We are back with our "Is it Safe?" series, following shows on China, Russia, Mexico,
and Syria.
Today's show might be the most controversial yet, given that many of our viewers are American.
If you're an outsider or have never visited the U.S., you might think every day is fraught
with dangers, given how parts of the country are often portrayed in movies and documentaries
as hives of criminality and daily violence.
The prisons are overflowing and no country locks up so many of its citizens, while the
police themselves are often seen in viral videos seemingly beating down people with
extreme prejudice.
Add to that political divisions, high school massacres, organized crime, seemingly more
gangs than zip codes, and America might look to some like an unsafe place.
Today we'll find out if that's true, in this episode of the Infographics Show, Is
it safe: To Live in the USA.
First of all, as we told you in our other shows about a country's safety, how much
danger you might face as a visitor or a resident all depends on where you live and what kind
of lifestyle you have.
Someone visiting Pleasant Grove, Utah, to see the Strawberry Days festival will no doubt
be in safer hands than someone going to Baltimore with the express intention of getting in on
the local heroin dealing scene.
We will talk about some parts of the country, but look more at general statistics, what
the media says, and what governments say about visiting the USA.
As we've looked so many times at what the American government says about visiting other
countries, let's now see what other governments say about the safety of America.
The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office opens its section about the U.S. with something
about volcanos going off in Hawaii, but we are not too concerned about that.
Visitors to the US have as much chance of being cooked in hot lava as a piano falling
on their head from a high building.
"Around 3.8 million British nationals visit the United States every year.
Most visits are trouble free," we are told.
So, what other dangers are there?
Terrorism could occur anywhere and attacks are indiscriminate.
You might contract the Zika virus in Florida or Texas, or you might have to watch out for
Hurricane season in some parts of the country.
But again, these are small concerns.
What about crime?
Well, according to the FCO, very few visitors have been involved in America's notorious
gang/gun crimes, although some have been caught up in drug-related violence close to the Mexican
border.
Brits are also told to not walk into areas off the beaten path in big cities alone at
night, but on the whole, unlike many countries the FCO talks about, the U.S. has no extreme
warnings for Brit visitors.
The Australian government mirrors that opinion: if you exercise normal safety precautions,
i.e. don't go looking for trouble, the USA poses no great risk for travelers.
Again, a handful of terrorist attacks are mentioned, and gun crime is also mentioned.
You are also warned to read about the place you will be visiting regarding crime, but
you are told visitors are very rarely the target of violence in the U.S.
So, looking at those sites, you might think the USA is a very safe place to visit.
But how much crime exists in the country?
After all, OECD data for 2018 tells us America locks up more of its population than any other
country by a large margin.
It's said that in 2018, for every 100,000 people in the USA, 655 people are imprisoned.
Prison Policy tells us, "The American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people
in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 1,852 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,163
local jails, and 80 Indian Country jails."
By the way, the UK locks up 138 people for every 100,000, and that was the 14th placed
country on the list.
In second place was Turkey at 287 per 100,000.
Does this mean America is unsafe, though, or are too many people in prison for small
non-violent crimes?
Let's look at violence.
If you compare world homicide rates, the USA has nothing on countries like Venezuela, El
Salvador, Jamaica, Brazil, and its next-door neighbor, Mexico.
The FBI hasn't yet released its full report for 2017, but in 2016, it says regarding murder
and nonnegligent manslaughter, there were 5.4 instances per 100,000 people.
Assaults were 250.6 per 100,000.
Rapes were 25.1 or 41.2 per 100,000, depending on legacy definition and revised definition,
respectively.
If we compare the murder rate to those countries we mentioned before, it is very low in the
USA.
Mexico is around four times higher, and Venezuela is around 18 times higher.
But what about other developed countries?
The UK murder rate was 1.2 per 100,000 in 2016.
In fact, most developed nations hover around 1 per 100,000, so you could say the U.S. murder
rate is very high given how developed it is and how rich it is.
In terms of rich countries regarding GDP, China has a low murder rate, and India has
a low-mid murder rate ( at 3.2 per 100,000).
Russia and Brazil are two other rich nations with high murder rates.
If you really want to stay out of the way of violent crimes in the USA, maybe don't
go where they are most prevalent.
FBI data tells us where those places are.
1.
Baltimore, Maryland (at 98.6 violent crimes per 10,000 people).
2.
Memphis, Tennessee (at 97.4 violent crimes per 10,000 people).
3.
St. Louis, Missouri (at 91.5 violent crimes per 10,000 people).
4.
Little Rock, Arkansas (at 87.4 violent crimes per 10,000 people).
5.
Birmingham, Alabama (at 86.1 violent crimes per 10,000 people).
Are those rates of violence high?
It depends on how we define violence.
We guess it's all kinds of violence that ended with an arrest.
If so, the 2017 stats for London, UK, where street fights are common, we are told for
every 1,000 people, there were 22 violent crimes.
That's 220 per 10,000.
And who would not visit Buckingham Palace because they thought London was unsafe….no
one.
So, perhaps the USA is not all that dangerous if indeed you don't do anything stupid.
What about where all the people want to visit?
Statistics tell us that New York City and Los Angeles are the most visited cities in
the USA.
Are you safe to visit those places?
Most websites seem to think so, even though we are told there are some areas you perhaps
might want to miss when out alone at night.
Walk of New York says crime is way down in NYC, and forget about all those old movies
that depict the city as a hotbed of violent crime.
We are told violence against tourists is very, very rare.
One person on Tripadvisor was concerned about walking the streets at night.
A New Yorker responded as follows: "Your family should stop watching crime TV shows
and movies.
You have nothing to worry about."
Other respondents didn't disagree.
What about LA?
Surely this city is full of hidden dangers.
Well, some websites do say you might avoid Skid Row or a night walk alone in South Central,
but still the website Safe Around doesn't give LA a high danger rating in any categories.
A Brit asked on Tripadvisor in 2016 if he would be safe wandering around LA at night.
One person replied, "You'll have wandered into dodgier areas of Blackpool more times
than you're ever likely to wander into a dodgy area of LA!"
Most people said it is safe, but being so large, just check out where you are visiting
and be sensible.
That way you'll almost definitely stay out of harm's way.
While there are still certainly many Boys in the Hood, it's generally thought LA is
safe on the whole.
We even looked at warnings for the popular Venice Beach, and the website warned us about
ear infections from swimming… it didn't mention getting held at knife point by skinheads
or shot to ribbons for your shoes.
One person on Tripadvisor did say it wasn't safe at night, though.
Again, we think if you exercise caution, many of LA's hotspots should be fine.
Ok, let's not paint too much of pretty picture here.
In 2018, Reuters wrote that the USA came 10th in a poll of countries in the world where
women "risked sexual violence, harassment and coercion into sex."
PBS opens a story in 2017 stating, "Racism remains a prevalent problem in the United
States."
But that was based on a poll about how people think, and not necessarily related to aggression.
In general, it's thought the USA is LGBT friendly, but a 2017 article in the New York
Times points out that that isn't the case in all parts of the country.
What the story was referring to though was how LGBT people have more rights and are protected
by more laws in some states than in others.
Hostel World tells us New York City and Washington DC are very LGBT friendly, but many cities
in the USA should be ok.
If you want to drive from city to city, is it dangerous to do that in the USA?
In 2016 there were 11.59 deaths per 100,000 people in the US.
How does that compare to other countries?
Well, it's a bit like the murder rate, it's quite high for a developed country but not
so high compared to nations that don't have the same advanced infrastructure and modern
law enforcement.
We might add that if you come from a small nation, driving on some of the USA's highways
for the first time can be a little scary.
Driving around LA for instance can get confusing.
As for other dangers, you won't get malaria, although there's a minuscule chance of contracting
dengue fever in some states.
It's nothing to worry about, though.
Depending on where you are, you could also get eaten by a bear or an alligator, bitten
by a rattlesnake or a black widow spider, or have your leg munched on by a great white
shark.
But Jaws was just a movie and we can say again that these things might happen to you as much
as that piano might drop on your head.
So, in conclusion, we think that the dangers present in America are much less than movies
and TV might have you think.
There certainly is a lot of gun crime for such an advanced country, but much of that
happens in certain areas, and visitors are unlikely to get caught up in it.
If you don't exercise caution and decide to run wild, you might find yourself in trouble,
but if you take it easy, you should have no problems in the U.S.
As for where the country comes on our danger list.
We think the list now goes like this, from safest
to most dangerous: 1.
China, 2.
USA, 3.
Russia.
3.
Mexico.
4.
Syria.
So, do you agree with this list?
Do you take issue with what we've said in this show?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Also, be sure to check out our other video called Could You Be a Police Officer?!
Thanks for watching, and, as always, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe.
See you next time!
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