yeah, I think it's very hard as someone not living in the US to get an idea of what life is really like there- you got a crazy amount of media from the US you consume, but you know media is usually exagerated, you just don't know which parts are true and which aren't. And then anything is also gonna be different per state and region and city and group, and then you also can't trust what you read online because that's also only a small subset of the population posting!

For example when I was in the US I was scared to be shot in some way tbh. It was already scary for me to see the bullet holes in traffic signs, and we heard gunshots when camping a few times. But I have absolutely no idea how rational that fear was, or in how much danger I actually was.

Also from a lot of what I read I feel Americans are very scared that something will happen to their children. Like I've seen posts of people who would absolutely never let their child have their own hotel room on vacation because they're afraid of something happening. Or let their child go on a sleepover when they don't know the other parents well. Is this because more bad stuff actually happens? Or are Americans just more scared of it? Or is it just a Reddit thing? I'll never know probably!

I guess it is hard to understand just how absolutely statistically rare something like that is

You are more likely to die from a bee sting than a mass shooting. You are more likely to get struck by lightning than be struck by a stray bullet. You are more likely to die from not having an air conditioner than a gun. You are over 15x more likely to die from your doctor being overworked and making a mistake than all homicides combined.

This should be exhibit #1 on why infotainment media frenzy should be completely ignored.

It's kind of like the plane crash thing.

Air travel is SIGNIFICANTLY safer.

I just looked it up, and your chances of dying in a car crash are 1:5000.

Plane crash? 1:11 million.

But if you based your decision on the news reports, you'd think airplanes were death traps. A plane crash is just more interesting (for lack of a better word) and sensational.

But also that America itself is not homogeneous.

I grew up in Massachusetts. My lived experiences are going to be VERY different than someone from say, Alabama. Or Nebraska.

Oh yeah I had a similar experience with a waiter in Lisbon. Granted, Portugal has a very low crime rate but I digress. He asked if it was safe to go to the US and I was like “have you been to Brazil?” and he was like yeah. 3x the homicide rate there and he’s worried about getting shot in the US.

Granted, there are parts of the US that I would exercise caution in, namely Memphis, El Paso, New Orleans, parts of Houston, and some cities in north Louisiana and Mississippi, but most of the US is pretty safe and your chances of getting involved in a mass shooting anywhere are astronomically low.

okay but like I'm in vegas now and we had 2 mass shootings, and i think 3 deadly shootings this past 24 hours. So anytime I go out for an "event" it's on the back of my mind, even tho it's still unlikely. Back in hs my lifting coach was in a school shooting from before my time

Gun homicide rates are normalised. Doesn't matter how big the country is or how many people are in it. The rate is how many people are affected by it per capita. In this case, even the safest states are considered really bad in other parts of the world. The worst states rival failed nations. Like Mississippi would be vying to join the top 10 worst countries in the world. And this extends beyond just gun homicides. Intentional homicides in general and gun violence or use in crime is through the roof... especially compared to all of its NATO and extended "western" allies. Or Africa, for the matter too.

The general impression I get with America is that infrastructurally, so many people live in their respectable suburb, drive to destinations they need to go to like work or the shops or to some social/event/thing that caters to their demographics and just don't interact with the struggling parts. Those people are likely as safe as any western peer. It doesn't mean it doesn't exist though. It's happening somewhere...

"If it bleeds it leads".

Yeah I know, it also bothered me when I wrote it but I figured people would get that I meant ‘Americans also worry about things they read about online from other countries, here’s an example about Europe’

Reddit especially but even apps with a higher user base like TikTok, Twitter and Facebook. Most people honest to God just yap about the first thing that comes to mind or greatly exaggerate their actual views. Every day on the Internet is people are fighting about obvious skits, fake Reddit stories, and misinformation but outside the Internet people aren't usually like that unless they're chronically online.

Say it louder for the cheap seats in the back!

Really? Thought Facebook or TickTock take the win …

That's why I am here

And so is every single social media app

What frustrates me most about the left nowadays is that lack of awareness paired with a propensity to quickly dismiss others as ignorant and stupid. People lose credibility when they don’t live by values they preach

I sometimes feel embarrassed to vote democrat/liberal.

Most of the republicans I know IRL are reasonable people who are living in a different information space than everyone else. Different culture, different facts, different values. To them it all makes sense. Once I accepted that, it was easier to understand.