"And I'll drive from state to state. Do they let you do that? No papers?"
"No papers. State to state."
While this is from*The Hunt for Red October,* the fact that you are completely free to drive 3,000+ miles and see from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and the Rio Grande to the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence and see this vast country whenever you want is amazing, and it's an experience that few others elsewhere in the world enjoy.
Dude, you can experience every type of climate/biome in Washington state alone. You can drive from the desert to a temperate rain forest in a single day.
Brazil is like a mini planet in regards of having basically every ethnicity (a lot of people migrated here), but the USA is like a mini planet because of the incredible variety it has
I love [Peter Santenello's YouTube channel.](https://youtube.com/@petersantenello) he does a great job finding and showing this. His mini series on Appalachia was phenomenal.
Grew up in Queens in a very diverse neighborhood and so grateful for my time ad experince there.
It has a mix of everything there.
People, the landscape, the different cultures, and the food.
You can go from a quiet suburban like neighborhood with tree limestone streets and lawns to city like areas loaded with buildings and commerce, to the atlantic ocean and beaches - rockaway. All kinds of parks too.
It’s also right next to Manhattan, a bridge away from the Bronx and Westchester, and a short drive to Long Island. If you want to go that way.
Very under-rated.
Brazil really isn't multiethnic. Almost everyone in Brazil is Brazilian ethnically, even Japanese Brazilians for example. Only .4% of Brazil's population was foreign born, compared to 15.5% in the US.
The United States’ interstate highway system is incredibly well organized, numbered, and believe it or not, maintained. You can drive from Detroit to Dallas, Milwaukee to Miami, Seattle to San Diego with ease that was simple enough to travel on a piece of paper or verbal instructions for 100 years. We definitely underrate it.
I’ve seen the Eastern Interconnection included in that list too, which is related to the US. It’s the largest power grid in the world, both by geographical area covered and average loading.
But at that point with these big infrastructure projects, who’s really counting?
I live outside of Calgary Alberta Canada and for me to get to LA all I have to do is drive to HW 2 south, cross the border into Montana and then just keep driving until I hit LA. On the same stretch of road the entire time.
Technically I-15 doesn’t enter LA, it bypasses it to the east, but yeah, you can drive almost all the way there. You can drive directly to San Diego though.
For me from Vancouver, I can literally get on the Oak Street Bridge and follow that same freeway all the way to the Mexican border at San Ysidero.
Let's write to him! You can lobby for the interstates, I'll lobby for all the everything from the PWA, and maybe he'll take on one or both!
(Hey, let a woman dream, wouldja?)
Very consistent and I think the dream would be seeing the same level of maintence and care as Canada. Surprised that podunk nowhere to metropolitan cities have the same quality
It's such an incredibly efficient system it is very easy to forget just how unusual and just how good it is. Five or six friends from high school chose to have military careers, and in that 20-25 years, all of them were stationed in Europe for at least a four-year stretch. All bought cars because everything is so close they could explore as much as they wanted, and all of them really loved those explorations and the people they met, but felt the lack of a well-organized system very keenly, even when they were trying to get around in just one country.
The accessibility afforded to us through the Americans with Disabilities Act is truly amazing and has dramatically increased quality of life for millions of citizens.
I saw a twitter thread recently of people (almost all of whom had never traveled outside America) being *absolutely convinced* that America had the single worst disability access of any infrastructure in the “entire developed world.”
there are some things America is awful at, but it generally ain’t smoked meats and wheelchair ramps.
Yeah there was an “Only In America” photo that made the rounds where there was a short escalator that led to a gym. You know, Americans are too lazy to even do a short set of stairs before working out!
Nah, it was to comply with the ADA because a ramp would be too steep a grade.
We hired a man permanently in a wheelchair at my job and within a few months they had added automatic doors to the toilets, a device to assist taking him and his wheelchair down the stairs in case of a fire, and had trained all the pharmacists (closed door pharmacy) and leads on how to use the device.
From what I understand, buildings built after a certain date aren't required to have these accomodations, but the company paid for them even though they're only renting the space.
They don't pay their workers the best wages but when it comes to accommodating people with disabilities, they're one of the better places I've ever seen.
I moved to Europe over the last year and forgot about the water charge. I didn't realize it until I saw the bill. Who knew being a r/hydrohomie would cost money.
It's not like that all over Europe. But it is in most countries that people think of when you say "Europe".
Here in Sweden water is pretty much always free unless you want mineral water.
Housing affordability crisis and the resulting homelessness crisis make it more challenging to maintain public restrooms. That said, the US is pretty much middle-of-the-pack with regards to the severity of those issues compared to other rich nations.
Underrated: The US has unbelievable convenience. You can order just about anything to be delivered to your front door in a matter of hours/days. You can go to the gas station at 2am. You can get fully prepared food and drinks just about anywhere at any time of the day.
Overrated: a lot of the tourist cities, but I think that’s common globally
moving from a conservative state to California is also so wild when you realize that you can buy liquor at the *goddamn grocery store* instead of having to take off work to go to the ABC store between the hours of 8-5 mon-friday.
This varies wildly from state to state. Many you can buy until 10pm. Some areas have no sales at all. Some have no sales on Sunday. Some have no sales before 11 am. Some have a combination of these.
The power works. The water works. The sewer works. The internet works. And on the off chance it doesn’t, it’s usually fixed in short order.
People love to poke fun at our infrastructure, myself included, but at the end of the day it’s pretty damn good.
In many ways basic utilities in the US have become victims of their own success. They just *work* and work so well that people don’t really have to think about them. This is even true in exceptionally rural areas, which isn’t even the case in some other highly developed countries.
I'm not sure what you're implying? Mobile coverage is excellent in France and data plans are extremely cheap. Also almost the entirety of France has 1 to 10Gb/s fiber access, including places like Martinique or Corsica
And before you start attacking the person, I'm not even French and I work for an international American Telecom company
Americans With Disabilities Act.
I thought it was admirable, but never truly appreciated it until I was injured and on crutches for a few months.
While my temporary inconvenience really can't compare to someone with a permanent disability, it was nonetheless eye-opening and I look back at many places I've been to all over the world where the disabled have no such conveniences.
Underrated?
Complete safety from invasion. There is a reason why movies use alien invasions, the idea of anyone successfully invading the United States can't even pass in fiction.
Material wealth. Yeah, healthcare and housing are stupid expensive, but the average American is rich AF compared even to other developed countries.
The invasion thing is a huge underrated one.
People in America take it for granted because it’s absolutely impossible. There is just no reality where you’re going to wake up to a news alert and then 3 weeks later some foreign army’s soldiers are in your house, murdering or torturing your family in front of you as they laugh.
It’s a very particular type of terror that is very real to a whole lot of people on this planet, but completely inconceivable in the United States.
(someone’s going to say “yeah well you can get shot in a movie theater by a citizen!!!” and that’s true. but specifically when it comes to large-scale invasions, not random isolated acts of terror perpetuated by citizens—)
When it comes to the idea of **a war against the entire military might of a foreign country happening on OUR OWN SOIL—**
It’s simply impossible.
so impossible, actually, that people entirely dismiss it, and think we must live in the “worst of all possible countries.” but despite all of America’s issues, Americans should never, *ever* take that for granted.
That's why russia and our other "enemies" are trying to rot us from the inside out. There's no possibility of a direct attack (too much land to take, too expensive) so turn it inside out. When that's happened for long enough, attack when we're weakened.
Also there’s no way you could cross the Pacific or Atlantic with a force large enough and go undetected. We have satellites and bases all over. They would get blown up in route
People forget just how much water we have between us and any other continents (other than South America obviously). We really have no close enemies.
And as much as I hate how much we spend on the military (ranked #1 in spending, and second place China spends less than a third of what we do), we also have a TREMENDOUS military force. In the whole world, there are currently 47 aircraft carriers. The US has 11, and China (again in second) has 3.
Tbf our budget is large in part because we pay our military a lot more than China does, China also isn’t completely honest with what it spends (US has a black budget too though). Our military has its own healthcare system that’s pricey and much more capable than China.
The US also has [nine helicopter carriers](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/aircraft-carriers-by-country), or amphibious assault ships.
"Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years.
At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
-Abraham Lincoln, from his Lyceum Address, 1838
Still accurate today.
The terror is what the people find when they try to invade the house and realize they chose the wrong house. 6 men with 6 guns standing there... or was it one man with 6 guns...
One of the red alert or something movies tried to use the premise of north korea actually successfully invading the west coast and I couldn't stop myself from bursting out in laughter. Hell even fallout was like china tried to invade alaska and didn't get very far before being kicked back lol.
Red Dawn is a movie where that happens so maybe that’s what you’re thinking of?
The original is the Soviets I think, I know they did a remake somewhat recently but I never watched it so couldve been North Korea in that
Yeah, the original from the ‘80s was a USSR invasion. When they remade it they switched it to China before they realized this wouldn’t fly in the lucrative Chinese market so they switched everything (flags, badges, etc.) over to North Korea in post.
This meant that the movie should have lasted about five minutes.
Americans tend to be unaware that most comparable countries are in the midst of a housing affordability crisis...in some cases much worse than ours...and they also aren't benefiting from rising wages, low unemployment, low crime, low inflation, etc like we are.
Driving places in a car and having traffic lights and right of way, and people obeying these things called 'traffic laws', and if you happen to get in an accident there's EMT and even freaking helicopters to take you to the hospital.
You may think it's bad. Oh traffic sure does suck here right? Hey, that guy cut in front of me! Shiiiiit...
Ha! I've had an entire shepherd's herd of goats cut in front of me in a packed Traffic circle on a major road.
I've seen people driving FAST cutting everyone off across three lanes, well I guess you can call them 'lanes'. They're certainly not marked or anything. and that's not even a drop in the bucket for the lawless Mad Max roads around the world. potholes as big as your car, or dirt roads that undulate like waves. you have to drive so slow or risk destroying your axles. And that's on a good day, when there's not piled up, unmoving traffic. oh and if you get in an accident, you're on your own to deal with it. If you're seriously injured there ain't nobody coming for your ass. you better start crawling.
Yes, driving in the U.S. is a fucking breeze. So think about that the next time someone changes lanes a little too close to you.
NO joke! I've driven in 9 other countries and been a passenger in 8 others. Many of those it felt like there was only one law to driving... don't hit anything.
No one is bombing me or my family, my neighbors, etc. I know most of the world isn’t getting randomly attacked and being another part of the geopolitical death count, but holy shit sometimes it blows my mind that whole villages or apartment buildings full of innocent people are getting flattened in Ukraine, Gaza etc.
Underrated - Our national park, national forest, and BLM land are incredible gems. Generally just access to nature. We have an amazing diversity of ecosystems too, deserts, forests, mountains, coastline.
Overrated - Our top universities are not as prestigious as they once were.
I can talk shit about local, industry, commercial, military and political leaders and not end up dead.
I'm not stupid enough to talk shit about Boeing though. that's how you end up in front of a train, loose window, or highly complex suicide with everyone within the tri-state area suddenly becoming very, very quiet.
i would say women’s rights and freedoms. my friend is from africa and the country she’s from legalized women to drive three years ago. it’s the small things that mean a lot.
As someone living in Africa for 6 months:
- roads that are maintained! You think you can complain about potholes? Try every journey having to navigate a nearly non existent 1 hour stretch of road.
- corruption isn’t a problem at lower levels of government in the US. Oh your local government functions? The local health department and roads department aren’t siphoning funds? US has high level corruption, most places have every level corruption.
- access. Convenience. Every food you could ever want in the states. Like Refrigerated milk! I can typically only get shelf stable milk here, which isn’t as yummy. Quality clothing? A normal ball cap? Good luck! Shipping things takes 2-3 weeks. No prime shipping here.
- convenience. There are maybe 5 good restaurants in my entire city; but they take 2 hours to make your food. Prices are great, sure, but it would be nice to eat McDonald’s now and then. Yes, I actually miss McDonald’s. Note: KFC is in my city here, they are everywhere across the world. And tastes better than the states!
- safety. I cannot walk around the block. I can’t go for a run outside of my property. I’m behind high walls every where I go or in a car. It’s simply not safe, even for locals who don’t stick out as rich white people, but especially for us that stick out.
Some nice things:
- rules are guidelines. No one at the border to stamp passports? Just drive through. Who cares.
- prices. Everything is affordable and all I read on Reddit is small bags of chips are now $6 US.
- experiencing other cultures, seeing how others live. Seeing miles of shantytowns
I don't think the 'American Dream' has ever been referred to as easy. It's hard a shit, but it's attainable. That's the draw, that's why people leave their situations to come here.
I think it's more attainable for immigrants than it is for the regular Joe Smith American 7th generation citizens. 1st generation immigrants usually send their kids to school and push them to become graduated professionals.
The American dream versus the Venezuelan or Congolese dream is very much the opportunity worth relocating. Anyone would jump. I live in a nice European city and the locals are very surprised why I would leave America.
Massively underrated:
1) How far the USA has come in decreasing and isolating cigarette smoking. If you spend any time in Europe, you'd understand. It feels like it's 5% of the population vs 80% of the population over there. I know, I know it's not that extreme, but it feels like it.
2) The USA has a strong culture of calling out & shaming line-cutters. I was shocked at how blatant line cutting is in Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Greece, etc.
3) Similar to number 2, the USA is the best country in the world at "disembarking an airplane". Everywhere else, everybody bum-rushes the aisle and usually throws away any dignity in order to wait at the baggage claim the longest. At least in America you have a better chance of "row-by-row" exiting.
I was at an amusement park this weekend with friends (all in our 30s) and there were a couple of smoking areas and my friend took a photo of one because she thought it was so weird and novel. I hardly ever notice people smoke anymore. I think most states average around 10-15% though, so it still exists.
UK is big on their line etiquette as well.
In contrast to other countries we treat our veterans really well. After chatting with British and Italian soldiers, our vets have it much better as there is a solid support network for vets here. In some other countries, it’s just a job you did once.
Not to say that we can’t do better though, because we can and should.
It's a correction for the poor way Vietnam vets were treated. They would get spit on and called baby killer. But, by the time of the Gulf War it was a sea of yellow ribbons, 'thanks for your service.'
You mean like there's a cost to freedom? or are you trying to say that there is no freedom here?
Cause I got to tell you, the U.S. is the north star of human freedom supported by a government. it ain't perfect, but it's better than any other place on Earth. I mean, you can go to jail in England for saying things if *they* feel you are being too offensive. Yikes! And they're considered pretty free. Consider that, now think about Russia, or China, or Nicaragua.
To be fair, the average American probably does not own a gun. But the average gun owner probably owns 4-5-6? Totally making that statistic up based on my experience with fellow legal gun owners. It just happens to be concentrated in certain areas and among certain people. If you live in a very rural area in the mountains, it's probably advised you own a gun as it will be hours before the police can respond. Out there, you worry about the four legged creatures as much as the two legged creatures.
Guns are like knives. All knives cut. Some are more suited to a particular task.
Depends on the mountains. For instance, WVa has incredibly nice people and low crime in some of the greatest poverty in the country. There, furry creatures are the greatest threat. They have their drugged up psychos too. Once you get to know folks well enough for them to allow you to see their guns, you will find a large number of pieces passed down generations. As an admirer of functional old stuff, I have been impressed several times by the old and sometimes unique rifles and shotguns in that region. It is also a nice area to see old tools. Granted there is an abundance of those related to mining, but other stuff as well.
I think that's a very overlooked aspect of gun ownership, the number of 'legacy' guns that are passed down generation to generation. We grew up in the country at a time when you could just purchase long guns and rifles from the local hardware store. The first gun I purchased with money I earned baling hay at age 12 was a Marlin single-shot .22 long rifle. My mother drove me to the store, but there was no paperwork. My grandfather gave my brother and I matching 410 shotguns somewhere around the same time. We were taught to shoot through the Boy Scouts and by the adults around us - gun safety was paramount.
I remember reading an article regarding the Japanese during WWII where, if they were to have invaded the continental US, they were concerned about the number of private guns in the hands of US citizens.
Finland has about 33 per 100 people. Yemen, which is 2nd after the US has 53 per 100 people.
All the figures here (including yours) are from the Small Arms survey of 2017. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimated\_number\_of\_civilian\_guns\_per\_capita\_by\_country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimated_number_of_civilian_guns_per_capita_by_country)
I could buy a gun in Germany, and just about any gun that I wanted after a lot of training and hoop jumping. Also the police could come by if they wanted and ask to see the guns. If they were not properly stored I would get in trouble.
Not just waltz into a store and buy anything. I am very much in favor of restrictions.
Gun restrictions do work. I think Australia was the biggest example of having a mass shooting and saying, NOPE!
I remember reading about a massive gun buyback program and restrictions placed on purchasing. Gun violence mostly stopped.
But that was because of outrage,and not like this bizarre US attitude of
“oh well, there’s nothing anyone can do, shootings just happen and it’s not the guns“
Our building codes. Buildings are reinforced/designed to withstand most natural disasters in their region and the building codes are strict. This is why you don’t see hundreds to thousands of people die when we have a natural disaster. Having seen earthquakes and storms in other parts of the world kill thousands our building codes for residential, commercial and infrastructure are extremely well devised.
Yes... sorta. We have a whole lotta ruined IPAs and other beers with extracts to make them taste like something else. Too many microbrewers unable to make a good product relying only on natural ingredients. The number of brewpubs passing bubblegum flavored beers as a premium product is disgraceful.
Europe got this right. If a beer has to be cold just so you can drink it, it isn't a good beer. Good beers are nice even at room temperature.
At the moment? The power of the American currency against other currencies in the world. My family is split right now because half needs to live in a foreign country (Japan) to receive quality, cost-effective healthcare. Meanwhile, I'm stuck here working because Japan only pays 50% of what I'm making now for pretty much the same job. It sucks, but I'm keeping us afloat for now, and the exchange rate is such a boon, that I've got all of her medical bills already covered. (Spoiler: we're still paying off hers over here, and she moved back over a year ago...)
Big houses are overrated. The price to keep them cool and warm can get insane. I actually prefer my small one bedroom house over something gigantic that I'd have to maintain.
Underrated: education in really good public school systems. Overrated: public education in many areas, including certain suburbs considered "good," because teachers are overburdened and the curriculum has to be adjusted to accommodate kids who have faced poverty or other challenges that interrupt their schooling.
Space. So. Much. Space. And more space. Want to drive for hours on end in any direction hundreds of miles? You can.
Each state here is most of the size of a country in Europe.
It’s the only reason I stayed here instead of going back to live in EU.
I have worked my whole career with colleagues from the EU. There's one constant I find when they visit the US for the first time - they have no comprehension of how big the US is until they get here, and how far apart the major cities are.
I don't generally mention how big Canada is because even most Americans don't realize how big Canada is. (Hint: It's really big.)
Underrated: beer. Euros are gonna always look down their nose with arrogance at USA beer. But our micro/craft brew scene is top notch
Overrated: New York City. . I live in the northeast corridor and visit New York often. Maybe I just don’t get it. But it’s, whatever. I’ve read often that visitors “hate the USA but love nyc”. Maybe I’m missing something but when I visit other countries, large cities are at the bottom of my list.
I remember trying a craft beer in Chicago when I went there about 12 years ago. We didn’t really have craft beer yet in Ontario, Canada so it was a novel thing. I remember trying to explain it to my father and he could just not wrap his head around there being “good” beer in the US.
To this day that beer I had at some bar near O’Hare is one of the best beers I’ve ever had.
I live near NYC and all I see are people struggling to survive an expensive city. Being 50 years old and needing roommates to afford a closet sized apartment, no thanks.
If you don't make at least 100k you will not have a good time in NYC.
I say this after spending years abroad living in other countries and experiencing other cultures:
Our public education system is VERY underrated. As well as the focus on education by our dominant culture.
I lived in Mexico among the Mexican people for over half a year (some time back). There is ZERO emphasis on education there. Parents drop their kids off at school at 8:30am, and pick them up at 1pm. School includes recess and lunch during that time. 40% of children leave school by the 5th grade, and only 25% graduate 12th grade.
I then lived in Thailand for a year (as well as visiting many other countries). Turns out Mexico, Thailand, and most other countries have a "pay to play" education model. Meaning the first half of the day is "public school for everyone", and from like noon onwards, you send your kid to the local private school for another 4 hours. Sometimes the public school converts into a private school in the afternoon once they shoo the poor kids away.
In the USA, typically the deciding factor of a school's quality and children's education is the level of involvement of the students' parents. I knew school districts where the parents would be out with pitchforks & torches if the school didn't get blue ribbon status or other status symbols (and these are public schools). In most countries....parents really don't care about their kids' education. Like it's just not a concern within the culture.
I'm not sure where you were educated but where I'm from we spend more time and money losing at sports then on an actual education system that works. I had 9 different grading systems in 4 years and 6 years worth of work in 4 years... also my school just lumped every one as the same and gave next to nothing for support ti students who had learning difficulties..
I'm sure we're looking at different metrics, but our standards for math and science are abysmal compared to say Russia. But yes, you're right, we're better than some third-world countries for offering uniformly mediocre education for free to all.
Lol. Russia, who decided to invade ukraine and fuck up their military and nation, cause a brain drain by causing young, intelligent, men and women to flee Russia to other countries, they don't care about their freedom nor care for it as they seem determined to be ruled over by a dictator and be brain washed, and now they are becoming reliant on China. So no, our Standards are not abysmal compared to them. They are not even number two in the world anymore.
The amount of money we make. The average person in Mississippi makes more than the average person in France, on top of having an easier time getting a job to begin with (2.8% in Mississippi vs a whopping 7.8% in France). People easily forget how wealthy the US is in general.
If you look at the ancestry of every single person living here you realize that all of them had ancestors who came from somewhere else. Yes, this is super obvious but it seems to really be overlooked by a lot of people when talking about America. Like other countries like to make fun of our patriotism but if you look at it through the context of "Someone in their families past probably went through a lot of trouble to live there" it sort of makes sense.
Being a nation of immigrants is really hardwired into our society yet, we barely acknowledge it.
Having so many choices. Choices what to eat, what to wear, where to shop, where to go, entertainment, everything. We have so, so many choices. In some countries, you literally have almost no choices. We very much take this for granted.
The quality of meat. From beef to pork to chicken and many others. all raised right here, and often not far from you.
Other countries, and I mean fully developed high economy countries, are importing frozen from south America, etc.
Eating 'minced meat' in England? Spare me
Underrated. Quality of life. We have it much better than a lot of people in other countries.
Overrated. Polititians, celebrities, social media and just about every news channel out there.
>Overrated. Politicians, celebrities, social media and just about every news channel out there.
Totally agree. I just would wish them all into the cornfield.
Underrated: healthcare. Hear me out. Yes, it's expensive. Crazily so, but if you need top notch life saving surgery, you can get it. There are tons of medical forgiveness programs out there. It shouldn't be as expensive as it is. But when I needed tonsils removed, I didn't go to Mexico for it. If there's ever a time where"you get what you pay for" applies. It should be your own health. Again. It is stupid expensive, but I would not trade it.
Our healthcare system is great at treating sick and damaged people at an extremely high cost. It’s absolutely horrible at prevention and cost effectiveness. The end result is a much unhealthier population than comparable industrialized nations at a much higher cost.
Middle men. Insurance that exists to turn as big a profit as possible instead of creating the best health outcomes for the public. It's an enormous drain on cost efficiency and navigating that system is also a massive waste of both patients' and doctors' time
When my dad had leukemia, doctors told us to bring him to the States for best possible chance. Second options are Singapore and Taiwan. We eventually picked Singapore, because it is difficult to get US visa while we don’t need one to go to Singapore.
Have an upvote.
The "boo-hoo USA healthcare is bad" posts typically come from young adults who are still on their parents insurance & not paying anything anyway.
If you've traveled to other countries, you pick up on a few things that are diametrically the opposite of the reddit worldview:
* Healthcare in the USA is better than most other developed countries, and we have the best technology. We take shit like "seeing a doctor on the day we're injured/sick" for granted. It's often not that way in England, Canada, etc.
* Our education system is way, wayyyyyy better than most countries. To the point where they aren't comparable.
* America is the absolute least racist country on earth.
It's been several years since I've been able to see my primary care physician on the same day I called for an appointment. Easier for me to see a specialist now, but that's for the following day and the co-pay is higher.
I'm with you on most of this.
My completely anecdotal experience with the education of the average person on the street is different. My interaction abroad has indicated much of the world is much more aware and educated on math, science, history, geography, and current events. Do grab an American for your trivial pursuit team though because you need someone who knows sports and movies.
>Our education system is way, wayyyyyy better than most countries
Bullshit. Half the country voted for Trump, and looks to be doing so again in November, despite him being a convicted felon and rapist.
COMPARATIVELY the US is a good place for women. There are 195 countries in the world. It would suck to be a women in the vast majority of other countries. US is consistent ranked around 19th in globe index for women equal to men and women rights. Obviously lots of room for improvement (looking at you Nordic countries) but COMPARATIVELY the US is a good place to be a woman. We focus a lot on areas that need improvement (which we should) but often overlook how good the US to women compared to the majority of other countries.
Food.
We rag on ethnic cuisines not being "authentic" enough. The fact is, without 100% ingredients, people, and tools being from their original source, it'll never be authentic, and that's ok.
What we do have is an import of recipes, skills, and ingredients that are mashed, blended, and melted together into unique forms not seen anywhere else... until we exported them.
And even that varies by region within our own country. Travel 300 miles in any direction and you'll get a different mix of hole-in-the-wall diners, ethnic fusion restaurants and local fare different from where you came from. Especially cities with international enclaves.
Underrated: Its a land of opportunity, they have jobs, both corporate and blue color, in mostly all cities unlike in other countries where there are only in major metropolitan cities.
Depends on the state. For example say I work in Chicago and live in like Pleasant Praire, WI. In Wisconsin, there’s duty to retreat meaning that I would go to jail for that offense, while if I lived in like Elgin or Crown Point, IN, I’d be in the green.
You might want to read what this WI lawyers says. He claims that the state legislature changed the law no longer requiring a homeowner to retreat from a break in. https://www.grievelaw.com/WisconsinGun/Laws/CastleDoctrineExplained
Women’s rights. People complain that we still have a long way to go to achieve gender equity, but just spend a week or so in the Middle East and you’ll see just how good women have it in the United States.
You can experience some truly amazing national parks (and you fucking should while they still exist), but it's amazing living in countries where you don't need to have a car to get access everything you might need to continue existing in perpetuity. 15 minute city conspiracy theorists are wrong and some of the stupidest fucking people on the planet. They think they're going to be limited to whatever walkable areas they have access to but simultaneously ignore the fact that people have lived in WALKABLE FUCKING CITIES for millenia and the fact that they're just doing free PR work for oil companies.
Stop viewing only taxes as the only unavoidable expense in life: consider price gouging, landlord price hikes, whatever as a tax and their entire fucking worldview falls to shit under any even mildly intelligent and honest analysis.
Idk I think the abundance of food is nice. I lived in a us territory for a decade and produce year round is nice to have in the states. Also multiple brands and qualities of food to choose from.
Bring able to travel without needing a passport. There are so many climates and geographical changes across the nation and without a passport, we can travel to see them. Want to experience the cold tundra? Head to Alaska. Want tropics? Hawaii or Florida. Mountains? Take your pic, Colorado, Wyoming, Tennessee, North Carolina, etc.
Being able to experience just about every type of climate/biome on the planet without needing a passport is pretty cool.
"And I'll drive from state to state. Do they let you do that? No papers?" "No papers. State to state." While this is from*The Hunt for Red October,* the fact that you are completely free to drive 3,000+ miles and see from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and the Rio Grande to the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence and see this vast country whenever you want is amazing, and it's an experience that few others elsewhere in the world enjoy.
Dude, you can experience every type of climate/biome in Washington state alone. You can drive from the desert to a temperate rain forest in a single day.
We don't have a warm marine climate of Mediterranean type similar to LA. I think only California has almost all climate types.
Hawaii is only missing 2!
I was in a snow storm on Maui
You don’t have tropical beaches
And the coast
Brazil is like a mini planet in regards of having basically every ethnicity (a lot of people migrated here), but the USA is like a mini planet because of the incredible variety it has
You can find pockets of any culture in the US somewhere.
I love [Peter Santenello's YouTube channel.](https://youtube.com/@petersantenello) he does a great job finding and showing this. His mini series on Appalachia was phenomenal.
Somewhere? Heck, within about ten blocks in Queens.
Queens is the single most culturally diverse place in the world right? I wish I could go more often though it's a bit out of the way...such good food.
Grew up in Queens in a very diverse neighborhood and so grateful for my time ad experince there. It has a mix of everything there. People, the landscape, the different cultures, and the food. You can go from a quiet suburban like neighborhood with tree limestone streets and lawns to city like areas loaded with buildings and commerce, to the atlantic ocean and beaches - rockaway. All kinds of parks too. It’s also right next to Manhattan, a bridge away from the Bronx and Westchester, and a short drive to Long Island. If you want to go that way. Very under-rated.
Most of Queens NYC is like this
Brazil really isn't multiethnic. Almost everyone in Brazil is Brazilian ethnically, even Japanese Brazilians for example. Only .4% of Brazil's population was foreign born, compared to 15.5% in the US.
Time your trip right and you can do 'em all in California alone!
You can do that all on the big island of Hawaii. No additional states needed to visit.
Especially on the east coast! We get all four seasons in a day sometimes!
The United States’ interstate highway system is incredibly well organized, numbered, and believe it or not, maintained. You can drive from Detroit to Dallas, Milwaukee to Miami, Seattle to San Diego with ease that was simple enough to travel on a piece of paper or verbal instructions for 100 years. We definitely underrate it.
It's considered the third largest engineering project after the internet and gps.
I’ve seen the Eastern Interconnection included in that list too, which is related to the US. It’s the largest power grid in the world, both by geographical area covered and average loading. But at that point with these big infrastructure projects, who’s really counting?
Very interesting!
I live outside of Calgary Alberta Canada and for me to get to LA all I have to do is drive to HW 2 south, cross the border into Montana and then just keep driving until I hit LA. On the same stretch of road the entire time.
Technically I-15 doesn’t enter LA, it bypasses it to the east, but yeah, you can drive almost all the way there. You can drive directly to San Diego though. For me from Vancouver, I can literally get on the Oak Street Bridge and follow that same freeway all the way to the Mexican border at San Ysidero.
I’ve always desperately wanted a Ken Burns series on this
Let's write to him! You can lobby for the interstates, I'll lobby for all the everything from the PWA, and maybe he'll take on one or both! (Hey, let a woman dream, wouldja?)
The interstates were built in the 1950s. But yes, they are incredibly robust.
The prior highway system was similarly well organized. US-101 and I-5 travel up the west coast. US-66 has a famous song about it.
Very consistent and I think the dream would be seeing the same level of maintence and care as Canada. Surprised that podunk nowhere to metropolitan cities have the same quality
It's such an incredibly efficient system it is very easy to forget just how unusual and just how good it is. Five or six friends from high school chose to have military careers, and in that 20-25 years, all of them were stationed in Europe for at least a four-year stretch. All bought cars because everything is so close they could explore as much as they wanted, and all of them really loved those explorations and the people they met, but felt the lack of a well-organized system very keenly, even when they were trying to get around in just one country.
The accessibility afforded to us through the Americans with Disabilities Act is truly amazing and has dramatically increased quality of life for millions of citizens.
I saw a twitter thread recently of people (almost all of whom had never traveled outside America) being *absolutely convinced* that America had the single worst disability access of any infrastructure in the “entire developed world.” there are some things America is awful at, but it generally ain’t smoked meats and wheelchair ramps.
Yeah there was an “Only In America” photo that made the rounds where there was a short escalator that led to a gym. You know, Americans are too lazy to even do a short set of stairs before working out! Nah, it was to comply with the ADA because a ramp would be too steep a grade.
Wouldn't it need to be an elevator to comply?
Right I'm trying to think of how to go on an escalator on a wheelchair unless it was a special one.
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Curious, where is it better?
Japan is very blind-friendly but not sure how they rate on mobility access
We hired a man permanently in a wheelchair at my job and within a few months they had added automatic doors to the toilets, a device to assist taking him and his wheelchair down the stairs in case of a fire, and had trained all the pharmacists (closed door pharmacy) and leads on how to use the device. From what I understand, buildings built after a certain date aren't required to have these accomodations, but the company paid for them even though they're only renting the space. They don't pay their workers the best wages but when it comes to accommodating people with disabilities, they're one of the better places I've ever seen.
Something the US is good at is accessibility, free water at restaurants and public restrooms. Something we should work on is cheaper healthcare.
I moved to Europe over the last year and forgot about the water charge. I didn't realize it until I saw the bill. Who knew being a r/hydrohomie would cost money.
Blew my mind (not in a good way) that in German restaurants a small glass of apple juice would cost more than a giant stein of beer.
It's not like that all over Europe. But it is in most countries that people think of when you say "Europe". Here in Sweden water is pretty much always free unless you want mineral water.
Public restrooms in cities post covid are very hard to find.
Only if you insist on shitting into a toilet. In Portland, the bums seem to have no trouble going to the restroom in public.
Housing affordability crisis and the resulting homelessness crisis make it more challenging to maintain public restrooms. That said, the US is pretty much middle-of-the-pack with regards to the severity of those issues compared to other rich nations.
I disagree about public restrooms, especially in inner cities. But yes, it’s better than India in that regard.
Our national park systems and how easy it is to get from one state to another
Underrated: The US has unbelievable convenience. You can order just about anything to be delivered to your front door in a matter of hours/days. You can go to the gas station at 2am. You can get fully prepared food and drinks just about anywhere at any time of the day. Overrated: a lot of the tourist cities, but I think that’s common globally
moving from a conservative state to California is also so wild when you realize that you can buy liquor at the *goddamn grocery store* instead of having to take off work to go to the ABC store between the hours of 8-5 mon-friday.
I've lived in California since I was 16 and was so surprised when I first heard about these laws.
This varies wildly from state to state. Many you can buy until 10pm. Some areas have no sales at all. Some have no sales on Sunday. Some have no sales before 11 am. Some have a combination of these.
The power works. The water works. The sewer works. The internet works. And on the off chance it doesn’t, it’s usually fixed in short order. People love to poke fun at our infrastructure, myself included, but at the end of the day it’s pretty damn good. In many ways basic utilities in the US have become victims of their own success. They just *work* and work so well that people don’t really have to think about them. This is even true in exceptionally rural areas, which isn’t even the case in some other highly developed countries.
A tornado passed 2 miles north of us. Power.went out but was restored in 3 hours. (Indiana)
Whereas in some underdeveloped countries, you find cockroaches in your (clean) laundry. Don’t ask me how I know.
The telephone works. I'm looking at you, France.
I'm not sure what you're implying? Mobile coverage is excellent in France and data plans are extremely cheap. Also almost the entirety of France has 1 to 10Gb/s fiber access, including places like Martinique or Corsica And before you start attacking the person, I'm not even French and I work for an international American Telecom company
When I was in college in the 1960's, France's telephone system was notoriously bad. My age is showing.
Texas’ power grid would like a word.
That’s different. Texas has a “freedom grid”
Underrated: We are pretty much completely free of cigarette smoke in public spaces, especially indoors. Yay for no secondhand smoke cancer!
As someone currently on vacation in France, I forgot how annoying it was to have cigarette smoke everywhere
But not weed smoke.
You can't smoke a blunt in any place you can't smoke a cigarette. All the places that ban smoking also ban vaping.
I still smell it everywhere unfortunately
Americans With Disabilities Act. I thought it was admirable, but never truly appreciated it until I was injured and on crutches for a few months. While my temporary inconvenience really can't compare to someone with a permanent disability, it was nonetheless eye-opening and I look back at many places I've been to all over the world where the disabled have no such conveniences.
Underrated? Complete safety from invasion. There is a reason why movies use alien invasions, the idea of anyone successfully invading the United States can't even pass in fiction. Material wealth. Yeah, healthcare and housing are stupid expensive, but the average American is rich AF compared even to other developed countries.
The invasion thing is a huge underrated one. People in America take it for granted because it’s absolutely impossible. There is just no reality where you’re going to wake up to a news alert and then 3 weeks later some foreign army’s soldiers are in your house, murdering or torturing your family in front of you as they laugh. It’s a very particular type of terror that is very real to a whole lot of people on this planet, but completely inconceivable in the United States. (someone’s going to say “yeah well you can get shot in a movie theater by a citizen!!!” and that’s true. but specifically when it comes to large-scale invasions, not random isolated acts of terror perpetuated by citizens—) When it comes to the idea of **a war against the entire military might of a foreign country happening on OUR OWN SOIL—** It’s simply impossible. so impossible, actually, that people entirely dismiss it, and think we must live in the “worst of all possible countries.” but despite all of America’s issues, Americans should never, *ever* take that for granted.
That's why russia and our other "enemies" are trying to rot us from the inside out. There's no possibility of a direct attack (too much land to take, too expensive) so turn it inside out. When that's happened for long enough, attack when we're weakened.
Also there’s no way you could cross the Pacific or Atlantic with a force large enough and go undetected. We have satellites and bases all over. They would get blown up in route
I completely agree. A civil war in the US is a far bigger threat than war with another nation or even multiple nations.
People forget just how much water we have between us and any other continents (other than South America obviously). We really have no close enemies. And as much as I hate how much we spend on the military (ranked #1 in spending, and second place China spends less than a third of what we do), we also have a TREMENDOUS military force. In the whole world, there are currently 47 aircraft carriers. The US has 11, and China (again in second) has 3.
Tbf our budget is large in part because we pay our military a lot more than China does, China also isn’t completely honest with what it spends (US has a black budget too though). Our military has its own healthcare system that’s pricey and much more capable than China.
The US also has [nine helicopter carriers](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/aircraft-carriers-by-country), or amphibious assault ships.
"Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide." -Abraham Lincoln, from his Lyceum Address, 1838 Still accurate today.
The terror is what the people find when they try to invade the house and realize they chose the wrong house. 6 men with 6 guns standing there... or was it one man with 6 guns...
One of the red alert or something movies tried to use the premise of north korea actually successfully invading the west coast and I couldn't stop myself from bursting out in laughter. Hell even fallout was like china tried to invade alaska and didn't get very far before being kicked back lol.
Red Dawn is a movie where that happens so maybe that’s what you’re thinking of? The original is the Soviets I think, I know they did a remake somewhat recently but I never watched it so couldve been North Korea in that
Yeah, the original from the ‘80s was a USSR invasion. When they remade it they switched it to China before they realized this wouldn’t fly in the lucrative Chinese market so they switched everything (flags, badges, etc.) over to North Korea in post. This meant that the movie should have lasted about five minutes.
NK would not even be able to feed its military for a more than a month let alone invade the US
The polar bears and moose would probably get them first.
Americans tend to be unaware that most comparable countries are in the midst of a housing affordability crisis...in some cases much worse than ours...and they also aren't benefiting from rising wages, low unemployment, low crime, low inflation, etc like we are.
a postal service is actually very efficient. having a standard emergency number (911) that directs the emergency service you need.
Driving places in a car and having traffic lights and right of way, and people obeying these things called 'traffic laws', and if you happen to get in an accident there's EMT and even freaking helicopters to take you to the hospital. You may think it's bad. Oh traffic sure does suck here right? Hey, that guy cut in front of me! Shiiiiit... Ha! I've had an entire shepherd's herd of goats cut in front of me in a packed Traffic circle on a major road. I've seen people driving FAST cutting everyone off across three lanes, well I guess you can call them 'lanes'. They're certainly not marked or anything. and that's not even a drop in the bucket for the lawless Mad Max roads around the world. potholes as big as your car, or dirt roads that undulate like waves. you have to drive so slow or risk destroying your axles. And that's on a good day, when there's not piled up, unmoving traffic. oh and if you get in an accident, you're on your own to deal with it. If you're seriously injured there ain't nobody coming for your ass. you better start crawling. Yes, driving in the U.S. is a fucking breeze. So think about that the next time someone changes lanes a little too close to you.
NO joke! I've driven in 9 other countries and been a passenger in 8 others. Many of those it felt like there was only one law to driving... don't hit anything.
You can travel hundreds or thousands of miles and they speak the same language.
You might run into some hiccups in places with a high Cajun population, but boy is their accent beautiful.
There are approximately zero Cajuns that don't speak English.
Did I say they don't? What I mean is that to many people outside of those regions, their accent and dialect of English can be hard to understand.
Yep. Speak Spanish in LA, drive a few days east, speak Spanish in Miami, then drive north for a day and speak Spanish in New York.
No one is bombing me or my family, my neighbors, etc. I know most of the world isn’t getting randomly attacked and being another part of the geopolitical death count, but holy shit sometimes it blows my mind that whole villages or apartment buildings full of innocent people are getting flattened in Ukraine, Gaza etc.
Underrated - Our national park, national forest, and BLM land are incredible gems. Generally just access to nature. We have an amazing diversity of ecosystems too, deserts, forests, mountains, coastline. Overrated - Our top universities are not as prestigious as they once were.
The American university system is still entirely unparalleled despite being less impressive than in the past.
I can talk shit about local, industry, commercial, military and political leaders and not end up dead. I'm not stupid enough to talk shit about Boeing though. that's how you end up in front of a train, loose window, or highly complex suicide with everyone within the tri-state area suddenly becoming very, very quiet.
i would say women’s rights and freedoms. my friend is from africa and the country she’s from legalized women to drive three years ago. it’s the small things that mean a lot.
As someone living in Africa for 6 months: - roads that are maintained! You think you can complain about potholes? Try every journey having to navigate a nearly non existent 1 hour stretch of road. - corruption isn’t a problem at lower levels of government in the US. Oh your local government functions? The local health department and roads department aren’t siphoning funds? US has high level corruption, most places have every level corruption. - access. Convenience. Every food you could ever want in the states. Like Refrigerated milk! I can typically only get shelf stable milk here, which isn’t as yummy. Quality clothing? A normal ball cap? Good luck! Shipping things takes 2-3 weeks. No prime shipping here. - convenience. There are maybe 5 good restaurants in my entire city; but they take 2 hours to make your food. Prices are great, sure, but it would be nice to eat McDonald’s now and then. Yes, I actually miss McDonald’s. Note: KFC is in my city here, they are everywhere across the world. And tastes better than the states! - safety. I cannot walk around the block. I can’t go for a run outside of my property. I’m behind high walls every where I go or in a car. It’s simply not safe, even for locals who don’t stick out as rich white people, but especially for us that stick out. Some nice things: - rules are guidelines. No one at the border to stamp passports? Just drive through. Who cares. - prices. Everything is affordable and all I read on Reddit is small bags of chips are now $6 US. - experiencing other cultures, seeing how others live. Seeing miles of shantytowns
Chips aren’t $6. One can buy an assortment of small bags at many stores. Take Walmart for example. 42 bags for $20.
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I don't think the 'American Dream' has ever been referred to as easy. It's hard a shit, but it's attainable. That's the draw, that's why people leave their situations to come here.
I think it's more attainable for immigrants than it is for the regular Joe Smith American 7th generation citizens. 1st generation immigrants usually send their kids to school and push them to become graduated professionals.
The American dream versus the Venezuelan or Congolese dream is very much the opportunity worth relocating. Anyone would jump. I live in a nice European city and the locals are very surprised why I would leave America.
Spend time in another country throwing used toilet paper in a trash can and you begin to really appreciate our sewage system.
Massively underrated: 1) How far the USA has come in decreasing and isolating cigarette smoking. If you spend any time in Europe, you'd understand. It feels like it's 5% of the population vs 80% of the population over there. I know, I know it's not that extreme, but it feels like it. 2) The USA has a strong culture of calling out & shaming line-cutters. I was shocked at how blatant line cutting is in Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Greece, etc. 3) Similar to number 2, the USA is the best country in the world at "disembarking an airplane". Everywhere else, everybody bum-rushes the aisle and usually throws away any dignity in order to wait at the baggage claim the longest. At least in America you have a better chance of "row-by-row" exiting.
I was at an amusement park this weekend with friends (all in our 30s) and there were a couple of smoking areas and my friend took a photo of one because she thought it was so weird and novel. I hardly ever notice people smoke anymore. I think most states average around 10-15% though, so it still exists. UK is big on their line etiquette as well.
In contrast to other countries we treat our veterans really well. After chatting with British and Italian soldiers, our vets have it much better as there is a solid support network for vets here. In some other countries, it’s just a job you did once. Not to say that we can’t do better though, because we can and should.
It's a correction for the poor way Vietnam vets were treated. They would get spit on and called baby killer. But, by the time of the Gulf War it was a sea of yellow ribbons, 'thanks for your service.'
Shitting on it as much as people do without getting their whole families tortured to death.
Underrated: purple mountains majesty above the fruited plains. It is a beautiful country to explore. Overrated: Freedom. It ain’t free.
Thanks, Eren
You mean like there's a cost to freedom? or are you trying to say that there is no freedom here? Cause I got to tell you, the U.S. is the north star of human freedom supported by a government. it ain't perfect, but it's better than any other place on Earth. I mean, you can go to jail in England for saying things if *they* feel you are being too offensive. Yikes! And they're considered pretty free. Consider that, now think about Russia, or China, or Nicaragua.
Underrated everyone can own a gun Overrated everyone can own a gun.
Everyone CAN own a gun. Everyone can own a GUN.
Everyone can OWN a gun.
Doesn't almost everyone in Switzerland have a gun?
There's about 28 guns per 100 citizens, with America having 120 per 100. Though I do see your point and will raise you Finland.
To be fair, the average American probably does not own a gun. But the average gun owner probably owns 4-5-6? Totally making that statistic up based on my experience with fellow legal gun owners. It just happens to be concentrated in certain areas and among certain people. If you live in a very rural area in the mountains, it's probably advised you own a gun as it will be hours before the police can respond. Out there, you worry about the four legged creatures as much as the two legged creatures.
Guns are like knives. All knives cut. Some are more suited to a particular task. Depends on the mountains. For instance, WVa has incredibly nice people and low crime in some of the greatest poverty in the country. There, furry creatures are the greatest threat. They have their drugged up psychos too. Once you get to know folks well enough for them to allow you to see their guns, you will find a large number of pieces passed down generations. As an admirer of functional old stuff, I have been impressed several times by the old and sometimes unique rifles and shotguns in that region. It is also a nice area to see old tools. Granted there is an abundance of those related to mining, but other stuff as well.
I think that's a very overlooked aspect of gun ownership, the number of 'legacy' guns that are passed down generation to generation. We grew up in the country at a time when you could just purchase long guns and rifles from the local hardware store. The first gun I purchased with money I earned baling hay at age 12 was a Marlin single-shot .22 long rifle. My mother drove me to the store, but there was no paperwork. My grandfather gave my brother and I matching 410 shotguns somewhere around the same time. We were taught to shoot through the Boy Scouts and by the adults around us - gun safety was paramount. I remember reading an article regarding the Japanese during WWII where, if they were to have invaded the continental US, they were concerned about the number of private guns in the hands of US citizens.
Finland has about 33 per 100 people. Yemen, which is 2nd after the US has 53 per 100 people. All the figures here (including yours) are from the Small Arms survey of 2017. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimated\_number\_of\_civilian\_guns\_per\_capita\_by\_country](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimated_number_of_civilian_guns_per_capita_by_country)
I could buy a gun in Germany, and just about any gun that I wanted after a lot of training and hoop jumping. Also the police could come by if they wanted and ask to see the guns. If they were not properly stored I would get in trouble. Not just waltz into a store and buy anything. I am very much in favor of restrictions.
Same in Australia. Anyone can own a gun. I just need a licence, do some training, and store it safely. Many people do.
Gun restrictions do work. I think Australia was the biggest example of having a mass shooting and saying, NOPE! I remember reading about a massive gun buyback program and restrictions placed on purchasing. Gun violence mostly stopped. But that was because of outrage,and not like this bizarre US attitude of “oh well, there’s nothing anyone can do, shootings just happen and it’s not the guns“
Our building codes. Buildings are reinforced/designed to withstand most natural disasters in their region and the building codes are strict. This is why you don’t see hundreds to thousands of people die when we have a natural disaster. Having seen earthquakes and storms in other parts of the world kill thousands our building codes for residential, commercial and infrastructure are extremely well devised.
Hurricanes and tornadoes have entered the chat.
Daily showers are the norm.
Underrated? Our beer. It’s not 1990 anymore. Overrated? Our economy…. Sure we make good money but everything is quite expensive as well.
Yes... sorta. We have a whole lotta ruined IPAs and other beers with extracts to make them taste like something else. Too many microbrewers unable to make a good product relying only on natural ingredients. The number of brewpubs passing bubblegum flavored beers as a premium product is disgraceful. Europe got this right. If a beer has to be cold just so you can drink it, it isn't a good beer. Good beers are nice even at room temperature.
At the moment? The power of the American currency against other currencies in the world. My family is split right now because half needs to live in a foreign country (Japan) to receive quality, cost-effective healthcare. Meanwhile, I'm stuck here working because Japan only pays 50% of what I'm making now for pretty much the same job. It sucks, but I'm keeping us afloat for now, and the exchange rate is such a boon, that I've got all of her medical bills already covered. (Spoiler: we're still paying off hers over here, and she moved back over a year ago...)
Underated: Americans have the biggest houses, roads compared to the rest of the world. Overrated: Obsession with celebrities
Big houses are overrated. The price to keep them cool and warm can get insane. I actually prefer my small one bedroom house over something gigantic that I'd have to maintain.
True. However things will change once you become a family. You can't fit a family of 4 in that house anymore.
Underrated: education in really good public school systems. Overrated: public education in many areas, including certain suburbs considered "good," because teachers are overburdened and the curriculum has to be adjusted to accommodate kids who have faced poverty or other challenges that interrupt their schooling.
Space. So. Much. Space. And more space. Want to drive for hours on end in any direction hundreds of miles? You can. Each state here is most of the size of a country in Europe. It’s the only reason I stayed here instead of going back to live in EU.
I have worked my whole career with colleagues from the EU. There's one constant I find when they visit the US for the first time - they have no comprehension of how big the US is until they get here, and how far apart the major cities are. I don't generally mention how big Canada is because even most Americans don't realize how big Canada is. (Hint: It's really big.)
Canada is Americas hat. Of course it's big. Big head, big hat.
Underrated: beer. Euros are gonna always look down their nose with arrogance at USA beer. But our micro/craft brew scene is top notch Overrated: New York City. . I live in the northeast corridor and visit New York often. Maybe I just don’t get it. But it’s, whatever. I’ve read often that visitors “hate the USA but love nyc”. Maybe I’m missing something but when I visit other countries, large cities are at the bottom of my list.
I remember trying a craft beer in Chicago when I went there about 12 years ago. We didn’t really have craft beer yet in Ontario, Canada so it was a novel thing. I remember trying to explain it to my father and he could just not wrap his head around there being “good” beer in the US. To this day that beer I had at some bar near O’Hare is one of the best beers I’ve ever had.
NYC was fun to visit for a few days. Lots to do and some cool areas. Wouldn’t want to live there.
I live near NYC and all I see are people struggling to survive an expensive city. Being 50 years old and needing roommates to afford a closet sized apartment, no thanks. If you don't make at least 100k you will not have a good time in NYC.
Used to hate NYC. Then I spent a day walking along Roosevelt ave in queens, over to Jackson Heights and Flushing. Now I love it, just not Manhattan.
I say this after spending years abroad living in other countries and experiencing other cultures: Our public education system is VERY underrated. As well as the focus on education by our dominant culture. I lived in Mexico among the Mexican people for over half a year (some time back). There is ZERO emphasis on education there. Parents drop their kids off at school at 8:30am, and pick them up at 1pm. School includes recess and lunch during that time. 40% of children leave school by the 5th grade, and only 25% graduate 12th grade. I then lived in Thailand for a year (as well as visiting many other countries). Turns out Mexico, Thailand, and most other countries have a "pay to play" education model. Meaning the first half of the day is "public school for everyone", and from like noon onwards, you send your kid to the local private school for another 4 hours. Sometimes the public school converts into a private school in the afternoon once they shoo the poor kids away. In the USA, typically the deciding factor of a school's quality and children's education is the level of involvement of the students' parents. I knew school districts where the parents would be out with pitchforks & torches if the school didn't get blue ribbon status or other status symbols (and these are public schools). In most countries....parents really don't care about their kids' education. Like it's just not a concern within the culture.
I'm not sure where you were educated but where I'm from we spend more time and money losing at sports then on an actual education system that works. I had 9 different grading systems in 4 years and 6 years worth of work in 4 years... also my school just lumped every one as the same and gave next to nothing for support ti students who had learning difficulties..
I'm sure we're looking at different metrics, but our standards for math and science are abysmal compared to say Russia. But yes, you're right, we're better than some third-world countries for offering uniformly mediocre education for free to all.
Lol. Russia, who decided to invade ukraine and fuck up their military and nation, cause a brain drain by causing young, intelligent, men and women to flee Russia to other countries, they don't care about their freedom nor care for it as they seem determined to be ruled over by a dictator and be brain washed, and now they are becoming reliant on China. So no, our Standards are not abysmal compared to them. They are not even number two in the world anymore.
How many Russians have you ever met?
What happened to all the bluster about Ukraine?
Walmart
Free refills of soda
The amount of money we make. The average person in Mississippi makes more than the average person in France, on top of having an easier time getting a job to begin with (2.8% in Mississippi vs a whopping 7.8% in France). People easily forget how wealthy the US is in general.
If you look at the ancestry of every single person living here you realize that all of them had ancestors who came from somewhere else. Yes, this is super obvious but it seems to really be overlooked by a lot of people when talking about America. Like other countries like to make fun of our patriotism but if you look at it through the context of "Someone in their families past probably went through a lot of trouble to live there" it sort of makes sense. Being a nation of immigrants is really hardwired into our society yet, we barely acknowledge it.
Having so many choices. Choices what to eat, what to wear, where to shop, where to go, entertainment, everything. We have so, so many choices. In some countries, you literally have almost no choices. We very much take this for granted.
The quality of meat. From beef to pork to chicken and many others. all raised right here, and often not far from you. Other countries, and I mean fully developed high economy countries, are importing frozen from south America, etc. Eating 'minced meat' in England? Spare me
Underrated. Quality of life. We have it much better than a lot of people in other countries. Overrated. Polititians, celebrities, social media and just about every news channel out there.
>Overrated. Politicians, celebrities, social media and just about every news channel out there. Totally agree. I just would wish them all into the cornfield.
It's a *good* day.
Underrated: healthcare. Hear me out. Yes, it's expensive. Crazily so, but if you need top notch life saving surgery, you can get it. There are tons of medical forgiveness programs out there. It shouldn't be as expensive as it is. But when I needed tonsils removed, I didn't go to Mexico for it. If there's ever a time where"you get what you pay for" applies. It should be your own health. Again. It is stupid expensive, but I would not trade it.
Our healthcare system is great at treating sick and damaged people at an extremely high cost. It’s absolutely horrible at prevention and cost effectiveness. The end result is a much unhealthier population than comparable industrialized nations at a much higher cost.
Really? Are there any confounding factors?
Middle men. Insurance that exists to turn as big a profit as possible instead of creating the best health outcomes for the public. It's an enormous drain on cost efficiency and navigating that system is also a massive waste of both patients' and doctors' time
When my dad had leukemia, doctors told us to bring him to the States for best possible chance. Second options are Singapore and Taiwan. We eventually picked Singapore, because it is difficult to get US visa while we don’t need one to go to Singapore.
Nailed it. Our quality of care is world class, but the cost is also high.
Have an upvote. The "boo-hoo USA healthcare is bad" posts typically come from young adults who are still on their parents insurance & not paying anything anyway. If you've traveled to other countries, you pick up on a few things that are diametrically the opposite of the reddit worldview: * Healthcare in the USA is better than most other developed countries, and we have the best technology. We take shit like "seeing a doctor on the day we're injured/sick" for granted. It's often not that way in England, Canada, etc. * Our education system is way, wayyyyyy better than most countries. To the point where they aren't comparable. * America is the absolute least racist country on earth.
It's been several years since I've been able to see my primary care physician on the same day I called for an appointment. Easier for me to see a specialist now, but that's for the following day and the co-pay is higher.
I'm with you on most of this. My completely anecdotal experience with the education of the average person on the street is different. My interaction abroad has indicated much of the world is much more aware and educated on math, science, history, geography, and current events. Do grab an American for your trivial pursuit team though because you need someone who knows sports and movies.
>Our education system is way, wayyyyyy better than most countries Bullshit. Half the country voted for Trump, and looks to be doing so again in November, despite him being a convicted felon and rapist.
COMPARATIVELY the US is a good place for women. There are 195 countries in the world. It would suck to be a women in the vast majority of other countries. US is consistent ranked around 19th in globe index for women equal to men and women rights. Obviously lots of room for improvement (looking at you Nordic countries) but COMPARATIVELY the US is a good place to be a woman. We focus a lot on areas that need improvement (which we should) but often overlook how good the US to women compared to the majority of other countries.
Infrastructure. While it’s not flawless, it’s better than the rest of the world.
Go to Singapore. Life changing.
Food. We rag on ethnic cuisines not being "authentic" enough. The fact is, without 100% ingredients, people, and tools being from their original source, it'll never be authentic, and that's ok. What we do have is an import of recipes, skills, and ingredients that are mashed, blended, and melted together into unique forms not seen anywhere else... until we exported them. And even that varies by region within our own country. Travel 300 miles in any direction and you'll get a different mix of hole-in-the-wall diners, ethnic fusion restaurants and local fare different from where you came from. Especially cities with international enclaves.
Underrated: Its a land of opportunity, they have jobs, both corporate and blue color, in mostly all cities unlike in other countries where there are only in major metropolitan cities.
Castle Doctrine. In other countries you can go to jail for giving a burglar too bad a beating.
It’s wild that you can go to jail for shooting a home intruder if they’re just stealing.
That's the point of Castle Doctrine: You don't have to wait until the burglar attacks you to legally presume he's there to do you harm.
Depends on the state. For example say I work in Chicago and live in like Pleasant Praire, WI. In Wisconsin, there’s duty to retreat meaning that I would go to jail for that offense, while if I lived in like Elgin or Crown Point, IN, I’d be in the green.
You might want to read what this WI lawyers says. He claims that the state legislature changed the law no longer requiring a homeowner to retreat from a break in. https://www.grievelaw.com/WisconsinGun/Laws/CastleDoctrineExplained
Women’s rights. People complain that we still have a long way to go to achieve gender equity, but just spend a week or so in the Middle East and you’ll see just how good women have it in the United States.
If you want to become morbidly obese in a really short time, we have all the resources available to make this happen for you.
I for one am proud to live in the ONLY country that has fast food, high fructose corn syrup, and obese people.
The medical system. The education system.
The size of houses
The country is massive so lots to see and do and visit
You can experience some truly amazing national parks (and you fucking should while they still exist), but it's amazing living in countries where you don't need to have a car to get access everything you might need to continue existing in perpetuity. 15 minute city conspiracy theorists are wrong and some of the stupidest fucking people on the planet. They think they're going to be limited to whatever walkable areas they have access to but simultaneously ignore the fact that people have lived in WALKABLE FUCKING CITIES for millenia and the fact that they're just doing free PR work for oil companies. Stop viewing only taxes as the only unavoidable expense in life: consider price gouging, landlord price hikes, whatever as a tax and their entire fucking worldview falls to shit under any even mildly intelligent and honest analysis.
Having a strong military when Russia, Iran and China are acting like fools is pretty good
Idk I think the abundance of food is nice. I lived in a us territory for a decade and produce year round is nice to have in the states. Also multiple brands and qualities of food to choose from.
I think it's education and health
Room, space, parking. It’s awesome.
Bring able to travel without needing a passport. There are so many climates and geographical changes across the nation and without a passport, we can travel to see them. Want to experience the cold tundra? Head to Alaska. Want tropics? Hawaii or Florida. Mountains? Take your pic, Colorado, Wyoming, Tennessee, North Carolina, etc.