Europe more dangerouse than USA? (gunshots vs terror threat)

Lunch break here now.
I think just life is quite risky!
It's maybe an old joke, but some Swedish "experts" once wanted kids to wear helmets at home, since most accidents happens at home..

btw, "Unknown" in the graph above means that the relationship was not known, not that the killer was unknown.

I'm going to California soon and won't bring any guns

 

btw2, that GhostRider is Swedish(?) lots of "polis" in volvos,
Swedes, the Americans of Scandinavia

 

Not sure I properly understood what do you mean - is your sense of insecurity in Europe based on lack of police on the streets? If so, didn’t you consider possibility that European streets are so safe, that not much police is needed?

Yes, Norway has a number of advantages and highest average living standards on the European continent but there are other countries, The Netherlands for example, with densely packed, mixed population but things also go reasonably smoothly.

Actually, European politicians are not so keen on much further enlargement of the EU, with countries as Georgia and Turkey. US was pushing that.

37 and half hours / week is a standard in Germany.

 

mark, im amazed you feel scared, the english police were asked if they wanted to carry guns, they said no, tho' a few do,
they know that people get scared when they see a cop with a gun

 

I live in California. Most of the time I don't carry a gun, unless I'm out in the desert or up in the mountains. There are other times and places where I might quietly have something in my pocket, but it isn't part of my normal routine; I'm very seldom in any urban areas, or neighborhoods that would be considered high risk.

In Arizona, I generally carry a gun. But again, I'm normally out in the desert or mountains when I'm there, or in small towns where the sight of one doesn't worry people.

 

A very real risk for any armed cop is to have the bad guy get a hold of his/her side-arm and use it against them. Cops train accordingly.

-Tom

 

"Swedes, the Americans of Scandinavia" - I've considered the Finns the most American of European countries.

" is your sense of insecurity in Europe based on lack of police on the streets?" - I don't feel insecure there. Just less secure than where I travel here. It was a point being made. I get a little peaved at how some Europeans try to paint the US.
Why when I rent a car in Germany does it say "Do not take to Paris?" Here they just say "do not take offroad".

Real stuff happening in Europe:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ74TF51H-Q&feature=related

You people sure have gotten good at fighting! I'm not sure I'd want to come back and clean up another war!

 

We are certainly closely related but different circumstances and experiences created quite a few differences as well.

A lot’s of Norwegians emigrated to the states, maybe even proportionally biggest group, (number of emigrants versus total number of citizens in the country of origin). Possibly even bigger percentage then Irish. (Not sure about that, read somewhere long time ago).

? Citizens of EU countries in general have quite different ideas about role of the state, religion, welfare, healthcare, education, law enforcement, e.c.t. from US. Especially Nordic countries (Finland is one of them).

I would think that in Europe Britain is still closest to US? (Literally and figuratively).

Well, we do have a (very) violent history, but it seems that we learned a lesson after two last major disasters. After that historical experience and good living in the last decades, today’s Europeans lost appetite for wars. Not much chance for another one.

Possible exception is Balkan region with its own turbulent history, but it seems that passions are tempered even there.

 

Actually, my only experience with Norwegians is that they seem always trying to push a crab pot uphill (a boat is always in motion and one can push a 7' x 7' on the wet wood of the deck when the motion allows but some have been known to keep pushing even in the uphill part of a motion) and that they work long hours on cigarettes and coffee. They DO dominate the oceans (when it comes to fishing), even in Alaska.
Seriously, with the US in decline and probably not able to fend off aggressors from Iran, Pakistan, possibly Russia, and who knows where else, do you think Europe will enjoy the prosperity it has in the last half-century? You don't have a little fear that one day Europe will again be under Sharia Law (Already as far as Spain, at one point)? Were I in your shoes, I'd be pushing for much more secure borders (here too) and a Star Wars missile defence sheild. We've got Cuba and Venezuela that have loony dictators envious of our way of life and could one day have nuclear weapons. You've got Pakistan and Iran already armed and a Russian arsenal that's who knows where. The cold war and regional battles have kept opponents spending money and off guard. The US is in decline and possibly done now with this role. Will the UN take up the slack without US money? How do people that hate US involvement in foreign affairs plan to deal with free-range ayatollahs? I don't know where it will happen - probably a port-of-entry or Tel Aviv but I am pretty confident that some kook will light off a nuclear bomb at some point. How do we deal with them when they say "We have five more in European and US cities. Submit to our list of demands. Allah Akbar."?



So far, the best they have been able to do. Does anyone think for a minute that they won't use any means at their disposal to inflict agony on Westerners? Maybe if we apologise for the expulsion of the Moors from the Iberian Peninsula and ask them nicely to not want the useless piece of Earth the Isrealis carved into a civilization.

 

I'm a fan of the sweedish Olympic bikini team

 

Need I mention that our involvement elsewhere in the world is normally directly related to our own best interests as we perceive them? Reading this sort of post, one could get the impression we believe our military forces are scattered around the world purely out of the goodness of our hearts... In reality, there's no reason others can't or shouldn't be benefiting sometimes from our involvement, but we're ultimately there for our sake - not theirs.

But I don't mean to sound totally cynical; I think most Americans would like to believe we're doing more good in the world than we are bad, and it would be a mistake for anyone to ignore that sentimental streak in the American psyche. Or the genuine indignation some of us feel when people we believe we're helping 'turn' on us, or seem to lack the proper gratitude.

 

I was too slow. I was writing and modifying as you posted.

 

Well, I think it's a little simplistic to portray America as the last bastion between a prostate Europe and Muslim terrorists....do you think it's a total accident most of those European countries have lasted many hundreds of years?

I'm not ashamed of American military, political and cultural power. But the world would probably have muddled through somehow even without us.

 

Speaking German, to be sure, but whatever floats das boot.
Actually, the fact that we have maintained a huge military presence there has freed up their resources to be used for less pragmatic things. Yes, it was in our interest but it is not simply sentimentality that causes me to say it has been in Europe's interest, as well. Wud Europe have been safer/happier if the USSR had been able to outspend the USA? If so, I'll vote for Ron Paul or some other nationalistic homebody ad we'll just get our troops home.
Not an accident that they survived, no. Same can be argued for Australia and what a great partner Japan has worked out to be! Maybe one day, when we defeat Jihadism, our kids will say the same about the people of Iran...but it will not come before a defeat.

 

Politics will always be politics ....
Interesting thread and very insightful thoughts troy2000 as always ...

Feeling safe is a relative term, i had more fights and assaults in my trips to Europe than i did in Egypt. That said i still think Europe is a safe place, random incidents is the key word.

Being safe is like driving, you can spend hours driving in high ways where its "dangerous" only to get your car totaled while parking because some idiot was not looking where he was going.
So keep an eye out, be smart and you should be as safe as you can be wherever you are in this world .....