And completely radicalized people like myself and my friends with means to hate liberals and the Democratic Party for life.
Those that were mostly middle of the road or libertarian / anarchist.
I was nearly completely out of/removed from politics and donating politically. That has changed too.
I’m a little wary of going lifer for or against a party, after switching parties a few times, and seeing how they are continuously drifting and morphing.
Plus meeting a ton of older people who are confused about current situations because their understanding got locked in a framework that the world moved on from.
Best I can do is hold on to values and principals and find what is currently more aligned with that.
Oh I don’t have much love for the right either.
Any mainstream party has sucked for as long as I can tell. But, the left and those on it have a special place of disdain and disgust that will never go away.
Any thoughts on this? Not sure how viable the data is. Like comparing how @twojarslave talks about Maine and how it stands in the map.
I do believe Finland being relative high compared to other European countries, since we have lot of drunkards killing each others in the countryside.
Data seems to be from FBI and Eurostat. Eurostat is generally quite reliable. Can’t say anything about FBI.
But overall I think talks about ”sinking Europe” are hyperbolic. Does mass immigration cause problems in some countries like Germany or Sweden? Of course it does, it’s no secret to anybody with more than two braincells. But the situation is not yet so dire some social media activists claim it to be.
I posted the immigration map here before, here’s more recent data (Ukrainians aren’t counted. Ukrainian refugees are biggest immigrant group in Finland for example).
This data is better since it shows the recent situation. There were massive amount of muslim immigrants in 2015-2016 during refugee crisis. Huge portion of these refugees have either left or forcefully deported from many countries.
I’m going to France soon, again. There’s a lot of immigrants in certain areas and there definitely are problems/unsafe areas. But generally I’ve felt more unsafe while travelling in California than in Germany for example.
Just lightning up the situation, since the image you might get from couple clips from X could show the subject quite shallowly. Or parties like AfD lying that they are only ones who would do something about immigration. Or like some comments from @Andrewgen_Receptors and others show that you really do not know what happens in Europe. So I thought I give some insight.
A more docile people is less likely to commit crimes of any kind.
As far as I’m concerned, my comment about most of europe being limp wristed - stands.
If the option is to live in a country where people are shooted because they say the wrong things, or you can’t ever be sure when you kid will be shot in school, I’ll pick the limb wristnedness any time.
Like I said earlier, I can use violence if needed and I’m trained to do so. But using it as a first (or even as second) option is for weak men.
So i can take all of your stuff and you won’t fight back?
This mentality is why Europe is getting overrun, by the way.
Of course I will. But I won’t shoot you if you disagree with me.
I reckon you did not look the graphs or read the article I linked. But that was to be expected.
It’s a fun narrative, let’s not let the facts ruin it.
Yes. The USA is a violent, crime-ridden, disorderly, hyper-individualistic country. It’s a place that makes people weird, lonely, and depressed. It’s an atomized and broken place. Many of us are rude slobs, incapable of regulating our behavior or caring about the next person. We also have the world’s largest prison population.
Strangely, some foreigners get literally angry by such talk about somewhere they don’t live. Maybe it shatters their aspirations of being sexy Americans some day.
No, I’m not moving. My life as an individual is alright here.
This is increasing here too.
This ties to the stereotype about americans in Europe. Emotional simpletons. I like to believe it’s not true in most cases.
Probably. I would not want to live in US. I like to travel there, but live? No.
Too much crime and society is kinda broken. Also, home is home. I’m used to certain culture and habits.
When I talk about crime in Maine and especially Lewiston, the thing to remember is that I’m not comparing it to other states or cities, but Lewiston and Maine in the recent past.
Statistical manipulation seems to be quite common here as well, along with simply decriminalizing crime. The mainstream media and Democrats in Maine try to minimize it and/or draw attention away from it, but gunshots are pretty easy to notice when they were extremely rare for all of history. Even our local newspaper had to cover the 1,750 percent increase in shooting incidents we have experienced.
Arrests vs convictions paint different pictures as well, and even that ignores all of the behavior that’s no longer considered criminal. Shooting up and going to the public library to hang out while smelling like death won’t even get you a ticket in 2025.
Sure. And it depends on the crime. I also looked European rape statistics and they do differ from homicides.
Major problem with rape is that most cases are not reported. Specially in certain countries almost no reported rapes seem suspicious as hell.
Like practically no rapes in Poland? C’mon man.
But the cases have been rising and immigrant population is overpresented statistically.
These amounts are far behind from the US though. So Europe does not seem to be sinking in that regard either.
For what it’s worth, I see all of this in your posts. I see you advancing your own ideas while trying to understand why others differ.
I read and occasionally participate in this thread because I’m curious. I have some areas of certainty (e.g. the vast income disparity in America is not conducive to the wellbeing of American society) but am willing to be convinced by strong argument (strong as in valid points rather than strong as in aggressive).
I could not be more distressed by the sameness of the most damning claims on either side of the political spectrum (such as the question of who is to blame for all the violence) which each side seems to feel equally strongly about. (Pot: kettle.)
I want to understand the world around me. That requires conversation rather than accusation (which becomes violence at its poles).
Anyway, I’m rambling. I just wanted to say that I enjoy reading the thread more because you’re here, questioning and learning about views outside your own, and as a result I get to learn, too. I’m conflict-avoidant enough that I have trouble staying in the trenches once emotions flare.
@Bauber I appreciate that despite being one of the farthest-right (libertarian, really, but let’s not split hairs) posters in the thread, you’re also willing to engage conversationally.
Nick Freitas is a friend and he 100% encapsulates my view in this 12 min video.
It sounds like the Kirk assassin might have turned himself in.
I guess I thought I’d reached close to the end of the posts when @SkyzykS and @SepCalla closed down their conversation and posted, but I hadn’t. @Bauber I’m going to have to take back my “unemotional” compliment. Not because I think you’re a bad guy now, but because as you note yourself, there’s been a shift.
This is a really good point. I think both sides would benefit from the distinction. Lewiston, ME is an example of “far left.” Nothing about it matches what most of the center-left people I know think or want, in the same way that the far-right fails to represent the majority of Republican voters.
Also, BTW, my husband told me about CK on the way to pick my car up from being serviced, and I have Sirius radio. I spent 25 minutes on CNN on the way home and I don’t even recall there being a commercial. Their reaction was horror, and they (I don’t know who “they” are, I’m not that tuned in) were all speaking very well - glowingly, really - of Kirk and his influence on politics.
FWIW given the negative view of the MSM.
I believe it. It’s hard for many Americans to fathom there are cities on planet earth in which people don’t have to be on edge and constantly taking precautionary measures (eg, “Don’t stand too close to the tracks in the subway; stand next to the wall!” “Don’t take your eye off the kids when you go to Manhattan tomorrow.” “Your cousin was called a white b-tch by some guy in a car as she walked to work yesterday.”)
Yup. Hence why I have posted some of his videos.
Just go to an area in which many Americans are crammed in with each other or in close proximity with one and another, excluding the uppercrust of society, and see.
I know. I live in such a town. A town where my friends live is even better. They leave keys in parked unlocked cars because nobody steals them.
I just don’t believe in unrealistically good stats. I know Poland and it’s not a heaven on earth.
@EmilyQ thank you. I really do appreciate that you understand my goals and viewpoint. I respect anyone who is ready for a proper civilized debate. Sometimes stuff gets heated, but there’s also more or less constructive ways to handle it.
I wouldn’t call it far left, considering that actual communism isn’t on the table right now. I would call it slightly left of the Democrat’s stated national policy platform and in-line with the policies actually implemented during the Biden administration.
Doing a quick comparison between Maine Democrats and national Democrats platform, it is mostly saying the same vague, lofty ideas. The biggest difference I see is that there is no mention of public safety or law enforcement with Maine Democrats, whereas the national platform at least gave it lip service.
The immigration policy is especially laughable in 2025 after Trump decisively proved that controlling the border was easily achievable without an act of Congress. It is beyond dispute that the border was opened deliberately and that the policy platform was a complete lie.
Harris campaigned unambiguously on DEI, transgenderism, and most of the other ideas implemented here in Maine. I suspect if you peel back the onion in other blue states, you’ll find the same basic policy script being executed behind the vague rhetoric and rainbow flags, along with similar election shenanigans. I just don’t have the same level of awareness outside my own backyard.
In other words, if you consider what I describe in Maine to be unacceptably radical, the same conclusion should be reached at the national level, as there is no significant functional policy difference. Plus the executive branch is in charge of the border and the mind boggling human trafficking that was called “immigration” was a calculated policy choice, not a mysterious weather event.
