BBC-America the Paradox...

[Xela]

"It is a paradox. Along with the guns there is a tranquillity and civility about American life of which most British people can only dream."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7359513.stm

[knowbody0]

1. thank you

I really enjoyed the article.

[david13]

2. There you have it. There's good and bad anywhere. n/t

[spin]

3. An armed society is a polite society. (n/t)

[benEzra]

4. I work with two British expatriates, both female,

and both say that it is safer here in eastern NC than where they lived in the UK.

[pipoman]

5. I tire of those who oft

espouse the lies that societies which make self defense near criminal and strip defensive tools from law abiding citizens are panaceas of peace and tranquility.

[jeepnstein]

6. It's more than guns..

that make U.S. society "safer" than our British counterparts. We have land, huge tracts of land, that gives us distance from one another. Look at the typical suburban lot size in the U.S. versus Great Britain. "Elbow room", said Daniel Boone.

Our immigrants are of a different nature, as well. Our Mexicans are more culturally similar to most Americans than what the British are seeing. There is much less friction because of this even though some is inevitable.

Then there is that foolish notion that most Americans hold that other people are generally nice. I see it all the time. Even among the criminal set, a warm smile and a friendly word generally can keep a situation from escalating to conflict. Most Americans are a bunch of big dummies who just want to be liked. We're more "Larry the Cable Guy" than Dick Cheney, God Bless America for that.

Gun play is generally a sign that things have gone terribly wrong. It is still quite rare outside a certain criminal element engaged in the illegal drug traffic.

[Tim01]

7. My daughter went to university in canada.

She couldn't wait to get away from america with it's stupid,fat, republican,jesus loving,uneducated,capitalist, violent people.
She is back now. She enjoys the safety she feels walking around D.C. at night. She was afraid in Canada. Afraid of the highly aggressive groups of panhandlers, and afraid of the random shootings of innocent citizens that happened on a daily basis.(meth)
She really did hate america before she left. She now desires to never move from america again.

I've been to foreign countries, I tried to tell her.

[davepc]

8. Daily random shootings? What providence was this?

[Tim01]

9. Alberta. nt

[Tim01]

10. Edmonton. nt

[slackmaster]

11. It's no paradox at all

The USA is geographically about 40 times the size of the UK, with only about 5 times the population. Most US crime is concentrated in a few heavily urbanized areas. Most US residents live far enough away from those crime centers that we don't worry much about it affecting us directly.