Bored Panda works better on our iPhone app
Continue in app Continue in browser

BoredPanda Add post form topAdd Post
Tooltip close

The Bored Panda iOS app is live! Fight boredom with iPhones and iPads here.

European Visits The USA For The First Time And Is Shocked And Disappointed By The Experience
3.1K

European Visits The USA For The First Time And Is Shocked And Disappointed By The Experience

ADVERTISEMENT

Tourists’ beloved Los Angeles, known for its TV and music industry, buzzing culture and never-ending sunshine, set a new tourism record recently. In 2018, it welcomed an estimated 42.5 million domestic visitors and 7.5 million international visitors, making it a 50 million record and reaching a new milestone.

But not every tourist seems equally impressed with The City of Angels. This recent post from the Los Angeles subreddit, written by a European who visited LA and the US for the very first time, shone a light on the not-so-pretty side of the city.

The author who goes by the handle TheRealBanksyWoosh shared how shocked he was with what he saw there. From “drunk and high people” to “so many homeless and poor” with “five, six tents under each bridge” and “trash and feces everywhere,” TheRealBanksyWoosh wrote he never felt so unsafe.

Read on below for his full account on Los Angeles, and be sure to share what you think of it in the comments below!

A European tourist was so shocked by the level of inequality and disregard for life in Los Angeles when he visited for the first time that he shared his experience with others

Image credits: MIANHU XIAO (not the actual photo)

ADVERTISEMENT

Image credits: Mihály Köles (not the actual photo)

Bored Panda reached out to the author of this post shared on the Los Angeles subreddit, who’s from Belgium and works at a university as a sociologist. “In Europe, we are aware that the social security system and the healthcare system of the USA are less extended than in many European countries,” he explained and added that “at the same time, we consume a lot of American media and movies, so in the back of my mind, unconsciously, the USA was very comparable to Europe.”

ADVERTISEMENT

However, once the Redditor TheRealBanksyWoosh arrived in LA, he was surprised to see “so many homeless, poor and psychotic people.” He told us: “It became apparent to me that the USA suffers from all the problems that I knew about, but multiplied tenfold. Europe is definitely not a utopia, and I don’t want to portray it that way, but I’ve never seen anything like it over here.”

The author explained that you can get robbed in Barcelona or Rome, but he has “never seen two cops checking with their feet and a flashlight if a human being is still alive.” He added: “I’ve seen abject poverty in Africa and Asia, but it was never normalized. People continuously talk about it in underdeveloped countries, they are aware that it is a problem.”

“Meanwhile, in LA, in one of the richest countries on the surface of our planet, the poverty and the human suffering feel very normalized. As if it is ‘normal’ that people are dying while numerous $100k cars pass by next to that person.”

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Image credits: TheRealBanksyWoosh

The author said that he always compared the USA to other western countries, but it all changed during this trip. “Honestly, the lack of general safety, the staggering inequality and the lack of social tissue remind me more of Brazil or South Africa. I find it disgusting that the social inequality is so racially structured.”

TheRealBanksyWoosh said he doesn’t like to compare two countries, “because then this post feels as if I’m using human suffering in one country to glorify my own country.” He said that Belgium also has many problems, but since we asked, he shared some insights. “Belgium is way safer than LA, although we have our own issues, of course. In Europe, racism, discrimination and poverty exist as well. But I’ve never witnessed it so openly, as if it ‘should’ be this way,” the author argues.

When walking in LA, “it felt like the poverty was a functioning part of the system instead of a cyst that should be erased. I think it is the culmination of deliberate choices, masked as incompetence.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Moreover, according to the author, in Belgium, people do not have to work two jobs and still be afraid to end up homeless. “We don’t have people who have to sleep in their car. I don’t see old men above the age of 70 who have to work in Starbucks to survive. Despite Belgian shortcomings, we do have a safety net. The huge consequences of that safety net became very explicit during my visit in LA.”

The post quickly turned into a conversation about the homeless crisis and inequality in the US, and many people shared their own similar experiences while traveling

Having said that, there were some things that the author really liked. It was the friendliness and willingness of Americans to have an honest, friendly conversation.

“It seems like many Americans are fully aware of the situation that I’m describing, which makes it even more odd that the issues don’t get resolved. What is the role of the government in this matter? What is their responsibility? Is it ‘normal’ that the government merely acts a police officer? Many Americans had interesting opinions about these things and yet, LA remains full of human suffering,” the Redditor explained.

ADVERTISEMENT

TheRealBanksyWoosh also said that nonetheless, “LA offers a great array of fantastic museums (that are free, which is very cool!), great restaurants and wonderful nature.”

“It’s a tough nut to crack, but I am certain that it is full of wonderful, interesting and cool things to do and explore. A lifetime of adventures, but one that is overgrown by poverty, a lack of safety, drug abuse and intolerable inequality,” the author concluded.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Share on Facebook
Liucija Adomaite

Liucija Adomaite

Writer, Community member

Read more »

Liucija Adomaite is a creative mind with years of experience in copywriting. She has a dynamic set of experiences from advertising, academia, and journalism. This time, she has set out on a journey to investigate the ways in which we communicate ideas on a large scale. Her current mission is to find a magic formula for how to make ideas, news, and other such things spread like a virus.

Read less »
Liucija Adomaite

Liucija Adomaite

Writer, Community member

Liucija Adomaite is a creative mind with years of experience in copywriting. She has a dynamic set of experiences from advertising, academia, and journalism. This time, she has set out on a journey to investigate the ways in which we communicate ideas on a large scale. Her current mission is to find a magic formula for how to make ideas, news, and other such things spread like a virus.

Justinas Keturka

Justinas Keturka

Author, BoredPanda staff

Read more »

I'm the Visual Editor at Bored Panda, responsible for ensuring that everything our audience sees is top-notch and well-researched. What I love most about my job? Discovering new things about the world and immersing myself in exceptional photography and art.

Read less »

Justinas Keturka

Justinas Keturka

Author, BoredPanda staff

I'm the Visual Editor at Bored Panda, responsible for ensuring that everything our audience sees is top-notch and well-researched. What I love most about my job? Discovering new things about the world and immersing myself in exceptional photography and art.

What do you think ?
Add photo comments
POST
3 Owls In A Coat
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All the people saying “well yeah, duh, it’s LA” are very much missing the point.

Stella
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know right! "Your first mistake was to see the horrific parts of the country and recognise that it exists. Just don't do that"

Load More Replies...
Furious George
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm amazed that anyone is surprised that the US is a dystopian hellscape. The comment about "not in my backyard" is 100% correct. I once tried to open a large halfway house in a nice area (because they are always in the worst possible places) and people did indeed threaten to sue.

Mo Sykes
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Really? Not so much. In fact it has always been a dream of mine to work on putting a homeless shelter together. I really don't care as far as locations... So that would make at least two of us. Definitely NOT 100% correct is it?

Load More Replies...
Tam StaR
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

America is like this. It's like a participation trophy and your parents telling you how special you are. We've been talking about how great we are not because it's true, but because we decide not to know better. We think other countries are backward because most have never been anywhere else and a lot of people don't realize how backward the states are. I think if more Americans really knew how better human rights are in other countries they deem "second class", and how those countries pity us, they'd be more embarrassed and motivated to fix our broken s**t. And this is NOT just LA. I've lived all across this country and traveled to many international one. America's issues are symptomatic of demonizing and criminalizing those who need help and favoring/celebrating the upper class. Our country is really broken and no one cares.

Mo Sykes
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't believe in the participation trophy BS.. I do believe that is part of how America got to be how it is. But I believe that it taught people not to try. That they can slack off. Giving everyone a trophy would create a feeling of success where it didn't exist. Let me ask you, because as an American, I don't consider any other country "second class." What are you referring to? Who said this to you, or why did you ever get this in tour head?

Load More Replies...
Load More Comments
3 Owls In A Coat
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

All the people saying “well yeah, duh, it’s LA” are very much missing the point.

Stella
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I know right! "Your first mistake was to see the horrific parts of the country and recognise that it exists. Just don't do that"

Load More Replies...
Furious George
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm amazed that anyone is surprised that the US is a dystopian hellscape. The comment about "not in my backyard" is 100% correct. I once tried to open a large halfway house in a nice area (because they are always in the worst possible places) and people did indeed threaten to sue.

Mo Sykes
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Really? Not so much. In fact it has always been a dream of mine to work on putting a homeless shelter together. I really don't care as far as locations... So that would make at least two of us. Definitely NOT 100% correct is it?

Load More Replies...
Tam StaR
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

America is like this. It's like a participation trophy and your parents telling you how special you are. We've been talking about how great we are not because it's true, but because we decide not to know better. We think other countries are backward because most have never been anywhere else and a lot of people don't realize how backward the states are. I think if more Americans really knew how better human rights are in other countries they deem "second class", and how those countries pity us, they'd be more embarrassed and motivated to fix our broken s**t. And this is NOT just LA. I've lived all across this country and traveled to many international one. America's issues are symptomatic of demonizing and criminalizing those who need help and favoring/celebrating the upper class. Our country is really broken and no one cares.

Mo Sykes
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't believe in the participation trophy BS.. I do believe that is part of how America got to be how it is. But I believe that it taught people not to try. That they can slack off. Giving everyone a trophy would create a feeling of success where it didn't exist. Let me ask you, because as an American, I don't consider any other country "second class." What are you referring to? Who said this to you, or why did you ever get this in tour head?

Load More Replies...
Load More Comments
Related on Bored Panda
Related on Bored Panda
Trending on Bored Panda
Also on Bored Panda