posted on Mar, 11 2008 @ 12:39 PM
You ask a very valid question.
The social issues of the UK are significant to me largely because of one of my personal interests, namely the private ownership of firearms, generally
referred to here in the US as RKBA (Right to Keep and Bear Arms).
Like many fellow firearms owners, we pay particular attention to the apparent social decline of the UK and try, perhaps unsuccessfully, to relate some
aspects of that change, to the policy of firearms seizure, particularly in relation to crime.
I know this sounds terrible, but many of us use the UK and its liberal attitudes as an example of what could happen here in the US if our rights
become privileges, which are then in turn revoked.
Pro RKBA individuals tend to point to the bigger picture of social decline in areas that have banned firearms, something that has been shown in the US
as well, while anti RKBA protestors point to the mass shootings and high number of firearms related deaths that inevitably result from there being
"lots of guns".
So yes, mea culpa, I do focus on the negative aspects of British culture, and use forums such as this one to challenge you, the residents, to tell me
that it isn't really that bad, or that my logic is flawed. That way when I deal with those same issues with the liberals here in the US, I come well
prepared with statements that are often prefaced by "Well here's what happened in the UK.......".
I see the UK as a nation divided between a shrinking population of very well educated, well behaved, but increasingly subjugated people, and a much
larger population of what is perhaps best described as violent scum. I'm sure that many UK residents see the US as much the same but with guns.
Sorry, cards on the table and all that, but there it is.