[gonzobonzo]

True, after you visit a country where the cities are entirely safe and there aren't really any bad parts, it's disheartening to return to American cities where people say: "It's really safe! Just ignore these areas, don't go out late out night, keep an eye out when you walk around, and just ignore the crazy people yelling threats at you, they probably won't do anything."

Americans really put up with low standards in a lot of areas, and it becomes obvious the more you travel.

[roughly]

Ironically, this sort of mindset that, eg, homelessness and drug use are weeds to be trimmed, as opposed to the output of the whole of society and the economy - that homelessness is a personal flaw, not a social failing - is why America can’t effectively tackle those issues, whereas European countries can. The state of European cities is an output of European social policies, not some odd quirk of the European people.

[Herring]

I think it’s more than that. Surveys show the whole US is gradually becoming more and more unhappy. https://data.worldhappiness.report/chart

It’s mainly because income isn’t keeping up with rent/mortgages/healthcare/inflation etc. But there’s no collective will to solve it, the solutions are all individual, like “work harder”. But lots of people are already working 2 jobs.

It sucks to live in a society that doesn’t care about you, and many are angry, but they don’t know what to do because they were trained to hate socialism. Half this country won’t even wear a simple mask to save your life, nevermind pay Europe-style taxes.