Quote:
Originally Posted by nostalgiaquest
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This is an interesting situation i often find myself in being an expat in Europe. I tend to be left leaning per American political standard, but almost every time someone hears that i'm American, I find myself having to defend America. It's trendy to hate on America in Europe, and I don't put up with it. Which means I often find myself in a devil's advocate position, arguing the other side of things I might not usually agree with just to make a point, which admittedly is really fun.
Just tonight I was out at a bar and after learning I was American, a guy asked me...and this is ver batum:
him: "so what do you think about the fourth amendment?"
Me: "shit which one is that? Search and seizure? I dunno seems legit to me"
him: " no no the gun one" (we're off to a good start!)
me: "ohhhh, yeah the 2nd. wellllll..."
...and then I have to try to explain the complexities of guns in the Netherlands versus guns in the US to some drunk guy that's never even been to the US.
It's a pretty common line of questioning as an American expat. They always want me to agree that their country is "better". Which in some aspects sure, but in other aspects hell no. I feel the "they hate us cuz they ain't us" vibes a lot lol.
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Liked everything about this post. Have to do yardwork but wanted to respond
Before I do, to answer my own question, my 3 are 1. Incels, 2. Qanon 3. Homophobes who think things like gay couples shouldn’t be allowed to adopt children or that being gay is some sort of sexual deviancy and should be suppressed (don’t think my gay friends would like being told to never have a relationship or sex again for the rest of their life). I came up with these 3 in literally 1 second without effort, but if pressed I could up with many,
many more
I dunno if it is the fact I am surrounded with co-workers who are libs/progressives or the fact I have absorbed so much of their media or just from arguing with them, but as I watch right-wing pundits my brain comes up with liberal counter-arguments every time it can find one (which is constantly). I used to dislike it, now I’ve just accepted it
The gun culture has so many ripples and I notice it watching as much murder/crime/forensic stuff I do. They still want to kill each other just as badly in places like Britain or Australia, they just can’t get to guns to do it, and it causes such a markedly different crime scene
It’s all obvious stuff I’ve noticed like: it’s harder to kill someone with a knife - they tend to run away screaming for help and get away, the person gets tired if they are trying to go on a killing spree, physicality really matters (can be a good or bad thing depending on who you are). Sometimes, I wish “man, what if, in a parallel dimension (because that’s what I think it would take) it was like that here?” Then I banish such a heretic thought. I just know what kind of crime story to expect as soon as I hear the country of origin, and the US is by far the most brutal, in terms of the victim’s chance of survival
But I appreciate you sticking up for America internationally when you absolutely don’t have to and in fact would probably make more friends if you didn’t. That takes character