If I lived in a country other than the US, there is no way in hell

[raccoon]

I would visit this country.

If there’s anybody who reads this who is living in another country, would you visit the US for any reason other than your work requiring you to?

[Tetrachloride]

1. I submit the hypothesis that 2 billion of the world's population

would live in the USA if given the permanent visa.

[Angleae]

39. Only 2 billion?

Sounds a bit low.

[Irish_Dem]

2. I was thinking the same thing today.

Why would anyone want to move here or even travel here?

The US is hostile to anyone not straight, white, christian, male.

If you are pregnant or get pregnant you are in trouble.

And gun nuts are everywhere shooting at people.

Also half of the US government consists of corrupt evil buffoons with nuclear weapons.

[MichMan]

3. There are a lot more people trying to enter through the southern border than the other way around

I wonder why?

[SoCalDavidS]

6. Because There Are Countries Even Shitier Than Ours?

There are also plenty of countries FAR BETTER than America. That's INDISPUTABLE at this point.

[JI7]

13. Those are not the people trying to get here and it's difficult for us to

go there also other than as tourists.

[yardwork]

43. Because the violence that we encourage in those countries makes them dangerous.

Read about U.S. policies in Central America. Read about how the CIA and State Department caused the overthrow of democratically elected governments, in Chile for instance. Read what the guns and drug trafficking policies have done to Mexico.

People are desperate to escape unlivable situations that we helped create.

[Brenda]

48. Because they are Climate Refugees

They have been forced out of their homes in Honduras and other Central American countries because of the extreme droughts and hurricanes. They cannot farm. Their countries are being taken over by drug lords.

So, they migrate...walk away hoping to find a new place to make a living. Some stay in other countries, many are not allowed to stay in Mexico so they keep walking north.

They are not coming here on the hopes of making a better life in the wonderful opportunity-laden USA but out of desperation.

This will happen in our very own country by people driving away from the West and coastal areas in the near future escaping basically the same thing plus sea level rise along the coast.

[unblock]

4. I've done crazier things. Once, I was stranded in the combat zone,

I walked through Bedford Stuy alone

Even rode my motorcycle in the rain

Now they told me not to drive

But I made it home alive

So you'll say that only proves that I'm insane

You may be right

I may be crazy

[former9thward]

5. Millions waiting to immigrant into the U.S. disagree with you.

[SoCalDavidS]

8. So We're Not The Biggest Shithole Country In The World

We're Still A Shithole.

[former9thward]

18. No we are not.

By any measure. I have traveled to and spent time in 43 different countries. Always thankful to be back in the U.S. In a few minutes I am going to a Naturalization Ceremony for 75 new citizens. My job will be to register them to vote. I will ask them if they think this is a shithole country.

[LuckyCharms]

23. Were people routinely and randomly getting beheaded by gunfire

like those rubber ducks floating by at a carnival game in those countries you visited?

[former9thward]

32. The murder rate is far higher in many countries than the U.S.

I registered people to vote from 30 countries tonight. They laughed when I told them some citizens in this country call it a shithole country.

[LuckyCharms]

34. Oh, well as long as they laughed, that's enough

to change my opinion.

[former9thward]

36. I know nothing will change your opinion.

But the opinion of new citizens (and people like President Biden on this subject) means infinity more to me than anonymous internet posters.

[LuckyCharms]

37. You know whose opinion matters most to me?

Mine.

[USALiberal]

44. Lol, ok!!!

[yardwork]

45. Yeah, that didn't happen.

[LuckyCharms]

47. You know, I'm thinking about this comment.

You registered people to vote from 30 countries tonight, and then what? You then just happened to casually mention that you were typing to some people on a website called Democratic Underground, and some of those people on DU think that the US has turned into a shithole country, and then you all laughed?

So, did everyone start clapping after that? Did you go out for drinks afterwards?

[former9thward]

65. I never mentioned DU or did I say that in my post.

The rest of what you said was word salad so I won't attempt to decipher it.

[LuckyCharms]

67. I'm sorry, I'll try to be clearer here.

You stated that you registered people from 30 countries to vote.

You then stated "They laughed when I told them some citizens in this country call it a shithole country".

So, here are my questions:

1) Are you "embellishing" the above statement?

2) Did you actually ask them that question?

3) What was the trigger that caused you to ask this question to individuals whom I am assuming are newly naturalized citizens? Was this the type of comment that you normally make at what I think would be a somewhat somber and serious proceeding? Did you actually use the word "shithole"?

4) Did the people from all 30 of these countries laugh?

5) I'm assuming that if people were laughing, they made some comments indicating why they were laughing. What comments did they make to explain their laughter?

6) How did you respond to their comments?

7) Did everyone applaud after this situation?

I hope this is a little less "word salad-like".

[Violet_Crumble]

53. And then everyone applauded!

https://www.reddit.com/r/thatHappened/

[LuckyCharms]

55. LMAO

You may already know this, but there is also a subreddit called, I think r/iamverybadass or something like that. I get some good laughs from that one too!

[Violet_Crumble]

57. Thanks. I'm going to check that one out...

Subreddits like those are my go-to's, along with the Crap Bird Photography group on FB

[npk]

11. They come here on failed ideas and promises

That they will make a lot of money and become rich but don't realize that is mostly bullshit.

[former9thward]

14. Its not bullshit.

Far, far, far more economic opportunity in the U.S. than in their home countries. That is why they come here. They are not trying to get into any other country. Maybe you have not traveled much...

[npk]

19. Most immigrants become just another member of the working class

Yes there are more opportunities here than in other mostly developing countries, but very few will realize the "American Dream" that ultimately brought them here.

[JI7]

22. Their working class lives are a huge improvement over where they came from

it's a myth that people come here thinking they will become wealthy.

[JI7]

15. No, they come to have a better life than where they came from

and in most cases they do .

[npk]

24. My point is that most immigrants, unless they come from wealthy countries...

Become just another exploited oppressed worker with few true opportunities of upward mobility. America has one of the lowest guaranteed wages on earth amongst developed countries.

[JI7]

25. Compared to where they come from they have far better chance at it

It's not people from developed countries coming here.

The ones coming here are from poor and corrupt nations. So those people are better off.

[alittlelark]

27. MANY from 'shithole' countries WANT to come here.

For most of them The USA made them 'shithole' countries. Wealthy ppl that saw $$$ in cocaine and where it could be produced. They made fortunes on the corruptable damaged children of wealth. They got their supply on the backs of 'normal' ppl working for them.

It is about as twisted and sick as it gets.

Narcissists LOVE, sometimes NEED coke.

[anarch]

7. yeah it's pretty clearly a shithole country at this point

The only worse places to go are where there is open warfare going on

[Tetrachloride]

16. I live in the Third World. Good and bad in

any neighborhood or government situation here.

If there are specific examples in mind, we can discuss with more confidence. Generalities don’t help.

[DFW]

9. Well, yes, actually

My wife, who is from Germany, where we live, came with me to the USA last Wednesday for a vacation. One of our daughters lives here (NYC), and she had not seen my brother in a year. Plus, we are staying on the outer tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where the craziness does not yet appear to have penetrated.

[raccoon]

20. I have enjoyed a lot Of your posts. But what you said about the craziness not having penetrated yet,

you always hear people saying after some such event happens. Mass murders, mass shootings, whatever don’t happen in Anycity, Anystate.

Until they do.

[DFW]

28. The Outer Cape has remained an exception to many rules

It can’t be Anycity because there really aren’t any cities here, just a string of small towns. Although one could always bring a gun here, there is rarely any need for one, and if there’s a place here that sells ammunition, I couldn’t tell you where to find it. Pain in the ass though it may be to get to, we have been coming here for 38 years in a row now. We have hosted friends from six different European countries, all of which have far more sensible gun laws than we do, and they have all loved it, some coming back for repeat visits.

The local community radio station in Provincetown, to which I have developed ties, has frequent programs on local and national issues. They are proudly one-sided, accurately reflecting the community in which they operate. If you don’t know the Outer Cape or Provincetown, it’s hard to describe. But please believe me—while there are no absolute guarantees, the likelihood of a right wing shooter standing it long enough here to hang around and formulate a plan for a terror act is really remote.

[JI7]

10. You should become more informed about life in other countries

People risk their lives to try to get here.

[raccoon]

17. I've been to Honduras and I've been to Mexico.

The shit hole slums I saw in Honduras Make Mexico look like fucking Norway.

I was in Tegucigalpa a week on a mission trip. We went out to two different neighborhoods, both of them shit hole slum areas. Those people had nothing. Some of the houses we saw would be a poor excuse for a chicken coop in any first world country.

I’ve also been to Canada, England, and France. And in those countries I didn’t worry about some dumb ass mass shooter killing me.

Sure, it could happen wasn’t it in Denmark a few days ago there was a shooting? But in other first world countries it is very rare. it’s not like here where we have that one just about every week.

[JI7]

21. yes, but most of the world is not first world developed countries

[raccoon]

26. I know that. Nt

[LuckyCharms]

51. Either that, or you stop telling others how to feel.

Do you have fears, irrational or otherwise?

Tell me what those fears are, and I'll berate you for having them.

Is that how this works?

[ecstatic]

50. My mom is an immigrant but isn't it possible that today's

would-be immigrants, depending on their economic status, are operating on extremely outdated information? Maybe they're not watching CNN or MSNBC or BBC to realize what this country has become, especially since tfg's disastrous and horrific regime.

Millions disenfranchised by an outdated electoral college and/or gerrymandering. Several mass shootings a day. Police officers maiming/murdering unarmed citizens. Coup attempts that are not prosecuted. Women and girls are not guaranteed the right to control their own bodies.

Yes, 30 or 40 years ago, the United States was the Golden City on the hill. A land full of opportunities. Then reagan happened and the great right-wing resentment movement began.

[JI7]

58. It doesn't matter. What matters is their life compared to where they came from

and in that case it's much better in the US for them.

[48656c6c6f20]

12. I have the same thoughts about DU

After a mass shooting. I can't stomach the assholes that emerge from the caves to gunsplain shit.

[Kaleva]

29. Would u be enjoying the standard of living of a white person...

In this other country? A standard of living similiar to the one you have now?

[PJMcK]

30. Sure, I would

Because I'd know that I would be leaving in a week or two.

Pity for those of us who might be trapped here if the Republicans Reginas control of the government.

Spain and Portugal look good to us:

https://visaguide.world/golden-visa/spain-golden-visa/

[rownesheck]

42. I've been seriously

considering Portugal myself. I don't feel right about raising my 2 non adult children in this country anymore. We're in Texas and it seems the rest of the country will be Texas soon.

I sometimes wonder how the Germans who didn't agree with the nazis felt in the 1930s, and if it pretty much matches how I feel now. It's like I'm taking crazy pills.

[Wounded Bear]

33. It's the RW immigration solution...

turn the US into a shithole 3rd world country that nobody will want to come to.

[moondust]

35. Permitless/Open Carry

in a number of states is all it would take to keep me away if I lived elsewhere. There are lots of other places to visit that are much safer and saner.

[Jspur]

38. As an Indian American I have an interesting perspective

on this matter. I was born and raised in the US, but my parents are from Indian. Over the year my parents helped young Indian college students get settled in America who are on visas. I have befriended a lot of these kids and one thing that sticks out to me is when they tell me that their idea of how they originally viewed America was based off of shows such as Friends. They are only really marketed Blue America as I call it in the sense they see movies in which LA, NYC are mainly featured and think the rest of America is like this. That is all fun and no real problems. I don't think America would be that appealing if Red America was marketed in movies and TV shows.

[yardwork]

46. That's a very interesting point. What shows are Red America watching?

I mean, that's a huge demographic. I'm trying to think of what my Trumpster relatives watch. I don't see them often. Fox News. Hate radio. Action movies. They don't seem to watch sit-coms or Netflix series.

[Silent3]

40. Regardless of how awful our gun violence is compared to other countries, your individual odds...

...of becoming a victim of it while even living here full time are pretty damned low. For it to be a problem on a brief vacation visit is unlikely in the extreme.

The most I've been worried about being in a foreign country was a trip to Libya in 2006 to view a solar eclipse (as well as some amazing Roman ruins along the Mediterranean). Gaddafi was still in power at the time, but clearly the country wanted to cash in on the rare opportunity for tourism the eclipse provided, so they had good reason to treat foreigners well at that time, even Americans, and I was counting on that.

But we are talking about Gaddafi here, so I still harbored some fear the red carpet could suddenly be withdrawn at any time, and definitely breathed a sign of relief once the flight home was off the ground and out of Libyan airspace.

[Raine]

41. I wouldn't but then I can't think of any other country

that I would care to visit at this period of time either. 🤔

[malaise]

49. I haven't visited since Slobby's inauguration

an I used to come over at least once and often twice a year. The truth is that I'd have returned after Biden won but I'm also very Covid cautious.

[brooklynite]

52. As someone who lives in NYC, I can assure you plenty of foreigners are happy to visit here...

The odds of something happening to you are infinitesimally small.

[Violet_Crumble]

54. Not sure if I'd visit or not...

I definitely wouldn't want to live there, not with the guns and lack of universal healthcare and far inferior working conditions than what I'm used to. But I wouldn't mind seeing places like the Grand Canyon and Yosemite and Alaska, so maybe one day I'll visit for a couple of weeks..

Forgot to mention the whole democracy being in danger is a bit of a big one. I wouldn't visit if things continue down the path they're going...

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

56. It's all relative. There are too many factors weighing in to the equation.

The US is a great place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit here, unless I had lots of time and money.

Not interested in visiting urban areas, and having a lot of money would enable me to avoid the snarling, drooling fascist worshipers of the MAGAt king who live in the beautiful rural areas that I enjoy visiting, to a large degree. Hawaii is a very blue state, and drooling MAGAts are few and far between there.

Canada in the summer and fall is a better option for me, Mexico, Costa Rica, or South America in the winter and spring. 50 years ago, the US was a wonderful place to road trip in, and I had the good fortune to see most of what I wanted to see in the US before Reagan. Then Reagan came along, and totally fucked everything up.

I've lived in beautiful places on the beaches of Mexico for extended periods of time, and was only able to do so because of the money I made living in the US, combined with the low cost of living in Mexico.

None of European backpacker type travelers I met in Mexico had any interest in visiting the US. They perceive the US as being full of provincial "ugly American" conservatives/Republicans.

[Another Jackalope]

59. I'm in Canada. No f'ing way would I visit now.

I've had that rule in place since W. I watch the news and its undercurrents, and I've developed a severe lack of trust for your country.

[USALiberal]

60. You can leave also! Nt

[Torchlight]

61. ok lol nt

[USALiberal]

62. Lanternwaste, your back!!!!

[BlackSkimmer]

68. lol, whatever happened to him?

I miss him so. Not.

[Hortensis]

63. If you lived in another country, chances are very good you'd be used to

worse than what you're complaining about here (maybe FAR worse) and wouldn't recognize a serious problem. Chances are also very good that you'd see what's happening here as improvements.

After all, there's no reason to think your formative years would have been in an advanced western liberal democracy (or ANY kind of advanced, or liberal, or western, or democratic nation) when those of so few (@17% of the planet's 7.8B) were.

And, of course, it's foolish to assume visiting the U.S. would be possible.

[maxsolomon]

64. well, millions and millions of tourists disagree with you.

go to any national park out west, and there will be f tons of euros and asians.

[BlackSkimmer]

66. Brittany Griner sure would like to come back to the good old USA.