What is your opinion about your country (or your state in the case of the United States)?

[coderamen]

35 minutes ago, Mr. Freeze said:

 

Yeah no, that is outright ahistorical at best. At every level the far-left runs and doesn't compromise, they get annihilated by the garden-variety Dems and Repubs because thats who people want leading the country. The Green Party ain't winning the nomination because their policies suck, not because others are keeping them down. 

Well, both parties compromise on all the wrong things. There is a big culture war and the right has obviously won the economic and military war. There should be an effort to flip it back around. As someone that is "far left" by American standards and someone that's just normal/hard left by international standards our country has a shameful economic situation and is mired in anti-lgbt bigotry. We should feed/house the poor and leave the gays alone!

Edited October 16, 2023 by coderamen

[EduardoAndFriends]

3 hours ago, Doomkid said:

 

😭
 

Key points about FL:

- Has always been fairly insane

- Has nice beaches

- Didn’t have Nazi flags flying on the way into Disney when I was there

- Most every area seemed designed to put poverty and excess wealth right the fuck on top of eachother

Key points about AU:

- One of the friendliest cultures I’m aware of

- Lacks the thrill of health problems (inevitable for all humans on this planet) leading directly to bankruptcy

- Has way fucking nicer beaches than FL

- The outback and most small towns within are old, rusty, beaten up, and the pubs pretty much always have a very warm and welcoming vibe. Absolute comfort zone

 

I love both in terms of geography and natural beauty. Swamps, as well as arid deserts, are both genuinely gorgeous in my eyes.

 

Totally agree in regards to Australia. It’s pretty hard to beat even though it’s easy to take the way of life for granted when you’re amidst it. Also: Barbecue Shapes, like, hello? Best thing ever. Some truly wicked swamps in Victoria, no word of a lie. :^)

[Pechudin]

Croatian here - pretty nice islands, stunning mountain vistas, it's comfortable early autumn here (fresh in the air, warm on the skin). Politics seems normal, my country is supporting Ukraine which I like. Apple season is here, looking forward to baking some pies with caramel.

 

All in all - I feel okay about my country. But that might be my possibly myopic perspective.

[pcorf]

Australia. Good place, very fortunate to be here. But of course not everyone is perfect and there are challenges.

 

Took this photo of a beautiful forest in Tasmania several weeks back.

Edited October 17, 2023 by pcorf

[aloysiusfreeman]

17 hours ago, Mr. Freeze said:

 

Yeah no, that is outright ahistorical at best. At every level the far-left runs and doesn't compromise, they get annihilated by the garden-variety Dems and Repubs because thats who people want leading the country. The Green Party ain't winning the nomination because their policies suck, not because others are keeping them down. 

 

When you say far-left I'm imaging like actual communists or anarchists. Which, would be nearly antithetical for them trying electoral politics and would certainly not get elected outside of some weird covert shit.

 

But this country is so whack that far-left is anything to the left of Mitt Romney. I think @coderamen is thinking more politicians in the vein of Rashida Tlaib and AOC (the non-compromising version of AOC) so that they actually have a caucus that can wield influence. Which is certainly possible

[coderamen]

12 minutes ago, aloysiusfreeman said:

 

When you say far-left I'm imaging like actual communists or anarchists. Which, would be nearly antithetical for them trying electoral politics and would certainly not get elected outside of some weird covert shit.

 

But this country is so whack that far-left is anything to the left of Mitt Romney. I think @coderamen is thinking more politicians in the vein of Rashida Tlaib and AOC (the non-compromising version of AOC) so that they actually have a caucus that can wield influence. Which is certainly possible

Yeah basically. I'm thinking politicians in the vein of the Squad, Bernie Sanders, Tony Benn, and Jeremy Corbyn (minus the cringe foreign policy takes). Y'know, leftists that support liberal democracy and oppose capitalism.

Edited October 17, 2023 by coderamen

[Doomkid]

LOL this whole post is political so ignore it, I just had to express disagreement. No aggression or anything like that intended.

 

 

On 10/17/2023 at 9:10 AM, Mr. Freeze said:

Dems and Repubs (are the parties) who people want leading the country

I mean, if you're gonna call what others say ahistorical, you'll have to back up your own claims as well.

Here's some policies that not only the right, but the mainstream left also has referred to as "far left policy" over the years, sometimes they outright call it "communist" even. You'll only hear policies like the ones to follow from Green-types, Bernie-types, etc and - surprise surprise - they are supported by the vast majority of Americans..

Healthcare for all, supported by over 63% of Americans. Not at all on the cards for mainstream repubs and dems:



Free college, supported by 70-80% of Americans. Once again, not on the cards as of now from the mainstream parties:



I think the idea that left-leaning people reluctantly support democrats rather than "wanting them in there" is best demonstrated by the fact that most of them vote AGAINST republicans, not FOR democrats:
 



Christ, even the average democrat doesn't want more Biden. I prefer him over Trump or whatever, but yeah, I absolutely get that.

The idea that these parties are putting people forth that the American people want leading them is the most ahistorical claim in this thread to me, heh. So forgive the spiel. Most people support the duopoly reluctantly, not out of some strong desire for that to remain the norm forever and ever.

If 3rd parties weren't artificially gimped by literal constant dismissal coupled with intense scrutiny from the mainstream media, who absolutely are constantly performing a financial reach-around with the DNC / RNC respectively - or perhaps if not for the blatant rigging inherently baked into the electoral college as it presently functions - they might be able to achieve some kind of real recognition.

I would prefer the democrats just stop being "centre right" relative to the rest of the first world, then I could vote for them without much worry. However the differences between modern dems and "classical republicans" is way too small these days. The only meaningful difference I see is that modern dems don't hate LGBT people. Their positions on healthcare for all, taxpayer subsidized college, climate change policy, etc are all largely indistinguishable, and represent the will of a tiny fraction of Americans, most of whom are wealthy, rather than the commoners.

Moral of the story: People do not "actively want" the current crop of mainstream politicians running the country. It's very much the product of reluctance, misinformation, media landscape domination, and other underhanded ways of keeping power with the powerful and out of those who want to more actively represent the will of the American people.

 

[Clippy]

Canada good 

 

Bye 

[Murdoch]

43 minutes ago, Doomkid said:

Christ, even the average democrat doesn't want more Biden

 

That just makes all the "THEY'RE TRYING TO PROTECT BIDEN!" in regards to supposed attempts to cover up his alleged dodgy dealings all the funnier. The dude is too old. The odds of him keeling over before the end of his second term, hell even his first, are very high.

Edited October 17, 2023 by Murdoch

[SkeletronMK666]

america sucks rn. that's my opinoin on my country. lol

[Argent Agent]

1 hour ago, Doomkid said:

LOL this whole post is political so ignore it, I just had to express disagreement. No aggression or anything like that intended.

 

  Hide contents

I mean, if you're gonna call what others say ahistorical, you'll have to back up your own claims as well.

Here's some policies that not only the right, but the mainstream left also has referred to as "far left policy" over the years, sometimes they outright call it "communist" even. You'll only hear policies like the ones to follow from Green-types, Bernie-types, etc and - surprise surprise - they are supported by the vast majority of Americans..

Healthcare for all, supported by over 63% of Americans. Not at all on the cards for mainstream repubs and dems:



Free college, supported by 70-80% of Americans. Once again, not on the cards as of now from the mainstream parties:



I think the idea that left-leaning people reluctantly support democrats rather than "wanting them in there" is best demonstrated by the fact that most of them vote AGAINST republicans, not FOR democrats:
 



Christ, even the average democrat doesn't want more Biden. I prefer him over Trump or whatever, but yeah, I absolutely get that.

The idea that these parties are putting people forth that the American people want leading them is the most ahistorical claim in this thread to me, heh. So forgive the spiel. Most people support the duopoly reluctantly, not out of some strong desire for that to remain the norm forever and ever.

If 3rd parties weren't artificially gimped by literal constant dismissal coupled with intense scrutiny from the mainstream media, who absolutely are constantly performing a financial reach-around with the DNC / RNC respectively - or perhaps if not for the blatant rigging inherently baked into the electoral college as it presently functions - they might be able to achieve some kind of real recognition.

I would prefer the democrats just stop being "centre right" relative to the rest of the first world, then I could vote for them without much worry. However the differences between modern dems and "classical republicans" is way too small these days. The only meaningful difference I see is that modern dems don't hate LGBT people. Their positions on healthcare for all, taxpayer subsidized college, climate change policy, etc are all largely indistinguishable, and represent the will of a tiny fraction of Americans, most of whom are wealthy, rather than the commoners.

Moral of the story: People do not "actively want" the current crop of mainstream politicians running the country. It's very much the product of reluctance, misinformation, media landscape domination, and other underhanded ways of keeping power with the powerful and out of those who want to more actively represent the will of the American people.

 

I feel like in the United States that it will take until the older generations are gone before actually decent policy can be enacted en masse, especially with those who fear socialism like it is some kind of boogeyman. Unfortunately, I think the climate will be absolutely fucked by that time, but no sense in giving up there. It's no secret that the United States has some characteristics of a gerontocracy at the moment, while far-right politicians are working against progress and trying to use fear to convince people to relinquish their own rights and some "moderates" believe that these are 'both sides' issues when they most certainly are not.

As for Iowa, it's not that great. All farms and no prairies or sizable forests make for a boring state to explore (don't even ask about the "pigbreeze"). I knew Illinois was terrible with how they destroyed nearly all of the natural prairies early on in its history but holy fuck. I don't plan on staying here after finishing my education. Our governor is a complete joke and our representatives and senators are even worse, but unfortunately a lot of Iowans drank the Kool-Aid on that one. Next year we get to vote on whether the state constitution guarantees NO rights to abortion. So yeah, that's where Iowa is at.

[nolongeramnion]

[blanked]

Edited November 30, 2023 by amnion

[BigBoy91]

Living near Pittsburgh, PA rules. We're always drunk and we put fries in our salads. What's not to love?

[coderamen]

3 hours ago, Doomkid said:

LOL this whole post is political so ignore it, I just had to express disagreement. No aggression or anything like that intended.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

I mean, if you're gonna call what others say ahistorical, you'll have to back up your own claims as well.

Here's some policies that not only the right, but the mainstream left also has referred to as "far left policy" over the years, sometimes they outright call it "communist" even. You'll only hear policies like the ones to follow from Green-types, Bernie-types, etc and - surprise surprise - they are supported by the vast majority of Americans..

Healthcare for all, supported by over 63% of Americans. Not at all on the cards for mainstream repubs and dems:



Free college, supported by 70-80% of Americans. Once again, not on the cards as of now from the mainstream parties:



I think the idea that left-leaning people reluctantly support democrats rather than "wanting them in there" is best demonstrated by the fact that most of them vote AGAINST republicans, not FOR democrats:
 



Christ, even the average democrat doesn't want more Biden. I prefer him over Trump or whatever, but yeah, I absolutely get that.

The idea that these parties are putting people forth that the American people want leading them is the most ahistorical claim in this thread to me, heh. So forgive the spiel. Most people support the duopoly reluctantly, not out of some strong desire for that to remain the norm forever and ever.

If 3rd parties weren't artificially gimped by literal constant dismissal coupled with intense scrutiny from the mainstream media, who absolutely are constantly performing a financial reach-around with the DNC / RNC respectively - or perhaps if not for the blatant rigging inherently baked into the electoral college as it presently functions - they might be able to achieve some kind of real recognition.

I would prefer the democrats just stop being "centre right" relative to the rest of the first world, then I could vote for them without much worry. However the differences between modern dems and "classical republicans" is way too small these days. The only meaningful difference I see is that modern dems don't hate LGBT people. Their positions on healthcare for all, taxpayer subsidized college, climate change policy, etc are all largely indistinguishable, and represent the will of a tiny fraction of Americans, most of whom are wealthy, rather than the commoners.

Moral of the story: People do not "actively want" the current crop of mainstream politicians running the country. It's very much the product of reluctance, misinformation, media landscape domination, and other underhanded ways of keeping power with the powerful and out of those who want to more actively represent the will of the American people.

 

Based

[RDETalus]

My country, Taiwan, is really good. High life expectancy, good healthcare, low crime. It's geographically small and ethnically / religiously / culturally homogenous, which means that social unity is very high. Everyone feels that they are on the same side here. We operate the planet's most valuable computer chip foundry. For American comparison, Taiwan is roughly the same size and population as Florida.

Biggest problem here is ... the United States. Henry Kissinger once said, "To be an enemy of the US is dangerous, but to be a friend is fatal." This is the big political problem of our country. We have two big parties that are split on whether 1) the country should pursue independence through closer relationship with the US or 2) maintain the peaceful status quo and hope for a better deal with China in the future. Why would I say that the US is the problem, and not China? Well, my reasoning is that war should be avoided. The United States is an instigator for the exact sort of war for the situation that Taiwan is in. Joe Biden has voted for / supported every single case of military involvement in his political career; his current administration is not a good situation for my country. Trump for all his faults would have been more preferable in this situation, believe it or not. If there were a war, the US would probably bomb our chip foundries to make sure that China doesn't get them. I would rather be peacefully integrated into China like what has happened with Hong Kong these past decades.

 

I just got my military conscription orders this week, let us hope nothing stupid happens over the next few years.

[INfront95]

I like it here, traveled a lot for a past decade and realised i couldn't live anywhere else.

[UnknDoomer]

Russian Federation, Siberia.

What to tell... As an very old fairytale told: "Russia is big, the Tsar and Moscow are far away". Basically the far your are going to east or north-east, then the things become more, well, widly in one way or another. There are four full seasons here, summer is hot, autumn is interesting, but winter is extra cold, below 30 Celsius, especially at January / February, and take up to 6 months each year, from November to, more / less, April. It's even colder in neighboring Yakutia, which is, in many aspects, is like Mohave desert, but an ice type, but, due to a fact that the air in those parts is dry, it's doesn't count as this cold as things be here, I guess.

 

My city is considered the third largest in the country and the fastest growing in the world. I'm not kidding here. It was included in the Guinness Book of Records, due to a fact in ~ 69 years it went from a village to a million-plus city, while Chicago, in compare, took 90 years to achieve the same result.

There are certain similarities in other aspects. The city is not old, it began to actively develop at the beginning of the twentieth century, largely due to the railway, becoming a major transshipment point between Asia and Europe.

Despite the extensive length (well, for local standarts at least) I, for example, live 30 km away from the city center, the city, like Chicago, is quite gray, somewhat gloomy. There are no particularly noteworthy objects here. No useful resources. Due to the rapid growth, the development is quite chaotic and spotty. Private sector, many houses from the Soviet period, modern high-rise buildings.

 

Worldwire the city is mainly known for it's opera house, zoo and, I suppose, IT industry. Previously, there were branches of a number of companies here, Intel for example. Now their niche has been occupied by Chinese companies. As for the locals... commercial firms mostly work outsourced.
 

Zoo have some rare representatives. Like a liger, which a mixture of a tiger and a lion.

Edited October 19, 2023 by UnknDoomer

[Buckshot]

I live in Florida, far south west. Front yard is beach and islands, back yard is the Everglades...  quite literally.

 

It's never a dull moment here, to say the least. The wildlife and the weather is crazy. The people... well depends really. Depends on where they're from. Very few people here are actually born & raised here. So that "crazy florida-man" thing ends up being less about Florida and more so where that person(s) originated from.

 

As it's a tourist/vacation hotspot in general, people come here and think it's suddenly a invitation to act any way they want and treat the place (and the residents) any way they want. Not all, but some.

 

Unfortunately the powers that be running the state are well aware tourism is the huge cash cow and anything that impedes tourism and development focused on such is a bad thing for their bank accounts , so they kinda just let it happen.

Edited October 18, 2023 by Buckshot

[Maximum Matt]

5 hours ago, BigBoy91 said:

Living near Pittsburgh, PA rules. We're always drunk and we put fries in our salads. What's not to love?

 

[129thVisplane]

Czech Republic is ok i guess. i don't personally care much for the "beer and pornstars" stereotype but the old buildings are cool and the nature is pretty rad. i live at the very edge of Prague so i get the nature part, with a cute little nature reserve right down the road, but i can also hop on a bus and go to the old town zone whenever i want. oh and the food is nice, i go feral for vepřo knedlo zelo and rajská omáčka

i still plan to leave for somewhere else someday because the politics are questionable at best (current president is kinda hot tho ngl) and mfs wont let me change my name to what i want.

Spoiler

also fuck south bohemia all my homies hate the strakonice region

 

to pad grace the thread with the nature end of things, here's a view i took this summer from the Žďákov bridge:

[Buckshot]

On 10/16/2023 at 5:22 PM, IRCModerator said:

ohio is tooooo dang coldddd

 

Ohio was cold like 3 months out of the year. 

 

Three months of pleasant moderate -to-warm spring.

Three months of brutal jungle-like heat & humidity.

Three months of crisp, cooler fall.

Three months of blistering artic-like winter.

 

Like much of the Midwest, it has a bit of everything as far as weather goes. And like most of the Midwest, that's about as much is there is to offer aside from (great) lakes, streams rivers and fields/forest on hilly countryside. Occasional smaller scale cities and suburbs, but mainly small rural towns.

 

 

Edited October 18, 2023 by Buckshot

[ChopBlock223]

Sweden is nice in some ways, I like much of the climate here, but it's increasingly and depressingly shitty in other ways.

Spoiler

I could go on at length about how criminal justice is defacto not a thing in this country, or how bombings have managed to become a standard feature of organized crime here. People won't believe you when you tell them this, because it's so goddamn bizarre, but we're honest to fucking god up to like 250 something bombings and grenade attacks in 2023, there's a bunch every week now.

This isn't a "humanitarian superpower," this is a grossly dysfunctional, unstable, and self-destructive country which is incapable of caring for its own citizens.

 

Don't fall for the socdem meme, it's sheer poison.

 

[Async Unicorn]

It's all about people, not about country

[Sonikkumania]

10 hours ago, ChopBlock223 said:

Sweden is nice in some ways, I like much of the climate here, but it's increasingly and depressingly shitty in other ways.

  Reveal hidden contents

I could go on at length about how criminal justice is defacto not a thing in this country, or how bombings have managed to become a standard feature of organized crime here. People won't believe you when you tell them this, because it's so goddamn bizarre, but we're honest to fucking god up to like 250 something bombings and grenade attacks in 2023, there's a bunch every week now.

This isn't a "humanitarian superpower," this is a grossly dysfunctional, unstable, and self-destructive country which is incapable of caring for its own citizens.

 

Don't fall for the socdem meme, it's sheer poison.

 

No joke. It was bad already many years ago. You guys can't even have regular beer from a grocery store.

Though I suppouse things are more comfy in rural areas?

[TheMagicMushroomMan]

On 10/17/2023 at 6:59 PM, Murdoch said:

That just makes all the "THEY'RE TRYING TO PROTECT BIDEN!" in regards to supposed attempts to cover up his alleged dodgy dealings all the funnier. The dude is too old. The odds of him keeling over before the end of his second term, hell even his first, are very high.

Honestly it doesn't even feel like anyone is in office. It's like there's a ghost at the white house. Disregarding any political aspects, he just does not have a presidential personality. He doesn't talk well, he doesn't convey his thoughts in a coherent manner, he doesn't speak with conviction. He is fucking boring. He doesn't give the impression of a powerful man, but at the same time does not come across as a humble man. He's not even capable of holding your attention. I don't think he's a child molesting serial killer or anything like some people seem to believe, but he's a piss-poor example of a leader. A leader should have leadership skills, he has none. I don't know any democrats that actually like Biden. I've never met a person like that. The white house feels vacant.

Edited October 19, 2023 by TheMagicMushroomMan

[RDETalus]

11 hours ago, ChopBlock223 said:

we're honest to fucking god up to like 250 something bombings and grenade attacks in 2023

I read somewhere that the reason your country has so many grenade attacks (and not something more respectable like guns or knives), is because you guys are sitting on large caches of military explosives that got lost all over the place from the cold war or something?

Edited October 19, 2023 by RDETalus

[Sonikkumania]

24 minutes ago, RDETalus said:

I read somewhere that the reason your country has so many grenade attacks (and not something more respectable like guns or knives), is because you guys are sitting on large caches of military explosives that got lost all over the place from the cold war or something?

Nearly every European country had a large cache of military explosives during the cold war, but I don't see grenade attacks occuring in the Baltics.. Where did you read that? 

[RDETalus]

53 minutes ago, Sonikkumania said:

Where did you read that? 

I've only read that the grenades are unused stock from old wars. But I've never read any reasonable explanation for why grenade attacks are more common in Sweden than in other neighboring countries, or even more violent countries.

[Sonikkumania]

52 minutes ago, RDETalus said:

I've only read that the grenades are unused stock from old wars. But I've never read any reasonable explanation for why grenade attacks are more common in Sweden than in other neighboring countries, or even more violent countries.

When you take more immigrants than your government can support you either intentionally or unintentionally cause a phenomenom of anti social behaviour, slums and gang warfware. It adds insult to the injury when they haven't really discussed their problems.

Quote

Swedish-Kurdish economist Tino Sanandaji said that, due to fear of being perceived as racists, it has been taboo in Sweden to describe the situation in vulnerables areas due to their having a high fraction of immigrants.

This obviously is not the sole reason but a crucial matter that Sweden is struggling with.

[Daytime Waitress]

I guess it was inevitable in a thread that's gonna touch on politics and wind its way into the culture war gutter, but I'm still astonished at the level of disinformation and outright lunacy that is on display in here, and appalled that the mods have left it up:

 

On 10/17/2023 at 8:24 AM, EduardoAndFriends said:

Barbecue Shapes, like, hello? Best thing ever.

 

To clear up any confusion for our international friends: there is only one choice, and it is Chicken Crimpy.

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Daytime Waitress