If your from the US, you will be used to a privileged lifestyle, so maybe the UK would suit you? It's just like the US except with less consumption and shootings. Pretty good here actually, all UK residents are fortuante people. I'd reccommend UK. If you want Oz but can't get in, New Zealand have a points system on immigration. Hope thats useful. DRP
Weed still isn’t 100% legal it’s just decriminalized, you can still get a fine for possession over 15 grams (trust me, I know…) but if you are high, and get caught, along as you don’t have more than 15 grams on you, police cant do jack. (well they can confiscate it, whick still sucks) I didn’t have time to read through the whole thread, so someone might have already said this, but I would say Finland or Iceland. From what I hear, a good half of the population in each country speaks English. And in Finland weed is legal. Plus if you’re a metal fan, you cant beat it.
Yes indeed, DXR. Was just commenting on how moving for only political reasons is silly, not suggesting that anyone was *sighs* the more we talk about it, the more I want to leave... but once I get tied down with uni for 6 years... I can kiss that idea goodbye
Canada is easy to emigrate to. I work with a number of people who emigrated to the US via Canada. (it easy to emigrate to Canada and once Canadian, its easy to emigrate to the US). They constantly need people there. The last time I looked into Australia, they were hard up for people who know Java, they were giving some kind of point requirement discount to emigrate if you knew Java. Personally, I would love to live in Europe myself, but at 6'2" 240lbs, I find everything too small (the food, the doorways, the cars, the clothes, the elevators, the stairs, etc). It's great for a visit, but I would really have to shrink down to "fit in". It’s rare that I stay in a hotel in Europe where my feet don't hang off the bed. But I am a spoiled American, so what do you expect? Oh, so you are wanting to move to get away from stupid people? Lord every human is stupid. The only place you will have any luck (getting away from stupid people) is alone in a cave in the woods. You are as close to that in WA as you'll ever get!
Agreed. The next best thing to avoid stupid people is to not be near a Walmart at night. For whatever reason, it's then that the intellectually inferior people choose to bring their kids out to shop. I mean, plenty of normal people shop at Walmart, but what business do people have in taking their children to Walmart at 3 am?!! One of the best things for this country would be a tax deduction for parents who have a certain IQ. Or there should be a common sense exam where the parents could get a tax deduction or reward for getting a certain score. That would get some of the idiot box worshippers to the library or something.
Won't work. Unfortunately, IQ is to some extent hereditary... Moreover, IQ is one of those weird things that is valued highly only by those who already have it. So tax incentives will not be effective. Consider IQ taxes of a different kind. High IQ generally is associated with higher income, higher standards of living, better health, longer life, lower risk of being the victim of crime... High IQ has lots of "life tax" advantages, so to speak. Does that make dumb people work harder in school? Does it make them work hard at getting smarter? Does that make them work harder at making their children smarter? No. They still live their dumb, disadvantaged lives in which they unfetteredly bring more dumb, disadvantaged children. Being dumb is a complex problem; it is re-iterative. Dumbness is incubated by, and in turn creates the sort of circumstances in which it is really hard to (start to) think smart. You are raised to think and act dumb by dumb parents (nothing like a good example), you are socialised to be dumb amongst dumb people (not like that swot who gets pummeled at school), you attend a disadvantaged, dumb school (or don't, as the case may be) you eat and drink crap so your brain can't think straight, you live in a disadvantaged estate where dumb people live dumb lives. Thinking smart is hard under those circumstances. It is like trying to speak a language that you have heard the name of, but have never heard spoken.
So the walmart thing isnt just a local epidemic. I agree with your ideas on dumb nexxo, when surrounded by it all the time it is hard to break out of it. Having a mind numbingly boring job will screw you up too, but it makes me want to finish school early.
Woah, how many times can you use the word 'dumb', and derivatives of, in one post!! lmao And yes, there are stupid people everywhere... even in the caves! If I was going to leave the UK I'd like to head somewhere like Monaco, just need to get some money first
No... Washington State may be on the far side of the nation from Washington DC, but we've got more than our fair share of stupid people here, too... Not to mention corrupt local goverments (both city and county), blatant political favoritism among election officials, and an ever-growing chav population.
To the first poster: I understand what you are saying and I am contemplating the same. If anything, just thinking about it brings some relief. I'm thinking about Poland or Canada. And all this talk about "stupid"...hey, it's relative. While one group might actually be "smart" and talk about how "smart" they are and how "dumb" the other group is...well, there is always another group of "smarter" people. Get my drift? I think the key is to "work with whatcha got". Good luck with your decision and there was some good input here I needed to read as well. Maybe if you're around people that are "dumb as rocks" you may need to find a new quarry...there are some real gems in life too you know.
Yes, no question, when compared to the average person on the planet. The poorest people in the USA (living on the street) are not even that bad off when compared to the masses in India and many other countries. "Poor" people in the USA usually have cable TV and heat in the winter - that’s not poor. That’s not even in the same time zone as poor. For all intents and purposes the entire population lives a "privileged lifestyle" - The estimated homeless population in the USA is 850,000 (out of 300 million that’s 0.003%) on any given day - a very negligible number. Having plenty of food and clean water is a privileged lifestyle. Everything else is just cake.
The US ain't that privaledged in some respects riluve. In some parts of Detroit the infant mortality rate is as high as parts of Africa(non SA). Doesn't say a lot for the place.
There really is no need for this to turn into a defense of the USA thread- obviously the US has warts, that’s not the question. The reality though is that if you even have access to a computer you are living a privileged lifestyle. It's not a "right" to have weekends off and to have access to cheap plentiful food it’s a privileged lifestyle. Let me give you a quaint example because the average person in the US and UK simply wouldn’t even understand how spoiled they are. I lived in Japan for 4 years, it’s “basically” a spoiled country as well, but many things we take for granted can be a pain in the arse there. Yes, you have electricity 90% of the time, but that means on the average week it will go out 2-3 times for 10 minutes up to 30 minutes. It just enough to be a pain and help a person realize that people in the US just don’t know how good they have it. During the summer there would usually be a water shortage, so they literally shut the water off every other day. It’s simply a pain to shower late the night before the water goes off and try to make sure you schedule your whole life around days in which water is available. Having constant, reliable electricity is a privileged lifestyle that most people simply do not enjoy. Having a constant, reliable water supply is a privileged lifestyle that most people simply do not enjoy. Having cheap freely available food (24 /7) is a privileged lifestyle that most people simply do not enjoy. Most people in the world work their arse off just to get enough food for that week. We are spoiled by a privileged life style plain and simple.
I really don't know what is so great about Amsterdam. I lived there for 2 years and hated it. It's fun for a weekend but really living there is a pure hell. If you leave your 30 years old bike chained to something for more a hour it's gone. I'd rather live in Etten-Leur (dutch red-neck city) then in Amsterdam, and believe me I hate Etten-Leur.
JCG some parts in USA are more like: you get on a street with your 30 year old bike and you come out in a trash bag without your organs, and your bike. in some parts in Portugal... if you leave anything chained up it will get stolen while you walk away, and at the end of the aley you are knifed and all your money is robed from you. in Madeira things are more calm because "everybody knows everybody" and usualy people dont ride bikes to much here, its to steep . but in certain parts if you chain your bike and if it is a good bike they will steal it from you while you are riding it. in every country there are some places that are more or less dangerous than others, you just have to have some luck or be smart so you wont chose to live in the middle of a gang turf.
Jeez, Etten-Leur? I'd rather live in Hull, UK. Although admittedly, Redditch is worse. Amsterdam is like London, or any big city: fast-paced, dirty, tough (don't let all these stories about the tolerant weed-smoking Dutch fool you) and full of contrast. Great wealth, great poverty. Great opportunity, great destitution. Great dreams, great despair.
