Well, from the perspective of a foreigner, here are my thoughts.
America is no doubt a great country - in it, you can enjoy all the benefits of first world civilization, but however, just like any other country, it has it's problems. Of course it's easy for me to sit over here and criticize, but I'm going to try and do so in a reasonable manner.
The two things that really strike us asbout american culture were two of the things mentioned - the lack of a National Health Service, and the question of education.
As to the first one, with the less-than-happy times I have been through with Reeka recently, I know how reassuring it is to be in a country that has a free National Helath Service. Sure, it's underfunded and badly run, but at least it's there. If I have a child and they suddenly get very sick, we can have them down the hospital, get fixed up, and out, without having to ever worry about paying a cent. It doesn't matter how poor you are (and trust me - I know what it's like to be poor), you can get the medical care you need. Sometimes you may have to wait, but you get it. This is what stuns us about America - when it comes down to the question of "Health Service or lower taxes", you pick lower taxes. Of course, this is your right, but it just seems rather strange that such a forward-looking counrty in terms of personal rights and care of it's populace seems to have a very cold-hearted attitude to healthcare.
The other issue is education. In my country, we are suffering a bit of an education crisis, and one of the main reasons is that kids nowadays are being tested far too much. For "far too much", read "about 4 or 5 times a year, starting from age 5". I was shocked when mixing with some Americans I know outside of the internet, I discovered that american children have 3 hours of homework per night regularly, from the age of 9, and is graded and tested constantly, on a weekly basis from the very start of their education. Maybe if the schools spent more time teaching and less time testing, things wouldn't be so stressful? also, the kids would be able to live a vaguely normal life in that they would have some free time after school, instead of tea ==> homework ==> bedtime. It seems to me that in America, schools are a place where you are tested, and you do your learning at home with your homework. Something about this feels wrong. All you have to do is look at the Japanese - their kids have large problems dealing with constant testing at school and learning at home.
Anyway, this was just an Englishman's perspective on America. Maybe some of the things have said are worng, and I'm certain;y not trying to bash America. Hell, if all goes well, I may end up living there
This topic just caught my eye, and I thought I'd chip in with the overseas perspective [img]smile.gif[/img]