UK or USA

Hang on a minute Ush, so you saying that because the government has a cash surplus, that rather than investing it into education and health, they should spend it on self-promotion...

Actually, I'm stepping back from this one too. As Gundy says it's hard to make a comparision without a decent knowledge of both sides of the equation. My view of the US is very restricted, though I hope to remedy that with an extended spell on the Northern end of the East coast as some point in the next 2 years.

Oh, other people MUST hate him asking about the midichlorians... the MOST stilted and horrible line...

GL- GET A SCRIPT DOCTOR!

Ratcat, if you think the US is the biz, why on earth are you living in the UK???
If I thought the US was better than the UK, I would move in a flash.

Heres some negative point for the US:

* Too much violence
* Everyone carrys guns
* Kids kill each other in schools
* They think the American way is the only way
* Still use capital punishment

I could keep listed them....but I don't have the time...

Ah, HECK, I thought Gundark and myself had managed to steer this away.

Ok, yeah, fair enough, but you can make a bad list for THIS place as well. And the State system complicates criticism of America as well.

Everyone has ups and downs...

Small point, getting a working permit is an absolute nightmare. The waiting list for work permits for UK residents who have no family or employee sponsor is over 5 years long.
Gaining permenant resedancy is worse.

Hum...

Well I do agree with Raz on all his points. Its not safe to leave home over here.

Crime rates are roughly the same in both countres. The only problem in the US are the guns, which are causing the most amazing murder rates there.

You never know when somebody is gonna go postal....

Well, you know when the post man is gonna. After all, it's his job...

guns dont kill people, people kill people. kind of worn out that one, but it is true though

Well I guess thats true too...,

Well that is true. But how many of those who kill with guns were legally licenced to hold them?

Not very many I'm sure.

FInti- that arguement doesn't work in the States.

Their gun crime rate is LUDICROUS. It's nine times higher than Europe's COMBINED!

So unless you are saying that the average American is a psycho... what other reason can it be but availability?

That's kinda what I'm thinking. Be an interesting statistic to know.

Okay, now I'm a psycho....Norman and I have something in common.

How can you take all those diverse cultures and combine them under a single statistic. A fairer comparrision would be to look at deaths by gunshot per capita.

Look, more people die of gunshot wounds in one day in the States than in one year in the UK.

An average UK Doctor may see one case of gun wounds in his life; a US one, once a week.

That statistic was carefully collected and is good. CLinton used it once.

of course the argument would work in the states the gun cant act on their own.