Well Demaw, it's becoming ever more clear to me that the only things you know about Europe are what you see on TV. I can tell from your somewhat lacklustre grammar and spelling that you don't do much reading.
As for citizens being able to repulse the US military, I don't think so. Just look at Iraq - much of their hardware was dated, but at least they had a trained army, and most of the male civilian population was armed. Compare that with the US population. How many of them are trained for military combat? You're talking about untrained citizens, many of whom would be overweight, many of whom would be over 60. If the Iraqi army couldn't save Saddam against incoming US forces, I have grave doubts about John and Jane Doe being able to do it.
It is clear you have never been to Europe, whereas I
have lived in America. Did I suddenly feel a wave of "freedom" sweep over me when I set foot in your country? Erm... nope. Was there anything I could do there that I was not permitted to do here? Erm... can't think of anything. If anything, the US was more draconian in the workplace: We were expected to work a 40 hour work week starting at 8am! In Europe/Britain, we had been used to flexible working hours for years. In my last job, I used to turn up at 10am and work till about 6pm, taking an hour for lunch making a 35 hour work week. I think America has finally caught up on this now. But I was working in the US as recently as 1997, and as many of the other Brits observed, they didn't want us just to do the job, they wanted a chunk of our lives too. My line manager was gobsmacked when he instructed one of our guys to work the weekend only to be told it wasn't possible because the guy had other plans!
After a couple of months working that job in 1997 (which I enjoyed immensely, I have to say) I spent a couple of months working for a company near Antibes, France. There, they had lots of public holidays - and two hour lunches! The French were quite sneaky with their public holidays, which often occurred on a Thursday so they could bridge the gap - take Friday off as well and have a four day weekend. The practice was known as
faire le pont, and once happened on two consecutive weekends!
One of the reasons why so few Americans hold passports is because they don't get enough holiday entitlement to go on any long trips. They're tied to their desks for 50 weeks of the year. A typical US employee would only get two weeks holiday (vacation) entitlement, whereas in Europe it's more normal to get five or six. As Aesop said, "Lean freedom is better than fat slavery". Oh yeah, and on the subject of travel/passports, don't even bother with that
"we have everything we need right here" crap.
Just scratching my head wondering what I could do in the US but not here. Well guns etc., but I never needed to own one, and did not avail myself of the opportunity to shoot in America. To be perfectly honest, it never occurred to me to do so. I've done that since, with Lazs.
I've had the chance to work in the US on a permanent basis in recent years. Indeed, one of my close friends who I met through work in the 80s, relocated there and has a green card, and currently lives and works in Fort Smith, AR. But I could never come to terms with the somewhat pitiful vacation allowance. The handcuffs may be made of gold, but they're still handcuffs.
