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Saturday, November 27, 2010

America, worst place on Earth to live in ? Really?... ... Really?

Anonymous said...Please refer to Orlov's recent:
http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2010/11/americathe-grim-truth.html
A letter from an expat.
As Dmitri says in the preface, he hasn't had a dissenting response to this comment.
To those of you from other countries that wish to come here, come! It is entirely possible it will be far better than where you are right now.
But for those of us who have lived our lives here through countless sellouts that brought this country to its knees, this country in no way resembles what it was.
Maybe the foreign dreamers can make a purse out this sow's shit.
Best uh luck.
November 26, 2010 10:15 PM



 No Anon, its not easy to move to USA, not by a long shot.

I understand lots of things. I understand making mistakes. Do many myself, I’m not perfect. But what I don’t understand is bashing a country you live in and profit from. No, I’m not blind and I’m not in the US government payroll but I just call it as I see it.

Maybe I can understand those that lived in US most of their lives, were born there, and want to move elsewhere. The grass sometimes seems greener on the other side of the hill, so I won’t judge people that move out looking for other lifestyles, other experiences. Its after all natural to do so. What I don’t understand is MOVING from Russia or any other country, TO the United States, taking advantage of everything it has to offer, and THEN bash the US, its lifestyle, its culture and what it represents. I read the link above and would like to address some of the topics mentioned there.

Health care- No its not perfect. Probably the issue that needs to be improved the most. Can you get better hotel service in private hospitals of third world countries for less money? Yes that, you can. Better and more advanced health service? No. And that goes for Singapore or any other rat hole. Anyone that believes you get better health treatment in Singapore than in USA probably has a parasite nesting in his brain and isn’t thinking right. European health care? Free, glorious, wonderful, the coolest thing socialism has to offer. My family is in Spain where health care is supposedly free, yet for some reason they come over to Argentina to get their teeth fixed and do other treatments. Is Argentina’s private health care system better than the free one in Spain? Not so much, its just that the paid dentist in Argentina is less expensive that the “free” health service in Spain. Not everything that shines is gold guys. Having a tooth fixed in Spain will cost you, a LOT, and its the same story in all these wonderful places in Europe.
Food- This is probably the thing that surprised me the most about the post. USA food is bad? Hmm... no its not. No one is forcing you to eat McDonalds for breakfast, KFC for lunch, coffee at Starbucks with a dozen donuts and pork chops with fries at Friday’s for dinner. You eat whatever you want, no one forces you to do anything. The difference is that in USA, you have OPTIONS. That little thing called freedom. In USA you can eat yourself to death in a matter of weeks or you can buy (for cheap) some of the healthiest food in the planet. Better yet you can go to an American supermarket that has a broad variety of absolutely everything, like no other country on Earth, and cook yourself whatever you want. No other country in this planet offer such a variety, and at such low prices. Food is NOT healthier in crappy third world countries with lax regulations and corrupt enforcers. As a matter of fact and this may be something these guys ignore, food grown in third world countries is in fact much WORSE. The reason for this is that crappy countries don’t have the tight regulations first world countries like the US has. Example, Argentina is making its money now thanks to soy plantation. Yet here we use pesticides and drugs for animals that are banned in US and most of Europe. France buys soy from Argentina, but its only accepted for animal feeding because of the amount of pesticides it has. That same soy bean is sold here for human consumption because we don’t have such tight regulations.
Vacationing- Are you kidding? You seriously think Americans work more and have less vacation time than Japanese? In every city in the world where there are tourists, you’ll always find that a fair share of them are Americans. One other reason to consider though, that isn’t mentioned in the article linked: There’s SO much to do in USA, its so big, there’s so many different climates, different locations, from mountains, deserts, lakes, forests, beaches, etc. You can do absolutely everything you want there. From surfing to skiing, rafting, mountain climbing, camping, hunting, every single darn thing you can think of USA offers it, in both quality and quantity. Sports? Come on. I spent over a month in Barcelona looking for a Rugby ball for my son, I couldn’t find a single one (Rugby or American Football ball) after  visiting over a dozen sport centers. The reply? “No we don’t play that here”.
Whatever it is you want to do with your spare time, whatever it is you want to do with your life professionally speaking as well, you can do it in USA. No other country offers you that many options. Texas is larger than France and UK put together… no wonder you have so much stuff to do in USA. Its going to take most of your life to visit the different US states anyway, so its understandable that a person that lives in a country smaller than some Texas ranches travel abroad more.
Media- It’s the same everywhere you go my friend. Russia, France or Italy , maybe media corporations there are owned by Jesus Christ and the board of directors is composed of the virgin Mary, St. Peter and St. Paul. In the rest of the world media companies, TV radio and printed, are owned one way or another by conglomerates that have other capital and strong connections with the government. Its terribly naïve to think that such a thing only happens in USA.
A young American is better of leaving USA and go teach English to the Philippines??? Whatever drugs you are doing my friend, they must be very potent… talk with an American pharmaceutical company and sell them the patent for whatever it is you’re smoking. Sounds like good stuff, you’ll make a fortune and live like a millionaire (in Philippines of course)
Freedom and Nanny state- Every country in the world has this problem. They ALL scan your emails, they ALL tap your phones illegally and they ALL meddle in your private business. The difference? While in USA you may get your door busted by SWAT completely uncalled for, in Argentina (and those other wonderful countries recommended) you get your door busted by GEOF or Halcon group, you get thrown in a jail cell, you may get beaten to death and thrown in a river. In USA you have more rights than in crappy 3rd world countries. When it comes to freedom don’t fool yourself, no other countries guarantees both the right of free speech AND the TOOLS for the population to defend itself from tyranny. No other country has anything like the Second Amendment. Its easy to forget that through out history people have always had to fight tyrants from time to time. Right now in almost every state of US people have the right to carry a firearm concealed. Not a privilege but the right. Meanwhile in UK you don’t even have the right to try to protect your life, even with pepper spray.
Wrapping this up now. You don’t like USA? OK, perfect. Don’t MOVE there, make your money there, enjoy it, and at the same time have the nerve to criticize every single thing about it. For those that are Americans and want to leave, be 100% sure of what you’re doing. Ever asked yourself why Mexicans, Asians, south Americans even Europeans, millions want to move to USA? Millions even live there illegally, spend most of their lives with the fear of being deported. Why, for common sense’s sake, WHY on earth would they all do that if they could easily live in their 3rd world crapholes or socialist or communist paradises? Guys, move to Cuba, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Singapore or China. I honestly hope you find happiness in such places. But please, don’t trash USA as if it were the worst country in the world. There millions of us that would love to live there and call it home.

Take care guys, have a nice weekend and hope you enjoyed Thanksgiving.

FerFAL

23 comments:

Susan M said...

Amen!

Michael Crosby said...

Here here my friend.

Some now might accuse you of being jingoistic. All you're doing is stating facts.

I'm an American. Sure there's some taking freedom for granted, but the reality is, I won the lottery by being born in this great land.

Groundhog said...

FERFAL,

I appreciate you sticking up for us here in the good 'ol US of A. Many of us living here, myself included, have seen our freedoms erode severely over the years and insanely as of the last few years. Some of our own people bash the US and seem to loath the country of their birth. They dream of turning it into a perpetually apologetic socialist utopia where it can forever pay (out the nose) for it's "sins". You know, becoming great and all. Horrible stuff. Some are bent on destroying the US from within and they have many willing idiots that follow them, not realizing in most cases the end results of their desires.

We are currently in the midst of a cultural, ideological, and political civil war in this country. It has spawned the likes of the TEA Party and Sarah Palin. The latest battle turned the House from blue to red in a big way. When I was growing up we were all Americans who generally agreed with the direction our country was headed with some disagreements on how to do it. Now there is flat out hatred between sides. Many of us here have looked around and wondered if it would be better somewhere else. I know it would not. As messed up as we are, we're still the best place on earth to live and the brightest beacon of freedom on the planet. I just wonder for how much longer. If anyone thinks the world is in a hurting state now, just wait and see what it's like without the USA. At least those complaining immigrants won't have to bellyache at that point :)

Anonymous said...

Thank you Ferfal for standing up for America.

I am a 4th generation American and I, too, like a lot of others here have questioned whether to stay or not - not because I don't love my Country, I do, but because it sometimes seems a bit scary with all the talk of Fema camps, martial law, a rogue government who is undermining us as a nation, etc., so I do understand people wanting to high-tail it out of here. But, I also know, Ferfal, that you are right.

Those of us born to this soil (legally) sometimes lose sight of the fact that it is much worse in other countries. We are spoiled and have taken for granted a lot of our freedoms. We have never had a war on our soil, (besides the Civil War), we've never had a dictator *yet, we are FREE and we still have a collective VOICE.

Our legacy includes the "wild west" and we have a pioneering, creative and truly freedom-loving American spirit. This corrupt government is not reflective of who we really are, as we are a good people and as a Nation, we ARE the most generous people in the world.

We have however lost our way in many ways and are reaping what we have sown, forgetting the spiritual principles we were founded on, for our (im)moral life choices, for straying from the very principles that made us strong in the first place. Our current government is a reflection of those choices and mirrors this lack of discernment. We reap what we sow.

There are those who will disagree but facts are facts. There are spiritual laws and we reap according to the law of "cause and effect". ("What ye sow, ye shall reap"), this is also known as "karma". As a people, we are experiencing "collective karma" as a Nation.

We do however have a spiritual birthright, and this spiritual foundation is a blessing on our Country. We have a lot of good "karma" for our past generosities but we are also going to have to "pay the piper" and suffer along with the rest of the world - (even if we are better off here while we go through it). This is something we have never really known,
although our parents and grandparents experienced this during the Great Depression of the 30s.

This will shock us, maybe we need to wake up this way...and we might be threatened with losing more of our rights and civil liberties...but as soon as we collectively remember how we came to be blessed to have this great Country, this "One Nation Under God", *the welcoming haven to all nationalities - who obey our laws and come here legally, we are promised that God will step in to defend us and defeat our enemies.

This has been foretold in the "Visions of George Washington" (recorded in the Library of Congress) and it is our greatest blessing to have been born into a Country that has this spiritual destiny and birthright.

Anyone who is here, who takes from a country and yet despises it, is disloyal to it and needs to go somewhere else, period. That person is a traitor. Being disloyal to a country that feeds you, shelters you - while you stay here and seek to destroy her from within, is despicable. Please leave.

Americans, don't give up and run away if you love our Country, we will make it through this, and Ferfal, your appreciation of our Country is just the kind of person we like to have here. I hope if you are serious about coming here that you don't give up.

God bless America and all those who love her.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Ferfal for standing up for America.

I too, like a lot of others have questioned staying - not because I don't love my Country, I do, but because it sometimes seems a bit scary with all the talk of fema camps, martial law, etc., so I do understand people wanting to hightail it out of here. But, I also know that you are right.

Those of us born to this soil (legally) sometimes lose sight of the fact that it is much worse in other countries. We are spoiled and have taken for granted a lot of our freedoms. We have never had a war on our soil, (besides the Civil War), we've never had a dictator *yet, we are FREE and we still have a collective VOICE. Our legacy includes the "wild west" and we have a pioneering, creative and freedom-loving spirit.

We have however lost our way in many ways and we are reaping what we have sown, forgetting the spiritual principles we were founded on, for our (im)moral life choices, for straying from the very principles that made us strong in the first place.

Our current government is a reflection of those choices and lack of discernment. We reap what we sow.

There are those who will disagree but there are spiritual laws and we reap according to the law of "cause and effect". This is also known as "karma". As a people, we are experiencing "collective mass karma".

We have a spiritual birthright, and this spiritual foundation is a blessing on our Country. We have a lot of good "karma" for our past generosities but we are also going to have to suffer along with the rest of the world - (even if we are better off here while we go through it). This is something we have never known,although our parents and grandparents experienced this during the Great Depression.

This will shock us, but maybe it will serve to wake us up...we are also threatened with losing more and more of our civil rights and liberties...but as soon as we remember God gave us this blessing and become grateful for how we came to be blessed to have this great Country, this "One Nation Under God", *the welcoming haven to all nationalities - who obey our laws and who come here legally, we are promised that God will step in to defend us and defeat our enemies.

I hope Ferfal that if you truly love America as you seem to, you will not give up on coming here.
We need people who will love and support this Country and fight for her when the time comes.

God bless America and all those who love her.

muhammadrazzaq50 said...

A more serious omission is the migration of great foreign filmmakers from war-torn Europe to Hollywood. Fritz Lang made classic 1940s fare such as Scarlet Street, while Jean Renoir (The Southerner), Julien Duvivier (Flesh and Fantasy) and other foreign filmmakers made memorable Hollywood contributions.

Anonymous said...

People in their old age get bitter and feel powerless, so it's no surprise they want to go overseas where they can forgot the problems of their country and live their old age in peace and quiet.

My opinion is that they are just running from themselves and their lifestyle, by going overseas to a foreign nation and culture. That's fair enough, but perhaps the same could be achieved while in their home country by moving and taking up a different line of work and group of friends.

cryingfreeman said...

FerFal, you know my view on this: the USA, whilst an erstwhile great place to live, is on the fast-track to becoming a hardcore police state, along with the UK, Canada, Australia, NZ and much of Europe. A small, well-run westernised country would be better due to smaller government, which is why I still advocate Switzerland for someone like you with an EU passport (even though it is not part of the EU itself). It's not cheap to live in but it doesn't have a host of 3-lettered agencies and the world's most evil tax system breathing down your neck.

DaShui said...

I noticed Orlov himself is not going anywhere. He could easily move to Russia or Israel, but instead lives on a sailboat.
I like his stuff, though. There do seem to be strong parallels between the US and the Soviets, down to the no win Afghan war.

FerFAl why don't you move to Canada? I think it is more easy than the USA. And from Canada make a jump to the USA.

Anonymous said...

You said just about everything I was going to say about Orlov's Xpat post Fernando, so thanks. I did find it highly ironic that a Russian born person who was brought over @ 12 and chooses to stay in the USA, agrees w/his contributor and thinks it's a good idea to leave.

Being in the target group for xpat's, I'm an educated, fairly well off, single man in his 30's, I thought about the process back in 2005 and came to the conclusion that it's just better to stay here in my midwestern US home.

Why? As a English speaker, I could have moved to a commonwealth country w/o much problem but if one takes a close look at the UK, with their class based society that is subject to all sorts of monitoring and gun control, is it a far-fetched notion to conclude that her commonwealth countries, Aus, NZ, Canada, etc. would not have these same laws implemented when the 'troubles' come, i.e. if they're already locked down tighter than the US, why conclude it's going to be better in a collapse situation than the USA?

I also looked at Uruguay and other SA countries, did lot's of reading, but didn't visit so I can't say my conclusions are correct(I have spent some time in Mexico, however), but I was left with the belief that all the petty and property crime would have driven me crazy, esp. since it's ingrained in the culture. I would have to had made a large investment in learning this culture and language too which was another minus to me.

Basically, the only country I would consider outside the USA, is Switzerland. But not having Swiss roots, I like my family too much to spend much more money doing the same thing I do in the US.

That's not saying I don't like other cultures, I do. And since my position puts me in contact with many foreign nationals, I get the benefit of interacting with them without having to leave my neighborhood.

Blindweb said...

Orlov and James Kunstler are typical one trick pony intellectual elitists. They think because they are leading experts in one or two areas that gives them insight into all other areas. I think Orlov's Collapse Gap and Kunstler's Long Emergency were excellent pieces of writing, and I would highly recommend them, but outside of that, on their blogs, they just rant ramble and repeat the same thing over and over (particularly Kunstler).

Even Noam Chomsky, leading far left US critic, would undoubtedly say the US is still the freest place in the world.

Don Williams said...

1) I think one should distinguish between loyalty to the American
land and its People versus criticism of the ruling elites who
are stabbing America in the back for their own profit and agendas.

Bill O'Reilly at Fox News, for example, beat the drums in 2002
for the unnecessary war in Iraq. Several years later, he is millions of dollars richer while 4500 American families have buried fathers-sons-husbands and thousands more families are
caring for amputees. We are discussing cutting the Social
Security benefits of blue collar workers in order to pay for that unnecessary war while Big Oil lines up for the Iraq oil concessions.

2) The most malignant factions wave the American flag while promoting their deceit. The same Members of Congress who threw millions of defense workers and military personnel out on the street in the 1990s massive Clinton defense cuts stood up on Sept 11, 2001 and sang "God Bless America".

If O'Reilly is going to wave the American Flag, I wish he would
at least wave Rupert Murdoch's Australian flag.

3) And the Democratic leaders are just as bad -- their careers are
based on prostituting themselves to wealthy billionaires in the
Israel Lobby like Haim Saban. Saban BOUGHT his own think tank
at Brookings Institute which in 2002 was telling us in 2002 that we
needed to take out Hussein before he used his nukes. Saban dumped
$15 MILLION into the Democratic Party in 2000-2002 and is one
of the primary supporters of the Clintons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haim_Saban

dc.sunsets said...

@ cryingfreeman,
I concur; Switzerland appears to be the best among the various nation-states but as you allude, it (wisely) does not encourage immigration and is too expensive for 99.999% of us (the rest can live well anywhere).

Two centuries ago the movement of people was largely unrestricted. Today the planet is saturated with authoritarian political systems so arguing about "which country is freer" is like two slaves arguing over which plantation treats them better.

The USA is not the freest or safest country. A U.S. passport carries many negatives (full taxation on worldwide income, plus you're cut off from many financial services, plus there's an "exit tax" if you try to dump your citizenship). That said, for someone like me who only speaks English and whose entire extended family is here, leaving is a last resort. We do, however, live in the Evil Empire. Americans don't care how many foreigners the U.S. military slaughters, so as long as the military is busy murdering outside the borders, it's safer inside. Should that change, all bets are off. Germany prior to Hitler's election was the most cosmopolitan of all European countries, with 1-in-10 Hamburg marriages between a Jew and Gentile.

Things can change...and fast.

Aurochs said...

Thank you, FerFAL. Yes, America is not without problems. But Europe, Canada, and Australia have their own issues that are different and just as worrisome.

America is probably the most welcoming country in the world to immigrants. The number of doctors, lawyers, politicians, and business owners I know who are children of immigrants is amazing, especially when you consider that in many countries, if your name or skin color isn't right, you're really never accepted as a "real" citizen.

Aurochs said...

This is an interesting article from the BBC on Switzerland's reaction to crime and immigrants. Note that children of immigrants do not automatically become citizens and can be deported if they commit certain crimes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11857438

Paraguay Insider said...

FerFal asked:
(at least I hope it was indeed a question)

"WHY on earth would they all do that if they could easily live in their 3rd world crapholes or socialist or communist paradises? "

The answer is simple.

*** M O N E Y ***

Who had thought that?
For a very long time, the US was the place for the poor to go and make money.

The POOR want into the US as much as the POOR want into the EU.

The 3rd world countries are - by design - a society where the few rich elites stay rich and the many poor stay poor.
You can not become a U$ millionaire in costa rica by working hard....

On the other hand if you are not looking to make money from your own hard work, but instead have a fixed income (retirement, interest, royalities etc) you will live far better in panama for example. You simply get more return for your money.

Anonymous said...

The United States isn't a perfect country, but it's a hell of a lot better than most.

I'd say it'd be a better place if you lived here. Anything we can do to help with your immigration?

Bill in NC said...

Another good article to solicit discussion.

But full of hyperbole like every other article on his site.

Or sins of omission - like the cost of the "single payer" medical system he loves (for most European countries, 12-15% of your income assuming a white-collar job)

Don Williams said...

1) I wish Americans would wake up and realize that our News Media exists solely to lie to us --to turn the herd of voters into a pack of idiotic sheep.

Ask why your news service never tells us the most basic facts about Reality --about Who Rules America:

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

2) How can anyone seriously suggest that America is at risk of "Socialism" when 1 percent of the population owns 35 percent of the national wealth. And the next 4 percent richest own 27 percent?
Only Switzerland has a slightly higher concentration of wealth.

3) And you know the Commies are set to take over when the richest 1 percent of the population takes in 22 percent of the national income.

When politicans of both parties have to beg for over $1 Billion each election from the Rich.

When Obama --Tribune of the Common Man --raises $750 MILLION to run for President:

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/summary.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00009638

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=N00009638

No doubt Goldman Sachs donated for the public interest and the common good.

http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=GS+Interactive#symbol=GS;range=2y

russell1200 said...

Thank you for defending us.

It was a guest post, so Orlov did not write it himself. It is not entirely clear that whomever sent it to him did not crib the posting as it was originally posted elsewhere in April of this year.

The author, and most of the commenter's are comparing small homogeneous population countries to a massively diverse and sized country. It is like comparing North Dakota to California. If you look at the countries with similar population to the US it is a much more interesting comparison.

That being said, the United States has done an awful job of adjusting to the global economy and has almost gone out of its way to make those who will have problems adjusting suffer.

penang said...

I doubt that most citizens in the US have the right to carry a concealed firearm. Almost all states require things like fingerprinting or a test.

For what it's worth, as an American who has spent a large part of his life outside the US, I'd say the US has been sinking relative to large parts of the world over the last 30 years. No place is perfect, to be sure, but the economics have certainly changed a lot. After travelling around East Asia a while, I feel like I'm visiting a less developed country when visiting large parts of the US. It was certainly the opposite 30 years ago. And the reason poor folks from the Third World want to move to the US is not freedom; it's money. The US was a great place for poor people, and still is less bad than 80% of the countries on Earth. On the other hand, for Americans with a net worth of, say, $300,000, it makes sense to consider living in Panama or SE Asia, especially if their careers are not very promising.

Double Tapper said...

Americans are different than other people on the planet. Though branded as shallow, we are intensely introspective and try to solve problems. We fail a lot, but get back up and do it again. Sometimes we get it right. Sure there are tons of money to be made here. But the most important point, and FerFal touched on it, is here in the US, you can be what and who you want to be. Doing that in more rigid societies is tougher.

Anonymous said...

Wish Orlov would take his happy Red rear back home.

Ferfal, we would be very happy to have you in Oklahoma, you'd make a good red blooded American of which we can NEVER have enough of in these times.

John in OKC (Oklahoma City)