Why do I love/hate America?

People often ask me, why do you want to live here? What do you like about America? Is it not better in the UK? It is amazing that many Americans who have never lived or worked in the UK, really believe that life is much easier and better. The same thing goes for many Brits who ask me the same thing, the ones who have never lived or worked in the US often ask similar questions, let me try and explain a few things.

1, Freedom of Speech, it is true that on paper, the British really do have a freedom of speech, however in practice when compared with America, it is apples and oranges. Here are some examples: there is no huge talk radio movement in the UK where conservatives get free airtime to deliver their message to a market audience. Political TV adverts are actually banned in the UK which may sound nice to some, but is actually a form of tolerated censor ship. The overwhelming slant in the UK media is anti-American, anti-Israeli, anti-capitalist and soft-left center. You very rarely hear an opposing view anywhere. In the US, liberal politicians do not get away with comments any more, the mainstream media may cover for them, but the free speech radio and internet is unforgiving and allows regular folk to hear balance.

2, Student bashing does not exist in America, in Britain when I was a student, hatred and resentment of students was rampant in all sections of society including workers, unemployed, celebrities and comedians. This helped fuel the huge crimewaves against students in many cities where there were student targetted assaults, muggings, burglaries and auto theft for almost a decade. I have never heard of or seen anything like this in the many "college towns" in America, it simply does not exist, I have worked many many blue collar jobs in the US and have never ever heard a derogatory word said about "students" in 7 years. When I left a factory job in the US to go back to school, every colleague was totally encouraging and positive about it. When I think back to my factory job after High School before college in the UK, it was nothing but negative discouragement about going to college, except for the few Indians who had been themselves who were encouraging, I am glad that I listened to them more than the tattooed skinheads, drug dealers and deadbeats.

3, Second Amendment rights, despite attemps to link crime to guns, it has been proven time and time again that banning guns does not reduce crime, infact the opposite is true, gun crme in Britain is up 40% despite strict laws, violent crimes are up to a record high in 2006. A law abiding citizen should be allowed to carry a gun and defend themselves, their property and family from aggression. After being victimized many times in the UK with no defence I will defend the second amendment to the end so that they can take my gun "from my cold dead hands!". The problem in the US is simply stopping the criminals and messed up kids from getting them.

4,I hate the drug commercials on TV, it makes too many people neurotic and has resulted in massive unnecessary use of prescription drugs and a record addiction level to prescription pain killers.

5, I hate the "refuse to walk" culture, so many Americans will not even walk five minutes to a shop or to buy a pizza. I watched my neighbors the other day literally drive a 2 minute drive up the street in fine weather, with no heavy bags or carrying anything. Some people in rural remote maine have a legitimate excuse, but even so, there are many towns and cities with areas to walk, not utilized.

6, I hate politically correct wimpy nonsense that has replaced common sense, not racially profiling, airport security, school textbooks, the removal of all christian symbols, with complete tolerance of non-christian symbols. Pandering to muslims in schools and colleges, while banning christians from expressing themselves.

7, Accessibilty to the common man, if you go out hunting in the woods in any state in the USA, you will meet plumbers, electricians, nurses, fireman, cops, doctors, lawyers and businessmen. The only hunting done in the UK is by very wealthy elites on private land. I like the fact that regular folk have access to outdoor pursuits in the USA, also if you go to a lake you will find regular folk driving boats and owning camps on lakes, another pass time reserved for the elites in the UK. Also personalized number plates in the US are dirt cheap compared to the UK, so again regular folk have access, when in the UK it is only the wealthy.

8, I am not sure exactly how the prescription drug abuse problem is in the UK, but I can tell you in the US, it is rampant and out of control, every emergency room and doctors office sees people addicted to prescription narcotics. People will spend hours waiting in ER's to try and obtain narcotics, while people with genuine sickness and injury have to wait even longer because of these idiots.