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I'm sick of all these threads moaning about things being better in other countries...

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Original post by Fidus Achates
It's true though. That's why so many multinational companies employ immigrants as they are more likely to be polite and appreciate the work than look miserable. It just seems to me that you cannot accept criticism of the United Kingdom and you also cannot accept that a lot of other countries do a lot of things better. Typical British arrogance claiming to be better than everyone else. There's a lot of good things we do but there's also a lot of things we do that are just blatantly idiotic.


Tbh, the only one that is arrogant enough to make generalisations about millions of people is yourself.

No one ever claims that Britain or the British are better than everyone else because it is an absurd statement to make.
America makes me :puke: up all my carrots.
Original post by pinkteddyx64
.....especially America, ask me anything.

See this thread: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2919045 as an example of what I mean. :mad:


Well it certainly isn't better in America but the truth is that we love in the second most unequal developed economy (after the USA) and that makes things **** for everyone.

Mind you when I think things are bad here I just thank the lord we don't have the Canadian or Australian governments...
America is way better than UK apart from gun crimes.
Original post by Fidus Achates
It's true though. That's why so many multinational companies employ immigrants as they are more likely to be polite and appreciate the work than look miserable. It just seems to me that you cannot accept criticism of the United Kingdom and you also cannot accept that a lot of other countries do a lot of things better. Typical British arrogance claiming to be better than everyone else. There's a lot of good things we do but there's also a lot of things we do that are just blatantly idiotic.


As with most things in life, the main reason is economic. Immigrant workers tend to be willing to accept longer hours and adverse conditions without complaint because they are anxious to earn the higher rates on offer here. At the same time, they are often willing to accept lower rates than British workers.

The issue is not that they are 'better' than people here, but that the economic disparity between the UK and their host country is so great that they are motivated to accept lower pay and conditions and to work harder for them.
Original post by bittr n swt
America is way better than UK apart from gun crimes.


In what ways? Life in the US varies a lot from place to place and according to affluence. Many big urban areas in America are highly congested and polluted and suffer from very low quality public services and crumbling infrastructure. Quality health care is wildly expensive and often involves long bureaucratic wrangling with insurers, to the extent that even many upper middle class families with severe health problems end up going bankrupt. Social tension is high and many people are afraid of the threat of guns, even if only subliminally. The political system is wholly corrupted and out of touch with real economic concerns and full of delusion generated by the religious right, the representatives of cruel corporate entities and monopolistic banks. Most poorer people have no say or stake in the system. Many affluent people are heavy drug users and suffer multiple emotional and psychological issues.
The only things I can think of that the UK does better than the other countries I've lived in:
- University-level education (not High School education), and even this is debatable because it doesn't cater to people who do not yet know what they want to do
- Cupcakes
- Having and maintaining a royal family x)
Original post by Fullofsurprises
In what ways? Life in the US varies a lot from place to place and according to affluence. Many big urban areas in America are highly congested and polluted and suffer from very low quality public services and crumbling infrastructure. Quality health care is wildly expensive and often involves long bureaucratic wrangling with insurers, to the extent that even many upper middle class families with severe health problems end up going bankrupt. Social tension is high and many people are afraid of the threat of guns, even if only subliminally. The political system is wholly corrupted and out of touch with real economic concerns and full of delusion generated by the religious right, the representatives of cruel corporate entities and monopolistic banks. Most poorer people have no say or stake in the system. Many affluent people are heavy drug users and suffer multiple emotional and psychological issues.


But universal health care is communism. We don't like communism.
Original post by Fullofsurprises
As with most things in life, the main reason is economic. Immigrant workers tend to be willing to accept longer hours and adverse conditions without complaint because they are anxious to earn the higher rates on offer here. At the same time, they are often willing to accept lower rates than British workers.

The issue is not that they are 'better' than people here, but that the economic disparity between the UK and their host country is so great that they are motivated to accept lower pay and conditions and to work harder for them.


So what you are saying is immigrants play an important role in wage repression and undermine UK working conditions/rights?
Cough the Brits are a joke cough

:biggrin:
Original post by cupcakes87
Cough the Brits are a joke cough

:biggrin:

Fancy joining the forum, "The Brits Are A Joke"? :wink:

What is a joke, is this propaganda wacko nonsense! :mad:
Original post by miniteen
The only things I can think of that the UK does better than the other countries I've lived in:
- University-level education (not High School education), and even this is debatable because it doesn't cater to people who do not yet know what they want to do
- Cupcakes
- Having and maintaining a royal family x)


Education shouldn't cater for people who don't know what they're good at by the time they are 18, especially paid-education. The earlier people specialise the better and that's why A-levels are so good.

What about the NHS?

We also have greeeatt weather -> when was the last time we got hit by severe EQ or hurricane?
Original post by pinkteddyx64
Digital Spy and the BBC are always representing the USA as being the bees knees! :rolleyes:

You're correct there, the amount of propaganda nonsense on the digital forums is an absolute joke!
Original post by TorpidPhil
Education shouldn't cater for people who don't know what they're good at by the time they are 18, especially paid-education. The earlier people specialise the better and that's why A-levels are so good.

What about the NHS?

We also have greeeatt weather -> when was the last time we got hit by severe EQ or hurricane?


I come from France. I feel we have a better health system than the NHS.

From what I've seen, A-levels are actually really bad. They barely scrape the surface of subjects - you go into more depth with the French baccalaureate than you do A-levels. They don't teach students how to work hard, they do not require enough hours (vs. the baccalaureate where I had like 45 hours a week). I went to both SOAS and LSE, and the only people I actually saw working hard were the international/EU students.

The weather is better in Paris than it is the UK. It's raining/grey all the time there. That was sarcasm right?

EDIT: And I have to say that higher education should, imo, cater to all sorts of people. The US system is great for people who are still unsure about what they want to do. At 18, few people actually know what they want to specialise in. It's great that you don't have to waste precious years of youth studying for a degree that will be a real waste of time. It's also great for people with eclectic interests. But it doesn't suit people who know exactly what they want to study - which is why I chose the UK.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by miniteen
I come from France. I feel we have a better health system than the NHS.

From what I've seen, A-levels are actually really bad. They barely scrape the surface of subjects - you go into more depth with the French baccalaureate than you do A-levels. They don't teach students how to work hard, they do not require enough hours (vs. the baccalaureate where I had like 45 hours a week). I went to both SOAS and LSE, and the only people I actually saw working hard were the international/EU students.

The weather is better in Paris than it is the UK. It's raining/grey all the time there. That was sarcasm right?


Maybe you're right. I always thought highly of France (haha, a Brit who thought highly of France) but I never got round to learning French so that kind of held me back from learning as much as I should about France and what the French say about stuff (mainly philosophy and sociology, which they do say a lot on). Languages suck.

How can you work 45hours on the French baccalaureate? That must mean you only do one subject? We usually do at least 3 A-levels and I think 3 subjects at that pre-uni stage is better than 1.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by TorpidPhil
Maybe you're right. I always thought highly of France (haha, a Brit who thought highly of France) but I never got round to learning French so that kind of held me back from learning as much as I should about France and what the French say about stuff (mainly philosophy and sociology, which they do say a lot on). Languages suck.

How can you work 45hours on the French baccalaureate? That must mean you only do one subject? We usually do at least 3 A-levels and I think 3 subjects at that pre-uni stage is better than 1.


45-hour weeks. Start classes at 8, finish at 5/6, with 4 hour exams on Saturdays. I specialised in Math and did the scientific stream with international option and 3 foreign languages, so my weekly subject breakdown in my final year was:
- 9 hours of math
- 5 hours of American Literature
- 3 hours of American History
- 2 hours of French History and Geography
- 4 hours of philosophy
- 3 hours of Spanish
- 6 hours of physics and chemistry
- 6 hours of biology and geology
- 2 hours of PE
And the 4 extra hour exams on Saturdays. It was great fun. I was also studying Chinese and Japanese on my own on the side - so that was an extra couple of hours of my week taken.

The French system doesn't require you to know French to be able to learn about it.
Original post by spotify95
You're correct there, the amount of propaganda nonsense on the digital forums is an absolute joke!


:sadnod:

In fact, this is the first ever old thread I bumped on DS stating I hate the propaganda.


http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?p=499842#post499842
Original post by miniteen
45-hour weeks. Start classes at 8, finish at 5/6, with 4 hour exams on Saturdays. I specialised in Math and did the scientific stream with international option and 3 foreign languages, so my weekly subject breakdown in my final year was:
- 9 hours of math
- 5 hours of American Literature
- 3 hours of American History
- 2 hours of French History and Geography
- 4 hours of philosophy
- 3 hours of Spanish
- 6 hours of physics and chemistry
- 6 hours of biology and geology
- 2 hours of PE
And the 4 extra hour exams on Saturdays. It was great fun. I was also studying Chinese and Japanese on my own on the side - so that was an extra couple of hours of my week taken.

The French system doesn't require you to know French to be able to learn about it.


You do this at 16-18? Very interesting, I will research this. And you ended up delving deeper into the content of biology on that course than you would at A-level? Really?

I meant I can't read some of the modern literature (mainly philosophy since that is what I study at university) which is initially wrote in French and not translated perfectly. Philosophy is definitely a subject which is best read in the mother language of the author since the meanings of words have to be so so precise.
Original post by pinkteddyx64
:sadnod:

In fact, this is the first ever old thread I bumped on DS stating I hate the propaganda.


http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?p=499842#post499842


Really? You replied to this NINE-YEAR-OLD thread to criticise someone criticising this country obviously in jest(hence the multiple emoticons after the message), that otherwise, nobody would see?


Love that reply! :biggrin:

Plus I love the thread bump, as ever! :smile:
Original post by spotify95
Love that reply! :biggrin:

Plus I love the thread bump, as ever! :smile:

Thanks. :hugs:

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