How safe do you feel in America? \ stacker news ~AskSN

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837 sats \ 23 comments \ @stack_harder 4h AskSN

Since we have quite a few US-based stackers, I thought I would ask.

Now, of course, it depends on city, habits, and all sorts of things, but I noticed that, in my brain, I have an almost immediate association of 'not safe' when it comes to the US.

Maybe it's the endless news about school shootings, random acts of violence, liberal-enabled homeless drug ghettos. Bit like how now when I think of London I think of the very expensive tube and stabbings.

Is this just an attention bias thing? I mean I don't actually watch the news, but obvs whatever does filter thorugh, tends to be the worst shit.

Like, if you have kids, do you worry about school shootings, or is it kind of not on the radar?

When I lived in Moscow in the mid-2000s, people back home would ask if it was dangerous etc, and I never had any trouble, despite always being out all night in the bars and things on weekends, traveling different places. But a lot of that is down to good situational awareness.

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144 sats \ 13 replies \ @didiplaywell 2h

Trust me, you are safe in the US. God forbid you ever get the Argentinean experience of living in fear every single day. The fear of not knowing if you're going to make it back home from work, or if you are even going to find your home as you left it. Getting back to a fully empty house is normal. And hoppeles: you will never recover what's stolen. Stealing is practically legal. Trying to get your stuff back is practically illegal, and god forbid you find the one who did it, because you're going to have to move to another city, which is the norm, and what the police itself will kindly advise you to do. I'm not exaggerating in the least. When Iran started to bomb Israel some months ago, hundreds of videos went viral here of Argentinians who emigrated to Israel who where calming down their relatives saying that they felt pretty secure and actually feared more for their relatives back in Argentina. I would go to live in the US right now, just like it is right now.

That said, the way to keep the standard high is to worry whenever it's felt it's getting lower, so keep it that way. Just don't lose the reference of where you're at.

31 sats \ 11 replies \ @Undisciplined 2h

There are definitely some Democrat-run cities that are trending in the Argentinian direction (as you described it, I had no idea it was like that), but I've felt perfectly safe almost everywhere I've ever been in America and I've been to every part of the country. Until very recently I mostly lived in low income areas, too.

Even in the most dangerous cities, the crime is usually (historically) isolated to very small areas that are very easy to avoid.

0 sats \ 10 replies \ @oliverweiss 2h

There are definitely some Democrat-run cities that are trending in the Argentinian direction

Could you name some?

11 sats \ 9 replies \ @Undisciplined 2h

LA, DC, SF, Seattle, Chicago, St. Louis, Baltimore, NYC, Milwaukee... The list of exceptions would probably be shorter, if we're just talking about major metro areas.

Not enforcing property crimes has become a common practice in many cities and property owners have to put up with lots of theft and trespassing.

The odds of getting your property back has always been very low.

53 sats \ 7 replies \ @kepford 2h

Oakland. Probably the worst in California

11 sats \ 4 replies \ @Undisciplined 2h

I was thinking of metro areas, so Oakland would fall under SF.

My understanding is that theft below something like $500 was basically not being enforced anymore as a matter of policy.

73 sats \ 3 replies \ @kepford 1h

Fair.

My understanding is that theft below something like $500 was basically not being enforced anymore as a matter of policy.

True. I visited SF in 2020 and recently. It has improved dramatically. I still think their policies are nuts but they hopefully already hit bottom.

Oakland is still a hell hole. It wasn't always this bad.

I don't cheer for the fall of these places as some do. That's poisonous thinking to me.

11 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 1h

I was in San Francisco back during the Bush years and loved it. When I went back more than a decade later, it was definitely a lot sketchier and dirtier. Berkley was still beautiful, though, although I've heard that it went way downhill.

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21 sats \ 1 reply \ @Bell_curve 1h

JUST IN - Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin Tyler Robinson lived with his transgender partner, who is now cooperating with the authorities.

@disclosetv

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 1h

I'm not sure there's much left to learn, but we'll see.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 1h

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @franzap 31m

"I'm not exaggerating in the least"

lol ok

If you live in a shithole in Argentina maybe. I feel safer here than in the USA.

71 sats \ 3 replies \ @kepford 2h

I feel very safe but I do not live in a flash point city. Or a city at all. Even so, I haven't assumed nothing can happen. I'm prepared.

There are places in the US that are not safe at all. I was recently in San Francisco and never felt I safe there either. But we took a wrong turn in Oakland and I didn't feel safe at all.

I have been in rough areas in many cities. I've also did some international travel in my youth. I haven't felt unsafe for most of the time

Statistically the US is pretty safe with some exceptions. Because many of us can legally carry concealed weapons I have fewer concerns.

Schools are another story. My sons are beyond that stage but if I were to have young children there is no way they would be in government schools. Safety is one reason but indoctrination and incompetence would be bigger reasons.

All that said, this all depends on hyper local and personal factors. Generalizing is easy and rarely helpful. In the US regional hypocrisy is blatantly expressed all over. Take everything with a grain of salt.

46 sats \ 2 replies \ @Undisciplined 1h

The only two places I recall feeling unsafe in America were a wrong turn in Chicago and a poorly researched restaurant choice in DC (the food was great though).

42 sats \ 1 reply \ @kepford 1h

I still wanna visit Wrigley Park

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 1h

That was still a nice part of Chicago when I was there. Not upscale nice, exactly, but it's in the gayest part of town, so it isn't rundown or dangerous.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @freetx 37m

Is this just an attention bias thing?

Yeh, I think its mainly that (for reference, I was born in a rough part of a major US city and spent about 6 or 7 years living in 3rd world for work, so I have some reference). I live now in a semi-private community that is very very safe.

No doubt the US has very unsafe areas, but those are fairly localized. I think being a victim of crime can be broken down into a few different areas, like:

Victim of random theft / robbery
Victim of assault
Victim of rape / murder

Assuming over a 10 year period: You probably have a fair chance of experiencing #1 if you live in a major US city, a medium-low chance of #2, and an almost negligible chance of #3.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @CliffBadger 46m

2025 America is fine. Once we start seeing >50% inflation, maybe 2030, not so fine.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Bell_curve 1h

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @didiplaywell 1h

That's what the left boils down to. Here in Argentina the left leadership is composed of actual ex-members of terrorist groups. It's a pretty grim story.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 1h

JUST IN - Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin Tyler Robinson lived with his transgender partner, who is now cooperating with the authorities.

@disclosetv