aidan wrote:David - this whole thread is about how I feel:
I was not consciously aware of that.
I thought it was about violence.
It was my intention to address n describe facts of objective reality,
comparing n contrasting political geografy on either side of the Atlantic Ocean,
insofar as criminal violence is concerned.
Quote:sick of reading of the violence here,
After u have returned to England,
u can freely choose to avoid reading articles about crime.
( I am under the impression that the English press
tends to avoid reporting on them anyway. )
Some Americans have opted
to avoid reading the news.
( That wud not be my choice, as a general rule. )
Did u say something about ignorance being bliss, recently ?
Quote:sad that I can't feel safe to do what I want where I want,
when I want and how I want-
Do u believe that American women in general
join u in that emotional state of mind ?
How about your mother in NJ ?
Your sisters ?
Female neighbors or co-workers ?
Tho, of course, I take u at your word,
I don 't recall my female acquaintances giving voice to that complaint.
Quote:happy that I know there's somewhere else where I believe things are a little better.
Your prior posts have left no room for doubt
as to your fondness for England.
Accordingly,
u certainly shud spend your life there
in an effort to fill your life with joy.
( The English accents get under my skin
and drive me
nuts, after a while. )
I hold the English Jeremy Bentham in high esteem.
Quote:There's nothing objective about it,
except that I do think that my feelings are based in realistic and rational observations.
Does that include the skyrocketing violent English crime ?
A recently retired English police officer, ( whose name I don 't remember )
of fairly hi rank, wrote complaining of being forced on-the-job
to employ deceptive means of gathering statistics
to conceal the upsurge in violent English felonies;
for instance
: counting multiple felonies committed on several victims
at the same time and place, as
ONE crime;
the police officer felt abused,
forced to prostitute himself into fraud
to make English gun prohibition look
not as bad as reality indicated,
in terms of effecting
more crime and
more bloody English victims.
Quote:I don't think I'm delusional or making any of this up.
That question has never arisen.
Quote:I think you'll "get" this: I feel freer in England.
I feel that way about Las Vegas.
VIVA LAS VEGAS !
Quote:That's it-exactly- in a nutshell.
I feel free to do what I want, where I want, when and how I want
without having to worry about my safety. I really, really do.
So stipulated,
qua your feelings.
U might consider giving
Las Vegas a shot, b4 u leave.
Quote:I feel less constricted in England, in almost every way.
U told us about
walking ( I prefer cabs );
does that apply to any other English activities ?
Quote:I think people are more able to see past their own views and needs and are committed to the idea that it's good to include or at least consider the views and needs of others there, more than they are here. I do think there is more of a committment to community there.
I imagine that 's how Tony Blair got elected.
Quote:Even down to letting people be who they are.
Well, that 's more individualistic,
as distinct from the communitarianism which u just extolled.
Quote:You know - you and I don't agree on a lot of issues - but I can say -
"That's just David" because I know that you're a good person.
And you might say- "She's very mixed up in terms of her politics and lack
of American spirit and patriotism- but that's just Rebecca" and we can still enjoy talking to each other.
I think that's kind of exceptional among Americans- don't you?
I 've never considered that question b4.
The ideas that people hold shud be evaluated on their own merits,
regardless of
WHO holds them
( except only in cases of reliance upon technical experts who have your confidence,
such as taking your M.D.'s advice on some medical problem,
inasmuch as u might not be able to judge it for yourself ).
As an American, I have always believed
objective analysis to be logically necessary.
Quote:But that's how it is as a rule in England.
People just let you be who you are- eccentricity is celebrated.
So if, in a more intense effort to feel even
SAFER
than u
already feel in England, u opt to carry a small .38 revolver
in your purse, during your English travels,
thay will
CELEBRATE ?
Quote:Here people say, "Dang, that's weird," and wrinkle up their noses with distaste-
and that's the end of that - no more chances for that person.
I have lived in NY for a long time.
I have never personally seen that happen,
and I freely discuss off-the-beaten-path topics all the time,
like ESP, return from death in hospitals, vertebrate paleontology,
cosmology and quantum mechanics
reconciled with Einstein's Relativity Theory in 11 dimensions, etc.
Quote:Anyway - I just remembered that I was really surprised (and a little mad)
Do u get that from your Dad ?
Quote:at some comments you made on one of your threads a while back.
I can't remember what they were now -
If u succeed in indentifying them,
it 'd be fun to analyse them for their merits or lack thereof.
Quote:I just remember it was on a thread you started on Christmas day.
I hope that I was not unChristmasy
Quote:That's the first time I said to myself,
"That doesn't sound like something the David I know would say."
Well, a zebra has more than one stripe.
( If he had only one stripe, wud that make him a skunk ? )
Possibly, it cud have been a misunderstanding,
or a factual disagreement. The paucity of specific information
disables analysis, until it is supplemented.
Quote:
You said it to Endy.
I just want you to know that I think you guys would like each other if you met.
I haven't met Endy- but I've met you and I think you should let Endy
see the real you David. You know you're a nice guy- let him see that.
Anything cud be possible.
I bear him no ill will.
I have no memory of any earlier contact.
It did not occur to me to chase him away.
Sometimes I can be surly.
David
