Pro & Con between life in UK & US

O'dear!  A little old TAKING THE PISS and a load of response.  I love it!  Thank you all so much for adding ya 2 pence!  It's all about how an individual perceives the world around them. Free speech is a wonderful thing.  Being PC is such a constipated big business/ Republican concept.  I really do love the USA (minus Bush) and UK equally.   I can say the American tourists in Burford really bother me as much as the beer guzzling St. George wearing YOBs down in Spain.  

Here are a few more pro & con for my genuine off the hip personal perceptions.

US and A

pro: vast amounts of space, crickets, 100% organic beef burgers in a restaurant, LARGE WASHERS & DRYERS, Thanksgiving, long summer holiday, proper sewer systems, people you can understand unless they are from the deep south, standard of living and more than one Apple store and Generalised English.

con: Republic of Texas, Fox news, overly PC attitudes, whole regions of saturated fats (mile after mile of Mackers and KFC), Republicans, The Creationist Museum in Kentucky, South side of Chicago accents, Detroit, heavy censorship, legal happy culture, greater gap between rich & poor, American cars, Country and Western, Walmart, Roundup Ready crops and people that don't travel outside the US and A.

UK

pro: Sense of humour, Nick Drake, access to Europe, national trains that actually go somewhere you would want to visit, better public transport network, homes built of stone, quality of life, village cricket, real cider, greater sense of belonging to the world, more respect for the arts, better bands, more respect for nature, Borat, ability to literally walk across the entire island from top to bottom without getting shot by farmers, afternoon tea, more freedoms, birthplace of MODERN democracy and less genetically modified foods and Received Pronunciation.

con: still visible class system, socially acceptable racism, women in tight hooker wear that don't work the street, can't be bovvered attitude, ASBO YOB culture, speed cameras, big brother, the damp, Oxford rubbish collection, long wet winters, Marmite, TV license, the word PUNTER, pushy white vans, fake Burberry and snotty people that think they are smarter than they really are.

I completely agree with every single one of your observations.  Well done you.

Also, as my mom is Native American, just because the people weren't white doesn't mean that we don't have a history. 

Heya dear.......I'm also part Native American +English, Scottish, German, Irish, Croat and Dutch.  I think one of the greatest things about America is a large ethnic library we can cling to.  In the UK white people claim to be 100% English or 100% Welsh and hold strong nationalistic views.  If you look back in history over here most English people are more diverse than they like to claim.  Even if they really know their heritage, they don't claim to be Native American British, German Romany British or Irish English Indian British.  There was a programme on BBC Four about mapping British peoples real heritage.  It was interesting because every single Brit they tested had, East Indian, other European, Native American, Black African, Russian or Romany.

One thing the British have is a strong sense of collective history not through race but from language.  In the USA we don't have a tradition of a collective history because our country is still young.  In America we have been brought together via a consumer culture.  In the States we also have far less preserved Native and prehistoric sites.  The UK has numerous prehistoric sites.  I agree Western history is not the only valid history.  The Indus Valley civilization was well ahead of any other culture at that time.

I have another one for you..........the Native American heritage that we share has been proved to have come from Asia.  The first real Native Americans have links to Native Australians.  There has been extensive genetic testing on bones found throughout California that prove a much earlier native culture with identical genes to Aborigines.  Interesting Ay!

You mention stopsigns are too numerous in the US.
I'll bring up that there are too many speed cameras in the UK.
I love both places so don't get me wrong.

wait a minute -- southside chicago accents are a 'con'?!

you're cruisin' for a bruisin', pal!

 

 

I'll bring up that there are too many speed cameras in the UK.

Hey, give that Texan republican punter his/her dues, he/she did mention speed cameras.

I do think he/she is really a burberry wearing, marmite eating, white van driving fully fledged unadulterated upper crust Englishman from Kansas.

proper sewer systems

Totally, dude. One thing I just hate about living over here is the copious amounts of sewage running through the streets.... Oh, hang on, I'm having a sensory memory of my parent's septic tank being pumped.

The troll thing is so beyond boring. Honestly it really is.... 

Oh, hang on, I'm having a sensory memory of my parent's septic tank being pumped.

Least your parents had a pump. 

Totally, dude. One thing I just hate about living over here is the copious amounts of sewage running through the streets.... 

everyone knows there isn't copious amounts of sewage running through the streets...the rain sees to that

The troll thing is so beyond boring. Honestly it really is.... 

I've had my fill.

I'm gonna go dress like a hooker and not work the streets.

Mostly because of all the sewage of course.

You know there is a possibility that it's not just trolling, and people like to bandy back and forth about the differences between the two places, exploring the contrasts and similarities, sometimes with humor, sometimes seriously, as the majority of this thread seems to be doing. Then again, that would mean that some people are either easily wound up or overly sensitive to any criticism of the UK, even when it's not, and would probably be better off ignoring these sorts of threads completely if it bothers them that much. Cause the affected oh-so-bored attitude disdainfully thrown in here is really annoying to those of us who do enjoy the banter of this relatively harmless topic, and apart from being sickeningly self-congratulatory, it serves no positive purpose. And it would probably be helpful to keep in mind that this sort of topic is one that, no matter how long you've been posting here, is going to come up again and again and again because of its very nature, and the influx of new people to the board, and the evolving nature of people's adjustment to living here.

In other words, would you ever stop moaning and get over it. K, thanks.

Then again, that would mean that some people are either easily wound up or overly sensitive to any criticism of the UK, even when it's not, and would probably be better off ignoring these sorts of threads completely if it bothers them that much. Cause the affected oh-so-bored attitude disdainfully thrown in here is really annoying to those of us who do enjoy the banter of this relatively harmless topic, and apart from being sickeningly self-congratulatory, it serves no positive purpose. And it would probably be helpful to keep in mind that this sort of topic is one that, no matter how long you've been posting here, is going to come up again and again and again because of its very nature, and the influx of new people to the board, and the evolving nature of people's adjustment to living here.

In other words, would you ever stop moaning and get over it. K, thanks.

 

You know there is a possibility that it's not just trolling, and people like to bandy back and forth about the differences between the two places, exploring the contrasts and similarities, sometimes with humor, sometimes seriously, as the majority of this thread seems to be doing. Then again, that would mean that some people are either easily wound up or overly sensitive to any criticism of the UK, even when it's not, and would probably be better off ignoring these sorts of threads completely if it bothers them that much. Cause the affected oh-so-bored attitude disdainfully thrown in here is really annoying to those of us who do enjoy the banter of this relatively harmless topic, and apart from being sickeningly self-congratulatory, it serves no positive purpose. And it would probably be helpful to keep in mind that this sort of topic is one that, no matter how long you've been posting here, is going to come up again and again and again because of its very nature, and the influx of new people to the board, and the evolving nature of people's adjustment to living here.

In other words, would you ever stop moaning and get over it. K, thanks.

Well put Stella!

Ouch.

I had no idea such generalities posted by total strangers who continue to make no effort to clarify who they themselves are or why they are stirring up such apparent emotions but simply continue to do so was so personally sensitive and appealing to you.
I have no problem 'bandying' back and forth, but I usually prefer to know a bit about the person instigating, particularly when, though it will always be perpetual, a clearly overdone topic. 

Disdainful?

In other words, would you ever stop moaning and get over it. K, thanks.

Got it.

Hardly moaning.  A mere observation.  Sorry it didn't agree with yours.

Modified to add:  I am sorry I/we/some people hit such a nerve with you as I've never had issue with things you've stated to the point of speaking so harshly; it honestly dismays me that instead of simply ignoring posts you don't agree with and stating individual opinions about pros and cons, crowds are now siding on the playground.  I'm sorry my stab at humor was poor this time, and I leave you to discuss.

I think generalised lists depend entirely where you live.  My husband is from Tennessee and would never say beaches are one of the best things about the US.

I'm from Tennessee too, so living 10 minutes from the beach has been a big novelty to me!

[Mod Hat Firmly ON]

OK.  EVERYBODY, and that means everybody, take a chill pill.

OP:Please keep in mind that you are tallking to real people here with different views of the UK and that 'humour' doesn't always come across the way it was intended.

Others:  You are free to ignore entire boards, individual posters or threads that annoy you in ANY way.  Not everyone appreciates people knocking the UK, not everyone appreciates people not getting a joke and not everyone appreciates others telling them what is appropriate to think/feel and post.

So let's all take a step back, keep it nice, keep it from being offensive, and try very hard to get along.