![]() I won’t deny the statistics: The US has the highest rate of death by guns in the developed world (outside of war zones, of course), we have nearly the highest incarceration rate in the world, hate crimes have gone up since the election, and we average roughly one mass shooting five out of every six days (and 90% of the mass shootings in the world happen here).Īnd when these incidents and attitudes are projected around the world in conjunction with our recent political strife, it creates the perception of the United States as a dangerous and unwelcoming place.īut, just like Europe, on balance, the United States is safe to visit. How are much are those flights to Europe, honey?” They see the election of President Trump, the huge rise in deportations, the (yet still illegal) Muslim travel ban, heightened security measures at airports, and people being detained and go, “Maybe the United States isn’t the safe and welcoming country we thought it was. In their news, they hear about our mass shootings and gun violence, as well as reports of police brutality toward minorities and murders (or beatings) of Indian students confused for Muslims and wonder if they are welcome. After all, just like how we in the United States have a perception that the rest of the world is unsafe and unwelcoming, so too the rest of the world has that perception of the United States. When most people ask me this question, I feel they are really asking me two things: (1) Does gun violence happen so often I should worry about being shot? and (2) Will everyone hate me because I’m a foreigner (or, especially, a non-white foreigner)? So let’s turn the tables on my post and ask: But I have thought about this question before – especially since 45% of the people who read this website are outside the United States. too?Īs an American writing for a mostly American audience, I tend to write mostly about what’s beyond our shores. After I wrote an article about why, despite what you see in the news, Europe is safe to visit, Someone asked (with a degree of snark) if I would write a similar article about the U.S.
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