ForumsWEPRThe bad of your country.

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sensanaty
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sensanaty
1,094 posts
Nomad

What's bad about your country, that most people don't realize or don't know? Does it have a government that promises one, but delivers instead a dictatorship? Does the government do nothing about corruption? Is the government itself corrupt? Do they have policies that make no sense?

Please, do share with us, I'm quite interested in learning more of this. If you want to know about my motherland, you just have to check page 3 of this thread, nicho and 314 did a beautiful job at describing the situation in Serbia.

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nichodemus
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nichodemus
14,981 posts
Grand Duke

Singaporeans complain like nuts! About evey **** thing in the world. And worse of all they blame the government. World recession? Government. Petrol price? Government. Traffic jams? Government. Coffee price increasing? Government.

The government has numerous flaws that I want corrected; but people keep thinking we're a dictatorship. Get over it, we're one of the least corrupt nations, most transparent and better led in the world. The government bans a hundred sites, many of them extremist in nature. But hey we have quite a fair bit of freedom.

We think we are a police state. Merlins beard! The arrest of an opposition member is online on YouTube. (he was a major public nuisance). It took 3 hours to plead, yes plead him to go quietly. No tackling, no violence, just a sad Indian police woman trying to pacify him.

partydevil
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partydevil
5,133 posts
Jester

my country (the netherlands) is for 75% based on import and export.
so when europe does well, we do well. and when europe is sucking, we are sucking. so it doesn't really matter what we do to stimulate the economy. for 75% it depends on what the rest of europe is doing.

also is my government very good in not taking a decision on important matters.
when our political party's can't seem to agree on something. then they will stop the "debates" and put the topic down untill after the next elections. and even then they often put it down again for after the next election.
by doing so. nothing changes while most agree that something has to change about it. but they simply do not agree on what or how it has to change.

AatosLiukkonen
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AatosLiukkonen
66 posts
Nomad

Well, there isn't much that people don't already realize is pointless/stupid/idiotic in America.

Though one thing I think completely surpasses everybody's minds is the fact that Americans are always trying to be on moralistic high ground, and saying people shouldn't do something just because they shouldn't. No rhyme or reason, just that they shouldn't. While this is obvious to most liberals on issues such as abortion or gay rights, it permeates throughout every single issue. Who cares about statistics, it's all about trying to be the moral one.

You shouldn't have assault weapons. Why? Because you shouldn't. Why shouldn't I? Because you shouldn't, shut the hell up.

You shouldn't have drugs. Why? Because you shouldn't. Why shouldn't I? Because you shouldn't, now seriously shut the hell up.

You shouldn't eat fatty foods. Why? Because you shouldn't. Why shouldn't I? YOUR BODY IS MINE AND IF YOU'RE DEAD YOU CAN'T PAY YOUR TAXES SO SHUT THE HELL UP.

Seriously. **** the government.

partydevil
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partydevil
5,133 posts
Jester

for those 3 things they have actual good reasons. not just "because you shouldn't"

nichodemus
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nichodemus
14,981 posts
Grand Duke

And that reason is because the social marginal costs outweigh social marginal benefits. It's not a moral reason.

StDrake
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StDrake
194 posts
Lord

At this point I'm starting to feel singaporean lol - same problem: whatever goes wrong it's a "total tragedy" and the fault of the government. Now it's even worse that the opposition adds fuel to the fire and accuses everyone of national treason.
We've also got a little too much undead romantism in our hearts and crazy catholic fanatics, especially elderly peeps and politicians are trying to use the church as an electorate source

AatosLiukkonen
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AatosLiukkonen
66 posts
Nomad

they have actual bad reasons*


Fixed.

You shouldn't have fatty foods because then the government won't benefit, you shouldn't have drugs (I'm mostly just pointing towards marijuana on this one) because dey be evolz, and you shouldn't have assault weapons because dey be scaryfaic.
nichodemus
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nichodemus
14,981 posts
Grand Duke

You shouldn't have fatty foods because then the government won't benefit, you shouldn't have drugs (I'm mostly just pointing towards marijuana on this one) because dey be evolz, and you shouldn't have assault weapons because dey be scaryfaic.


You have more fatty food and the government has to spend more of it's budget to save your fat clogged arteries. Hurts society due to high opportunity costs, since we only consider private marginal benefit; there is allocative inefficiency. Same reason for drugs.
AatosLiukkonen
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AatosLiukkonen
66 posts
Nomad

You have more fatty food and the government has to spend more of it's budget to save your fat clogged arteries.


Not particularly, no. Only those covered by state medicare (at least before this universal healthcare crap) would have detracted from the system, and even then only minimally. The cost is more likely than not in preventative ad campaigns, not in the healthcare itself, as this is covered by insurance in most cases, or for the other sixth hardly at all.

Same reason for drugs.


No deaths from marijuana. Ever. I would say the cost of enforcement is a bit of a drain, no?
nichodemus
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nichodemus
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Grand Duke

Not particularly, no. Only those covered by state medicare (at least before this universal healthcare crap) would have detracted from the system, and even then only minimally. The cost is more likely than not in preventative ad campaigns, not in the healthcare itself, as this is covered by insurance in most cases, or for the other sixth hardly at all.


52 million Americans are not covered by insurance, and rely on the government for healthcare.


Time, money and energy spent treating patients with health conditions that are exacerbated by their poor diets affects the efficiency, availability and cost of medical care. Medical News Today argues that the illnesses resulting from obesity due to poor dieting often force people to take days off from work, stop working, or go on disability. Decreased productivity negatively affects the economy and the standard of living. When individuals use sick time and do not go to work, the level of productivity of the workforce decreases and business revenue decreases.

The medical care costs of obesity in the United States are staggering. In 2008 dollars, these costs totaled about $147 billion according to Health Affairs. The government doesn't exactly care if you get diabetes or are obese; it cares when it affects society as a whole.

Mexico is a tragic example. Not too long ago, diabetes was rarely seen in Mexico, with the explosion of fast food restaurant chains, the Mexican health system is struggling. It issued a statement in 2009:

âObesity-related illnesses are now so widespread that they are beginning to place a severe strain on the health system: the treatment of type 2 diabetes alone consumes more than one-third of the entire social security budget. Estimates suggest that within five years it will account for two-thirds.â

The Bottom line is, we care not about social marginal benefits and costs of our actions, we care only about our own private marginal benefits and costs. This leads to deadweight loss for society, and allocative inefficiency.

As for drugs, I thought you were mentioning more than just pot, but all kinds of drugs. Yes, marijuana doesn't kill. But the government doesn't care whether you died from pot smoking, it cares about the costs to society.

One major justification for legalization remains tempting: the money. Unfortunately, however, the financial costs of marijuana legalization would never outweigh its benefits. Yes, the marijuana market seems like an attractive target for taxation -- Abt Associates, a research firm, estimates that the industry is worth roughly $10 billion a year -- and California could certainly use a chunk of that cash to offset its budget woes in the current economic climate.

What is rarely discussed, however, is that the likely increase in marijuana prevalence resulting from legalization would probably increase the already high costs of marijuana use in society. Accidents would increase, healthcare costs would rise and productivity would suffer. Legal alcohol serves as a good example: The $8 billion in tax revenue generated from that widely used drug does little to offset the nearly $200 billion in social costs attributed to its use.
partydevil
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partydevil
5,133 posts
Jester

thx nicho, i wouldn't be able to stay calm whit such american.
your hitting my mark perfectly =)

314d1
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314d1
3,817 posts
Nomad

My country? Its a great place. The people are nice and helpful, the land is pretty, and there is plenty of room for everybody.

The flaws that I have noticed are mostly in the world I live in, the world of the youth, and mostly minor problems. Drug use is rampant, mostly "minor" drugs like alcohol, marijuana, and "normal" smoking, to the point where there is a group of at least ten teenagers smoking in the parking lot after school (Not technically school grounds, of course.) There are also minor spouts of violence, both randomly and semi-organized. I have seen several fights, been part of a few, but they are usually just a few punches before someone is restrained and no one has been actually injured in one. While there is semi-organized fighting, from what I hear of it it is mostly friendly fighting, where no one is injured. Crime is low, it is mostly morons doing stupid things. I know two people who have committed armed robbery in high school, both where caught easily. One robbed a liquor store, so I am told, and he was a volunteer fireman and an acquaintance of mine from boyscouts, and I am not sure if he was armed or not. From what I hear he was caught walking down the street drinking the liquor. The other robbed a gas station with a black-painted air soft gun (At least he wore a mask. A scream mask) and was caught easily. Both of those people where pretty nice guys, and I knew them a little bit, one was a former boy scout in my troop and the other had a locker two lockers down from me. The only way anyone knew about the first was asking (Hey, what happened to that guy?) and everyone is surprised when they hear it, the other was a rumor around school when it happened. The girls all thought "Really? I thought he was too nice for that" while the boys thought "Really? I didn't think he had the balls for it.". Both assume that both where probably on drugs.

But really, I love it here. The only problems I can name have never effected me, the only crimes we have in Montana are usually under the effects of alcohol, and the land is great. I have not been to the rest of America in a while, but I assume the rest is similar in a ton of ways?

nichodemus
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nichodemus
14,981 posts
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But really, I love it here. The only problems I can name have never effected me, the only crimes we have in Montana are usually under the effects of alcohol, and the land is great. I have not been to the rest of America in a while, but I assume the rest is similar in a ton of ways?


Not in the ghettos no.
314d1
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314d1
3,817 posts
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Not in the ghettos no.


You may not realize this, but "Everywhere that is not a ghetto" is a pretty big place, so I would say we are doing pretty good. I don't think we even have ghettos in Montana, not since WWII, and those where "Interment Camps" where we kept Italians who ended up liking it so much here many of them stayed. I am not sure that counts, though.
nichodemus
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nichodemus
14,981 posts
Grand Duke

Not in the ghettos no.

You may not realize this, but "Everywhere that is not a ghetto" is a pretty big place, so I would say we are doing pretty good. I don't think we even have ghettos in Montana, not since WWII, and those where "Interment Camps" where we kept Italians who ended up liking it so much here many of them stayed. I am not sure that counts, though.


You might not recall your phrasing of "the rest" being extremely absolute.
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