How does the World view America these days?

  On 2/5/2018 at 9:33 PM, olo said:

Ah Phili going Phili...

 

http://www.tmz.com/2018/02/05/eagles-fan-eats-horse-crap-super-bowl/?adid=hero5

 

I've lived in Philadelphia most of my adult life & a drunk man in an Eagles jersey literally eating shit is the most Philly thing I can possibly think of.

Ah, so enjoying Hotel California is a gateway drug to eating horse poop as I had always suspected.

Update, the world is viewing America in a way that has been better than ever. We've always been hated. Really loathed. But some how people can't look away and want something from the usa. I think the Internet and the cross exchange of people around the world has lessened the preconception of everyday Americans. Before all you had was crazy news stories and tv shows, films. Stereotypes you could say. 

  On 2/10/2018 at 7:26 PM, marf said:

Update, the world is viewing America in a way that has been better than ever. We've always been hated. Really loathed. But some how people can't look away and want something from the usa. I think the Internet and the cross exchange of people around the world has lessened the preconception of everyday Americans. Before all you had was crazy news stories and tv shows, films. Stereotypes you could say. 

  On 2/10/2018 at 7:30 PM, agaricus said:

 

  On 2/10/2018 at 7:26 PM, marf said:

Update, the world is viewing America in a way that has been better than ever. We've always been hated. Really loathed. But some how people can't look away and want something from the usa. I think the Internet and the cross exchange of people around the world has lessened the preconception of everyday Americans. Before all you had was crazy news stories and tv shows, films. Stereotypes you could say. 

 

 

lol

the bike was funny enough, but then that tractor segment,

jesus christ pls have mercy on this lost soul

This is from an ad I got earlier, it's a bit weird.

https://www.zionoil.com/zion-oil-gas-inc-google-promotion/

  On 2/10/2018 at 8:10 PM, cwmbrancity said:

the bike was funny enough, but then that tractor segment,

 

jesus christ pls have mercy on this lost soul

slomo lol

Gotta admit though, the geezer is well-armed. I swear he owns like 50 different guns. Dunno how the hell he managed to accumulate so many though.

  On 2/10/2018 at 7:26 PM, marf said:

Update, the world is viewing America in a way that has been better than ever. We've always been hated. Really loathed. But some how people can't look away and want something from the usa. I think the Internet and the cross exchange of people around the world has lessened the preconception of everyday Americans. Before all you had was crazy news stories and tv shows, films. Stereotypes you could say. 

I know, It sounds crazy, but was anyone a grown up during the Bush JR  administration ? 

but it could also be cause the world in general has shifted a bit right since then

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/961038807658352640

It's just astonishing how in love with himself he is

i imagine most people who inherit multi-million dollar fortunes find it very easy to love themselves. 

  On 2/12/2018 at 4:13 AM, Nebraska said:

 

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/961038807658352640

jesus christ.. reading the thread of comments on that tweet is some amazing shit. cognitive dissonance much? people are just in their own reality and it's mostly up their own asses. 

I'm surprised you even read those comments. Let alone believe those are actually people honestly posting their beliefs with a straight face. It's mostly Russian psyops and trolls. And when people take it seriously, it's working as intended. You shouldn't take it any more seriously than you would take 4chan seriously.

On a different note: it's interesting to see the US struggling with the paradox of tolerance. If you compare opinions on free speech, there seem to be differences between western europe and the us. The US seem to support an almost absolute form of free speech, generally speaking. And the EU being somewhat less tolerant has probably to do with its history (WW2).

Having said that, it might be the case the US society is struggling, even though US law has already dealt with this issue. I wouldn't be surprised if the current laws are actually quite specific and well defined on this issue (as it is an important part of US culture), but that the people are out of touch with their laws. That's what you get when people stop supporting law and the institutions executing them, I guess.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox_of_tolerance

  Quote

 

 

The paradox of tolerance was described by Karl Popper in 1945. The paradox states that if a society is tolerant without limit, their ability to be tolerant will eventually be seized or destroyed by the intolerant. Popper came to the seemingly paradoxical conclusion that in order to maintain a tolerant society, the society must be intolerant of intolerance.

  On 2/9/2018 at 11:51 PM, autopilot said:

 

 

I've lived in Philadelphia most of my adult life & a drunk man in an Eagles jersey literally eating shit is the most Philly thing I can possibly think of.

 

Dude, I've always believed Phili sports fans to be the worst in all of sportsdom. Well U.S sportsdom at least.

What the hell is in the water there? Did it all start with the vid below & each generation ratchets up the awful to outdo the previous generation in assholedom?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh2DwRkLIQE

  On 2/12/2018 at 2:14 PM, olo said:

 

  On 2/9/2018 at 11:51 PM, autopilot said:

 

 

I've lived in Philadelphia most of my adult life & a drunk man in an Eagles jersey literally eating shit is the most Philly thing I can possibly think of.

 

 

Dude, I've always believed Phili sports fans to be the worst in all of sportsdom. Well U.S sportsdom at least.

What the hell is in the water there? Did it all start with the vid below & each generation ratchets up the awful to outdo the previous generation in assholedom?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh2DwRkLIQE

 

It's been a race to the bottom for as long as I can tell.

This city is one of the most corrupt and incompetent bureaucracies in the country.  We have a perfect storm of welfare state, poor public education, single mother households (because a single mom with 5+ children in this city gets massive welfare entitlements & tax breaks, so many of the lower class are incentivized in this direction), bankrupt-if-it-weren't-subsidized public transportation, and giant chunks of section 8 housing that landowners partake in to make easy money from the state.  In the 1970s and earlier everything was run by the mafia & unions so it while it was more stable in some ways, it was still pretty violent and racist and far from ideal in any capacity.  Then there was also the race riots of 1964, which massive chunks of the city still have never recovered from ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1964_Philadelphia_race_riot ) as the businesses & wealth that abandoned those neighborhoods never returned, and now it's all gang violence, & drug use.

So now we have multiple generations of drugged-up lower-class trash who start fires, overturn cars, and smash store windows all to show how much they love that a dude crossed a line on a field with a ball.  The good news is they're all of different colors and sexual orientations, so the soy boys in the safe, newly built gentrified areas can post on Facebook about how they live in a "woke" coastal city as they sip their $10 lattes.

Wow...Lots of similarities to Detroit. Godspeed autopilot.

also, stay away from the horseshit. No bueno.

I'm actually in the business of rebuilding impoverished neighborhoods and leasing to small businesses which does inject wealth & have an observably positive impact, so I like to think I'm doing my part in some small way.  The problem is that dealing with the various departments in city hall is a nightmare Kafka couldn't have even imagined, to the point where I occasionally have to explain to city clerks specifically what their job is (and how to do it) in order to accomplish things.  It's comically absurd.

bureaucrazy

I used to regularly visit Philly with the fam when I was a kid, and go on school field trips there. But this was back in '93 to '96. Way things are going now it sounds like, it's in a state of full retard.

The Franklin Institute was one of my favorite spots there back in the day.

The Franklin Institute is fantastic and the art museum is great as well (real high culture stuff, not MOMA piss-takes).  Center city & old city are lovely because that's where all the tax money goes to keep it clean & safe.  Also the Passyunk Square region in south Philly has really gotten especially nice.

The city's actually in better shape now than it was in the mid-90s for sure.  The problem is that once you go more than 10 blocks in any direction from city hall it becomes a desolate wasteland of dilapidated rowhomes and gang violence.  All the tax money goes to keeping center city clean & safe for the tourists & politicians while the rest gets neglected.

I'm sure this is analogous for other American cities as well, this is just the only one I'm intimately familiar with.

re: public transit

-

pretty much all public transportation is subsidized... NYC to london to wherever.. that's because it's deemed a public good and worth paying for because w/o it the city would be a huge fucking nightmare. none (?) of the public transit systems break even or make a profit.. it's not what they are there for. 

not saying they are all run by smart people doing a great job at managing funds and projects but the intent of the system is to provide a service. 

i've never been to philly though. .. i'd like to go some day.