so the gun culture. it's multi-layered. partially its due to the early immigrants and settlers. they needed there guns to defend themselves and to hunt for food. second, its partially based on the european levy system. when the need arose, regiments were called together and those settlers and immigrants with their guns were called upon to fill its ranks. thirdly, we don't trust our government entirely. so having guns is a way to let our leaders know that their is always a force out there ready to overthrow the government if they don't serve our needs as best as they can. this comes from the political philosophers Hobbes, Lock and Rousseau.
I was lucky to be able to handle my first firearms in a rural field. The sound dissipates in the open space. I shot a .22 pistol and then a .22 rifle. They were easy to handle, though the pistol had what I thought was a large stock. I'm sure I could handle a Glock. Definitely a .38 special (they don't make them anymore). A Beretta would probably be ideal if I had a gun. But I don't. I live in Louisville, KY, sometimes called a "blue dot in a red state" because this city is largely the Democratic party (blue), and the state is largely rural and of the Republican part (red). And while there are gun - shooting practitioners and enthusiasts in town, there are many more in the rest of the state. In rural America or in the Badlands, it makes sense to have a gun. But I don't feel the need to carry one in town. Not even in rural areas.
Shaun, you're confusing Americans with immigrants. Science and tech, even finance. We import MOST of our brainpower. Why? Our education system prior to college is subpar to say the least thanks to constant cuts to funding and our most diligent and hard working students (Asian Americans) being put to a higher standard thanks to illegal quotas from the top schools (they need to score far better than any other racial group to get into the same school..). This is ironic considering how many we immigrate from Asia for these roles... We fail our own Americans through this type of systemic racism. Also keep in mind, on several states, they're giving high school teachers the option to teach Christian beliefs instead of evolution and what we know of the big bang... Talk about failing our kids... Also, number 9 is cause you're white. We are very rude. Most of them are in the south and in Boston (and scattered in the middle of the US). Your last point shows the difference. Many of the ugly Americans go to other countries without keeping an open mind that you yourself spoke of. They'll throw tantrums and complain about everything. You had the opportunity to travel. Many of those who travel from the US are self absorbed buffoons who worked as hard as others but believe they worked harder than others instead of realizing they we born into privilege that allowed them to obtain more.
this guy is a nice person for once. most other foreigners on UA-cam say things like, "dumbass Americans think America is a country." and all of the replies are simply, "uh, we just say 'America' because its short for 'united states of America'. we are all well aware that America is not a nation, but a collection of continents and islands." and then the forgiver says, "hehe salty ass Americans." for one, calling Americans "Americans" implies that we are from a place called "America" and we are, its called *the Americas*. then they say, "well im from Belize and I consider myself an American because I live in the Americas." so when you go somewhere you say that you're an American despite you terrible excuse for English and clearly central American facial features? (not trying to be racist, just saying that different parts of the world people have slightly different facial features) no? so you say you're from Belize, right? SO YOU'RE NOT AN AMERICAN!
Yuppers I have a few anti Americans friends they mostly joke but they all do have at least a few things they just can't stand. Gotten into it with a few and I just remind them if you hate America soooo much drop everything that is american ( don't use anything that was/is a product of America ) almost all tech pfffftttttfffttttt out the window your console gone your phone gone your TV shows gone your UA-cam gone your music alll fucking gone and here is the K.O your video games poof XD ) (atleast the ones people sink 1,000s of hours in no LoL no wow no Diablo no Halo no cod no GTA no destiny no overwatch there isn't much out there not from an American/american company Rammstein made it clear "We're all living in Amerika, Amerika ist wunderbar"
Yes. I love the Scottish accent. I'm gonna fake it all day because I'm a grown ass American and what good is the freedom of speech if you don't exploit it in random ass accents. Yesterday evening I enjoyed butchering Australian speekums all night.
The reason we're less traveled as a whole is because our country is so huge, as you mentioned. The US is the most geographically diverse country on earth so we don't necessarily have to travel outside of our own country for a vacation.
Yes in the USA you can go skiing in 14,000 foot mountains, go to the dessert, rain forests, oceans, beaches, lakes etc. We have every type of climate in the world here because our country is so huge.
Also, Americans don’t get months of vacation every year like Europeans do. We get maybe two or three weeks at the most. In the U.S., *there is no law* that mandates giving workers *any* time off. If you’re lucky enough to get paid time off in the U.S., it’s because it was part of the perks you received as an employee.
"Only 30 percent of Americans have passports" 30 percent of Americans is _twenty times the population of Scotland_ and _almost twice the population of the UK._
@shugo104 this stat is misleading as well. Not saying it isn't true. But take the statistic from the country you are trying to compare to America and average it out to population. The point is more Europeans travel than Americans which seems to be true. And Americans that have never traveled are annoying af. I have cousins like this. Why would I travel to that country? I'm in the best country. I'm not saying all Americans who haven't traveled are like this. It just gets annoying.
@@greennbean As an American who travels quite frequently I agree. I will say, if we consider our states like EU countries, then I bet most Europeans have just traveled within the EU countries. I bet most American have traveled to different states. Again it's all perspective.
Part of the issue is defining "travel". The implied meaning of course is international travel. Current statistics demonstrate that about 42% of Americans have a passport, not 30%. Geographical reasons for lower incidence of Americans embarking on international visits as already mentioned are legitimate: we have to cross the largest ocean in the world to get to Europe and you don't. This explains why we go first to Mexico and second to Canada before crossing the Atlantic. However, if Scotts would consider leaving home for holiday for a weekend, a week, a few weeks or a month as "travel", Americans are traveling all the freaking time! Many people in dense urban areas enjoy camping, have cabins a few hours drive from their home or family and friends they stay with. Frequently crossing from state to state for work or pleasure is significant portion of regular American travel investment. People from the East Coast are typically surprised at how expansive the wild American West is. While Europeans can get to their country's border in a couple hours, Western Americans might drive from sun up to sun down and still be in the same state. Many states offer a wide variety of starkly different ecosystems and climates available to experience within an easy 90 minutes on the road. If you could leave home at a moment's notice with your whole family (and we often have larger families) and the biggest expense was gasoline for the car and food-you might not feel an urgency to go through the trouble to acquire passports, either.
green amean travel is cheaper in Europe. It’s less expensive for a person in England to travel to France or Italy than it is for an individual in America to do the same.
@@greennbean And your line of thinking is ALSO misleading. The United States is an entire continent with states that are bigger than most countries, with an indescribable amount of different climates, regions and subcultures, and is a nation entirely made up of immigrants from a plethora of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Americans don't need fucking passports to become "cultured"... they need an American drivers license and a few weeks traveling around the continental US. Don't think so? Convince me a white guy from Boston is more culturally identical to a creole guy from the bayou in Louisiana, than he is from a white guy in France. I call BULLSHIT.
As an American - Thank You! Thank you for your honesty. I get so tired of hearing: portions, fat, loud, rude, sales tax, etc. Thank you for being honest and objective. We are not perfect, no one is, but we actually love meeting Europeans and it makes us sad that they think so little of us.
I'm an immigrant that became naturalized as a USA citizen. Thank you for this video, if this country is as bad as people say, I wouldn't want to leave my home country to live here and the same for so many other people who also do the same.
@@tibvastag diversity is not really a good thing. Diversity breeds jealousy. Humans always, always have in group preference, not just among races but even ethnicities. When multiple races and cultures are in close proximity one will always rise to the top and that breeds contempt in the others who will see themselves as "oppressed" by the majority group. We see it daily in the US.
I was born in America to parents whose grandparents were immigrants. Mostly, my heritage is Scots-Irish and I love immigrants. People keep our culture dynamic and expressive. And don't get me started on the food. And I understand the desire to live here. But I've yet to find an immigrant who moved here to BE American, leaving their own cultures behind. That tells me it's not America they're moving to so much as the real lack of persecution on level of many other countries. Most of us are working to find new and better ways to be accepting of others and to celebrate new arrivals, but we're battling a sensationalist media that benefits from conflict. Trust me, we're tired of it, too. As far as ignorance goes, I wonder if we're so ignorant why the world comes here for their education (Britain, too, don't get me wrong) and end up staying? I have guns and live in the West. I also have a graduate degree and love Shakespeare, Jung, and Einstein. I also love curry, Zen, and football, Hair Metal guitar and UA-cam and think the biggest problem America faces right now is our inability to empathize with others, we've been so conditioned to believe in the achievement of individuals that we're blind to the reality that it (everything) still takes a village. We have billionaires because of this mindset who will remain billionaires while the people who made them starve.
I spent a month in Edinburgh years ago. I remember being on a bus, and a couple of drunk young Scottish men started chatting with us. When they found out we were from Texas they legit asked us if we rode horses to school. I think they thought we lived in the wild west.
The funniest part of that stereotype is that Texas wasn't really even part of the "Wild West" as it's protrayed in movies and TV shows. That was more Wyoming/Montana/Utah during the gold rush and construction of the transcontinental railroad.
😄😄😄 I would have had to answer them differently because this Texan did ride a horse to school. I lived in a very rural area in elementary so there were quite a few of us who did. The school had a fenced pasture and provided shelter and water for them.
@@Hsmt245 Damn, I wish I could have rode my horse to school back in elementary school. It would have been a lot more fun and less annoying than taking the bus.
I'm American I think we do work hard, long hours, not enough time off and while I think it's a great attribute it's stressful and our quality of life suffers.
Totally agree. There's nothing wrong with a strong work ethic but this work ourselves to death for next to nothing is just sad. What's the point if you don't live. Hopefully the US will start to embrace balancing work and life one day.
Agreed. We do have a strong work ethic, but we also get very little for our labor in comparison, especially job security, and our health care and ability to get an education, raise a family, etc depends on our being employed. If you don’t have a job, you can’t get welfare, medical care, home assistance, nothing, society will leave you to starve and die. It’s pretty ugly and there’s an increasing pressure to change it. (And also increasing pressure to make it worse.)
It's a self inflicted wound. Americans work so many hours because they also like to waste their money. Most Americans would be able to work less, or at least be lessed stressed if they were more thrifty and lived within their means. Most Americans are in debt because they buy a new car every few years.
Many Americans who live on either the west coast or the east coast have no idea what’s in the middle of the country and don’t believe that anyone actually lives there!
Devin Caudle that’s because like 90% of the population centers Are urban. If we had an exact vote presidential candidates could go to La NYC and. AUstin tx & if they captured those regional votes they would very easily win the vote. People in the middle of the country can’t even fathom hAving a “paRt of town” have more people than your whole state. I mean greater LA has like 12 million people
Castilda0311 that’s an ignorant comment. I was raised in California but my mother is from Nebraska. My grandfather was raised on a farm in Iowa. Half the people I know move here from the Midwest. I think it’s more just we aren’t obsessed with people in other states, we’re too busy minding our own business. While people (obviously not everyone) in the south and Midwest have to obsessively bash the rest of us.
tim nolan don’t even get me started on how many euros think that Chicago is all of America. If all of America was like Chicago then I’d be out of here faster than a pig sliding down a hill coated in engine oil.
@@RainyStast actually one of the main reasons why a lot of crazy stories coming from Florida is because it's public record laws. it's very easy for news broadcast report about them.
I think that the reason Americans don't speak other languages and don't travel is because we are so far separated from other countries and other cultures and our country and our culture is so huge. My state Michigan is as big as the entire UK. it's a longer trip for me to get out of my state than it is for people in the UK to get to another country.
Andrés64B He actually said Americans speak more languages than they do in the UK. I agree with him. I speak 2 languages fluently. Also, understand at least 5 others, and can speak some words from some of those languages as well.
I believe that the vast majority of people who are labeled as "climate skeptics" aren't actually skeptical that the climate is changing, they are skeptical that human activity is the cause.
The media confusing climate change with global warming doesn't help the ignorance people ramble on about. Climate has and always will be changing to suit the needs of this planet. It's natural changes. Global warming is the correct term given to human caused conditions such as pollution.
I agree. As a development test engineer, I am both fairly well educated in science as well as experienced in applying the scientific method to solve problems at work. One thing I've learned is that anyone who says that "science is established, there is no need for further debate" is someone with a political agenda whose afraid of being proven wrong; if for no other reason, this attitude I see from many warning us of climate change make me very skeptical. I saw this attitude frequently with a chief engineer who never allowed us to present data showing a test article deficiency as the cause of a test failure; it always had to be a result of the test facility. The reason, the chief engineer wanted to present his product as perfect to impress his superiors. At one point, I called him out because his timeline of events would have required the use of liquid hydrogen at somewhere around 40 below 0 Rankine (Rankine is the Fahrenheit equivalent of the Kelvin scale); kind of impossible. I was not so politely asked to leave the meeting, even though I was the lead test engineer. We can also look at established science in history. The Ptolemaic model of the solar system (geocentrism) had been the standard for over 1000 years when Copernicus started questioning it; this was far more established than anthropomorphic climate change. Galileo's gravitational teachings, along with Newton's gravitational law and 2nd law of motion has been established for a long time, yet Dave Scott felt the need to test them during the Apollo 15 mission by dropping a hammer and a feather to see which one hit the ground first.
American in Alaska here - thanks for sharing your thoughts. Even Americans have weird stereotypes about other Americans. My husband and I were nervous about traveling to NYC, NY because we weren't sure how we would be treated. People in NYC have a stereotype of being a bit rude - but, no one was rude. They were lovely, helpful, and kind. People gave us directions when we looked lost, and a cop even gave us free tickets to the ballet. It was one of our best trips. One day I hope to save up enough money and vacation time to visit Scotland. Take care!
As a person who has traveled quite widely, including many countries in europe and loved it. I can understand Americans who don't. Consider just this one fact... America is the only country in the world that has all five climates. Tropical,dry,temperate,cold, and polar!
India as well - not specifically polar because "polar" connotes geographical locations that are near the north and south poles, or at least near the arctic circle, but India does have the extreme conditions of the Himalayan mountain range. Otherwise, all other climates and/biomes exist - tropical/jungles and swamps, dry/desert and grasslands/savannah, temperate/boreal forests and hills, and alpine/mountainous zones with tundra, snow and glaciers.
When you mentioned the stereotype that Americans don't like to travel I must confess that I laughed out loud. Americans love to travel. I take that one is partly based on the fact that so few Americans have passports. That may be true, but it's not because we don't travel, it's because we don't need them. For example, we drove out to see my sister in Colorado. A 3 day drive from New Jersey. Our plan was to proceed on to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Now Colorado and Wyoming are neighboring states, They border on each other. So we're only driving one state away. Yeah that is true...........but it's a 2 day overnight trip. That's how big those states are. So all I'm saying is in the US we can travel great distances without ever leaving the country. Hence, no need for a passport. Keep up the videos, I really enjoy them.
Yeah, I just went to hawi'i and I must say it was like going to another country without a password. It really shows that there are large cultural differences everywhere in the states so that's more of a reason to not get a passport
Yep 2 days exact, done it. It went well until we made it to California, after that it was a shit show... then we made it to Northern California and it was good again.
Last I checked in Cali their language is usually just blatant scoffing and yelling, then again they were nice until they heard my Southern accent and the request to buy a pack of smokes. 🤣 Northern California was delightfully amazing, it was like a more beautiful version of my home... southern California just needs nuked, never again.
Being a Hoosier and of Scottish heritage, I feel honored and connected that you have chosen to wear a T-Shirt with the Indiana heraldry. Thank you for the acknowledgment. Cheers!
Agree with so much of this. American "gun culture" began as a response to seeing European governments commit acts of tyranny against their own people, and giving people the right to defend themselves rather than be totally dependent on a potentially corrupt government. And yes, fewer passports because the nation is so diverse...Texas alone has swamps, mountains (Guadalupe Mountains National Park), desert, forest, beaches, and flat plains. If you went to 1 state per year it would take 50 years just to see them once, and each state has so many cities, each with its unique character.
It can take years just to explore a single city fully. Dallas always has something going on somewhere. And then you have Fort Worth and the surrounding metroplex. Los Angeles and San Francisco are no different always something to see or do. New York, Las Vegas, and Chicago as well. Sure it would be great to see different countries and cultures. But most of us haven't even seen the majority of our own state much less the rest of the US. Why get a passport and spend lots of money flying over seas when there is plenty to explore right here first?
American gun culture is manufactured by being afraid of your poor neighbor, and people are afraid of their poor neighbor because the NRA stokes those coals on behalf of rich gun manufacturers. American gun culture worships guns more than any Western culture worshipped Jesus. It's disgusting idolatry. I speak as an American who loves her home.
J K I am not afraid of poor people or people of different races,cultures, or religions. Americans are freaking awesome, But,as a DIRECT descendant of no less than 7 men who fought in the American Revolution....I will be damned if I give this or any government the power to oppress or enslave me. Die on your feet or live on your knees. I feel very VERY strongly about this.
The NRA just took advantage of the 2nd Amendment and the idea stuck. If it were xenophobia causing it, gun violence would be WAY worse. Now, I don't want to get political, but I will state my views: I don't have a problem with guns. I have a problem with the shooting and atrocities commited with guns, but I think the money to prevent them would be better spent on mental healthcare to prevent those who would use them to do harm from doing it rather than taking guns out of the ordinary person's hands.
There's a lot I could say but I think that this statement: "You are an exceptional person Shaun" will suffice. We need more people like you in the world. 😊
when it comes to travel I believe people severely underestimate the size and diversity of just the continental US alone. the number of people who speak spanish/english is also underestimated
I personally speak English, Spanish( not that fluently), a little French, and a very little German. Most people I know speak at least a little of a different language than English.
Shaun, as an American who served in the military for most of my adult life, I found your analysis of us to be fresh and candid, and even a bit humorous. Thank You! It’s always good to see ourselves from the outside!
What is interesting to me is that the area British people are most baffled by: the South, with its' gun culture and Christianity, is the area with the greatest concentration of people of British descent. Many Southerners and Texans are descended from the Anglo-Scottish borderers (it's a little confusing because they're called "Scotch-Irish" in America, but many of the border people came directly to America from northern England and southern Scotland without any stops in Ulster). As Shaun undoubtedly knows, the Anglo-Scottish border was a very violent place for many centuries. Then when those settlers came over, they settled the American frontiers - also very violent places! So that warrior, gun culture, the emphasis on defending oneself - wasn't created in America, It was a mindset brought from the UK in the 1700's. Also much of the food is an adaption of what the settlers ate in "the Old Country." They had eaten porridge in Scotland, but grew corn in America - and cooked grits instead. Same sort of mushy texture with a different grain. It wasn't practical to raise sheep in the wilderness, so they raised pigs instead - barbeque! Even log cabins were an adaption of the sort of homes built on the Anglo-Scottish borders, where so many wars had destroyed the homes of poor people so they had developed a way of rebuilding quite quickly. Read "Seeds of Albion" by David Hackett Fischer and you will realize that many "American" customs, phrases, ways of thinking came from the culture in the UK in the 1700's. Since British culture has changed since then, many Brits don't recognize that.
Yup. Ever hear about the Overmountain Men and the American Revolution battle of King's Mountain in the Appalachians? Heavy concentration of Scots in Eastern Tennessee/North Carolina. They are a people that came here already with a background of fighting for one's territory. The Scots-Irish and their backbone are instrumental to the Revolutionary War and settling the USA.
If I visited Europe I’d be like “what? We only traveled 100 miles how are we in a different country. Man you guys are small!” Then I’d realize that a state in the US can literally be a country
Each state is basically a country.... United States of America State is another word for country and America is the Continent so we're not original when it comes to naming things
Apple Song Kind of. A person from Texas would definitely call themselves a Texan but I wouldn’t expect an a person from Indiana to call themselves an Indianan, though it wouldn’t be strange.
@@sentient_soul1919 I call myself a Washingtonian, but then I have to explain that "I'm from the *state* of Washington, you know, the one above Oregon, on the PACIFIC coast" and I STILL get people asking me questions about the White House or the Lincoln Memorial... both of which are about 2500 miles away from where I live.
@jojofromtx Actually, compared to 90% of humans, you really are lucky. And compared to 99% of all animals, you are incredibly lucky. That doesn't mean we shouldn't have more progress. There is much to be done. Most people don't have "paid time off work," you realize that, right?
I think more and more people, because of a lack of education, are failing to realize how lucky they are. Like the "MAGA" people. They don't get that you can't lower taxes AND have more free shit.
I love how balanced and fair you are in your judgements. As someone who has lived in America most of my life but was not born here and has traveled to a few very different countries and experienced a lot, it can be frustrating to watch these types of videos, especially from people who haven't even traveled to the U.S. or if they have, have only experienced one large city and nothing else. The people, opinions, cultures, races, even biomes are SO vastly different here that it's hard to see someone say "America is _____" and make some kind of blanket statement, usually an unkind one, that may or may not be true of some but not all of the country. The only truly accurate blanket statement that can be made about the U.S. is that America is diverse. I'm really enjoying your videos, you've earned a subscriber, here!
That's because you're stupid, irresponsible, and lazy. I was born and raised in American poverty and make no mistake, it is 100% a choice you make to remain there. And you do so because being poor in America is so easy to survive on. You, like most of my family, are merely content to wallow at the level you exist in.
@@Indubidably0 1st of all the first half of this comment was uncalled for. Yes compared to most countries it is easier here to get out of poverty but your also forgetting about the issues we have with rising prices of living. Some people also come across circumstances beyond their control. I understand that there are people here who waste there lives, don't finish school, lack initiative, and make poor life and budget choices. On the other hand it is ignorant to lump all people of the lower and lower middle class who work hard every day ,go to work ,and take care of their families with those people. Perhaps in your current life of financial security you have forgotten how much of a struggle it is to even make ends meet with the average job wages. You know with rent, power, water, insurance, a vehicle, vehicle maintenance, home maintenance, a spouse and children if you have them, unforeseen medical complications
Speaking for the "middle class", we work huge hours with little vacation because we have no choice, but to do so. I hate going to work and would gladdly go on a long paid vacation if it were even offered. Many " middle classers" are living paycheck to paycheck and are at the mercy of our employers.
@@lunarlegend8924 That is only cause most americans spend money like idiots. The average income of americans is higher than Europe yet we buy huge houses and piss money away on stupid shit all the time. I get so sick of people complaining all the time like everyone in the world except them make 100,000 or above. I'm 39 and work construction yet own my house and have managed to save a hell of a lot of money cause I don't waste it. The problem with americans is not what they make, it's how they waste what they make.
josh hill Where do you live and how was the economy when you started working? It really depends on where you were born, both physically and socioeconomically. I was born in the San Francisco Bay Area into a middle class family and I’ve worked non-stop since I was 15 through many years of college (it took so long because I HAD to work). I’ve had to scrape change together for the bridge toll in order to get to work while only eating the cheapest food during the 4 worst years of the recession. I finally managed to earn my BFA degree last year and without any student loans. I now have started a job that while it is a highly skilled position that pays well by the rest of America’s standards, yet I will still be considered to be in the poverty to lower class bracket because of this area. I very rarely buy frivolous things (and by that I mean new vs used) and my main expense is rent and food. I have always had to live with roommates because rent is so expensive. My boyfriend (who has a high paying construction job) and I only want a house of our own, but it’s such a far away dream at this point it seems like a fantasy. So tell me again how I’m wasting money? Yes, you could say I could move elsewhere but the fact is that outside of this area I have no family support system which one day I will rely on to offset the astronomical cost of child care. I know you will probably say, “well that’s just your story,” but it isn’t because the majority of people I know are in similar boats. I agree that many Americans do spend their money on stupid unnecessary things, but don’t put all Americans in the same category. We’ve worked too hard to accept that.
Yes, military man here... And I rarely go shopping except for groceries. I live a very frugal life. And I still barely have $100 dollars left after the paycheck at the end of the month
@@hydrolito Indeed the rebels did get French help - but that does not change the truth of Mr. Allen's statement. The rebellion started and ran for a few years without French help and literally started when a British force marched to capture a weapon and powder stockpile and a group of citizens stood up to them and fired the "shot heard 'round the world".
I mean if it wasn’t for America jumping in to save the day during WW 1 & 2 the French would be speaking German or rather should I say Deutsch to show I’m not ignorant to the fact that Germany is called Deutschland by the Deutsche (Germans)
I’ve never heard the stereotype of Americans being rude, we have a stereotype here that Europeans are rude, I guess it’s just a clash of cultural norms?
Mostly it is just France that hear stereotyped as rude. I have heard Brits are polite to a fault. Again, just the stereotypes I have heard, not saying they are accurate.
@@briancantrell1050 I worked with a Brit for a while. I wouldn't say she was rude but she wasn't what I would call polite. She was very outspoken and tremendously funny. I love British humor they are some of the funniest people...
I grew up in the deep south and have since lived all over the US and spent a few years in Germany. When I first moved out west I initially thought people were rude. They weren't, however. Cultural norms are just different and people are as well. Every where I have lived and visited were full of wonderful people. Interpersonal customs are just different.
On the travel part, consider this: America is a huge country. We have mountains, volcanoes, tropical beaches, glaciers, mesas, dunes, prairies, boreal forests, rain forests, swamps, lagoons, brush land, Native American architecture, colonial architecture, modern architecture, space launch centers, giant rivers, giant lakes and everything in between. You can travel the world and never leave the country. Many people spend their entire lives just touring America and never see all of it. So the desire to go to other countries may not be as strong as it would be for someone from a smaller country.
In Kentucky we've always been able to open carry our weapon (gun). We are an open carry state. We just had pass this year 2019 that we can conceal carry our weapon. No special government permit needed. Being from other countries people may find this strange. Even some states in the U.S.A. find this strange. But think about it this way. A thief or someone with bad intentions is less likely to attack you if they're unsure you may be carrying a weapon that could end their life. Especially if you're carrying it in plain view. I carry open, and concealed. I've never had to draw my weapon one time. Where I live It's very rural (in the countryside). It takes law enforcement on average 30 - 45 minutes to arrive on scene to my house. I have the constitutional right to defend myself, my family, and my home. All of my neighbors have weapons also. There's no gun battles in our area. Because we respect the responsibility of gun ownership. You never point a weapon at someone, unless you intend to use it. And you give the offender fair warning first. Places with high gun violence in the U.S.A. are places where the power to possess a firearm for upstanding law abiding citizens has been restricted by local government. Shocker here, but criminals don't care about laws. They get weapons even when they're not supposed to have access to them by law.
@@stanleyrogouski Gotta call bullshit on that. Where are you getting _your_ stats? Moreover, you said *"crime* rates" which reveals either you or your source are being disingenuous, since "crime rate" includes everything - even stuff like fraud and drug use, which obviously have zero connection to guns. _Violent_ crime is what's relevant here (particularly murder / attempted murder rates). And on that score, KY does very well. It was the 5th safest state as of 2017. www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/crime-and-corrections/public-safety
@@stanleyrogouski I didn't say anything about statistics. So, 2 cities in Ky is where you're getting your stats from...? I saw Louisville and Lexington listed in the cities list. Both are large urban areas with drugs, theft and gangs. How many gang members, thieves, and/or bad guys carry weapons legally.
Thank you for debunking some myths. I've always disliked when people say Americans don't travel. With the size of the USA, a New Yorker visiting California is like the Portuguese visiting Finland; we just don't need a passport to travel it. I've traveled to Canada, Costa Rica & China, but my family was always fond of road trips when I was growing up; I've traveled to all but a few states. It's so much better than flying, because you can see more off-the-beaten-track places that no one else gets to see but locals. There is one thing that I think a lot of people who criticize the USA about gun ownership don't realize; there are still people here who subsistence hunt, either due to necessity (in mostly Alaska) or want. Another thing is the lack of large carnivores in Europe due to past human activity. I know there has been legislation and success in protecting the slowly increasing numbers over the past few decades, but (correct me if i'm wrong) I doubt you'd have a lot to worry about if you took a several day hike & camping trip in the middle of nowhere; bear-spray is nice but it's always good to have a back-up just in case. I don't believe there are ANY large predators to worry about in Great Britain. We're a country built on guns not swords like European countries. Everyone had guns from the beginning b/c they were pilgrims to a "dangerous" new world and even after becoming a country we still had areas with so little habitation that you needed to protect yourself; it may have been 242 yrs ago (since we became a country, not since the lack of habitation ended), but that's really not long ago. The whole reason we became independent was b/c of the unfairness in the way England treated us, so it's only natural that there would be provisions such as the Right to Bear Arms to allow us to fight back if the government of the United States ever acted in the same or comparably unforgivable ways. This ended up being a LOT more than I had originally intended. lol
You're very right. We not only have the right to bear arms to protect ourselves/families from criminals, however to protect ourselves from a tyrannical government and SO many people don't understand that. People think we have school shootings every week which isn't even true first of all, and second don't they know just how BIG America is?! We have a large population here so there are bound to be some crazies. The State of California has a larger population than the country of Canada after all.
Even if you never own or use a gun it is still a symbol of true freedom to have that right. Most early immigrants and a few recent ones came here to escape persecution in some form (race, religion, culture). So even those who immigrate here mostly stand by the second amendment also. A government who lets its people bear arm instills great trust in its people. People who come here out of fear can own a gun and know they have a right to protect their home and family from whatever happened to them before that their leaders and laws did not protect them from. It is the ultimate symbol for freedom.
I have never hunted. I've been vegan for over 8 years. I would not harm a living thing, so committing a violent act with a gun is the furthest thing from reality I can imagine. But I've had guns and I've shot guns since I was a literal toddler. I had a .22 when I was three years old. There wasn't such a debate or controversy back then, though. Me and my brother and all of our cousins would walk on the train tracks with our .22s and BB guns and anyone that saw us would not have batted an eyelash. Nowadays, guns are equated directly to violence and kids aren't taught to safely use guns the way I was when I was a child. They're taught to fear them now. It's bizarre. When you look at the prevalence that women are raped and/or murdered in America in comparison to gun violence, the indisputable issue should be the rape and murder of women. Due to the politicizing and nationalizing of gun issues, that is the national and international concern. I wish the international community would be more concerned with the rape and murder of women in America than the gun violence in America. It's very easy to research and see where the more massive issue lies. But people are swayed by media and bias and not any genuine research or concern into what it's like in America, truly.
On the religion part up until 9/11, Islam was the fastest growing faith in the US. Although the US has been traditionally mostly Christen, that is now changing. The founding fathers had grown up in England and experienced first hand the strife that was created by having a government enforced religion. When they wrote the Constitution they vowed not to make that same mistake, and put in the freedom of religion clause that government would not promote or oppose any religion, a pretty radical concept at the time.
@@effigytormented So you mean any other religion ever? And that's not true. Islam strips women of their rights, extremely sexist and "Allah" was a fucking pedophile bullshit filled asshole. They also believe in fucking "honor killings" which makes those who practice it terrorists and absolutely retarded and sick.
Thanks Vicky- your understanding of the Constitution speaks volumes. The ability to see beyond how things affect us personally is hard for many to achieve. You have that attitude of a "classical liberal" and it is refreshing to see nowadays. Cheers!
Most non-crazy liberals in America don’t want to destroy the 2nd Amendment, they merely want to specify it to not include military-grade equipment capable of mass-slaughter. What exactly that constitutes is an interesting discussion, but the belief that they want to outright dismantle the 2nd is a far right scare tactic and attempt to brainwash the common man.
Dylan Schnabel remember the AR15 is and never was a military rifle. Just because something is military grade doesn’t mean it’s bad. Like military handguns, shotguns, rifles are no more deadlier than civilian versions. There just built to certain specifications
Jesse Vang It’s not about whether something is bad. It’s about what what constitutes as a weapon of defensive or offensive capabilities. AR 15’s have a magazine capacity of 30 rounds, and is a derivative of the m16 Assault rifle. In my opinion, that is an offensive weapon. Opinions may differ, however, and that is to be respected.
I truly love how open-minded you are about other cultures and not being quick to judge other cultures. It says a lot about you as a human being. Thank you, from an American 😊
As a proud red bleeding American, I seriously wanna thank you for making such an awesome video on my country! And I think overall, your conclusions are pretty much right on the money!
The thing about Americans being rude is more about different cultures than anything else. I grew up just outside of LA in California and vacationed in both the deep south and New York and the cultures of all those places are VERY different. In New York, small talk in considered rude because it wastes time that a lot of people don't have. In the deep south it's rude to not have a full conversation before you get to your point because it gives the impression you'd rather be somewhere else. And in LA it kind of varies depending on the situation but for the most part if you don't do a quick "hi. How are you?" before getting to the point or if you just stand there and talk for five or ten minutes before making your point you're considered rude because we have some time to talk but we still have things to do and places to be. We're not rude. We just grew up with different cultures.
Robert Sitch Southern Florida is kind of it’s own weird entity where it’s in the deep south but it’s so different from anything else in the deep south. One summer me and my family traveled from Alabama to New Orleans to Florida and it was such a shock! I think it’s because it has it’s own seperate culture because of it’s demographics of retirees (usually from larger cities), lgbtq+ people who tend to stick together in groups, and immigrants who might not speak much english. It doesn’t shock me at all that an area with those demographics would lack the typical southern hospitality.
@@KassMcCormack that is a likely explanation. Miami has been ranked as America's rudest city by many surveys. I am a Canadian who has traveled through 7 US states and all ten provinces of Canada and find it's usually the small town residents that have much time to talk and sometimes even try hard to honor the occasional special request. Some of the friendliest people in the tourism industry I have met have been in the more rural parts of the Northeast and within Canada Newfoundland.
Robert Sitch Yeah. That’s not at all surprising. When I was in Florida we kept to the gulf coast and didn’t venture too far off the panhandle and even there was more similar to being back in LA than anywhere else in the south. Granted where we stayed was mostly tourists and people on vacation from LA but even the people who were locals had a similar personality and temperament to people out here in Southern California. Which states have you been to?
@@KassMcCormack Michigan is the one I have been the most as I have some distant family there but it has been about 5 years. I have flown to Florida and Texas a few times each. Been to Upstate New York a few times. Last year on our way to the Canadian Maritime provinces we traveled through Upstate New York and Northern New England to only have too Pay for gasoline in Quebec once. When it comes to the locals speaking a different language, you may know that Canada's first European settlers were from Northern France and many of their modern descendants still primarily or exclusively speak a traditional French dialect.
Such a great video! I so appreciate how you give such an in depth fair opinion of America. Thank you for all of the hard work you put into your videos they are great!!!
Thank you Shaun! I really appreciate this video. I am a quiet, introverted US American - we actually exist! Honestly the more videos I have heard about opinions about the people from the USA, the less I want to venture out. I don't feel welcome. I do appreciate you coming here, and experiencing some of us and part of our culture, and letting that change your opinion! :)
@Jinjyo ni Shoubu that's just not true. I've lived and work all over the US and every part has their bigots. Your comment, for example, is bigoted. It's funny when I see white people from the north who live in white neighborhoods and send their children to schools that are majority white, wag their finger at an entire region of the country for being racist.
@heath mcdonald I'm from Wyoming so guns are a part of life for me. Truthfully never even entered my mind during my stay in Georgia. What sticks in my mind is the kindness from all the locals during our time of grieving for the loss of our Mother. How all the neighbors showed up at my Fathers door carrying a covered dish and offering him words of comfort. How everyone no matter their color pulled together to offer comfort to people who had lost a loved one. It truly was an eye opening experience for me. Are there racist in this country? Yeah I'd say there are. But I don't think the south is harboring them. The people I met were caring people who were supportive of others no matter their color. This is also a bias that needs to be addressed by people that actually live here.
@@morganghetti Maybe you should actually move down south and live in the rural areas for a while.... I was born and raised in the south side of GA. Most of us are fairly nice and dont give a shit about race. once you get up to the south side of Atlanta tensions can get a little stiff with all the gang activity. Anyhow, it's clear you've never interacted with a true racist.... otherwise you'd be dead for saying that.
Thank you for your favorable thoughts on America! We're a large mix of cultures, attitudes and ways of approaching life. And we're a young nation compared to Europe, so we're sometimes like a teenager: trying to be civilized while still wanting to be a bit wild at times.
E-Rank Luck Lancer I don't think we'll ever get as corrupt and desperate as Venezuela. At least I hope not. It's so hard to believe that only a generation ago Venezuela was one of the wealthiest countries in the Western Hemisphere due to oil production.
Employment in the US is by the legal concept of "at will," which means you can be fired for any reason or no reason at all. We see people who are very hard-working and resourceful and well-liked lose their jobs sometimes. Most of us have to prove ourselves every day, so it's an extrinsic motivation that gets internalized over time until it's more intrinsic. That's my explanation of the American workaholic.
I learned a bit about Scotland just listening to your reactions to us!!! Oh, BTW, much of the Bible Belt tradition is ultimately traceable to the huge numbers of Presbyterian Ulster Scots who settled in Appalachia and the south.
That's absolutely true as one of their descendants living in Appalachia it's always been a highly religious area. Seriously you might have to drive 50 miles to find a mall but you can throw a rock and break the windows out of 5 churches we have so many.
You are a very fair minded man. Thank you for your observations. Travel helps us appreciate other perspectives and my first trips outside the US changed me profoundly. I very much appreciate your kind words. Sláinte.
America is huge lol. I live in Connecticut, and my daughter lives in Virginia. It takes us 12 hours to drive to her house to visit. Hope you come to visit us again !
Same's true for Hoosiers - many of whom are of Scottish heritage, though the majority of heritage here is German and Polish. Most of the Irish and Scottish heritage in the US is in the South.
This was extremely refreshing to watch. It's nice to see someone take on stereotyping in a broad minded and fair way. We need more of this everywhere with everything.
When my family lived in Germany, my dad completely shut down a guy ragging on American gun violence by saying the following: "If Germany allowed its citizens to arm themselves, how many Jews would've survived the Holocaust?"
I don't know if anyone has tried explaining gun culture to you like this before, but I'll try. There are 400 million guns in civilian hands in the USA. if they became illegal overnight and there was Forced voluntary turnbacks, you might get 1% of those back. So how to you collect 99% of 400 million guns? House to house, with soldiers? Also, let's say every law abiding person in America did turn in their guns. Who would be left? The exact people you don't want to have the guns, and the reason you arm yourself in the first place, for self protection. I have two handguns here, both loaded and in quick access gun safes just in case they are ever needed. I hope and pray I'll never need them, but better to have them and not need them, than need them and not have them. If I could make a wish and have every gun in America go away, would I? Maybe/probably. But that's not reality, and when the bad guys have access to guns, everyone needs access to guns.
frednich9603 Hi! I’m someone who’s is very pro-gun reform and has no interest in owning a gun myself and I’d just like to share a few thoughts. First, I believe that when most people talk about gun control they don’t mean making all guns illegal or taking them away. While I personally don’t want a firearm in my home it does not bother me that you have one. Gun control, as I see it, refers to more training to have a license, more thorough background checks, regulating gun shows, and stopping the sale of military assault rifles. What are your thoughts on these gun control measures as they would not affect the handguns in your home?
@@mandmified17 - sorry to butt in...I typed out a whole long thing but it basically boiled down to...More firearm education/training for all would be good. More comprehensive background checks would be good. Overarching legislation on firearms because of poorly defined terms like "military assault weapons" is bad. I don't think it's ok to strip personal property away from law abiding citizens because criminals are breaking the law. It would be like pulling your dogs teeth because a fox killed your chickens. You might not want all guns taken away but others in your camp absolutely do and I don't believe that it would be constitutional or morally right to do in a truly free county. We need more rights and less government control. It couldn't hurt for folks to be a little nicer, too. We've all gotta figure this stuff out together, haha.
We clearly have a gun violence problem in America, and we need some sensible form of gun control to address it -- along with addressing topics like, "Why are so many white men becoming radicalized and engaging in domestic terrorism?" But I completely agree with you about the idea of actually trying to disarm the American public; that's pretty much a guaranteed second civil war because people aren't going to voluntarily turn in their firearms and sending the National Guard door-to-door is a recipe for violence (I also suspect there are people in the Guard, local and state police, and other military groups who would flat-out refuse to carry out those orders against fellow citizens). That said, continuing on as we are is the very definition of insanity and the NRA has been a cancer on thoughtful and responsible debate and policy decisions for years. I hope that organization gasps its last and a more reasonable lobbying group takes its place.
One place I used to work, the guy in the adjacent cubicle seemed to have no "inside voice"--he always spoke loudly. Talking to him, I learned he had 10 siblings, so that probably explains it.
Thank you for pointing out the travel misconception. Most family's travel / have vacation once a year where they normally travel within the US..It's at least 900 miles across Texas
Dude, #10 I love to hear you preach that truth. That's what I've been saying for years... anybody that wants to lump 325 million people into one stereotype like 'they're ignorant' IS being ignorant themselves!
You did a great job...very accurate. I've been to Scotland twice...leaving again in May. The Scottish people are friendly as well as Americans BUT Scottish people have a way of making you truly feel like family💙
I really appreciate the fact that when you look at a culture, you give it a fair chance and try to really get to know it before making generalizations. Honestly, I believe there will be good, bad, and ugly things/people wherever you go, but I agree with not just lumping everyone in the same pot.
Here's why Americans don't travel much: The average American house hold is three people with a household income of $59,000 USD. A round-trip economy plane ticket from NY La Guardia to Heathrow is $650-$750 per person. So if this average American family wants to even get to holiday in the UK, it'll cost them $2,100. If they stay a week, figure $150 per night for hotel - another $1,000 or so. Figure as much on food and incidentals. Add a little more for souvenirs, excursions, etc. Our family of 3 has spent almost ten percent of the household budget on vacation - and that's on the cheap. No luxury hotel, just a nice "average" hotel. Not first class airfare- economy or at best economy plus. Allowing $45 per person per day for 3 meals and incidentals. Or, they could vacation somewhere in the U.S. (itself the size of continental Europe, and just as diverse geographically if not culturally) for half that. It's not that Americans don't care to travel; it's just more expensive than most families can easily justify to leave the States.
Daniel Lunsford, is like to point out that your excellent cost breakdown is for someone who lives on the coast near a major airport. I live in a small town in the central US, so I have to get to NY first before I can even begin heading overseas. That means an additional $300-500 plane ticket, a day of travel, an overnight hotel stay in NY, transportation from the airport that evening and back the next morning, plus food and whatever other incidentals. For those of us who don’t live near a coast or one of the few major airports, just getting to the starting point is all the expense we can afford.
Thank you, Shaun, for busting these ill-founded myths! I'll address a few of your excellent points (mind you, these comments are to your countrymen who perpetuate these myths). Myth #4: A couple of things here. If 30%, and that's a reasonable estimate, of Americans have a passport, that's nearly 100 million people!!!! Enough said on that. The other thing that people in the UK don't understand is just how freaking big the United States is! I live in NW Georgia, down in the Southeast. To drive to the Mexican border, I have to drive almost 1,300 miles! To get to Canada, say, Niagara Falls, Ontario, I have to drive around 900 miles or so! If you want to drive from Edinburgh to another country, which has to be Calais, France as you have no other country you can drive to without driving through France, it is a journey of right at 500 miles. I sometimes drive to the coast of North Carolina, which is a journey of around 600 miles! If I want to drive to the West Coast, let's pick Santa Monica, California for instance, that's a journey of 2,200 miles... and that's the SHORTEST trip to the West Coast from where I live! You could drive from Edinburgh to either Gibraltar or to the island of Sicily and still be 200 miles short of what I'd have to drive to get to the West Coast. Myth #6: Religous fanatics? I heard this a lot when I lived down near Newcastle-upon-Tyne for several years. We have a lot of deeply religious people, especially Christians. We do have a few religious fanatics... every country does. But people who come from a secular/atheistic background, they tend to see anyone who adheres to any particular religion, especially Christians, as religious fanatics. I've found this quite odd considering the long and very rich Christian history found in the UK. Myth #7: Obviously, y'all haven't asked the Japanese about this one. They think we Americans are lazy. One thing I love about the British is that y'all get, for the most part, up to 30 days holiday every year... and that doesn't include Bank Holidays and such. We could learn a thing or two from y'all on that. Having said that, as you said, Shaun, the American Dream doesn't come cheap or without a lot of hard work. Having lived in both countries, I can say that we Americans have, for the most part, a higher standard of living than the British... and that comes from a lot of hard work on our parts. Myth #8: Compared to the British, yes, we are loud. But I think that this perception comes from our direct way of talking as well. To my step-daughter's eternal embarrassment, I was a loud, brash American in her eyes. Everyone else, including all her friends, loved me. Sigh! Teenagers!!! Myth #9: Americans being rude? Actually, with a few exceptions, everyone I became friends with, and even those I only briefly met commented on my exceptionally good manners. Granted, there are some points of etiquette that are quite different between British and American manners, but if you take that into consideration, like you, I think we Americans comport ourselves quite well abroad. As you correctly pointed out, we Americans can be much more direct than most British. But that's a cultural thing more than a matter of etiquette. And finally Myth #10: We Americans are no more ignorant of the rest of the world than the rest of the world is ignorant of us in America! Anyway, Thanks Again for posting this vlog! You've done us Americans a great service!
Wanna know something funny? Over twenty years ago my family moved from Chicago to Arizona and sometime during our time there my Dad met someone who knew his cousin! And when we moved back to Illinois, (Central, IL, not Chicago) he met someone who was once a neighbor of his when he was in elementary school. There are instances like this all over where people move across the country and meet from their youth or neighbors they never met etc.
I'm 52 years old, and I've lived in about 17 different places. I grew up in central Illinois (Mattoon) and when I moved into my current house in Georgia, I discovered that one of my neighbors had been a substitute teacher in my elementary school 40 years ago when I was there. That blew my mind. And I recently started working with someone who grew up in Decatur, Illinois and went to Eastern Illinois University (10 miles from my hometown). When I got out of the US Army in the 1990's, I went to work for a company in Decatur for 9 years. We were both familiar with many places in each other's hometowns. And now we're working together. Crazy, right?
once i got older i finally settled down in a single place not far from where i was born in fact but to this day in my life i've probably lived in 45 different cities/towns/villages across 8 different states michigan tenn nc sc ohio alaska texas az and mass so make that 9 states im 44 now and ive gone and lived as far west as you can get on this continent almost as far east as you can get gone as far north and as far south as well even settled in the middle for a short time
I don't think he meant to infer that America is the *only* country with the strong work ethic, we are one of, along with a few other countries. I assume Japan, along with a few others, as having a work -aholic culture / possess a strong work ethic.
In Texas going from town A to B, usually we don't give milage/km in between, we give hours of driving. With continental Europe, 6-7 hours of driving could go through a couple of countries.
@@marciaknight6482 how fast were you going to drive across Texas in four hours??!!? It takes 15 hours to get from El Paso to the border of Lousiana and 16 hours to get from Brownsville to the border with Oklahoma. At least, it does at normal highway speeds.
@@dianeaishamonday9125no, no, no, lol. U misunderstood me. Wat i meant was, as i was driving n texas, were i was born, btw, i could actually drive for 4 hrs of my drive, n see nothing but dirt n tumbleweeds till i got to my next town. Not that i could take the whole state n 4 hrs! Lol. This was n 1990, just to let u know. Maybe they've built a station or 2 since then. Ya know? It was just to let people know how really big that state is.
I've been fortunate in that I've gotten to travel to a lot of countries since I was 18 (many moons ago). I think my top count is 9, but since a lot of those countries were in Europe it was really easy to go from one to another in a day or less. You can't do that in the states. I've lived in California, Maine, and now the Midwest. Every state is vast making driving time extremely long and tedious. Road trips to Maine, Montana, or South Dakota can take about three days just from where I live. As far as languages, I did speak a beginner level of French when I was in France and Switzerland. I could see they appreciated the effort, but they were always quick to change to English when they saw I was struggling. I think it does show a respect of the country you visit if you at least try to speak their language. As far as ignorant? Depends on what you mean. We are all ignorant of something to some level. I studied English literature and Irish history when in college. I could talk your ear off on such things, but am ignorant on the math/science spectrum simply because it's not something I'm strong at. Not that I don't try to learn, it's just a huge struggle based on how I think. There are some people I have met who honestly don't want to think for themselves at all and will take anything they hear at face value without checking for accuracy. Those sorts of people make my head hurt. As for guns, I have shot quite a few in my time, but they are not my favorite. I think for Americans having the right to bear arms stems all the way from when we had to fight the British during the American Revolution. Without those guns we would have had a hard time defending ourselves. The gun laws set up in the constitution (from what I recall) where created so that people could protect themselves from being overthrown by government control. I think my novel of a post has gone on long enough (LOL), but I hope I touched on some of what you had to say.
I completely get you on the language thing! Even when I go out to a restaurant with my husband here in the states, I thank the waitress in their native language. If I don't know how to say it, I always ask and am sure to remember. So in a chinese restaurant I'll say "she she" and the waitress usually smiles from ear to ear with a kind "you're welcome". Or "arigoto" in Japanese. In most english speaking restaurants I'll say thank you in both english and american sign. People definitely love to see someone take enough respect in their culture to learn a few words, and even possibly a little history on their country. :)
First, I'd like to say "Thank you!" for your unbiased objectivity. I appreciate how you take our apparent world-view flaws and can explain how anyone, anywhere can be just the same. I'm sure there are millions (or billions) of people worldwide who are unwilling or unable to leave their country. Ignorant and sheltered can go hand-in-hand. Choosing to be ignorant is one thing, ignorance due to available/possible life experiences is another. Also, I have had the extreme fortune to travel out my country on (only) 6 occasions. I love travelling. There's nothing to compare to existing in a place different from your own and interacting with people. But financially, it is not siomething I can hope to do regularly... Thirdly, I live in the "middle" of Florida (Tampa Bay area) and it is a 5-6 hour drive to reach the northern border, 5 hours to the opposite coast and 19 hours to reach Key West in the south!! There are quite the distances to be traversed over here!!
One point about the traveling: since America is so big, relatively speaking, and has varying types of climates and geography, many of us travel to other states by car even if it takes a few days. Remember we don't have a rail system comparable to Europe. My son just entered college in another state... about 5 hours away so we have driven several times; point is often times we just drive.
Well said on the passports. It is very expensive for Americans to travel to Europe. You can travel 3000 miles and visit 5 or 6 countries. Not true for Americans.
Not only is it more expensive for us to travel to Europe. It's more expensive for us to travel to Europe than it is for Europeans and Brits to travel to the US.
Lots of people (my UK family included) assume wealth because they don't understand the difference in cost of living in much of the country. Outside densely populated areas (NYC, Boston, LA, etc.) you can normally buy a pretty big house for the same price as a tiny condo/flat in a big city.
Its the same everywhere, people always compare wages to their own cost of living without really being aware of how much the other persons cost of living is. Mind you house prices are insane in the UK. My neighbours bought their house in 1968 for £1000 , that's about £20,000 in today's money, but its now worth £250,000!
Americans also often find people from NYC and LA to be pushy and rude. No everyone, but it is a stereotype that’s been earned. Good video, Shaun. Thank you for making it
I think the reason why it's that way is lost on people. It's so crowded and so busy that it's in New Yorkers to get to the solution as fast as possible.
Exactly. If climate change hysteria is the new standard for how invested one is in the scientific method, we must have redefined the scientific method. Climate change is political. It's about money. The rapidly crumbling infrastructure of Marxist Sweden is to blame for starting this nonsense (40 years before Greta was exploited for this moment). Modern academia has been exposed for their corrupt practices, one of which is a religious-like devotion to Leftist ideology that has nothing at all to do with empirical evidence but everything to do with money and influence. Additionally, vicious workplace bullying is rampant in higher education (and healthcare environments). This means that the difficult path to achieve tenure in higher education is littered with arbitrary barriers the "in" group controls. If you want to lose funding for your research, speak truth based on empirical evidence. If you want to be shunned, demoted, re-assigned, threatened or fired, speak truth and conduct yourself with integrity. If you want to advance yourself or secure funding for your discipline, your course of action is crystal clear: Lie. Convert every human interaction into race, religion, or gender and then prove your commitment to the groupspeak by vilifying anyone or anything that does not comply with your group's approved agenda. Climate change is a very old game with a shiny new name.
Thanks for this! Here in the US, it seems like every other country seems to hate us. We have our problems, but the majority of the people here are just hard working, family loving, fun having people. And we truly like other countries. The governments of countries don’t define the people in them.
Me: "Of course we're not all fat!" Also me: *Shovels a handful of greasy chips into my fat stupid mouth* And yes, I'm working on it. lol Holiday season messed with that though.
Ugh no lie. I was doing amazing before the holidays. I even got through thanksgiving without giving in. But then fam came in town for Christmas and it was all downhill from there. (she says as she shoves white cheddar cheezits in her mouth)
Spot on perfect!! In every way, you have got the American reality exactly as it really is---not as the rest of the world perceives it to be. Thanks, Shaun----brilliant!!
This is so amazingly kind! Thank you! Born and raised in NYS.....my 15 year old is fluent in English, Norweigan, Icelandic and German...speaks a little French... We are poor as dirt.. But we love our families.. I believe i have some Scot Lennox lineage from my grandfather...who was Scot and dang...could he turn the most mundane topic into an exciting story! And we certainly love the world!
Thank you for coming over here and having a look around. I love to hear how people come over and experience the U.S. I am a deep Southerner myself and my ancestry is very highly "Ulster Scot" so I love to see what my distant cousins think! Cheers!
Videos like this are absolutely what I love! because IT IS SO FRUSTRATING to have someone outside of your culture sit there and explain to you that everything about your culture is wrong...based on their own culture! We all have stereotypes about other places largely because as mentioned, you never go there, you never take the time to actually get to know anyone from those places, or you saw a couple of movies. Please come talk to us. Come make up your mind based on what you see in person. I was randomly at a park one day and ran into an Irish guy who was visiting his son in the states. He approached me with the statement, "I don't mean to offend, but..." and I was ready for the worst, but what ended up happening was a 3 hour! conversation about our two different cultures and one of the best conversations I've ever had in my entire life with another human being. This is what happens when you keep an open mind and you seek to know what's true and what's not from the people around you. Keep up the good work Shaun because I think through you maybe a lot more people will become more open to trying to actually develop a knowledge based understanding of another persons culture.
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so the gun culture. it's multi-layered. partially its due to the early immigrants and settlers. they needed there guns to defend themselves and to hunt for food. second, its partially based on the european levy system. when the need arose, regiments were called together and those settlers and immigrants with their guns were called upon to fill its ranks. thirdly, we don't trust our government entirely. so having guns is a way to let our leaders know that their is always a force out there ready to overthrow the government if they don't serve our needs as best as they can. this comes from the political philosophers Hobbes, Lock and Rousseau.
I was lucky to be able to handle my first firearms in a rural field. The sound dissipates in the open space. I shot a .22 pistol and then a .22 rifle. They were easy to handle, though the pistol had what I thought was a large stock.
I'm sure I could handle a Glock. Definitely a .38 special (they don't make them anymore). A Beretta would probably be ideal if I had a gun.
But I don't. I live in Louisville, KY, sometimes called a "blue dot in a red state" because this city is largely the Democratic party (blue), and the state is largely rural and of the Republican part (red). And while there are gun - shooting practitioners and enthusiasts in town, there are many more in the rest of the state.
In rural America or in the Badlands, it makes sense to have a gun. But I don't feel the need to carry one in town. Not even in rural areas.
Dude, Americans have a lot of stereotypes of everybody else. It is kind of comforting to know there are stereotypes about us. Cheers man.
Shaun, you're confusing Americans with immigrants. Science and tech, even finance. We import MOST of our brainpower. Why? Our education system prior to college is subpar to say the least thanks to constant cuts to funding and our most diligent and hard working students (Asian Americans) being put to a higher standard thanks to illegal quotas from the top schools (they need to score far better than any other racial group to get into the same school..). This is ironic considering how many we immigrate from Asia for these roles... We fail our own Americans through this type of systemic racism.
Also keep in mind, on several states, they're giving high school teachers the option to teach Christian beliefs instead of evolution and what we know of the big bang...
Talk about failing our kids...
Also, number 9 is cause you're white. We are very rude. Most of them are in the south and in Boston (and scattered in the middle of the US).
Your last point shows the difference. Many of the ugly Americans go to other countries without keeping an open mind that you yourself spoke of. They'll throw tantrums and complain about everything. You had the opportunity to travel. Many of those who travel from the US are self absorbed buffoons who worked as hard as others but believe they worked harder than others instead of realizing they we born into privilege that allowed them to obtain more.
love the indiana shirt!
Who else is American and just wanted to see what Europeans thought of America
Ethan Port What I think is funny or odd about Europeans is they don't seem to understand that they are the ones who settled and created the US.
@@dew02300 That's very true. They always talk about how different they are without realizing some of the glaring similarities
Me
I did.... :(
Yup. We're vain like that.
This guy is one of the nicest non- Americans talking about America that I have ever seen on this site.
Some of us don't live under rocks
Check out lost in the pond. That guys very nice as well. It's just nice to hear compliments for once.
this guy is a nice person for once. most other foreigners on UA-cam say things like, "dumbass Americans think America is a country." and all of the replies are simply, "uh, we just say 'America' because its short for 'united states of America'. we are all well aware that America is not a nation, but a collection of continents and islands." and then the forgiver says, "hehe salty ass Americans." for one, calling Americans "Americans" implies that we are from a place called "America" and we are, its called *the Americas*. then they say, "well im from Belize and I consider myself an American because I live in the Americas." so when you go somewhere you say that you're an American despite you terrible excuse for English and clearly central American facial features? (not trying to be racist, just saying that different parts of the world people have slightly different facial features) no? so you say you're from Belize, right? SO YOU'RE NOT AN AMERICAN!
Yuppers I have a few anti Americans friends they mostly joke but they all do have at least a few things they just can't stand. Gotten into it with a few and I just remind them if you hate America soooo much drop everything that is american ( don't use anything that was/is a product of America ) almost all tech pfffftttttfffttttt out the window your console gone your phone gone your TV shows gone your UA-cam gone your music alll fucking gone and here is the K.O your video games poof XD ) (atleast the ones people sink 1,000s of hours in no LoL no wow no Diablo no Halo no cod no GTA no destiny no overwatch there isn't much out there not from an American/american company Rammstein made it clear "We're all living in Amerika,
Amerika ist wunderbar"
Yeah, I always thought someone being this nice about Americans would have to be Canadian.
True stereotype: Scots have great accents.
I love the scottish accent, wish i sounded like that
Fact!
Yes. I love the Scottish accent. I'm gonna fake it all day because I'm a grown ass American and what good is the freedom of speech if you don't exploit it in random ass accents. Yesterday evening I enjoyed butchering Australian speekums all night.
They speak that way because when they visit America and our 'pubs' they will usually never have to pay for their own drinks !!!!!
Well to everyone you have an accent, but yea you can probably thank Sean Connery for that.
The reason we're less traveled as a whole is because our country is so huge, as you mentioned. The US is the most geographically diverse country on earth so we don't necessarily have to travel outside of our own country for a vacation.
Yes in the USA you can go skiing in 14,000 foot mountains, go to the dessert, rain forests, oceans, beaches, lakes etc. We have every type of climate in the world here because our country is so huge.
Also, Americans don’t get months of vacation every year like Europeans do. We get maybe two or three weeks at the most. In the U.S., *there is no law* that mandates giving workers *any* time off. If you’re lucky enough to get paid time off in the U.S., it’s because it was part of the perks you received as an employee.
I live in southern Cali, 1 hour away from is the beach, desert, lakes, and mountains covered in snow. It’s kinda crazy
Yeah and dont forget we have alot of different cultures like Amish and Cajon , lots of unnamed ones to
2 to 3 million square miles of space in America, we have all we need here,
"Only 30 percent of Americans have passports" 30 percent of Americans is _twenty times the population of Scotland_ and _almost twice the population of the UK._
@shugo104 this stat is misleading as well. Not saying it isn't true. But take the statistic from the country you are trying to compare to America and average it out to population. The point is more Europeans travel than Americans which seems to be true. And Americans that have never traveled are annoying af. I have cousins like this. Why would I travel to that country? I'm in the best country. I'm not saying all Americans who haven't traveled are like this. It just gets annoying.
@@greennbean As an American who travels quite frequently I agree. I will say, if we consider our states like EU countries, then I bet most Europeans have just traveled within the EU countries. I bet most American have traveled to different states. Again it's all perspective.
Part of the issue is defining "travel". The implied meaning of course is international travel. Current statistics demonstrate that about 42% of Americans have a passport, not 30%. Geographical reasons for lower incidence of Americans embarking on international visits as already mentioned are legitimate: we have to cross the largest ocean in the world to get to Europe and you don't. This explains why we go first to Mexico and second to Canada before crossing the Atlantic.
However, if Scotts would consider leaving home for holiday for a weekend, a week, a few weeks or a month as "travel", Americans are traveling all the freaking time! Many people in dense urban areas enjoy camping, have cabins a few hours drive from their home or family and friends they stay with. Frequently crossing from state to state for work or pleasure is significant portion of regular American travel investment. People from the East Coast are typically surprised at how expansive the wild American West is. While Europeans can get to their country's border in a couple hours, Western Americans might drive from sun up to sun down and still be in the same state. Many states offer a wide variety of starkly different ecosystems and climates available to experience within an easy 90 minutes on the road. If you could leave home at a moment's notice with your whole family (and we often have larger families) and the biggest expense was gasoline for the car and food-you might not feel an urgency to go through the trouble to acquire passports, either.
green amean travel is cheaper in Europe. It’s less expensive for a person in England to travel to France or Italy than it is for an individual in America to do the same.
@@greennbean And your line of thinking is ALSO misleading. The United States is an entire continent with states that are bigger than most countries, with an indescribable amount of different climates, regions and subcultures, and is a nation entirely made up of immigrants from a plethora of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Americans don't need fucking passports to become "cultured"... they need an American drivers license and a few weeks traveling around the continental US. Don't think so? Convince me a white guy from Boston is more culturally identical to a creole guy from the bayou in Louisiana, than he is from a white guy in France. I call BULLSHIT.
As an American - Thank You! Thank you for your honesty. I get so tired of hearing: portions, fat, loud, rude, sales tax, etc. Thank you for being honest and objective. We are not perfect, no one is, but we actually love meeting Europeans and it makes us sad that they think so little of us.
@pete ziriaah AHUSDHAU Oh, my friend, you are a beautiful impersonation of the american spirit, thank you very much
@pete ziriaah I did not quite get your answer, but I meant it as a compliment.
@pete ziriaah dude what the hell
I agree with pete ziriaah.
pete ziriaah lmao
I'm an immigrant that became naturalized as a USA citizen. Thank you for this video, if this country is as bad as people say, I wouldn't want to leave my home country to live here and the same for so many other people who also do the same.
Same here. I get kinda annoyed when we get stereotyped like this, knowing full well how diverse the country is.
Thank you as an American I'm happy to see people defending us
@@tibvastag diversity is not really a good thing. Diversity breeds jealousy. Humans always, always have in group preference, not just among races but even ethnicities. When multiple races and cultures are in close proximity one will always rise to the top and that breeds contempt in the others who will see themselves as "oppressed" by the majority group. We see it daily in the US.
We are a product of every country on Earth.
I was born in America to parents whose grandparents were immigrants. Mostly, my heritage is Scots-Irish and I love immigrants. People keep our culture dynamic and expressive. And don't get me started on the food. And I understand the desire to live here. But I've yet to find an immigrant who moved here to BE American, leaving their own cultures behind. That tells me it's not America they're moving to so much as the real lack of persecution on level of many other countries. Most of us are working to find new and better ways to be accepting of others and to celebrate new arrivals, but we're battling a sensationalist media that benefits from conflict. Trust me, we're tired of it, too.
As far as ignorance goes, I wonder if we're so ignorant why the world comes here for their education (Britain, too, don't get me wrong) and end up staying? I have guns and live in the West. I also have a graduate degree and love Shakespeare, Jung, and Einstein. I also love curry, Zen, and football, Hair Metal guitar and UA-cam and think the biggest problem America faces right now is our inability to empathize with others, we've been so conditioned to believe in the achievement of individuals that we're blind to the reality that it (everything) still takes a village. We have billionaires because of this mindset who will remain billionaires while the people who made them starve.
I spent a month in Edinburgh years ago. I remember being on a bus, and a couple of drunk young Scottish men started chatting with us. When they found out we were from Texas they legit asked us if we rode horses to school. I think they thought we lived in the wild west.
haha omg
🤣🤣🤣 Damn that's funny!!
The funniest part of that stereotype is that Texas wasn't really even part of the "Wild West" as it's protrayed in movies and TV shows. That was more Wyoming/Montana/Utah during the gold rush and construction of the transcontinental railroad.
😄😄😄 I would have had to answer them differently because this Texan did ride a horse to school. I lived in a very rural area in elementary so there were quite a few of us who did. The school had a fenced pasture and provided shelter and water for them.
@@Hsmt245 Damn, I wish I could have rode my horse to school back in elementary school. It would have been a lot more fun and less annoying than taking the bus.
It probably meant a lot to the guy in the park that you listened to his story. Thanks for being compassionate.
I'm American I think we do work hard, long hours, not enough time off and while I think it's a great attribute it's stressful and our quality of life suffers.
Totally agree. There's nothing wrong with a strong work ethic but this work ourselves to death for next to nothing is just sad. What's the point if you don't live. Hopefully the US will start to embrace balancing work and life one day.
It definitely takes your best years away from you and can leave you a shell at the end or even halfway through.
Agreed. We do have a strong work ethic, but we also get very little for our labor in comparison, especially job security, and our health care and ability to get an education, raise a family, etc depends on our being employed. If you don’t have a job, you can’t get welfare, medical care, home assistance, nothing, society will leave you to starve and die. It’s pretty ugly and there’s an increasing pressure to change it. (And also increasing pressure to make it worse.)
We are wage slaves and most will live and die in poverty.
It's a self inflicted wound. Americans work so many hours because they also like to waste their money. Most Americans would be able to work less, or at least be lessed stressed if they were more thrifty and lived within their means. Most Americans are in debt because they buy a new car every few years.
The whole world looks at America and Americans like there at the zoo. And they always think of NY, L.A, Miami. And don’t realize it’s mainly rural.
Many Americans who live on either the west coast or the east coast have no idea what’s in the middle of the country and don’t believe that anyone actually lives there!
@@Castilda0311 LOL that's not true
Devin Caudle that’s because like 90% of the population centers Are urban.
If we had an exact vote presidential candidates could go to La NYC and. AUstin tx & if they captured those regional votes they would very easily win the vote.
People in the middle of the country can’t even fathom hAving a “paRt of town” have more people than your whole state.
I mean greater LA has like 12 million people
Castilda0311 what are you even talking about.
Castilda0311 that’s an ignorant comment. I was raised in California but my mother is from Nebraska. My grandfather was raised on a farm in Iowa. Half the people I know move here from the Midwest. I think it’s more just we aren’t obsessed with people in other states, we’re too busy minding our own business. While people (obviously not everyone) in the south and Midwest have to obsessively bash the rest of us.
there is more to America then florida and new york and california !!
tim nolan don’t even get me started on how many euros think that Chicago is all of America. If all of America was like Chicago then I’d be out of here faster than a pig sliding down a hill coated in engine oil.
@CB isme Florida isn't that awful, and I'm sure New York and California aren't that bad either.
I love his videos from NY as a New Yorker myself, but he’s also been to Texas, Louisiana, North Carolina and other states too.
Florida is ok, but NY and Cali are trash
@@RainyStast actually one of the main reasons why a lot of crazy stories coming from Florida is because it's public record laws. it's very easy for news broadcast report about them.
Thank you for giving America a chance and not just writing us off based on stereotypes
I think that the reason Americans don't speak other languages and don't travel is because we are so far separated from other countries and other cultures and our country and our culture is so huge. My state Michigan is as big as the entire UK. it's a longer trip for me to get out of my state than it is for people in the UK to get to another country.
Andrés64B He actually said Americans speak more languages than they do in the UK. I agree with him. I speak 2 languages fluently. Also, understand at least 5 others, and can speak some words from some of those languages as well.
I live in Michigan too. As does my brother. It is a 10 hour drive from my house to my brother's house.
But I'm about a 20 minute drive to Canada. Which is another country, but is not very different.
Hey fellow michiganders! Kalamazoo native here!
Allison Davis I love Kalamazoo! I'm in the Detroit area. My brother lives in Calumet. It's 500 miles from my house to his.
I believe that the vast majority of people who are labeled as "climate skeptics" aren't actually skeptical that the climate is changing, they are skeptical that human activity is the cause.
Exactly, the climate has been changing since there was climate. Glad it's not another Ice Age.
The politicization of climate science for the past 30 years also hasn't helped the dialog between the sides.
The media confusing climate change with global warming doesn't help the ignorance people ramble on about. Climate has and always will be changing to suit the needs of this planet. It's natural changes. Global warming is the correct term given to human caused conditions such as pollution.
I agree. As a development test engineer, I am both fairly well educated in science as well as experienced in applying the scientific method to solve problems at work. One thing I've learned is that anyone who says that "science is established, there is no need for further debate" is someone with a political agenda whose afraid of being proven wrong; if for no other reason, this attitude I see from many warning us of climate change make me very skeptical. I saw this attitude frequently with a chief engineer who never allowed us to present data showing a test article deficiency as the cause of a test failure; it always had to be a result of the test facility. The reason, the chief engineer wanted to present his product as perfect to impress his superiors. At one point, I called him out because his timeline of events would have required the use of liquid hydrogen at somewhere around 40 below 0 Rankine (Rankine is the Fahrenheit equivalent of the Kelvin scale); kind of impossible. I was not so politely asked to leave the meeting, even though I was the lead test engineer. We can also look at established science in history. The Ptolemaic model of the solar system (geocentrism) had been the standard for over 1000 years when Copernicus started questioning it; this was far more established than anthropomorphic climate change. Galileo's gravitational teachings, along with Newton's gravitational law and 2nd law of motion has been established for a long time, yet Dave Scott felt the need to test them during the Apollo 15 mission by dropping a hammer and a feather to see which one hit the ground first.
The only thing I'm skeptical of is that the changing climate means we're going to die.
American in Alaska here - thanks for sharing your thoughts. Even Americans have weird stereotypes about other Americans. My husband and I were nervous about traveling to NYC, NY because we weren't sure how we would be treated. People in NYC have a stereotype of being a bit rude - but, no one was rude. They were lovely, helpful, and kind. People gave us directions when we looked lost, and a cop even gave us free tickets to the ballet. It was one of our best trips. One day I hope to save up enough money and vacation time to visit Scotland. Take care!
As a person who has traveled quite widely, including many countries in europe and loved it. I can understand Americans who don't. Consider just this one fact... America is the only country in the world that has all five climates. Tropical,dry,temperate,cold, and polar!
Good point!
Wow good point!
India as well - not specifically polar because "polar" connotes geographical locations that are near the north and south poles, or at least near the arctic circle, but India does have the extreme conditions of the Himalayan mountain range. Otherwise, all other climates and/biomes exist - tropical/jungles and swamps, dry/desert and grasslands/savannah, temperate/boreal forests and hills, and alpine/mountainous zones with tundra, snow and glaciers.
theogeny Alaska is very close to the poles. I’d consider that Polar
And if you live in Missouri you can experience them all without any travel......sometimes in the same week.
When you mentioned the stereotype that Americans don't like to travel I must confess that I laughed out loud.
Americans love to travel. I take that one is partly based on the fact that so few Americans have passports. That may be true, but it's not because we don't travel, it's because we don't need them.
For example, we drove out to see my sister in Colorado. A 3 day drive from New Jersey. Our plan was to proceed on to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Now Colorado and Wyoming are neighboring states, They border on each other. So we're only driving one state away.
Yeah that is true...........but it's a 2 day overnight trip. That's how big those states are.
So all I'm saying is in the US we can travel great distances without ever leaving the country. Hence, no need for a passport.
Keep up the videos, I really enjoy them.
Yeah, I just went to hawi'i and I must say it was like going to another country without a password. It really shows that there are large cultural differences everywhere in the states so that's more of a reason to not get a passport
And some people have a dream to visit all 50 states but it's often failed because people die
Yep 2 days exact, done it. It went well until we made it to California, after that it was a shit show... then we made it to Northern California and it was good again.
3 days from Jersey to Colorado? Bro, i can drive NY to Frisco in 3 days... Long hours on the road don't bother me though 0.o
Good point. I never thought of it that way. I travel a lot, just not outside the states. Its cheaper to see my own country before venturing outside.
Yup. I speak Southern, Yankee, Californian, Canadian, Australian, English, Irish, Scottish and Midwestern with some Texan mixed in.
I speak nerd, music tech, southern and Appalachian, with just a pinch of weeaboo lol
Two parts of the same state can have a huge difference in accents
Well I speak Mexican ya damn Yankee
Last I checked in Cali their language is usually just blatant scoffing and yelling, then again they were nice until they heard my Southern accent and the request to buy a pack of smokes. 🤣
Northern California was delightfully amazing, it was like a more beautiful version of my home... southern California just needs nuked, never again.
And jive
Being a Hoosier and of Scottish heritage, I feel honored and connected that you have chosen to wear a T-Shirt with the Indiana heraldry. Thank you for the acknowledgment. Cheers!
Agree with so much of this. American "gun culture" began as a response to seeing European governments commit acts of tyranny against their own people, and giving people the right to defend themselves rather than be totally dependent on a potentially corrupt government. And yes, fewer passports because the nation is so diverse...Texas alone has swamps, mountains (Guadalupe Mountains National Park), desert, forest, beaches, and flat plains. If you went to 1 state per year it would take 50 years just to see them once, and each state has so many cities, each with its unique character.
It can take years just to explore a single city fully. Dallas always has something going on somewhere. And then you have Fort Worth and the surrounding metroplex. Los Angeles and San Francisco are no different always something to see or do. New York, Las Vegas, and Chicago as well. Sure it would be great to see different countries and cultures. But most of us haven't even seen the majority of our own state much less the rest of the US. Why get a passport and spend lots of money flying over seas when there is plenty to explore right here first?
American gun culture is manufactured by being afraid of your poor neighbor, and people are afraid of their poor neighbor because the NRA stokes those coals on behalf of rich gun manufacturers. American gun culture worships guns more than any Western culture worshipped Jesus. It's disgusting idolatry. I speak as an American who loves her home.
@@MilwaukeeWoman it's always the NRA boogyman
J K I am not afraid of poor people or people of different races,cultures, or religions. Americans are freaking awesome, But,as a DIRECT descendant of no less than 7 men who fought in the American Revolution....I will be damned if I give this or any government the power to oppress or enslave me. Die on your feet or live on your knees. I feel very VERY strongly about this.
The NRA just took advantage of the 2nd Amendment and the idea stuck. If it were xenophobia causing it, gun violence would be WAY worse. Now, I don't want to get political, but I will state my views: I don't have a problem with guns. I have a problem with the shooting and atrocities commited with guns, but I think the money to prevent them would be better spent on mental healthcare to prevent those who would use them to do harm from doing it rather than taking guns out of the ordinary person's hands.
There's a lot I could say but I think that this statement: "You are an exceptional person Shaun" will suffice. We need more people like you in the world. 😊
jennifer lawrence thank you Jennifer I appreciate it 👍
I honestly wish we got more holidays and/or got more flexible work hours.
Americans, overall, are overworked and underpaid.
Work/life balance is important.
when it comes to travel I believe people severely underestimate the size and diversity of just the continental US alone. the number of people who speak spanish/english is also underestimated
too fucking many.
In Louisiana, East Texas, and Mississippi many people speak French as well.
And German/Pennsylvania Dutch.
Plus I'm pretty sure US is the only country with every single climate, we may get some things wrong but boy do we have space
I personally speak English, Spanish( not that fluently), a little French, and a very little German. Most people I know speak at least a little of a different language than English.
Shaun, as an American who served in the military for most of my adult life, I found your analysis of us to be fresh and candid, and even a bit humorous. Thank You! It’s always good to see ourselves from the outside!
What is interesting to me is that the area British people are most baffled by: the South, with its' gun culture and Christianity, is the area with the greatest concentration of people of British descent. Many Southerners and Texans are descended from the Anglo-Scottish borderers (it's a little confusing because they're called "Scotch-Irish" in America, but many of the border people came directly to America from northern England and southern Scotland without any stops in Ulster). As Shaun undoubtedly knows, the Anglo-Scottish border was a very violent place for many centuries. Then when those settlers came over, they settled the American frontiers - also very violent places! So that warrior, gun culture, the emphasis on defending oneself - wasn't created in America, It was a mindset brought from the UK in the 1700's. Also much of the food is an adaption of what the settlers ate in "the Old Country." They had eaten porridge in Scotland, but grew corn in America - and cooked grits instead. Same sort of mushy texture with a different grain. It wasn't practical to raise sheep in the wilderness, so they raised pigs instead - barbeque! Even log cabins were an adaption of the sort of homes built on the Anglo-Scottish borders, where so many wars had destroyed the homes of poor people so they had developed a way of rebuilding quite quickly. Read "Seeds of Albion" by David Hackett Fischer and you will realize that many "American" customs, phrases, ways of thinking came from the culture in the UK in the 1700's. Since British culture has changed since then, many Brits don't recognize that.
@Moon Shadow It's a wonderful book. I highly recommend it.
There are also Scotch-Irish that settled in the mountain states of Tennessee and Kentucky and into the coal country.
Yup. Ever hear about the Overmountain Men and the American Revolution battle of King's Mountain in the Appalachians? Heavy concentration of Scots in Eastern Tennessee/North Carolina. They are a people that came here already with a background of fighting for one's territory. The Scots-Irish and their backbone are instrumental to the Revolutionary War and settling the USA.
What a great comment! Thank you for being so smart! I'm more baffled by their amnesia over there than the fact they say silly things about us.
"Albion's Seed" - excellent book. David Hackett Fischer has one about Paul Revere, also. Also, 'The Scotch Irish: A Social History', by Leyburn.
I have great respect for you, I'm very impressed with your open minded attitude towards the U.S.
Bill Delavan cheers Bill 👍🥃
Shaun, you are very open minded and I appreciate you giving America an honest, fair critique. Peace to Scotland and to all!!
If I visited Europe I’d be like “what? We only traveled 100 miles how are we in a different country. Man you guys are small!” Then I’d realize that a state in the US can literally be a country
Each state is basically a country.... United States of America
State is another word for country and America is the Continent so we're not original when it comes to naming things
Apple Song Kind of. A person from Texas would definitely call themselves a Texan but I wouldn’t expect an a person from Indiana to call themselves an Indianan, though it wouldn’t be strange.
@@sentient_soul1919 new Yorker, Californian, Floridian, ect
@@sentient_soul1919 a person from indiana is called a Hoosier.
@@sentient_soul1919 I call myself a Washingtonian, but then I have to explain that "I'm from the *state* of Washington, you know, the one above Oregon, on the PACIFIC coast" and I STILL get people asking me questions about the White House or the Lincoln Memorial... both of which are about 2500 miles away from where I live.
We are loud, boisterous, friendly, proud, and generally happy because we are aware of how lucky we actually are to live here.
@jojofromtx bout the most retarded thing I've ever read
@jojofromtx Actually, compared to 90% of humans, you really are lucky. And compared to 99% of all animals, you are incredibly lucky. That doesn't mean we shouldn't have more progress. There is much to be done. Most people don't have "paid time off work," you realize that, right?
I think more and more people, because of a lack of education, are failing to realize how lucky they are. Like the "MAGA" people. They don't get that you can't lower taxes AND have more free shit.
K D100 Do you mind elaborating on your MAGA people comment? What free shit are said MAGA people asking for?
@@KD-vb9hh proving the point that nothing is free😁 also why we are not saying "God save the queen" just saying
Americans do love foreign accents tho 👍
I love how balanced and fair you are in your judgements. As someone who has lived in America most of my life but was not born here and has traveled to a few very different countries and experienced a lot, it can be frustrating to watch these types of videos, especially from people who haven't even traveled to the U.S. or if they have, have only experienced one large city and nothing else. The people, opinions, cultures, races, even biomes are SO vastly different here that it's hard to see someone say "America is _____" and make some kind of blanket statement, usually an unkind one, that may or may not be true of some but not all of the country. The only truly accurate blanket statement that can be made about the U.S. is that America is diverse. I'm really enjoying your videos, you've earned a subscriber, here!
Some if us are workaholics because we can't afford not to be
BINGO
Sad but true
That's because you're stupid, irresponsible, and lazy. I was born and raised in American poverty and make no mistake, it is 100% a choice you make to remain there. And you do so because being poor in America is so easy to survive on. You, like most of my family, are merely content to wallow at the level you exist in.
Yeah, and I enjoy kinky euro style bisexual sex orgies!
@@Indubidably0 1st of all the first half of this comment was uncalled for. Yes compared to most countries it is easier here to get out of poverty but your also forgetting about the issues we have with rising prices of living. Some people also come across circumstances beyond their control. I understand that there are people here who waste there lives, don't finish school, lack initiative, and make poor life and budget choices. On the other hand it is ignorant to lump all people of the lower and lower middle class who work hard every day ,go to work ,and take care of their families with those people. Perhaps in your current life of financial security you have forgotten how much of a struggle it is to even make ends meet with the average job wages. You know with rent, power, water, insurance, a vehicle, vehicle maintenance, home maintenance, a spouse and children if you have them, unforeseen medical complications
Speaking for the "middle class", we work huge hours with little vacation because we have no choice, but to do so. I hate going to work and would gladdly go on a long paid vacation if it were even offered. Many " middle classers" are living paycheck to paycheck and are at the mercy of our employers.
I think the last statistic made for it said that about 80% if Americans work paycheck to paycheck
@@lunarlegend8924 That is only cause most americans spend money like idiots. The average income of americans is higher than Europe yet we buy huge houses and piss money away on stupid shit all the time. I get so sick of people complaining all the time like everyone in the world except them make 100,000 or above. I'm 39 and work construction yet own my house and have managed to save a hell of a lot of money cause
I don't waste it. The problem with americans is not what they make, it's how they waste what they make.
josh hill Where do you live and how was the economy when you started working? It really depends on where you were born, both physically and socioeconomically. I was born in the San Francisco Bay Area into a middle class family and I’ve worked non-stop since I was 15 through many years of college (it took so long because I HAD to work). I’ve had to scrape change together for the bridge toll in order to get to work while only eating the cheapest food during the 4 worst years of the recession. I finally managed to earn my BFA degree last year and without any student loans. I now have started a job that while it is a highly skilled position that pays well by the rest of America’s standards, yet I will still be considered to be in the poverty to lower class bracket because of this area.
I very rarely buy frivolous things (and by that I mean new vs used) and my main expense is rent and food. I have always had to live with roommates because rent is so expensive. My boyfriend (who has a high paying construction job) and I only want a house of our own, but it’s such a far away dream at this point it seems like a fantasy.
So tell me again how I’m wasting money? Yes, you could say I could move elsewhere but the fact is that outside of this area I have no family support system which one day I will rely on to offset the astronomical cost of child care. I know you will probably say, “well that’s just your story,” but it isn’t because the majority of people I know are in similar boats. I agree that many Americans do spend their money on stupid unnecessary things, but don’t put all Americans in the same category. We’ve worked too hard to accept that.
Yes, military man here... And I rarely go shopping except for groceries. I live a very frugal life. And I still barely have $100 dollars left after the paycheck at the end of the month
@@joshhill5932 I work construction as well. We're unionized skilled labor and have rights most USA workers do not.
"The English asked us to give up our guns. And we shot them."
Colonists got help from the French.
@@hydrolito Indeed the rebels did get French help - but that does not change the truth of Mr. Allen's statement. The rebellion started and ran for a few years without French help and literally started when a British force marched to capture a weapon and powder stockpile and a group of citizens stood up to them and fired the "shot heard 'round the world".
hydrolito the French are getting help from America now. They’ve raised a baby 100 times stronger than them
I mean if it wasn’t for America jumping in to save the day during WW 1 & 2 the French would be speaking German or rather should I say Deutsch to show I’m not ignorant to the fact that Germany is called Deutschland by the Deutsche (Germans)
@pete ziriaah which advisor?
I’ve never heard the stereotype of Americans being rude, we have a stereotype here that Europeans are rude, I guess it’s just a clash of cultural norms?
American tourists have a bad reputation in other countries as being loud and obnoxious. Not saying it is accurate or inaccurate.
Mostly it is just France that hear stereotyped as rude. I have heard Brits are polite to a fault. Again, just the stereotypes I have heard, not saying they are accurate.
@@briancantrell1050 I worked with a Brit for a while. I wouldn't say she was rude but she wasn't what I would call polite. She was very outspoken and tremendously funny. I love British humor they are some of the funniest people...
I grew up in the deep south and have since lived all over the US and spent a few years in Germany. When I first moved out west I initially thought people were rude. They weren't, however. Cultural norms are just different and people are as well. Every where I have lived and visited were full of wonderful people. Interpersonal customs are just different.
New Yorkers are rude. Most people are not
On the travel part, consider this: America is a huge country. We have mountains, volcanoes, tropical beaches, glaciers, mesas, dunes, prairies, boreal forests, rain forests, swamps, lagoons, brush land, Native American architecture, colonial architecture, modern architecture, space launch centers, giant rivers, giant lakes and everything in between.
You can travel the world and never leave the country. Many people spend their entire lives just touring America and never see all of it. So the desire to go to other countries may not be as strong as it would be for someone from a smaller country.
In Kentucky we've always been able to open carry our weapon (gun). We are an open carry state.
We just had pass this year 2019 that we can conceal carry our weapon. No special government permit needed.
Being from other countries people may find this strange. Even some states in the U.S.A. find this strange. But think about it this way.
A thief or someone with bad intentions is less likely to attack you if they're unsure you may be carrying a weapon that could end their life. Especially if you're carrying it in plain view.
I carry open, and concealed. I've never had to draw my weapon one time.
Where I live It's very rural (in the countryside).
It takes law enforcement on average 30 - 45 minutes to arrive on scene to my house.
I have the constitutional right to defend myself, my family, and my home.
All of my neighbors have weapons also. There's no gun battles in our area. Because we respect the responsibility of gun ownership.
You never point a weapon at someone, unless
you intend to use it. And you give the offender fair warning first.
Places with high gun violence in the U.S.A. are places where the power to possess a firearm for upstanding law abiding citizens has been restricted by local government.
Shocker here, but criminals don't care about laws.
They get weapons even when they're not supposed to have access to them by law.
I went to court days in Kentucky. It was awesome to experience! I'm from the Pacific northwest.
Caugh... Chicago
@@stanleyrogouski Gotta call bullshit on that. Where are you getting _your_ stats?
Moreover, you said *"crime* rates" which reveals either you or your source are being disingenuous, since "crime rate" includes everything - even stuff like fraud and drug use, which obviously have zero connection to guns.
_Violent_ crime is what's relevant here (particularly murder / attempted murder rates).
And on that score, KY does very well. It was the 5th safest state as of 2017.
www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/crime-and-corrections/public-safety
@@stanleyrogouski
I didn't say anything about statistics.
So, 2 cities in Ky is where you're getting your stats from...?
I saw Louisville and Lexington listed in the cities list.
Both are large urban areas with drugs, theft and gangs.
How many gang members, thieves, and/or bad guys carry weapons legally.
@@stanleyrogouski Kentucky has a meth problem... I'm guessing, like cities, many of thier deaths are drug and gang related
Thank you for debunking some myths. I've always disliked when people say Americans don't travel. With the size of the USA, a New Yorker visiting California is like the Portuguese visiting Finland; we just don't need a passport to travel it. I've traveled to Canada, Costa Rica & China, but my family was always fond of road trips when I was growing up; I've traveled to all but a few states. It's so much better than flying, because you can see more off-the-beaten-track places that no one else gets to see but locals.
There is one thing that I think a lot of people who criticize the USA about gun ownership don't realize; there are still people here who subsistence hunt, either due to necessity (in mostly Alaska) or want. Another thing is the lack of large carnivores in Europe due to past human activity. I know there has been legislation and success in protecting the slowly increasing numbers over the past few decades, but (correct me if i'm wrong) I doubt you'd have a lot to worry about if you took a several day hike & camping trip in the middle of nowhere; bear-spray is nice but it's always good to have a back-up just in case. I don't believe there are ANY large predators to worry about in Great Britain. We're a country built on guns not swords like European countries. Everyone had guns from the beginning b/c they were pilgrims to a "dangerous" new world and even after becoming a country we still had areas with so little habitation that you needed to protect yourself; it may have been 242 yrs ago (since we became a country, not since the lack of habitation ended), but that's really not long ago. The whole reason we became independent was b/c of the unfairness in the way England treated us, so it's only natural that there would be provisions such as the Right to Bear Arms to allow us to fight back if the government of the United States ever acted in the same or comparably unforgivable ways.
This ended up being a LOT more than I had originally intended. lol
You didn't even mention we "paper hunters". You know, we just go to the range and shoot paper, or steel plates, for fun and companionship.
@@JerryCollins101 true, that's all most people are here. Marksmanship as a hobby.
You're very right. We not only have the right to bear arms to protect ourselves/families from criminals, however to protect ourselves from a tyrannical government and SO many people don't understand that. People think we have school shootings every week which isn't even true first of all, and second don't they know just how BIG America is?! We have a large population here so there are bound to be some crazies. The State of California has a larger population than the country of Canada after all.
Even if you never own or use a gun it is still a symbol of true freedom to have that right. Most early immigrants and a few recent ones came here to escape persecution in some form (race, religion, culture). So even those who immigrate here mostly stand by the second amendment also. A government who lets its people bear arm instills great trust in its people. People who come here out of fear can own a gun and know they have a right to protect their home and family from whatever happened to them before that their leaders and laws did not protect them from. It is the ultimate symbol for freedom.
I have never hunted. I've been vegan for over 8 years. I would not harm a living thing, so committing a violent act with a gun is the furthest thing from reality I can imagine.
But I've had guns and I've shot guns since I was a literal toddler. I had a .22 when I was three years old. There wasn't such a debate or controversy back then, though. Me and my brother and all of our cousins would walk on the train tracks with our .22s and BB guns and anyone that saw us would not have batted an eyelash. Nowadays, guns are equated directly to violence and kids aren't taught to safely use guns the way I was when I was a child. They're taught to fear them now.
It's bizarre. When you look at the prevalence that women are raped and/or murdered in America in comparison to gun violence, the indisputable issue should be the rape and murder of women. Due to the politicizing and nationalizing of gun issues, that is the national and international concern. I wish the international community would be more concerned with the rape and murder of women in America than the gun violence in America. It's very easy to research and see where the more massive issue lies. But people are swayed by media and bias and not any genuine research or concern into what it's like in America, truly.
His accent is thicker than the Earth itself, and I love it.
Wow. You have “debunked” so many false impressions of America. Good man!
On the religion part up until 9/11, Islam was the fastest growing faith in the US. Although the US has been traditionally mostly Christen, that is now changing. The founding fathers had grown up in England and experienced first hand the strife that was created by having a government enforced religion. When they wrote the Constitution they vowed not to make that same mistake, and put in the freedom of religion clause that government would not promote or oppose any religion, a pretty radical concept at the time.
@@davidmarquardt2445 Islam is disgusting.
@@shyryTsr2k No more disgusting than any other desert birthed faith.
@@effigytormented So you mean any other religion ever? And that's not true. Islam strips women of their rights, extremely sexist and "Allah" was a fucking pedophile bullshit filled asshole. They also believe in fucking "honor killings" which makes those who practice it terrorists and absolutely retarded and sick.
@@shyryTsr2k You mean Muhammad. Allah is their god, and wasn't ever a real person.
Don’t own a gun or want a gun, but I’ll vote to uphold the 2nd amendment. One of our most important rights.
Thanks Vicky- your understanding of the Constitution speaks volumes. The ability to see beyond how things affect us personally is hard for many to achieve. You have that attitude of a "classical liberal" and it is refreshing to see nowadays. Cheers!
Thank you Vicky
Most non-crazy liberals in America don’t want to destroy the 2nd Amendment, they merely want to specify it to not include military-grade equipment capable of mass-slaughter. What exactly that constitutes is an interesting discussion, but the belief that they want to outright dismantle the 2nd is a far right scare tactic and attempt to brainwash the common man.
Dylan Schnabel remember the AR15 is and never was a military rifle. Just because something is military grade doesn’t mean it’s bad. Like military handguns, shotguns, rifles are no more deadlier than civilian versions. There just built to certain specifications
Jesse Vang It’s not about whether something is bad. It’s about what what constitutes as a weapon of defensive or offensive capabilities. AR 15’s have a magazine capacity of 30 rounds, and is a derivative of the m16 Assault rifle. In my opinion, that is an offensive weapon. Opinions may differ, however, and that is to be respected.
I truly love how open-minded you are about other cultures and not being quick to judge other cultures. It says a lot about you as a human being. Thank you, from an American 😊
We take people as we find them
Speak for yourself. I speak 2 other languages and have only ever been to Mexico.
As a proud red bleeding American, I seriously wanna thank you for making such an awesome video on my country! And I think overall, your conclusions are pretty much right on the money!
its good that youre bleeding red, thats the color of blood
Red bleeding American, is code for racist. BTY.
The thing about Americans being rude is more about different cultures than anything else. I grew up just outside of LA in California and vacationed in both the deep south and New York and the cultures of all those places are VERY different. In New York, small talk in considered rude because it wastes time that a lot of people don't have. In the deep south it's rude to not have a full conversation before you get to your point because it gives the impression you'd rather be somewhere else. And in LA it kind of varies depending on the situation but for the most part if you don't do a quick "hi. How are you?" before getting to the point or if you just stand there and talk for five or ten minutes before making your point you're considered rude because we have some time to talk but we still have things to do and places to be. We're not rude. We just grew up with different cultures.
When I have vacationed in parts of south Florida I have found southern hospitality largely nonexistent.
Robert Sitch Southern Florida is kind of it’s own weird entity where it’s in the deep south but it’s so different from anything else in the deep south. One summer me and my family traveled from Alabama to New Orleans to Florida and it was such a shock! I think it’s because it has it’s own seperate culture because of it’s demographics of retirees (usually from larger cities), lgbtq+ people who tend to stick together in groups, and immigrants who might not speak much english. It doesn’t shock me at all that an area with those demographics would lack the typical southern hospitality.
@@KassMcCormack that is a likely explanation. Miami has been ranked as America's rudest city by many surveys. I am a Canadian who has traveled through 7 US states and all ten provinces of Canada and find it's usually the small town residents that have much time to talk and sometimes even try hard to honor the occasional special request. Some of the friendliest people in the tourism industry I have met have been in the more rural parts of the Northeast and within Canada Newfoundland.
Robert Sitch Yeah. That’s not at all surprising. When I was in Florida we kept to the gulf coast and didn’t venture too far off the panhandle and even there was more similar to being back in LA than anywhere else in the south. Granted where we stayed was mostly tourists and people on vacation from LA but even the people who were locals had a similar personality and temperament to people out here in Southern California. Which states have you been to?
@@KassMcCormack Michigan is the one I have been the most as I have some distant family there but it has been about 5 years. I have flown to Florida and Texas a few times each. Been to Upstate New York a few times. Last year on our way to the Canadian Maritime provinces we traveled through Upstate New York and Northern New England to only have too Pay for gasoline in Quebec once. When it comes to the locals speaking a different language, you may know that Canada's first European settlers were from Northern France and many of their modern descendants still primarily or exclusively speak a traditional French dialect.
Such a great video! I so appreciate how you give such an in depth fair opinion of America. Thank you for all of the hard work you put into your videos they are great!!!
thanks so much really glad to hear it :)
S Bailey Indeed! Very appreciated
Thank you Shaun! I really appreciate this video. I am a quiet, introverted US American - we actually exist! Honestly the more videos I have heard about opinions about the people from the USA, the less I want to venture out. I don't feel welcome. I do appreciate you coming here, and experiencing some of us and part of our culture, and letting that change your opinion! :)
"Americans are direct, and that can come across as rude"
He should visit the south. (Except for being nervous about the gun part😂)
@Jinjyo ni Shoubu that's just not true. I've lived and work all over the US and every part has their bigots. Your comment, for example, is bigoted. It's funny when I see white people from the north who live in white neighborhoods and send their children to schools that are majority white, wag their finger at an entire region of the country for being racist.
He visiting New York and LA and now he's an expert. LOL - New York is filled with Foreigners and LA is just a crap hole.
@heath mcdonald I'm from Wyoming so guns are a part of life for me. Truthfully never even entered my mind during my stay in Georgia. What sticks in my mind is the kindness from all the locals during our time of grieving for the loss of our Mother. How all the neighbors showed up at my Fathers door carrying a covered dish and offering him words of comfort. How everyone no matter their color pulled together to offer comfort to people who had lost a loved one. It truly was an eye opening experience for me.
Are there racist in this country? Yeah I'd say there are. But I don't think the south is harboring them. The people I met were caring people who were supportive of others no matter their color.
This is also a bias that needs to be addressed by people that actually live here.
“Aw.....bless your heart”. Translation “I think you’re full of shit, but I don’t want to be direct about it” 🤣
@@morganghetti Maybe you should actually move down south and live in the rural areas for a while.... I was born and raised in the south side of GA. Most of us are fairly nice and dont give a shit about race. once you get up to the south side of Atlanta tensions can get a little stiff with all the gang activity. Anyhow, it's clear you've never interacted with a true racist.... otherwise you'd be dead for saying that.
Thank you for your favorable thoughts on America! We're a large mix of cultures, attitudes and ways of approaching life. And we're a young nation compared to Europe, so we're sometimes like a teenager: trying to be civilized while still wanting to be a bit wild at times.
Thank you Elizabeth, I love having this connection with people from the US
PortiaElizabeth, that's a fantastic way of putting it!
E-Rank Luck Lancer I don't think we'll ever get as corrupt and desperate as Venezuela. At least I hope not. It's so hard to believe that only a generation ago Venezuela was one of the wealthiest countries in the Western Hemisphere due to oil production.
That's pretty good. Couldn't have said it better. U.s.a is like a teenage country
@@shaunvlog if you go to Miami be sure you practice your Spanish. Oh yeah the food well you will find out.. good luck traveling brotha..
Employment in the US is by the legal concept of "at will," which means you can be fired for any reason or no reason at all. We see people who are very hard-working and resourceful and well-liked lose their jobs sometimes. Most of us have to prove ourselves every day, so it's an extrinsic motivation that gets internalized over time until it's more intrinsic. That's my explanation of the American workaholic.
I learned a bit about Scotland just listening to your reactions to us!!! Oh, BTW, much of the Bible Belt tradition is ultimately traceable to the huge numbers of Presbyterian Ulster Scots who settled in Appalachia and the south.
That's absolutely true as one of their descendants living in Appalachia it's always been a highly religious area. Seriously you might have to drive 50 miles to find a mall but you can throw a rock and break the windows out of 5 churches we have so many.
🇺🇸 U.S. citizen here and a natural born citizen at that so thank you for helping clear these misconceptions.
You are a very fair minded man. Thank you for your observations. Travel helps us appreciate other perspectives and my first trips outside the US changed me profoundly. I very much appreciate your kind words. Sláinte.
The USA is divided along almost every single metric and stereotype.
I 100% agree!
As a Irish-Canadian immigrant married to a American-born South-Asian wife, I disagree.
@@roflstomps324 weird flex, Mr. Melting Pot
And apparently the worse division group travels~ lol
And occasionally rants and raves on UA-cam about how bad their country is.
Thank you for giving usa fair shake. Most only know about us fro TV or the movies...
America is huge lol. I live in Connecticut, and my daughter lives in Virginia. It takes us 12 hours to drive to her house to visit. Hope you come to visit us again !
Lol in Maryland I moved from Anne Arundel County to Washington County its 1hr 15 mins .. son in Delaware take 3 hours lol
@Timothy Clark Yes, I am in central CT and she is in southern VA .... it's a long ride !
Me: I have a stereotype that Scottish people wear a lot of plaid *watches video*
Me: ...
colebarksdale72 hahaha! I thought the same thing and something tells me he wore that on purpose.
and have red hair.
I wear a lot of plaid too.. New Yorker lol
Same's true for Hoosiers - many of whom are of Scottish heritage, though the majority of heritage here is German and Polish. Most of the Irish and Scottish heritage in the US is in the South.
@@judsongaiden9878 I dont see how Indiana is considered a southern state.. when theres only 1 state between indiana and canada
This was extremely refreshing to watch. It's nice to see someone take on stereotyping in a broad minded and fair way. We need more of this everywhere with everything.
Oh shit, there's someone with critical thinking skills on youtube? Congratulations, you win.
When my family lived in Germany, my dad completely shut down a guy ragging on American gun violence by saying the following:
"If Germany allowed its citizens to arm themselves, how many Jews would've survived the Holocaust?"
@proud American He was stunned silent.
Oh DAMN
Mic drop
Holy shit you fucking killed him
Exactly!
I don't know if anyone has tried explaining gun culture to you like this before, but I'll try. There are 400 million guns in civilian hands in the USA. if they became illegal overnight and there was Forced voluntary turnbacks, you might get 1% of those back. So how to you collect 99% of 400 million guns? House to house, with soldiers? Also, let's say every law abiding person in America did turn in their guns. Who would be left? The exact people you don't want to have the guns, and the reason you arm yourself in the first place, for self protection. I have two handguns here, both loaded and in quick access gun safes just in case they are ever needed. I hope and pray I'll never need them, but better to have them and not need them, than need them and not have them. If I could make a wish and have every gun in America go away, would I? Maybe/probably. But that's not reality, and when the bad guys have access to guns, everyone needs access to guns.
People don't seem to understand that logic.
frednich9603 Hi! I’m someone who’s is very pro-gun reform and has no interest in owning a gun myself and I’d just like to share a few thoughts. First, I believe that when most people talk about gun control they don’t mean making all guns illegal or taking them away. While I personally don’t want a firearm in my home it does not bother me that you have one. Gun control, as I see it, refers to more training to have a license, more thorough background checks, regulating gun shows, and stopping the sale of military assault rifles. What are your thoughts on these gun control measures as they would not affect the handguns in your home?
@@mandmified17 - sorry to butt in...I typed out a whole long thing but it basically boiled down to...More firearm education/training for all would be good. More comprehensive background checks would be good. Overarching legislation on firearms because of poorly defined terms like "military assault weapons" is bad. I don't think it's ok to strip personal property away from law abiding citizens because criminals are breaking the law. It would be like pulling your dogs teeth because a fox killed your chickens. You might not want all guns taken away but others in your camp absolutely do and I don't believe that it would be constitutional or morally right to do in a truly free county. We need more rights and less government control. It couldn't hurt for folks to be a little nicer, too. We've all gotta figure this stuff out together, haha.
We clearly have a gun violence problem in America, and we need some sensible form of gun control to address it -- along with addressing topics like, "Why are so many white men becoming radicalized and engaging in domestic terrorism?" But I completely agree with you about the idea of actually trying to disarm the American public; that's pretty much a guaranteed second civil war because people aren't going to voluntarily turn in their firearms and sending the National Guard door-to-door is a recipe for violence (I also suspect there are people in the Guard, local and state police, and other military groups who would flat-out refuse to carry out those orders against fellow citizens).
That said, continuing on as we are is the very definition of insanity and the NRA has been a cancer on thoughtful and responsible debate and policy decisions for years. I hope that organization gasps its last and a more reasonable lobbying group takes its place.
@@oregonchick76 you are full of shit and misinformed..do some real research and get away from your master's talking points...
Thank-you Shaun! Loud? maybe, but when you're in a big family you gotta be "loud" to get heard
Especially Italian-American.
One place I used to work, the guy in the adjacent cubicle seemed to have no "inside voice"--he always spoke loudly. Talking to him, I learned he had 10 siblings, so that probably explains it.
Well said Chritine! I love it!
sounds familiar, thank you Christine :)
Amen
Thank you for pointing out the travel misconception. Most family's travel / have vacation once a year where they normally travel within the US..It's at least 900 miles across Texas
That’s 1448 km for you metric folks 😘
Europeans: Americans never travel
Me, who drives 12 hours every year just to go to the beach: yeah ok
Dude, #10 I love to hear you preach that truth. That's what I've been saying for years... anybody that wants to lump 325 million people into one stereotype like 'they're ignorant' IS being ignorant themselves!
Amen.
I hate people who believe in stereotypes. I also assume that you're wearing a kilt.
I love Fritos
I live on big gulps
Your user name is just... Epic.
He is, you just can’t tell because he’s only showing his top half, but of course he is wearing a kilt, it matches his shirt, lol.
Wrong. Naked from the waist down.
You did a great job...very accurate. I've been to Scotland twice...leaving again in May. The Scottish people are friendly as well as Americans BUT Scottish people have a way of making you truly feel like family💙
So true!
I really appreciate the fact that when you look at a culture, you give it a fair chance and try to really get to know it before making generalizations. Honestly, I believe there will be good, bad, and ugly things/people wherever you go, but I agree with not just lumping everyone in the same pot.
Here's why Americans don't travel much:
The average American house hold is three people with a household income of $59,000 USD. A round-trip economy plane ticket from NY La Guardia to Heathrow is $650-$750 per person. So if this average American family wants to even get to holiday in the UK, it'll cost them $2,100. If they stay a week, figure $150 per night for hotel - another $1,000 or so. Figure as much on food and incidentals. Add a little more for souvenirs, excursions, etc. Our family of 3 has spent almost ten percent of the household budget on vacation - and that's on the cheap. No luxury hotel, just a nice "average" hotel. Not first class airfare- economy or at best economy plus. Allowing $45 per person per day for 3 meals and incidentals.
Or, they could vacation somewhere in the U.S. (itself the size of continental Europe, and just as diverse geographically if not culturally) for half that.
It's not that Americans don't care to travel; it's just more expensive than most families can easily justify to leave the States.
Daniel Lunsford i guess i lucked out when i flew to spain last year.
Daniel Lunsford, is like to point out that your excellent cost breakdown is for someone who lives on the coast near a major airport. I live in a small town in the central US, so I have to get to NY first before I can even begin heading overseas. That means an additional $300-500 plane ticket, a day of travel, an overnight hotel stay in NY, transportation from the airport that evening and back the next morning, plus food and whatever other incidentals. For those of us who don’t live near a coast or one of the few major airports, just getting to the starting point is all the expense we can afford.
pete ziriaah u really don’t know anything do u
pete ziriaah yeah no problem man! I like letting retarded people know just how stupid and ignorant they are. Glad I could help!
Thank you, Shaun, for busting these ill-founded myths! I'll address a few of your excellent points (mind you, these comments are to your countrymen who perpetuate these myths).
Myth #4: A couple of things here. If 30%, and that's a reasonable estimate, of Americans have a passport, that's nearly 100 million people!!!! Enough said on that. The other thing that people in the UK don't understand is just how freaking big the United States is! I live in NW Georgia, down in the Southeast. To drive to the Mexican border, I have to drive almost 1,300 miles! To get to Canada, say, Niagara Falls, Ontario, I have to drive around 900 miles or so! If you want to drive from Edinburgh to another country, which has to be Calais, France as you have no other country you can drive to without driving through France, it is a journey of right at 500 miles. I sometimes drive to the coast of North Carolina, which is a journey of around 600 miles! If I want to drive to the West Coast, let's pick Santa Monica, California for instance, that's a journey of 2,200 miles... and that's the SHORTEST trip to the West Coast from where I live! You could drive from Edinburgh to either Gibraltar or to the island of Sicily and still be 200 miles short of what I'd have to drive to get to the West Coast.
Myth #6: Religous fanatics? I heard this a lot when I lived down near Newcastle-upon-Tyne for several years. We have a lot of deeply religious people, especially Christians. We do have a few religious fanatics... every country does. But people who come from a secular/atheistic background, they tend to see anyone who adheres to any particular religion, especially Christians, as religious fanatics. I've found this quite odd considering the long and very rich Christian history found in the UK.
Myth #7: Obviously, y'all haven't asked the Japanese about this one. They think we Americans are lazy. One thing I love about the British is that y'all get, for the most part, up to 30 days holiday every year... and that doesn't include Bank Holidays and such. We could learn a thing or two from y'all on that. Having said that, as you said, Shaun, the American Dream doesn't come cheap or without a lot of hard work. Having lived in both countries, I can say that we Americans have, for the most part, a higher standard of living than the British... and that comes from a lot of hard work on our parts.
Myth #8: Compared to the British, yes, we are loud. But I think that this perception comes from our direct way of talking as well. To my step-daughter's eternal embarrassment, I was a loud, brash American in her eyes. Everyone else, including all her friends, loved me. Sigh! Teenagers!!!
Myth #9: Americans being rude? Actually, with a few exceptions, everyone I became friends with, and even those I only briefly met commented on my exceptionally good manners. Granted, there are some points of etiquette that are quite different between British and American manners, but if you take that into consideration, like you, I think we Americans comport ourselves quite well abroad. As you correctly pointed out, we Americans can be much more direct than most British. But that's a cultural thing more than a matter of etiquette.
And finally Myth #10: We Americans are no more ignorant of the rest of the world than the rest of the world is ignorant of us in America!
Anyway, Thanks Again for posting this vlog! You've done us Americans a great service!
Americans are a transient people. The average American has 11 different homes in their lifetimes.
That's why we're direct, friendly, and helpful.
Wanna know something funny? Over twenty years ago my family moved from Chicago to Arizona and sometime during our time there my Dad met someone who knew his cousin! And when we moved back to Illinois, (Central, IL, not Chicago) he met someone who was once a neighbor of his when he was in elementary school.
There are instances like this all over where people move across the country and meet from their youth or neighbors they never met etc.
I'm 52 years old, and I've lived in about 17 different places.
I grew up in central Illinois (Mattoon) and when I moved into my current house in Georgia, I discovered that one of my neighbors had been a substitute teacher in my elementary school 40 years ago when I was there. That blew my mind.
And I recently started working with someone who grew up in Decatur, Illinois and went to Eastern Illinois University (10 miles from my hometown). When I got out of the US Army in the 1990's, I went to work for a company in Decatur for 9 years. We were both familiar with many places in each other's hometowns. And now we're working together. Crazy, right?
once i got older i finally settled down in a single place not far from where i was born in fact but to this day in my life i've probably lived in 45 different cities/towns/villages across 8 different states michigan tenn nc sc ohio alaska texas az and mass so make that 9 states im 44 now and ive gone and lived as far west as you can get on this continent almost as far east as you can get gone as far north and as far south as well even settled in the middle for a short time
Conan spirit, HOOOOO!!
True blue American here and I have no idea where this 11 homes mess comes from!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂
"Americans are workaholics" have you heard of Japan and Korea?
Korewa Krusader this isn’t a contest. 🙄
I don't think he meant to infer that America is the *only* country with the strong work ethic, we are one of, along with a few other countries. I assume Japan, along with a few others, as having a work -aholic culture / possess a strong work ethic.
In Texas going from town A to B, usually we don't give milage/km in between, we give hours of driving. With continental Europe, 6-7 hours of driving could go through a couple of countries.
Ive driven 4 hrs across Texas, n seen nothing but dirt n tumble weeds.lol.born there.
@@marciaknight6482 how fast were you going to drive across Texas in four hours??!!? It takes 15 hours to get from El Paso to the border of Lousiana and 16 hours to get from Brownsville to the border with Oklahoma. At least, it does at normal highway speeds.
@@dianeaishamonday9125no, no, no, lol. U misunderstood me. Wat i meant was, as i was driving n texas, were i was born, btw, i could actually drive for 4 hrs of my drive, n see nothing but dirt n tumbleweeds till i got to my next town. Not that i could take the whole state n 4 hrs! Lol. This was n 1990, just to let u know. Maybe they've built a station or 2 since then. Ya know? It was just to let people know how really big that state is.
I've been fortunate in that I've gotten to travel to a lot of countries since I was 18 (many moons ago). I think my top count is 9, but since a lot of those countries were in Europe it was really easy to go from one to another in a day or less. You can't do that in the states. I've lived in California, Maine, and now the Midwest. Every state is vast making driving time extremely long and tedious. Road trips to Maine, Montana, or South Dakota can take about three days just from where I live. As far as languages, I did speak a beginner level of French when I was in France and Switzerland. I could see they appreciated the effort, but they were always quick to change to English when they saw I was struggling. I think it does show a respect of the country you visit if you at least try to speak their language. As far as ignorant? Depends on what you mean. We are all ignorant of something to some level. I studied English literature and Irish history when in college. I could talk your ear off on such things, but am ignorant on the math/science spectrum simply because it's not something I'm strong at. Not that I don't try to learn, it's just a huge struggle based on how I think. There are some people I have met who honestly don't want to think for themselves at all and will take anything they hear at face value without checking for accuracy. Those sorts of people make my head hurt. As for guns, I have shot quite a few in my time, but they are not my favorite. I think for Americans having the right to bear arms stems all the way from when we had to fight the British during the American Revolution. Without those guns we would have had a hard time defending ourselves. The gun laws set up in the constitution (from what I recall) where created so that people could protect themselves from being overthrown by government control. I think my novel of a post has gone on long enough (LOL), but I hope I touched on some of what you had to say.
I completely get you on the language thing! Even when I go out to a restaurant with my husband here in the states, I thank the waitress in their native language. If I don't know how to say it, I always ask and am sure to remember. So in a chinese restaurant I'll say "she she" and the waitress usually smiles from ear to ear with a kind "you're welcome". Or "arigoto" in Japanese. In most english speaking restaurants I'll say thank you in both english and american sign. People definitely love to see someone take enough respect in their culture to learn a few words, and even possibly a little history on their country. :)
First, I'd like to say "Thank you!" for your unbiased objectivity. I appreciate how you take our apparent world-view flaws and can explain how anyone, anywhere can be just the same. I'm sure there are millions (or billions) of people worldwide who are unwilling or unable to leave their country. Ignorant and sheltered can go hand-in-hand.
Choosing to be ignorant is one thing, ignorance due to available/possible life experiences is another.
Also, I have had the extreme fortune to travel out my country on (only) 6 occasions. I love travelling. There's nothing to compare to existing in a place different from your own and interacting with people. But financially, it is not siomething I can hope to do regularly...
Thirdly, I live in the "middle" of Florida (Tampa Bay area) and it is a 5-6 hour drive to reach the northern border, 5 hours to the opposite coast and 19 hours to reach Key West in the south!! There are quite the distances to be traversed over here!!
One point about the traveling: since America is so big, relatively speaking, and has varying types of climates and geography, many of us travel to other states by car even if it takes a few days. Remember we don't have a rail system comparable to Europe. My son just entered college in another state... about 5 hours away so we have driven several times; point is often times we just drive.
I like what you're doing. ALL of us need to understand each other.
Well said on the passports. It is very expensive for Americans to travel to Europe. You can travel 3000 miles and visit 5 or 6 countries. Not true for Americans.
Not only is it more expensive for us to travel to Europe. It's more expensive for us to travel to Europe than it is for Europeans and Brits to travel to the US.
I just figured the world thought we all were like the Simpsons. Ha ha
Mandy Story, or the Kardashians! 😂
Like thinking that all Rhode Islanders are like the characters in Family Guy- although some actually are.
Im american and i still think its like the simpsons...
12:31
Shaun: Next one, Americans are loud.
*Americans are loud*
Me: *yells* Yes we are!
Some Americans are loud. Some are quiet. The loud ones are heard( not surprising).
a second language is a required course in most high schools
But most ppl do horribly in those classes or forget them soon after completing them.
Dubuya Jay true but I can literally talk to 1 out 5 people on earth with only english
@@willm1019 But how well?
That does not mean you will be able to hold a conversation with someone afterwards.
Awww, you’re just so cute. I love how well you speak of the US. Thank you. I’m saving money to fly out to Scotland. Can’t wait. See you then.
America and Canada probably have more people of Scottish ancestry than Scotland does people 😂
Aye lad, ya right. Scotch-Irish!!!
@@TKDragon75 You must not be Scottish. Scotch is a whiskey.
Of course
Canada & America both needed the Scottish engineering skills!
@@billolsen4360 and the Germans too
My husband is friendly with some Brits who travel here occasionally for work. They love driving pick up trucks and visiting the gun range🤗.
Lots of people (my UK family included) assume wealth because they don't understand the difference in cost of living in much of the country. Outside densely populated areas (NYC, Boston, LA, etc.) you can normally buy a pretty big house for the same price as a tiny condo/flat in a big city.
Its the same everywhere, people always compare wages to their own cost of living without really being aware of how much the other persons cost of living is. Mind you house prices are insane in the UK. My neighbours bought their house in 1968 for £1000 , that's about £20,000 in today's money, but its now worth £250,000!
Americans also often find people from NYC and LA to be pushy and rude. No everyone, but it is a stereotype that’s been earned. Good video, Shaun. Thank you for making it
I think the reason why it's that way is lost on people. It's so crowded and so busy that it's in New Yorkers to get to the solution as fast as possible.
I would say this: questioning the science is not anti-science.
Fact checking studies is very pro-science lol
@@Bowseefuss101 : Especially given the error rate in peer-reviewed papers.
Questioning the science IS science! Something Climate Alarmists never knew!
Exactly. If climate change hysteria is the new standard for how invested one is in the scientific method, we must have redefined the scientific method. Climate change is political. It's about money. The rapidly crumbling infrastructure of Marxist Sweden is to blame for starting this nonsense (40 years before Greta was exploited for this moment). Modern academia has been exposed for their corrupt practices, one of which is a religious-like devotion to Leftist ideology that has nothing at all to do with empirical evidence but everything to do with money and influence. Additionally, vicious workplace bullying is rampant in higher education (and healthcare environments). This means that the difficult path to achieve tenure in higher education is littered with arbitrary barriers the "in" group controls. If you want to lose funding for your research, speak truth based on empirical evidence. If you want to be shunned, demoted, re-assigned, threatened or fired, speak truth and conduct yourself with integrity. If you want to advance yourself or secure funding for your discipline, your course of action is crystal clear: Lie. Convert every human interaction into race, religion, or gender and then prove your commitment to the groupspeak by vilifying anyone or anything that does not comply with your group's approved agenda. Climate change is a very old game with a shiny new name.
Questioning science is the definition of the scientific method. How can anything be discovered if you just go along with the status quo?
Thanks for this! Here in the US, it seems like every other country seems to hate us. We have our problems, but the majority of the people here are just hard working, family loving, fun having people. And we truly like other countries. The governments of countries don’t define the people in them.
Being of Scottish ancestry it's quite interesting to hear this from a Scottish perspective. I wish I could visit Scotland.
It's always good to see someone with an open mind. I love the Indiana shirt as well. Hoosier for life...hehe
Love the Shirt! Being a native Hoosier I love seeing the Torch and Stars
Me: "Of course we're not all fat!"
Also me: *Shovels a handful of greasy chips into my fat stupid mouth*
And yes, I'm working on it. lol Holiday season messed with that though.
Ugh no lie. I was doing amazing before the holidays. I even got through thanksgiving without giving in. But then fam came in town for Christmas and it was all downhill from there.
(she says as she shoves white cheddar cheezits in her mouth)
@@Dinkdownn Yeah, but ORGANIC chips.
Don't forget the Oreos.
Quarantine ruined it for me
Try Lays salt and vinegar kettle chips, their more delicious then regular chips and more healthy
As an American, this video was just fine👌
Thanks for this. Everything very well said. Cheers from Texas. 👍
I love texas!😀
Spot on perfect!! In every way, you have got the American reality exactly as it really is---not as the rest of the world perceives it to be. Thanks, Shaun----brilliant!!
Thank you. So refreshing to view a blog that doesn't, even subtly, bash the US.
This is so amazingly kind! Thank you!
Born and raised in NYS.....my 15 year old is fluent in English, Norweigan, Icelandic and German...speaks a little French...
We are poor as dirt..
But we love our families..
I believe i have some Scot Lennox lineage from my grandfather...who was Scot and dang...could he turn the most mundane topic into an exciting story!
And we certainly love the world!
Thank you for coming over here and having a look around. I love to hear how people come over and experience the U.S. I am a deep Southerner myself and my ancestry is very highly "Ulster Scot" so I love to see what my distant cousins think! Cheers!
Videos like this are absolutely what I love! because IT IS SO FRUSTRATING to have someone outside of your culture sit there and explain to you that everything about your culture is wrong...based on their own culture! We all have stereotypes about other places largely because as mentioned, you never go there, you never take the time to actually get to know anyone from those places, or you saw a couple of movies. Please come talk to us. Come make up your mind based on what you see in person. I was randomly at a park one day and ran into an Irish guy who was visiting his son in the states. He approached me with the statement, "I don't mean to offend, but..." and I was ready for the worst, but what ended up happening was a 3 hour! conversation about our two different cultures and one of the best conversations I've ever had in my entire life with another human being. This is what happens when you keep an open mind and you seek to know what's true and what's not from the people around you. Keep up the good work Shaun because I think through you maybe a lot more people will become more open to trying to actually develop a knowledge based understanding of another persons culture.