Re: Training Centers
@Blackbird, interesting.
I wouldn't directly say in the Uk people trust the government, indeed confidence in the government and even in the electoral process has been dropping extensively, especially over the last 10-20 years between the gulf war, closure of a lot of British industry, unemployment issues and pretty extensive shenanigans with Europe. heck, we're even at a stage where Scotland is seriously considdering becoming a literally independent country with it's own government and boarder.
However, that lack of confidence in the over all process of government and politicians wouldn't really translate automatically into wanting to shoot people or fearing that the government was some sort of evil mob who stole from people.
I wonder if this is also related to the different attitudes Americans and the Uk have to centralized services. Here, people are aware their taxes pay for things like health care, transport, road repare, the police, the army etc, and while nobody likes taxes, it's pretty obvious why they are there, indeed you get a good reminder everytime a fire engine or ambulance goes past.
This isn't to say everyone is %100 happy with the way government spends taxes, indeed rows about the bennifit system, unemployment, tuition fees etc are pretty common on the British news, but nobody would say "why should I pay taxes to suppor someone else who doesn't have the money to pay for themselves"
But often I've noticed the American media protraying taxes as some sort of theft by which the government takes money from ahrd working people and distributes it to less hard working people. Indeed, I confess I found what I saw of the massive arguement of president Obama's proposed health care down right loopy!
This is likely part of the difference in att itude you mention, though i hadn't associated w it with the American obsession about owning fire arms before you mentioned it.
Another point in the Uk, is that there are still a lot of places where the police are very well respected, not just as people keeping the peace, but as generally helpful members of the community who are there to solve problems.
For example, the other day I saw a homeless fellow who seemed to have some sort of mental illness. Sinse it was extremely cold and very wet, and likely to be very dangerous for anyone sleeping on the streets, I phoned the police and asked if they'd check if that chap was okay, which is something else they do.
Heck on one occasion I was walking around a bend ain the road and I had a police carpull up and ask me if I! was alright being that they'd seen me pass the same security camera twice and wondered if I had got lost (actually I was just walking up to a ped estrian crossing then back down again, but I did aprpeciate they took the time.
This of course varies according to the force, and according to the community. The north east where I have my flat is still a place where the police are treated as fairly respectable, and where the police will just be generally helpful, however nottingham where my parents live is a right hole, and the police don't aide the situation.
However I do sometimes wonder if there is a very different attitude to the police in the two countries as well, which might also contribute to the fire arms thing too.
Ooopse! sorry this has gone ot, but so it goes.
URL: http://forum.audiogames.net/viewtopic.php?pid=167686#p167686
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