wow, a BBC journalist who actually understands the US...

[Mike70]

i found this excellent article on the BBC. it was written by a correspondent who has been covering the US for many years and in it he lays bare the ridiculousness of many perceptions about the US and just how much safer, civil and tranquil the US is compared the UK.

here are a few snippets:


Brits arriving in New York, hoping to avoid being slaughtered on day one of their shopping mission to Manhattan are, by day two, beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about. By day three they have had had the scales lifted from their eyes.

I have met incredulous British tourists who have been shocked to the core by the peacefulness of the place, the lack of the violent undercurrent so ubiquitous in British cities, even British market towns.

"It seems so nice here," they quaver.

Well, it is!

and this:


Wait till you get to London Texas, or Glasgow Montana, or Oxford Mississippi or Virgin Utah, for that matter, where every household is required by local ordinance to possess a gun.

Folks will have guns in all of these places and if you break into their homes they will probably kill you.

They will occasionally kill each other in anger or by mistake, but you never feel as unsafe as you can feel in south London.

It is a paradox. Along with the guns there is a tranquillity and civility about American life of which most British people can only dream.

What surprises the British tourists is that, in areas of the US that look and feel like suburban Britain, there is simply less crime and much less violent crime.

Doors are left unlocked, public telephones unbroken.

One reason - perhaps the overriding reason - is that there is no public drunkenness in polite America, simply none.

refreshing to hear the actual truth from a foreign journalist instead of the usual hogwash.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7359513.stm

[MinionZombie]

Interesting read.

I do think there's a lot of talk about America, that just gets out-of-hand, or is simply insulting to be fashionable.

No doubt, Americaland has their fair share of absolute bastards, dolts and completely frightening morons (and nutters) ... but so does Britain.

I've heard before about New York being officially safer than London (it was vice-versa). I have to say, I've never felt particularly safe in London - either from trying not to get run over, or constantly feeling like I'm about to be pick-pocketted, or accosted by some insistent foreigner who demands I buy some shitty scent sticks from him ... but I never liked London anyway - probably a good city if you're loaded with cash and can get driven everywhere and so on, but for the everyday person? Well ... for the everyday me? No thanks. :D

New York on the other hand, I'd love to go there some day (and Canada - I'd really like to experience their well-known niceness first hand :)).

[Mike70]

Interesting read.

I do think there's a lot of talk about America, that just gets out-of-hand, or is simply insulting to be fashionable.

No doubt, Americaland has their fair share of absolute bastards, dolts and completely frightening morons (and nutters) ... but so does Britain.

I've heard before about New York being officially safer than London (it was vice-versa). I have to say, I've never felt particularly safe in London - either from trying not to get run over, or constantly feeling like I'm about to be pick-pocketted, or accosted by some insistent foreigner who demands I buy some shitty scent sticks from him ... but I never liked London anyway - probably a good city if you're loaded with cash and can get driven everywhere and so on, but for the everyday person? Well ... for the everyday me? No thanks. :D

New York on the other hand, I'd love to go there some day (and Canada - I'd really like to experience their well-known niceness first hand :)).

i think the guy hits the nail on the head about why most american cities are safe compared to british ones, there is very little to no public drunkenness over here. it is simply not tolerated at all and one of the easiest ways to land yourself in the clink. in fact, the vast majority of states prohibit the consumption of alcohol in public and again, getting caught with an open container is one of the easiest ways to get yourself busted.

[AcesandEights]

From what little I got to read, it looks like it'll be an interesting article. Let's hope the discussion is likewise interesting and civil :)

It's odd, as I was just thinking about this earlier today, as I was reading something else that brought it to mind. When I was a good deal younger, I had hoped the UK would have a stricter sense of propriety than America and, maybe just be an all-around (on average, mind you) nicer place to be.

Truth be told, the people I stopped to talk with when I visited were often quite nice and up for some good conversation, and we got away with a *lot* in London that we shouldn't have (political discussions with locals in out of the way pubs, in one case when all of us were drunk and hadn't slept due to the red-eye out of JFK the night before...and one of was a bit...shall we say, belligerent). But, in general, it really felt like there was an undercurrent and edge to the people, especially the beggars. In the U.S., I can tell a really persistent beggar in most cases 'No' or to 'Get the fuck out of here' - if being curt, but mannered doesn't work - but we really had to step it back in London.

All in all, being generally well behaved, we didn't get in any fights, met some cool people, but did almost get into three different fights while there. :eek:

One cool thing about New York and a lot of US cities (non-slum portions), in general, is (and yes, this has its down points), people are perfectly happy to ignore you, unless you go out of your way to give them a reason to do otherwise. Of course, exceptions apply, there are always asshats etc.

I've thought about what may go into it, the cultural differences and what have you, but decided I'd have to do a bit more investigating before I got to the point where I'd be willing to air my opinions on the subject.

[Mike70]

Let's hope the discussion is likewise interesting and civil :)

i'll second that. i didn't put this article up to start a penis waving contest. i put it up because i think that is an interesting foreign perspective on americans, by someone who genuinely seems to understand the country.

[SRP76]

It's rare. Many foreigners (especially the ones NOT from the UK) seem to think the entire US is basically inhabited by the Manson family. They love to exaggerate figures to make it seem like every single American (or visitor) has a 90% chance of being murdered no matter what day or time it is.

Comes from their entire knowledge of the US coming from watching movies.

[SymphonicX]

To be honest I think Bush did you guys a LOT of harm - not in terms of the perception of violence in your country, although that's one factor, but mainly because he made you all look like illiterate, nylon suit wearing morons - and I think the media perpetuated this myth by choosing hicks to vox pop, or interview, and generally choosing to display scenes of arrogance and ignorance instead of the great many people who are actually fully functioning human beings - like most of you here. (read: most :p)

As for the violence, this negative perception simply spawns from the media portrayal that you're either a gun toting redneck or a gun toting crack dealer!

Bet ya glad Obamas in eh?