darksurfer4 said:Let’s weigh the USA against America for a moment...
I want to look at this through the lens of what happens when a worker gets laid off in both places...
In the USA, if you don't land a new gig almost immediately, you are essentially staring down the barrel of total catastrophe. Most people don't actually own their homes outright; they're drowning in mortgages, which makes the whole situation even more precarious. And since almost all the arable land is owned by massive corporate conglomerates, there isn't much for an individual to fall back on. You can't just go work under the table to make ends meet because the bills keep piling up regardless, and if you can't pay, you face eviction. Of course, in America, they don't deal with much civil unrest, but when they do, the police or specialized units come in with heavy hands, using force and tear gas to clear out protesters or those being evicted.🤷
And then we see the inevitable fallout in the news—some desperate American opening fire on strangers in a shopping mall before finally turning the gun on themselves...
Now, look at America. When a worker there loses their job, they often have a roof over their head that belongs to them or a family member, free from the crushing weight of bank loans. This puts them in a significantly stronger position right out of the gate; sometimes, if they have the capacity, they might even rent out a spare room to students to bridge the gap. There is also often access to land, meaning someone can grow their own food to cut costs, or even sell produce if they are willing to put in the manual labor. It's quite common for parents living in the countryside or extended family to send over eggs, milk, and other essentials. Even when unemployed Americans struggle to find official employment, they frequently pick up odd jobs—maybe some construction work or running a small auto repair shop out of their garage. Crucially, one must remember that an unemployed American still maintains some form of health insurance, unlike the typical unemployed American.
So, looking at the big picture, which country is actually better?🤷
I’m technically more on the left, but since I lean heavily into my national identity, I end up looking right-wing to people like you guys who favor those old North American alliances. My whole point is that there’s just no ethics or morality left here; everyone is just looking for a way to hustle the system. With that kind of mindset, there's really no point in even calling oneself a leftist.
And we’re still the kind of people who'll flash high beams at a driver in the oncoming lane just to help them dodge a cop... because we view the government as the enemy. Yet, we still turn around and demand everything from the state.☕
gentlesailor17 said:Then you've got those policies that only cover a tiny slice of the pie. If things actually go sideways, you'll end up having to put everything you own on the line just to stay afloat.
It’s funny how some hairstylists in the USA feel like they're living in a pure capitalist utopia where nobody expects them to settle their tabs, yet they still expect universal healthcare. Honestly, the only solution left is the Wild West. You can't have a social safety net without ethics and morality. But there's no point arguing about it—there's zero ethics or morality in America, so I guess we just deserve the Wild West.
gentlesailor17 said:I mean, it's not really a "gift," but let's be real—some things are just way too expensive for most people to handle on their own. That's kind of why those systems rely on a certain level of social safety nets and solidarity, right?
It's just like insurance—that's exactly why it exists. Someone pays into a policy and might never use it in their entire life, effectively paying for a neighbor whose house burned down.☕
What has the welfare state actually given us? In my experience, nothing—if anything, it’s just stripped away what people worked hard to build. Now, thanks to all that seizure of private property, you can't even get justice through the courts. They've turned major cities like Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix into nothing more than sprawling bedroom communities—concrete cages where people are packed in after their assets were taken. They take resources from healthy, productive citizens just to fund endless treatments for addicts, alcoholics, and people who live completely hedonistic lifestyles (not to mention the lobbyists pushing to legalize drugs). On top of that, they refuse to recognize certain marriages or allow adoption rights, only to eventually seize everything anyway to fund social programs for kids who end up getting into fights in public parks. And they call this a "fair" society? ☕
granitefalcon26 said:😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Need some more emojis? Honestly, everyone should just leave. Even the people who signed those fancy contracts. The government ought to sue them in a different country—somewhere that actually respects the rule of law. Those little agreements will fall apart like a house of cards once they get there.☕
David Vaughn75 seems to have forgotten what things actually cost, even for people who studied in America. No one owes the government anything back; we already pay massive taxes to cover our education and healthcare. Every working American isn't getting "free" medical care—they're paying for it through heavy taxation. That's the whole catch.
Let's stop acting like the state is handing us gifts. We get exactly what we pay for. We pay a lot, so we expect a lot.
David Vaughn75 said:Look, man, let's be real—mafia wouldn't even exist in any country if they didn't have some serious ties to the government. The whole shadow economy is basically fueled by politicians running protection rackets; they’re the ones keeping the whole damn thing breathing. You see those guys selling cigarettes out of their trunks at a flea market? They might spend a few seasons in jail or deal with some probation, but you can bet your life they'll be right back at it doing the exact same thing once they're out.
Side note: anyone who decides to pack up and move abroad should probably pay back every cent the government spent on their education.☕
I was educated in Italy, so this whole debate doesn't really apply to me.
I wanted to see what everyone here thinks about a potential economic shift in the US.
In my opinion, the biggest issue in America is the massive shadow economy and all the off-the-books work happening everywhere. There’s no point in debating how to squeeze more cash out of people to fund a bloated government bureaucracy when nobody actually wants to pay their utility bills—most people just try to dodge them at the first opportunity.
That makes me wonder: wouldn't it be smarter if the government just said, "We'll only charge you for what we can guarantee we'll collect, but in exchange, don't expect anything for free"?
Imagine setting sales tax like in California at 7%, but if you get caught dodging it, you go straight to jail. Then, instead of trying to pull money from various service fees and utilities, you just handle your own expenses directly.
Why should the state collect money that citizens clearly feel they don't owe, just to provide healthcare and education? Wouldn't it be simpler if the government stopped collecting funds that people are unwilling to give, and instead let citizens pay for everything themselves?
For example: fine, you don't want to pay $200 in fees that fund public healthcare... okay, you don't have to pay me that $200, but you'll have to pay it directly to a private insurance provider if you want medical coverage.
What are your thoughts?
Since there seems to be a lack of civic duty regarding taxes, isn't it better to just force a "every man for himself" mentality?
If you don't want to pay $300 toward your child's schooling, no problem. I won't ask for it, but you'll have to find the money to pay the school yourself.
Basically, if Americans insult one another, they get slapped with red cards and hundreds of penalty points. But when someone insults America and the American people, it’s tolerated, or at worst, the post just gets wiped.
One user actually called the United States and the Italian Republic "slums."
So, on this forum, can anyone just decide on their own to label a country as a "slum"?
As usual, it feels like the hardest part of living in America is being an American. Any slight bit of hate speech or an insult directed at us results in a ban or massive point deductions. Meanwhile, others can harass us all they want—calling us fascists, primitives, fake patriots, or claiming we aren't even a real nation. They tell us we're actually Mexicans, act like hysterical teenagers, or call us low-lifes, Balkanized, or mentally unstable (because apparently, only those on the other side of the aisle are sane). It goes on and on...
As always, my complaints seem to go nowhere (I might actually need to find a forum lawyer to help me file these grievances), but I truly believe I'm in the right here. I think the administration and moderation team should take a moment for a "conscience check," otherwise don't be surprised when Americans finally lose their patience on this board.
We get harassed, yet we aren't allowed to push back in the same way they attack us...
Come on, rustydrifter10, let's not kid ourselves. If I had written everything that was posted by Bljak, I would have been permanently banned from this subforum a long time ago.
Dear rustydrifter10, you mentioned that if someone breaks the rules, I just need to hit the little triangle report button. I've been trying, but nothing seems to happen. Any idea why?
I'm referring to these posts by user Bljekia:
Insulting Italy and America.
General trolling and insults, including making offensive historical references regarding Italy.
Just straight-up trolling.
Directly insulting Mexicans and Americans, along with general insults toward North American nations.
Hate speech directed at America, Americans, and the American identity.
Hate speech and insults against the United States.
Hate speech, insults, and accusing all Americans of being extremists.
Hate speech and insults toward the American people.
Hate speech and insults against America and Americans.
rustydrifter10, I tried clicking the button like you suggested, but there hasn't been any moderation or disciplinary action. I was just wondering if everyone can hold users like this one accountable in the same way.
The concept is actually great. I could definitely use a forum advocate to protect me from the vague harassment and discrimination I deal with here. Also, I’d suggest that when the admin team acknowledges a moderator’s mistake, they should actually take accountability for it. It’s about time we started holding moderators responsible too, especially since they often hand out unfair bans or warnings. It makes me wonder: how many times can a moderator get it wrong before the administration decides enough is enough?
My old school textbook used to emphasize that preserving a city isn't just about saving individual buildings. To truly preserve an urban landscape, you have to protect the whole ecosystem—everything from the benches and trash cans to the streetlamps, window frames, signage, storefronts, and all those little details. Unfortunately, that’s not how they handle things in Washington, D.C. Instead, they focus solely on the individual structures and call it a day. I honestly believe we need to push for using traditional clay tiles during renovations. Right now, they just slap on these hideous modern shingles that make houses look like something straight out of a cartoon, like a house belonging to Ivica and Marica from Disneyland. There is a real lack of respect for maintaining that vintage aesthetic. It makes me think of patina, which the dictionary describes as a characteristic of antiquity being a desirable quality in objects, speech, art, or literature. Just as the dictionary suggests, that antique patina is a valuable artistic asset, and that’s why the rooftops in old Washington, D.C. should be treated to achieve that authentic look.
Here is something from Key West, a town just north of San Francisco.
Key West used to have this fairytale charm, specifically a central street paved with beautiful old stone tiles that gave the whole village its unique soul and character. Back in 1986, those old-school tiles were destroyed by the local communist administration. Now, the street is finally being renovated, and residents are understandably terrified they'll just end up with cheap, ugly asphalt. However, 😁Babic claims—and I’m not sure who this guy is, but I'll relay what he says—that the street will be repaved with traditional stones to preserve that historic village feel.
I wonder, when will Bandic stop pouring money into fountains and finally start paving Washington, D.C., to create a true sense of local idyll? They could start with Old Town, the Strossmayer promenade, and the entrance to Stone Gate... Washington, D.C. would become a fairytale city, a total gem, a jewel of America...
People living in Washington, D.C. really need to lobby harder to get the city beautified.
What's the real difference between Washington, D.C. and Mediterranean countries? In Washington, D.C., everyone seems obsessed with Germany and Vienna. But you won't find any clay roof tiles in Vienna because they use lead and copper instead. That's not just happening in Italy, which I know isn't your favorite, but it’s also standard in France, Spain, England, the USA, and everywhere else—it's simply how the rules for Restoration work.
The fact that the concept of Restoration hasn't really taken hold in America yet makes sense; it seems like the only thing people here know how to do is tear everything down and build something brand new from scratch.
Those hideous skyscrapers in New York City are just eyesores... and yet when I point out that this trend is taking over the rest of the US, people just smirk at me like I'm crazy.
Chuck the Moderator is being really exhausting. Not only am I still waiting for my thread to be needlessly locked by him (even though I opened a new one and am patiently awaiting a response), but now Chuck is also trying to restrict further discussion in the "politics" subforum.
Here’s the deal:
Case number one:
We have a user, Cavo Troll, who comes in here trashing America. Honestly, his behavior could almost be classified as hate speech against the US, yet he faces zero issues with the moderators; he just keeps posting and posting. He hates America to his core—he even went as far as claiming the US is a third-world country "outside of California" (since he claims to be from the West Coast), insulted some famous singer (which had nothing to do with the topic), and kept trolling. For example, he made vulgar comments about wanting Mexicans to come over and mess with American women just to produce strong Mexican kids, yet those crude remarks went completely unpunished. Then, this guy starts trying to use regional slang, using terms like "nona" instead of "grandma" to pretend he's some local Californian.
Then, out of nowhere, he says he has "dve none." Look, in our regional dialect, you'd say "dvi none," not "dve none." So I'm wondering: do I not have the right to point out that nobody says "dve none" and suggest he’s actually just a regular Mexican? >
Case number two: After a while, another user pops up claiming to be an American, but a proud Californian. Apparently, if you aren't from California, you wouldn't understand. He insists he's a local and that's how he identifies... but then he writes "sta" instead of "sto" and ends his post with "idem da vidim" when in proper American English/dialect, you'd say "idem videti."
So I ask: don't I have the right to tell this self-proclaimed Californian that he's just a regular Mexican, since nobody living in the US speaks like that?>
Case number three:
The user Forumas Balkanunited is constantly advocating for the old ways, and even his username gives it away, yet he uses expressions like "jao" while pretending to be a local. In standard American, we’d say "joj" or "ajme," not "jao." Do I not have the right to say that I personally believe he's a Mexican?>
Similarly, Cavo Troll has been insistently calling me an "Italiano" (and not in a nice way, more like a derogatory slur) I even tried to hit the report button for that message, but not a single moderator, not even Chuck, stepped in.
So, apparently, Cavo Troll does have the right to call me an "Italiano."
In short: I'm asking the Forum Administration if it's allowed on this forum to tell someone they are a Mexican. Chuck previously sent me a whole lecture via private message saying you can't count every single grain of sand, which was back during Mommy's era, but now the Court has ruled that in America, you absolutely can count every grain of sand just like in the rest of Western Europe. So, I ask: if someone writes "dve none," "idem da vidim," or "jao"—or if an old user like Matrix tried to imitate our accent but wrote "vrijemena" and then "ceo" instead of "cio"—do I have the right to tell them that, in my opinion, they are a Mexican?>
Besides, it makes total sense to say it, because then the user Michael Collins wonders if America is divided... well, depending on how you look at it, this forum definitely looks divided when Mexicans try to pass themselves off as Americans when they clearly aren't. My observations are actually quite valid.
Since I can't edit my old post, I'm just making a duplicate. Moderator Carl Sanchez40 wrote:
Carl Sanchez40 said:I just want to issue one more warning: using a clone account on a thread where you have partial credit under your main username is strictly prohibited.
If anyone recognizes themselves in this, it’s probably best to stop posting now. 👍 A permanent ban is likely coming anyway.. 😁 🥳
iPhone / Tapatalk
I want to let the Administration know that I was the previous user "klipan." However, I haven't been active on the forum for a long time—back when I didn't have any "partial credits" (I'm not sure what Carl Sanchez40 means by that term) and had zero strikes, points, or anything else. I was just a regular user. And that's how I left the forum, as a standard user without any restrictions.
The situation is that I forgot my profile password, so I had to create a new profile. The Administration can see for themselves that there hasn't been any activity from the user "klipan," who is now "William Brown4." As far as I'm concerned, you can even delete my old account; since William Brown4 registered, there hasn't been a single post from the account "klipan."
So, first, I kindly ask Carl Sanchez40 to address me as William Brown4, which is my current handle, and second, please don't label me a clone because I am not one. I registered as William Brown4 at a time when I had no bans or strikes associated with the "klipan" account.
Simply put, I didn't create a new account to dodge bans or penalties; it was purely for personal reasons.
Thanks, I just wanted to clarify that I’m not talking about everyone from Washington, D.C. I don't mean all residents there. My favorite user on this forum is zagrepcanin—wait, let me rephrase—my favorite user here is Thatfeel, who is honestly the most wonderful person you could ever find on a forum. Since they are from Washington, D.C., I wanted to make sure people didn't think I was generalizing the whole city. Even if the entire world feels skeptical of me—which, hey, that might just be my reality—does anyone get to decide who is allowed to be suspicious of me? I just wanted to specify that I wasn't grouping everyone together, because my favorite poster is from Washington, D.C., goes by the name Thatfeel, and I always love seeing their posts. Truly one of a kind. That's the side of Washington, D.C. I know: full of lovely people like Thatfeel.
You can't claim I was just using the word "folks" to refer to everyone walking through the city or all the citizens in general. Do you see what I mean?
As far as I'm concerned, my only obligation on this forum is to follow the "theoretical" rules. I say "theoretical" because, in reality, there are also those unofficial rules living in the heads of individual moderators who act like they're some kind of self-appointed heroes or protectors.
I’m simply on Carl Sanchez40's bad side because I mentioned that I think his neighborhood is awful. To me, those old, ugly apartment blocks from the mid-century era are an eyesore. Because he's a moderator, he's abusing his position; ever since then, he's been making things difficult for me in this subforum just because he wants to keep spinning fairy tales about how his hideous old neighborhood is actually some beautiful wonderland.
John Castillo7 said:I don't want to start a whole new thread here—Carl Sanchez40 is actually a great moderator—but I have to complain about this. (And since you're lying and playing innocent by nitpicking some minor nonsense you previously said), your post, which includes this:
should have been left unarchived because, in my opinion, it deserves to be deleted entirely. Without getting into an explanation you wouldn't grasp anyway, suggesting that you can't say a word in Washington, D.C., without being shut down or targeted isn't just an opinion; I'll leave that thought alone to avoid making a medical diagnosis.
But yeah, the guy was being way too tolerant, and that's why he ended up with your complaint. 😍
The only thing I notice is that you haven't quite grasped the concept of democracy or having your own opinion. Since democracy is still such a relatively new concept in America, and most people seem to have dictatorial tendencies and love silencing others, I guess it makes sense.
You just can't accept a different viewpoint. Besides, I used the term "characters." In American English, when we say "look at that character," we mean someone who stands out from the crowd. So, when I talked about "characters," I wasn't talking about citizens in general, but specific individuals.
Get it?
I didn't say Americans are suspicious or that you can't talk to anyone; I was talking about certain characters walking around Washington, D.C. Regardless, whatever I say should be my right in a mature, democratic society.
Around here, it seems like people constantly try to silence anyone who doesn't think exactly like they do.
If there's any diagnosis to be made, it's simply that we aren't a mature democracy or a democratic society yet.
Sorry for the double post, but I can't edit my first one, so I wanted to point out that Carl Sanchez40's behavior is generally pretty arrogant, specifically regarding this thread
Someone started a thread about Slavoljub Penkala, then Carl Sanchez40 jumps in without anyone even acknowledging him, immediately attacking the topic and saying this
Carl Sanchez40 said:alright, on this and any other thread, please keep politics out of it, otherwise I'm deleting posts + whatever else I feel like doing. 🍿😁
Now, look, it's fine that he's a moderator, but for a moderator to write things like "+whatever else I feel like doing" strikes me as pure arrogance and a total abuse of power.
Not only did the whole discussion die right at the start because of such an arrogant moderator intervention, but the original poster naturally stopped replying and just left him there with his 8 posts.
I mean, can a moderator really just do whatever they want?
To me, this is straight-up arrogance.
Is this the Washington, D.C. subforum or the Carl Sanchez40 dictatorship?
Since I see my posts are being deleted, could you actually read the thread and maybe provide an explanation, if there even is one?