Comments by "Peter Jacobsen" (@pjacobsen1000) on "What’s behind the exodus of US-based Chinese academics?" video.

As someone who is not American, you may not be aware that most Americans never fear getting shot. I know a lot of Americans. None of them have ever expressed a fear of getting shot by anyone.
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@kevinlin4895 I don't live in NYC, I live in Shanghai, China. I know the crime statistics of the US, homicide stats, etc. I am aware that are a lot of homicides. But still, my American friends don't live in dangerous neighborhoods. Even my friend in Queens never feels afraid, and she's Chinese-American.
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@DeeepXXX "ry to go out after 8 o'clock in the evening and take a NY subway". I've done that, even on my first visit to NYC. Not a problem.
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In the last 25 years, around 1.3 million Chinese people have immigrated to the US. Some have become great scientists. It's only natural that a few of them would move back again. I don't think it's something to worry about for the US, which also receives smart people from many other countries.
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@LiesTerminator4 But clearly you know that some concentrated areas have very high crime rates where other areas have very low crime rates. Is that not true?
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@fatcammal You say "we", but the Americans I know do not feel the way you do. Of course people should be cautious, as they are everywhere. Here in China, I do not worry about violent crime, but I am still cautious about people around me. That is only natural.
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@amirillodude "Living in America, you probably get used to it". The truest statement so far.
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“Why stay in a coutry where you are treated as second class citizen?” That is exactly why so many Chinese people move abroad in the first place.
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@OrpheusSonOfCalliope I know China is very safe from shootings and violent crime. After all, I live in China. But the US just isn't that dangerous, either. The majority of killings in the US are domestic, meaning they are friends or family killing each other.
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@nigeltang8738 Ok, you must be living in Chicago's South Side.
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@bushidofreakz Well, there's a million people living in Philadelphia to a ripe old age without ever getting shot at. You need to calculate the statistical likelihood of becoming the victim of a violent crime within a certain timespan. That is the only way you can make a rational assessment (rather than an emotional one) of the danger of living in America.
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@Hopper-n5f Exactly, that's what I'm saying. Most Americans just don't live in fear of gun violence. It's only in some concentrated areas where the crime rate is extremely high.
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@kevinlin4895 "Shanghai is much safer than NY". Yes, I agree with that, and almost everybody else will agree with that. But that does not mean Americans are living in fear of crime. Most Americans live comfortable, safe, secure lives. Only a small segment of society are victimized by criminal activity.
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@kevinlin4895 Sure, but South Africa is at a whole different level. Let's not get too many other countries involved, or it will get much too complicated. We're talking exclusively about the claim made by the original poster: That America is a dangerous place to live in, and that that is part of the reason these academics go back to China. America certainly has a much higher violent crime rate than China, the data on that are clear. But that does not mean that the average American is living in fear. As I said, among the many many Americans I know, there are just no one who have expressed living in fear, but at the same time, they say there are neighborhoods they wouldn't want to visit, nor do they have any need to visit.
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@AliAli-et7zy "Majority of americans don't feel safe and at this point it is undebatable fact". What a ridiculous statement! I challenge you to present any evidence to support this.
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@deragoth4250 Nor have I, nor have any of my American friends. I've asked and they have never even heard a gun being fired. Most have never seen a gun with their own eyes. Again, gun violence affects small, concentrated communities, it's not all over.
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@Oliver10322 Sure I know. When I was a kid we had nuclear attack drills, hiding under the tables. That didn't mean we were afraid in our daily lives. As children, we also learn how to cross the road without getting run over. Doesn't mean we're afraid when crossing the road. I stand by my position that the vast majority of Americans are not living in fear of crime, even if they know it might happen to them one day.
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@AliAli-et7zy I haven't walked around the suburbs of NYC or LA, I've only walked around Manhattan and a bunch of other cities. I felt perfectly safe most of the time, but I was cautious at night, as I am everywhere. Being cautious is not the same as 'living in fear', especially not to a degree where people decide to leave the country because of that fear. But that is what the original commenter is suggesting. What about yourself? Are you 'living in fear'? Do you think people in Japan and Indonesia are 'living in fear' of earthquakes and volcanoes? They know it's going to happen at some stage, but we all have to live our lives. Yes, I know the crime statistics of the US, but I reiterate that that does not mean people are fearful of moving around society.
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@kevinlin4895 "if you talk to New Yorkers who live in less savory part of town like Bronx or Harlem or people who live in the rust belt". Yes, that's probably true, but how big a proportion of the total US population do they make up? Of course there will always be some who live in fear; it could even be an upper middle class woman with an abusive husband. She might be living in fear every day, but we're talking about an average across the US.
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@Geoff020650 I've been to the same places. I weren't afraid of the homeless, it's probably more just you being a coward.
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@zollen123 Of course school shootings are a thing in the US, just like mass stabbings of kindergarten kids is a thing in China, or cars running down masses of people is a thing in China. But I live in China, and I am not afraid of getting stabbed or run down by a crazy guy. These events are rare and the likelihood of me becoming a victim are vanishingly small. So I'm not afraid, and most Americans are not afraid, either.
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@sepaldumosang9825 There's a difference between being cautious and being afraid. I am always cautious, too, and I live in China. But I am rarely afraid.
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@ "I even think it is meaningless for you to discuss security issues." You seem to be new to this discussion, so why do you even jump in? If you think it is meaningless, why not go somewhere and talk to someone you get more meaning from?
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@dgilvani "You trust Chinese stats?". Not 100%, but they are the only ones we have. If we don't use Chinese stats, where should we get our stats from? Do you have an idea?
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@hockychen7228 I'm not American, so I don't have to deal with those things, but my American friends haven't expressed anything other than annoyance at those aspects of American life. Heaven knows there are lots of annoyances here in China, too, but I still get by.
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@cherrii7433 "there is an underlying fear which prevents me from going to the many more dangerous areas". Of course, that's very understandable. I wouldn't go there, either, but at least I know where not to go. And of course it's true that North-East Asian countries are super safe. Everybody who lives here for a while knows that. But China has its own issues: Burglaries, traffic accidents, scams, strangers trying to take advantage of you. Every country has its own problems, but we learn to live with them.
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