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"And how well, for example, did those systems cope with Hurricane Katrina? Some residents of New Orleans might have a somewhat negative view."
It's true that we didn't cope with that particular example, but let's compare two things. The heat wave in France in 2003 killed 14802 people (14802 people, mostly elderly, died in France from heat, according to the country's largest funeral service). A retrospective analysis published in 2005 showed that the heat wave caused 2139 excess deaths in the UK for the period 4 to 13 August 2003. Scientist magazine reported 4200 deaths in Italy and Spain attributable to the 2003 heatwave. Around 7000 people (mostly elderly) died during the 2003 heatwave in Germany. Katrina killed 1836 people. Europeans can't even handle a simple heatwave whereas we have less loss of life in one of the most major hurricanes ever to strike the face of the earth than in your simple heatwave. I think I've proven my point. The heat that was experienced in France in 2003 was around 40C (104F). Arizona and Texas experiences that heat every summer and there are very few deaths whatsoever each year from that. It's currently 38C (101F) outside and I was working outside putting up a fence the past few hours. Yes it was hot but I wore sunscreen and a wide brimmed hat. I'm perfectly alright now, after I had my water with plenty of ice in it and an ice cold Shiner! Like I said, we have the methods to cope with weather conditions. |
Nooooooooo. Been there, done that.If I won the Euromillions and was super super rich - I might move to Manhattan for part of the year, for fun...but I would have to be Super rich.......otherwise the drop in quality of life would be too severe.
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" Europeans can't even handle a simple heatwave whereas we have less loss of life in one of the most major hurricanes ever to strike the face of the earth than in your simple heatwave. I think I've proven my point".
You simply forgot Chicago in 1995.... over 700 deaths in just 5 days. |
There's a big difference between 500 people and 14000 people.
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Phoenix/Dallas are equipped to handle any heatwave that hits them. Dallas and most of Texas had 90+ days of over 100F (37C) heat in 1998 and there were few deaths. If the same heatwave hit Europe, thousands would have died.
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"There's a big difference between 500 people and 14000 people".
For those who died, no. |
<i>It's a shame that some people just look at their way of life as the monetary value of what they do.
Luckily, all of us appear to want different things in our lives.</i> Well, which is it? Is it a good thing that everyone has different preferences? Or is it "a shame" that some people enjoy things that money can bring? You can't have it both ways. |
on topic:
Yes! I think the US is a country of great natural beauty that I would love to spend more time in. The americans that I've met were friendly people that were easy to get to know which makes living somewhere all the more enjoyable. Would I want to live just anywhere in the US? No. Just as I wouldnt want to live just anywhere in Europe. I've actually lived in the US before in 2 different states and loved it in one of them but disliked living in the other. Would I want to live in the US forever? hmm, not sure, I really like living where I am now and there are many other countries I would love to spend some time as well. Off topic: Scanning through responses that were written here I'm mostly noticing the insulting nature of many of them. I, as most people here apparantly, take offense and feel the need to defend my country if you start bashing it. IMO criticism is ok, it's another thing to put someone or a whole country down. Also the general nature of some comments doesn't make for a very constructive discussion in my opinion. For example someone wrote they wouldn't want to live in europe because you might get hit by a car because the breakdown lanes aren't wide enough to bike in. This makes me wonder if this person has ever been to The Netherlands which has an extensive system of bicycle lanes because breakdown lanes, no matter how wide, are considered to be unsafe to cycle in. Just as in the US, things vary greatly from location to location. It's written down though, as if it were true of the whole of Europe...and so I feel the need to respond...and someone will probably feel the need to respond to me...and so you go back and forth.. I would like to think that travel is about experiencing other countries and cultures and learning from it, about opening your mind. I think this thread, which is on travel forum, could use some more open mindedness from everyone. |
Thanks, vakantie. My sentiments exactly. Insulting other countries seems so odd in a travel forum.
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The problem is that people from other countries, unless they have been here for an extended period, only hear from the WHINERS of how bad the USA is. Personally, I think we are the most fortunate.. to live here, in the most generous nation in the world who believes their is opportunity for all if an individual is willing to try.
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"When I was in Europe, we had problems with various things running out of stock, like orange juice, milk, essentials like that. It was mainly because the markets weren't large enough"
Where did you go, Royston Vasey? The answer to the OPs question is no. Don't think I should say why. |
They went to the local shop for local people :-)
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'less to the private golf/pool and tennis club. I drop the kids off at the club for golf lessons, then they have lunch and off to tennis. I pick them up after work. Ballet, Soccer and Gym on the other days of the week. After that its off to a 5000 sg ft house w/no guns or crime. What would that cost in Europe?"
What a silly question! As if that kind that lifestyle is FREE in the US and available for all Americans. Sure! |
On this forum, we all seem to prefer the place we grew up...whether it is USA or Europe or other.
I live in Wisconsin and we lock our doors at night but rarely during the day. My kids walked to school, rode their bikes, played outside...as do the kids who are now in the neighborhood. The people I know that have guns use them for hunting deer and other animals during hunting season. Of course, the bigger cities all have their "pockets" of undesireable areas...you know to stay out of them. That is where the crime usually is. I am a teacher...so i get my summers off. Teacher pay in my area is rather low but we get health insurance. I have been to Europe. When my husband and I were walking around London we came upon "military" looking men with machine guns around a building. That really freaked me out. Had never seen anything like that before. When we were in Belfast we saw the same thing. Really didn't like it there. In Italy we were approached by little girls wanting to "scam" us...none of the above has even happened in the USA. So everyone has their own ideas of what they prefer. I am glad to stay in the US and just visit Europe. |
Scary to think who's teaching our kids. The death rate from guns in Th UK is 1.40 per 100,000.
Wisconsin is 8.95 and our capital DC is 31.3. Where should you feel safe? |
I still feel safe in Wisconsin.
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"...the most generous nation in the world who believes their is opportunity for all if an individual is willing to try."
Sadly, it's this kind of arrogant boosterism that can bring out the worst in us non-Americans who are otherwise generally well-disposed towards America. It's not hard to interpret it as a less-than-subtle put-down of our own countries. Yes, Americans are generous people, by and large. But the most generous in the world? What proof is there for such a claim? Countries substantially poorer than the US were sending aid to New Orleans after Hurricanbe Katrina. And I take issue with this "equality of opportunity" nonsense too - the absurd idea that the only reason the poor don't own a McMansion and an SUV is that they're too lazy to get off their backsides. Five minutes' uninterrupted thought by anyone of average intelligence is surely enough to put paid to the notion. It takes no account of how grievously the odds are stacked against people struggling agaainst a history of family dysfunction, low educational expectations, poor physical and mental health and substandard living conditions. "Equality of opportunity" is an ideological fantasy designed to make the believer feel better about themselves and squash any lurking guilt they may feel about the comfort and security of their own lives. Maybe that's one reason I'm happy to stay where I am. There are people here who'll dish out that rubbish to you, but not so many. It's not embedded in our culture. |
When I was growing up in the U.S., the school program was more or less "USA #1! USA #1!" with credit rarely if ever given to any other country of the world for anything. This has given rise to several generations who uncritically believe everything they were "taught."
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>in the most generous nation in the world who believes their is opportunity for all if an individual is willing to try.
The OECD surveys reveal that the upward social mobility (what you call "opportunity for all if an individual is willing to try") in the USA are about the average in the OECD country group. So much to the romantic nonsense about "most generous nation" etc. Unless you are living in Sweden, Finland or Netherlands. In which case I most humbly apologise. |
A trend I find hopeful is the high percent of US college undergrads who study for up to a year in foreign countries. At the school my daughter is about to enter, 70%.
It's harder to hold on to grade school mentality when you've been around, if paying attention. |
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