liberal Party of Canada and the NDP gak all over not only the Canadian tradition of sports shooting and hunting, and the sacrifices our grandfathers made to preserve a free society, but also the common law right to self defense. (this point makes me wonder why you brits, with your nanny-statism and CCTV everywhere and draconian gun laws aren't standing up for yourselves a little more)

Because we realise that owning a gun doesn't mean anything, as you're never going to overthrow your Government? And indeed the only reason to have a gun for home defence is if the laws on guns means anyone you'd need to defend your home from is likely to be packing?

Simply put, we're just not that paranoid. And a frying pan upside the head does the job just as well.

btw, most Canadians feel that way too.

Thats only because you're all buried under hundreds of feet of snow...and thats during the summer.

I'm from Pacific North West we're buried under hundreds of feet of rain....year round.

When even Scots and Thais say its a little damp, you know you're not living in no desert.

1. Corporate 'personhood'. Corporations are wonderful liability tools, but don't deserve protected speech or other qualities.
2. Use of imperial measurements. Seriously, metric measurements aren't that hard to learn.

dogma wrote:
Anti-intellectualism

rubiksnoob wrote:
In all seriousness, one thing that really irks me is how overall American culture/society scorns actual thinking. Engaging in thought provoking activity is generally something most people avoid at all cost, at least in my experience.

For me more specifically, it's that there's a prevailing trend of deliberately not engaging in debate or discussion and simply embracing a position based upon sound bites. It seems that nuance is actively avoided anymore, which makes it impossible to reach consensus on a great variety of topics.

Crap like this gets on my wick.

For a country so paranoid about paedophilia, we're pretty horrendous on the old double standards. Do we really need to ban this stuff, or can we not just slap parents about for allowing this particular market to thrive?

In the great scheme of things we have it pretty good, whenever I get a downer on the UK I try to think of where else I would rather live, without being a millionaire. It ends up that I can't think of another place I would rather be.

Things which I do hate are the glorification of ignorance. Walk into any educational establishment or workplace, gather the workforce/class together and ask a question. Nine times out of ten one of two things will happen. If the question is asked of the group nobody will volunteer an answer for fear of being branded a swot or a smart ass. If the question is asked directly and the person gets it wrong people will laugh and think it's funny. It isn't. It is ignorance and should be despised and make the person feel ashamed and determined to better themselves.
I can't help feel that this stems from the "there are no loosers" school of thought. Competition is healthy it enables people to understand what they are good at and where they need to improve. The celebration of mediocrity and stupidity which sees the likes of Jade Goody and Jordan become a national heros makes me sick.

Also fat people.

Ah but Jade Goody taught us a valuable lesson.

It's okay to be a pig ignorant, fame hungry, racist fether, as long as you die from Cancer.

I can only hope that Jordan goes the same way.

IceRaptor wrote:1. Corporate 'personhood'. Corporations are wonderful liability tools, but don't deserve protected speech or other qualities.
2. Use of imperial measurements. Seriously, metric measurements aren't that hard to learn.

dogma wrote:
Anti-intellectualism

rubiksnoob wrote:
In all seriousness, one thing that really irks me is how overall American culture/society scorns actual thinking. Engaging in thought provoking activity is generally something most people avoid at all cost, at least in my experience.

For me more specifically, it's that there's a prevailing trend of deliberately not engaging in debate or discussion and simply embracing a position based upon sound bites. It seems that nuance is actively avoided anymore, which makes it impossible to reach consensus on a great variety of topics.

I agree with everything you just said IceRaptor. You seem to be a dying breed of American.

Something which I cannot stand, which is not particularly narrowed down into one country, is the whole culture where you can only become successful and/or famous in life if you either play sport or appear on tv on some sort of singing reality show, obviously there are more examples, to name a few. The thing that really pisses me off most of all about this is that intellictualism is frowned upon in this society.

I hate the corporations, man!

Monster Rain wrote:I hate the corporations, man!

Funny

I've no problems with corporations, but don't think they deserve free speech protections either. They're mechanisms to dilute risk in investment, nothing more. But some lines of thought seem to make them out to be benevolent actors for society instead of financial instruments, which is a dangerous precedent - in my opinion. Granted I'm no economist or social scientist, but corporate objectives rarely seem to align with societal ones, except in the short term.

Yeah, I agree with you for the most part.

Corporations could make their own lives so much easier by spreading a little of that cash around on their own volition. Though the argument can be made that they already do and we're a bunch of "playa hatas."

It's ridiculus that they have all the same rights as a person yet I believe they are also legally required to do everything possible to gain as much money as possible.
It's like the goverment is making immoral people!

Anyways, Metric system is good! Why America Why? Even the brits don't use Imperial and its named after them!!

Monster Rain wrote:Corporations could make their own lives so much easier by spreading a little of that cash around on their own volition. Though the argument can be made that they already do and we're a bunch of "playa hatas."

Eh, I'm fine with them being greedy pigs - they are at least honest about their motives that way. But it's society's imperative to brake their desire to consume with rational decisions about stewardship of both personal rights and common property. In my opinion.

Of course, my family are all in the coal business, so maybe my viewpoint is just a backlash against their politics, too

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Anyways, Metric system is good! Why America Why? Even the brits don't use Imperial and its named after them!!

The British still use miles instead of kilometers on many of their roadways, I believe. I remember seeing those markings driving into London from Gatwick (I believe?).

American engineering firms often use metric measurements, especially as we continue to globalize. But by and large there's little interest in making the wholesale conversion, mostly out of apathy, I think. I suspect it will happen if our economy continues to stay soft for a long period of time - as the global market increases in scope we'll need to accommodate the more proper thinking countries out there.

No we simply formalised and named it, then some years later dropped it for somethng simpler [appearantly].

But all the other great stuff you hear about the UK is true.

Albatross wrote:You know what I hate about my country? Whiny fething pussies who don't know how good they have it.

Agreed, I know several girls (Although I've seen it in guys as well) who have plenty of good friends, have a boyfriend, are great-looking, got nice cleavage and have an exciting life yet they still complain about how horrible there existence is. Feth

even I'm happy with my life, I may not have a lot of friends but the ones I do have are really good. The only thing I really feel I'm missing in life is an awesome sexual and romantic life (that and my own place but that's more for Independence,

privacy and getting away from my parents ). Then again maybe I deal with life differently than they do, I can find happiness in even the littlest things and when a problem occurs I'll try to change things to make the situation better for me, if I

can't then I just accept that's the way things are and embrace the negativity until it goes away (probably wont' remember what I was mad/sad about, after a week anyways). If my head is still wrapped around a problem for more than a week then

there's something wrong with me.

The utter laziness of the UK media when investigating a story. They always have an angle they want to cover and will do feth all investigation to see if they have a valid point.

I'm a transport planner for Southampton City Council and I happened across a story in the Daily Mail today which decided to label one of our roundabouts as the most confusing junction in the UK. To back up their story they relied solely on anecdotal evidence from pissed off drivers without allowing the Council to make any kind of response.

They utterly ignored (or didn't bother to find out) the fact that this was previously an accident blackspot with long queues in peak periods. Or that cyclists and pedestrians can now cross the approach roads without having to make a run for it. Or that HGVs leaving the Port no longer have to force their way into the traffic.

Fethers

IceRaptor wrote:

Monster Rain wrote:Corporations could make their own lives so much easier by spreading a little of that cash around on their own volition. Though the argument can be made that they already do and we're a bunch of "playa hatas."

Eh, I'm fine with them being greedy pigs - they are at least honest about their motives that way. But it's society's imperative to brake their desire to consume with rational decisions about stewardship of both personal rights and common property. In my opinion.

Of course, my family are all in the coal business, so maybe my viewpoint is just a backlash against their politics, too

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Anyways, Metric system is good! Why America Why? Even the brits don't use Imperial and its named after them!!

The British still use miles instead of kilometers on many of their roadways, I believe. I remember seeing those markings driving into London from Gatwick (I believe?).

American engineering firms often use metric measurements, especially as we continue to globalize. But by and large there's little interest in making the wholesale conversion, mostly out of apathy, I think. I suspect it will happen if our economy continues to stay soft for a long period of time - as the global market increases in scope we'll need to accommodate the more proper thinking countries out there.

So do Canadians. You'll never hear a Canadians refering to any weight in Kilograms. It's just a cultural thing. In fact much of our hanging on to Imperial is from our proximity to America. It takes generations to make the change. You can literally tell the difference from an old Canadian and a young one by whether or not they use Farenheiht or Celsius. It's just we'll never make that full shift IMO unless America switches too.

As a note, Britain still uses a lot of Imperial measurements even after "having made the switch." I can't tell you what my height is in metres/centimetres, but I do know it in feet and inches, for example.

ditto.

Do you use those crazy "stones" though?

I actually quite like my country and tend to view things like corrupt politicians and greedy corporations as par for the course.

If I have any real gripe it would be the seemingly willful stupidity of many people I encounter.

I'm aware that "higher education" is costly,and many people don't have the opportunity to attend universities...but FFS,a library card cost little to nothing and most homes have computers and Internet,yet for some reason there are those who seem to honestly enjoy not being aware of what goes on around them,past events and accomplishments,social problems and progress or indeed anything other then the most trivial and ridiculous information ingested from sitting in front of the T.V watching reality programs.

It's saddening that with such opportunities,such an ocean of information,they're are those that for whatever reason refuse to educate themselves.

dogma wrote:
Have you ever lived in Middle America? Its the same way here.

Yep, I grew up in middle American and in the southern US. My statements are based on personal observation from living in 12 states over my lifetime, 5 of which have been in the last 10 years.


Trust me, its not the same.


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Ahtman wrote:The Midwest is only homogeneous in the same sense that the south is mostly populated by racists.

Having grown up (for the large part) in Alabama, I think that the racism in the south is no more prevalent than racism anywhere else. Its just that its "white vs color" there, where as in area's such as the San Fransisco bay racism takes the form of things like "black pride" "Asian pride" "gay pride", but being proud of being a middle class guy from European stock literally causes you to get screamed at on BART and other public places. Also, there are A LOT of racist ass black people and Asian people out here. I get really sick of being called a "howlie", "cracker", and my personal favorite "hey whiteboy". Bet folks wouldn't react nicely if I said "Hey, whats up zipperhead!"

Death of national pride and national identity is a really really bad thing.

Please let me be clear, I love America. I love the traditional American way of life. I love the sense of community that things like parades, town street parties, and local business gives to towns like the one I live in. My gripes about America are pretty much limited to our seeming need to stick our noses in EVERY other country, our astronomical military budget, and the death of our national identity.

I'd say that I hate our politicians, but those feths are the same no matter what country you live in.

agroszkiewicz wrote:
Yep, I grew up in middle American and in the southern US. My statements are based on personal observation from living in 12 states over my lifetime, 5 of which have been in the last 10 years.


Trust me, its not the same.

We're probably going have to agree to disagree.

I've lived in the Midwest for a long time, but I'm also pretty well traveled, and have done stints on both coasts. Obviously every location is different, but I would be hard pressed to describe any region as homogeneous.

agroszkiewicz wrote:

Ahtman wrote:The Midwest is only homogeneous in the same sense that the south is mostly populated by racists.

Having grown up (for the large part) in Alabama, I think that the racism in the south is no more prevalent than racism anywhere else.

I think you missed the point.

The years of ineffectual right-wing governments and the abominable way they treated the indigenous population.

Those shanty towns are unacceptable. More effort should be made to eliminate the drug/alcohol problem and integrate them into the rest of society.

Furthermore, gay marriage needs to be fully legalised, police need to be armed with tasers 24/7 and media classification (especially video games) needs to be overhauled. Some of the games which were denied a rating have been censored to the point of being completely fethed (see: Left 4 Dead 2). Pornography should be legal to purchase in all states. Proper education on foreign religion and culture needs to be carried out, especially regarding Islam.

Gorskar.da.Lost wrote:Why not? It happened, didn't it? I'm just saying that it isn't every teenage mother.

What I was saying (and I think TheSecretSquig was too), is that this shouldn't be possible but it is, and its far too common.