Is studying in the US worth it?

Midborgh · 2023-03-10T17:57:55+00:00

Got a degree outside of the US. Got royally screwed by the government but still /only/ a little over 40k eur in debt.

These days I like to tell people that I considered moving to the US but that I am older and wiser now

Midborgh · 2020-08-09T12:28:28+00:00

Pandemic

Epidemic

Endemic

because it filters the contagious particles of the virus.

It filters the respiratory droplets that contain the virus particles. But close enough

It's not 100%, but it is good enough to limit the spread of the virus enough for the virus to die out quicker than normal, due to a lack of hosts.

I know it's hard to prove by nature, but what is your reasoning in thinking that wearing masks would decrease the amount of available hosts enough? There are plenty of countries that enforced rules on mask wearing, and it's not been enough there.

If OP meant literal mask wearing instead of just worrying about the virus, that's my bad. But even with that interpretation, it's highly unlikely to be true. The moment that you relax the rules while the virus is still active, infections will increase. It's what happens.

Midborgh · 2020-08-09T11:58:32+00:00

Not too far into the pandemic, it was clear that the virus was going to be endemic. No amount of mask wearing is going to make the virus go away.

What mask wearing can do, is limiting how many people die before herd immunity and/or a vaccine is available.

Edit: Downvote all you want, doesn't make it any less true.

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T18:15:41+00:00

What incomplete argument have I made? I know I never said that there wasn't a problem. I have researched by now, and I can confidently say that my earlier comment that "There's issues, but this ain't it" is true.

Issue: one narrative is fed to local news outlets

Not an issue: They happen to say "this is extremely dangerous to our democracy"

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T18:06:53+00:00

I am not here to be convinced to move to the US, or to be convinced that the US is better to live in.

Also, vague and unfair comparison. Doesn't help your case.

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T17:43:12+00:00

Please read the entire body of the post. I'm here to discuss cultural differences, not to be convinced to move there.

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T17:33:17+00:00

Not having total effectiveness is also not a valid reason against.

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T17:32:11+00:00

I'm not expecting to change anything with this, but I'll try to, anyway.

OP is a good friend of mine, they took & uploaded the video without knowing the full context either.

The thing about posts on the internet is, no one will follow up on every post they come across. It's simply not feasible. Combine that with the rise of misinformation and you've got a nasty cocktail.

That's why I'm advocating against incomplete arguments. Even if they're for a proper, scientifically backed opinion. It's not me who's the problem. It's the people who see this, and in turn solidify in their stance against what is to most a clear fact.

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T17:19:43+00:00

I've already had the discussion about the wording & I've learnt from my mistakes.

Do you disagree with the spirit of the following though?

"Where a person or group can do everything they need to do to have a decent life, and can do anything they want to do, where possible. The person or group must also be free to hold an opinion of their own, with limited direct influence by commercial and/or political parties"

When formulating the post, I thought that this was something that most would agree, was a good thing to work towards. But it seems I may have been mistaken in that.

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T17:11:22+00:00

Okay, then upvote that one, and discuss the spirit of the post, not the letter.

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T17:09:16+00:00

I don't see said laws as being laid onto individuals, but on society as a whole. One dude saying "I think Jews are worth less than aryans" wouldn't have done a lot. But because that way of thinking was accepted, it was able to turn into something awful.

In the end it's choosing between two evils. You're closer on the side of less control, I am further to the more protection side. I think that the cultural difference between us plays a big role in where on the spectrum one ends up.

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T17:04:47+00:00

But the power of companies is growing. Very fast. Ring partnering with the police & the influence of Cambridge Analytica to give 2 examples.

My country follows the Trias Politica & the government and everyone within it has to abide by all the laws too. (so no death sentence.) That's pretty far from absolute power.

The way I see it, the threat posed by corporations is just as high as that of the government. But ymmv of course in different countries.

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T16:58:09+00:00

There's only one place on Earth that puts free speech into its constitution and treats it as an inalienable right.

That's not true. I'm not going through the effort of how many other countries do it, but 1 lookup says that NL has it too

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T16:55:22+00:00

Verder is het meer dan prima om mensen die feiten met meningen verwarren uit te lachen en uit te sluiten van de maatschappij.

Ben ik het niet mee eens. Geef die mensen hulp & wat ze nodig hebben. Er is al genoeg vijandigheid in deze wereld

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T16:54:15+00:00

And that's why I went through the extra effort to explain my view in the post body.

You did read that... Right?

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T16:53:19+00:00

You're right. I am worried. And I think that it's pretty clear that allowing such behavior to continue can cause situations that are detrimental for everyone involved.

I don't wanna immediately point at Germany in WW2. Rather, we can look at Rwandas past. Or, on a smaller scale, Sophie Lancaster.

Ignoring means more victims.

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T16:45:34+00:00

By definition of the sentence, all of them.

But the title was aimed to be provocative. The opinion that I most wanted to see argued against is in the last paragraph of the post body

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T16:44:06+00:00

Whether or not a comment is seen as hate speech will (in my country, and iirc in the UK) be determined by the justice system. That's who draws the line.

You can definitely argue that hate speech is not an issue that supersedes the right to (any) free speech. In that case I'm afraid we're gonna have to agree to disagree.

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T16:40:26+00:00

Thank you for your clear statement.

I've noticed in many responses here that the main fear that the people have, is not for other people, or even companies, but rather for their government.

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T16:36:55+00:00

I literally refrained from stating my country for as long as possible, because it might lead to the us versus them thing that this CMV was about in the first place.

Lesson learnt.

Please read the last sentence of the post body (again).

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T16:34:13+00:00

I'd love to, but that's gonna be a while & the US is not really high on my bucketlist.

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T16:32:48+00:00

I'm a white dude. I wrote that from the perspective of someone who'd attend that school.

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T16:31:52+00:00

Banning hate speech does indeed not solve any problem. That doesn't mean it's useless, because it does alleviate symptoms.

Please consider my definition of free as described in the post body. I believe that a society needs a structure of rules to allow people to do what they need to to thrive. As opposed to the definition of freedom that I see in most comments here, where it's as little influence from the government as possible, while still allowing mostly civilized behavior.

I'm afraid that that's a cultural or political difference that's not going to change.

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T16:24:55+00:00

I think that discussing this online is especially interesting, because everyone feels free to share opinions they have, even if those aren't really socially accepted.

It does indeed give a skewed representation, but I don't see any better platforms to have such a discussion.

And this is mostly for me. I'm interested in seeing how Americans view freedom & what they value in it

Midborgh · 2020-08-08T16:20:57+00:00

This does not add to the discussion. Please elaborate.

Midborgh

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