Seriously; I’ve seen several such posts stating a belief that it’s unsafe to visit the US, but that’s wildly ignoring statistics. The violent crime rate is like half what it was in the 90s and continues its general downward trend, falling further to below the previous bottom in '19. And most of that still stems from gang violence and the like, so it’s never near what tourists are doing.
I don’t get it; I think people just like acting scared for some reason. Or maybe it’s them grasping for a reason to feel superior? People love that kind of thing…
I assume the media there does the same thing the media does here. If it bleeds, it leads. Violent news gets top billing, while news of plummeting crime rates isn’t advertised.
It’s just how media works and our media is the loudest.
an unusual, infrequent event (such as a man biting a dog) is more likely to be reported as news than an ordinary, everyday occurrence with similar consequences, such as a dog biting a man.
The only perspective people from outside the US have is that from the media. So when they see the man bites dog stories they assume that to be usual and frequent.
What about New York subway? I have friends that were in new York and they just didn’t feel safe there at all. And this is a usual part of traveling.
I’ve recently been in Japan where I was never uneasy or concerned in the slightest, feeling completely safe walking in night or day anywhere, which for sure wouldn’t be the case in US.
The subway in New York is still safer than driving, honestly. It only gets kind of sketchy if you are traveling very late hours and alone. Even then, as long as you are smart and use busy entrances and exits, and ride in the car closest to the conductor, the chances of anything happening to you are extremely slim.
There are little areas all over the US that you probably wouldn’t feel safe in, but those places are usually a bit off the beaten path for tourist destinations. I imagine it’s the same pretty much everywhere, though. Even in Japan, there are districts like Kabukicho and Roppongi, which are infamous for their shady bars and scamming tourists. Many stories of tourists being drugged and robbed, or overcharged and arrested because they didn’t know they were being scammed and charged thanks to the language barrier.
Zero or not, person from outside can only know that numbers look worse. Homicide rate alone in the USA is roughly 9 times higher than in Poland. You hear about school shootings every other week as well which doesn’t help.
Depends on where you go; some places its easy to end up finding yourself in the wrong place, especially if you are unfamiliar with the area…
But yeah, school shootings?? it’s not just some d-bags having target practice at night on the football field (unfortunately, rather than a pitch – different story tho), kids die in school shootings here like every other week bud. It really does happen, like a lot, which is actually a pretty uniquely shitty thing in the world today (outside of e.g. the Congo, Chinese elementary schools, …)
Pretty well thought-out hot take, though, cheers for the high-brow write-up.
Also, Chicago like NYC has become a lot “safer” in many areas due to cameras, “proactive” policing, etc. Come to Detroit sometime, we don’t have money yet for “cool” stuff like that. See what kind of a difference it makes lol. Even back in the day, Chicago and Detroit went back and forth as the murder capitals of the US (NYC got in there too a lot). Those numbers weren’t just relatively high, they were absolutely just high on their own. Just because you never had trouble yourself, doesn’t mean… Blah blah blah. Happy New Year btw
Yeah, not proud of the snarky finish, but I think we’re definitely talking past each other a bit either way.
Side note: even without guns, China has a surprisingly high incidence of mass attacks at primary schools – with weapons other than guns. Knives are the most common, ppl on a rampage don’t mind putting in the extra work if they have to I guess… But yeah. Primary schools.
Its cool to be a contrarian on the internet, but I’ve got two young children too, and tbf any violence in schools is too much. Honestly don’t give a shit if even 99% of “shootings” were just that (they’re not, but still), that 1% is no less serious of a problem than if it was 99%.
Especially since, again, we’re somehow the only country in the world that has such a problem keeping kids from getting murdered at school.
The chances of you being attacked while sightseeing is virtually zero
Seriously; I’ve seen several such posts stating a belief that it’s unsafe to visit the US, but that’s wildly ignoring statistics. The violent crime rate is like half what it was in the 90s and continues its general downward trend, falling further to below the previous bottom in '19. And most of that still stems from gang violence and the like, so it’s never near what tourists are doing.
I don’t get it; I think people just like acting scared for some reason. Or maybe it’s them grasping for a reason to feel superior? People love that kind of thing…
I assume the media there does the same thing the media does here. If it bleeds, it leads. Violent news gets top billing, while news of plummeting crime rates isn’t advertised.
It’s just how media works and our media is the loudest.
The only perspective people from outside the US have is that from the media. So when they see the man bites dog stories they assume that to be usual and frequent.
For sure. Sightseeing the US is probably about the same as sightseeing anywhere else, except maybe certain parts of the middle east or Haiti.
What about New York subway? I have friends that were in new York and they just didn’t feel safe there at all. And this is a usual part of traveling. I’ve recently been in Japan where I was never uneasy or concerned in the slightest, feeling completely safe walking in night or day anywhere, which for sure wouldn’t be the case in US.
The subway in New York is still safer than driving, honestly. It only gets kind of sketchy if you are traveling very late hours and alone. Even then, as long as you are smart and use busy entrances and exits, and ride in the car closest to the conductor, the chances of anything happening to you are extremely slim.
There are little areas all over the US that you probably wouldn’t feel safe in, but those places are usually a bit off the beaten path for tourist destinations. I imagine it’s the same pretty much everywhere, though. Even in Japan, there are districts like Kabukicho and Roppongi, which are infamous for their shady bars and scamming tourists. Many stories of tourists being drugged and robbed, or overcharged and arrested because they didn’t know they were being scammed and charged thanks to the language barrier.
Zero or not, person from outside can only know that numbers look worse. Homicide rate alone in the USA is roughly 9 times higher than in Poland. You hear about school shootings every other week as well which doesn’t help.
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Depends on where you go; some places its easy to end up finding yourself in the wrong place, especially if you are unfamiliar with the area…
But yeah, school shootings?? it’s not just some d-bags having target practice at night on the football field (unfortunately, rather than a pitch – different story tho), kids die in school shootings here like every other week bud. It really does happen, like a lot, which is actually a pretty uniquely shitty thing in the world today (outside of e.g. the Congo, Chinese elementary schools, …)
Pretty well thought-out hot take, though, cheers for the high-brow write-up.
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Also, Chicago like NYC has become a lot “safer” in many areas due to cameras, “proactive” policing, etc. Come to Detroit sometime, we don’t have money yet for “cool” stuff like that. See what kind of a difference it makes lol. Even back in the day, Chicago and Detroit went back and forth as the murder capitals of the US (NYC got in there too a lot). Those numbers weren’t just relatively high, they were absolutely just high on their own. Just because you never had trouble yourself, doesn’t mean… Blah blah blah. Happy New Year btw
Yeah, not proud of the snarky finish, but I think we’re definitely talking past each other a bit either way.
Side note: even without guns, China has a surprisingly high incidence of mass attacks at primary schools – with weapons other than guns. Knives are the most common, ppl on a rampage don’t mind putting in the extra work if they have to I guess… But yeah. Primary schools.
Its cool to be a contrarian on the internet, but I’ve got two young children too, and tbf any violence in schools is too much. Honestly don’t give a shit if even 99% of “shootings” were just that (they’re not, but still), that 1% is no less serious of a problem than if it was 99%.
Especially since, again, we’re somehow the only country in the world that has such a problem keeping kids from getting murdered at school.
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