Land of the Free (restrictions apply, while supplies last)

The more time I've been in America, the more its ways baffle me. People here seem proud of their freedom, but I've felt that there are surprising limitations and double-standards. I feel that money and religion play a bigger role than elsewhere in Western world where I've lived, and these seem to set some serious restrictions to personal freedoms.

If America openly embraced itself as a Christian country, I would not have an issue with the religion. But claiming to have freedom of religion just does not align with making schoolchildren cite Pledge of Allegiance ("one nation under God") or printing "In God we trust" on your money. Or, like they're suggesting in Arizona, making high school graduation conditional to reciting an oath by God. I have not personally felt any sort of discrimination by religion, or any sort of push to Christianity. However, when the religion starts affecting legislation, I think freedom is lost. Examples of this are the difficulty of same-sex marriages, and decisions taken on women's bodies and futures by attempting, for example, to criminalize abortion after rape as "tampering with evidence" as in New Mexico.

How about the freedom to carry a gun? I've started to think of this as freedom to be afraid on the streets, knowing that anyone could be armed and go crazy about it (goes well with the freedom from mental health support in California). I do think that Davis is really safe and I don't need to worry about guns here, but still our safety training included a section on what to do if someone shows up with a gun. But here's a beautiful defense for gun rights from Alex Jones, absolutely worth watching, I'm sure it will convince anyone that we'd be safer if he'd carry more guns.

And then the freedoms that money brings! There is a freedom for billionaires to buy off media to promote their agenda, instead of freedom for individuals to obtain reliable news. So apparently Fox News provides the biggest chuck of news to Americans, but unfortunately Fox News feeds the masses bollocks about climate change and thinks Germany is sunnier than the US. It's no wonder this country is so backward at times if the "news" are blatant mind control by someone rich enough. I feel there should be a freedom to access news free of censorship and bought opinions (like these) on public TV in the style of BBC.

And I want to finish off by saying that there are many numerous things that America excels in, like freedom of speech. I've never experienced it elsewhere like I have in San Francisco, where anyone will start an opinionated debate with you on the bus. There are many countries that I've been to where I would not dare to publish this post due to government policing the internet for unwanted opinions, but in America (so far) I've felt safe to say what I think!

Los Angeles: cars and stars.

For the long weekend of the Presidents' Day I did a trip to Los Angeles. I took the train (and a couple of Amtrak busses) from Davis to LA, and it was actually a very comfortable way to travel. The leg space, the free wifi and the views were a definite bonus. And not needing to go to the airport but travelling directly between city centres! The views were mainly flat farmlands, which are much vaster than I had realised, and then suddenly stunning hills just north of LA.

LA itself was just like in the movies, and everything revolved around movies. Spot movie stars here! See the famous movie theatres and hand prints here! Take a tour to see movie stars' homes here! This building featured in these films! Come and see the movie studios here! Eat ice-cream here and use our celebrity GPS system to locate where various movie stars are right now! I do understand that movies are entertaining, but honestly, movie stars are just people that are great at acting and filmstudios are where they work. What if tourists tried to spot you, your home or your place of work? I feel the celebrity worship has gone a tad too far here.

I spent a lot of my two days on hop-on-hop-off buses which was a good way of seeing a city built for cars. Quick impressions:

•  Hollywood Boulevard was more touristy and more run down that I had expected, and the set up for Academy Awards was in full swing. 
• Beverly Hills and especially Rodeo Drive were posher than I had expected, and maybe someone should tell Eddie Murphy that Beverly Hills Police Department was hiring. I liked how residential streets were lined by trees, each street with a different species than the others.  
• Santa Monica was beach and palms, and as I think I got a little bit too much sun sitting on the open top bus, I skipped walking on the beach. I also forgot to pack my sunglasses and sunblock with me - such a beginner's error for someone going to LA!
• Downtown LA was actually to me most interesting part - it had beautiful high-rise architecture and it felt like a real city compared to the surreality of Beverly Hills.

Interestingly enough, Wilshire Boulevard, is a point of pride to LA. It had the first traffic lights in the city as well as the first dedicated left-turn lane in all of US. The shops on the street were required to have sufficient parking for all their customers, and it's claimed that this street started the car culture in America that spread like wildfire. I find myself wishing that it hadn't, and there would be more pedestrian-friendly areas and public transport. The traffic in LA was awful, every street is wide and traffic jammed a lot of the time. I could not believe how many cars there could be in a city centre!

One of the highlights for me was the hostel I stayed at, the Orange Drive Manor hostel, and interesting people I met at the dorm. The reasons to come to LA/Hollywood seem to be acting, dancing, partying and taking photos! I suffered a little about having a top bunk (waking up felt a bit like this under their leopard-print covers) but it was the only spot in the room that got reliable wifi!