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Americans of Reddit, what's something that America gets shit for that is actually completely reasonable in context? (self.AskReddit)

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[–]Unknownentity7 101ポイント102ポイント  (26子コメント)

That a lot of Americans haven't traveled to another country. It's considerably more difficult and expensive for us to do it, especially if you live in the middle of the country. Plus there's so much to see here (for the record, I have traveled).

[–]mgzukowski 41ポイント42ポイント  (9子コメント)

To be fair its easy for a member of the EU to go to another because their countries are the size of our states. Hell Sweden has only about the population of the NYC and its suburbs.

Any of our states also have a GDP that can compare to a European country's GDP.

[–]soonerguy11 [スコア非表示]  (6子コメント)

Sweden has only about the population of the NYC and its suburbs

When considering metro size, it's more of the size of Chicago. Here's some more:

  • Belgium = LA

  • Denmark = Dallas

  • Norway = Atlanta

  • Ireland = Phoenix

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    [–]HungryMoose1 [スコア非表示]  (3子コメント)

    I remember having a conversation with someone and they were amazed at how a lot of Europeans can speak 4 languages. I just said "Imagine if every state had a completely different language, you would probably speak 4 different languages too"

    [–]RupeThereItIs [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

    completely different language

    They aren't even completely different languages.

    The romance languages, for example, are just over the line from being dialects of the same language. It's not terribly difficult for a French speaker to learn Italian or Spanish. Same general rules of grammar & many of the words are just slightly different.

    Swedish and Danish people can also often understand each other's spoken language. My Swedish friend said Danes sound like Swedes with "a potato in their mouth".

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      [–]Denny_Craine [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

      Also we don't get much if any paid time off so vacations in the sense Europeans understand them just don't exist

      コメントをもっと表示する (10 返事)

        [–]soonerguy11 41ポイント42ポイント  (12子コメント)

        Americans being proud of their European heritage.

        Claiming you're proud to be "white" or "European" is frowned upon, so people get specific. Some Americans care about their family's heritage. So what. Move on. The fact this gets under this site's skin so much is proof that people are digging deep for reasons not to like America

        [–]TheHiguty [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

        I think part of the issue is a cultural misunderstanding between many Europeans and Americans. In Europe, being proud of being descended from English people, or Germans, or French, is insignificant. So to hear people being proud of it seems bizarre (hence the ridicule). But, in a country as modern (relatively speaking) as America, it makes sense to have a greater awareness of one's cultural heritage.

        [–]soonerguy11 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

        Don't get me wrong, I also find it humorous when people do the whole "1/5th Irish, 1/18th Belgium, 1/9th Cherokee" nonsense, but I get it.

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          [–]DangerDamage [スコア非表示]  (5子コメント)

          Wait people are mad that I say I'm Italian or French or something?

          People are so fucking petty, wow.

          I honestly wouldn't put it past Reddit to actually get mad over this stuff.

          [–]soonerguy11 [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

          Check this site out on St. Patrick's day. The front page is polluted with posts making fun of the holidays. That is, unless, Bernie Sanders dressed as a leprechaun. Then everybody won't be too cool for school to celebrate.

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              [–]scottevil110 153ポイント154ポイント  (89子コメント)

              The fact that we don't have mass public transportation everywhere. Our country is simply too large and spread out to have the kind of rail or bus network that European countries have. Outside of the northeast, our major cities are hundreds of miles apart, with very little in between. It just isn't feasible to connect all of our cities with a nice, frequent train service that's going to be anywhere near affordable.

              [–]dlmcleo1 71ポイント72ポイント  (23子コメント)

              Reminds me of a really cool saying: "In America, 100 years is a long time. In Europe, 100 miles is a long distance."

              [–]Stockholm-Syndrom 38ポイント39ポイント  (42子コメント)

              *Points at L.A.

              Inner city public transportation should be manageable though.

              [–]scottevil110 18ポイント19ポイント  (38子コメント)

              And in most large cities, it is, and it's easily comparable to European cities.

              But I don't think the fact that LA has a shitty transportation system is somehow an indictment on American culture.

              [–]PacSan300 17ポイント18ポイント  (10子コメント)

              But the excruciating traffic in LA is a strong indictment on the city's lackluster public transport.

              [–]Stockholm-Syndrom 14ポイント15ポイント  (9子コメント)

              I've read somewhere (not a lot of time here) that the public transportation in L.A. was bought by automotive companies, that let it rot to push car sales.

              [–]notcalpernia [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

              Both General Motors and Firestone were confirmed to be involved. LA used to have great public transportation.

              https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy

              [–]PacSan300 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

              Speaking of streetcars, I read somewhere that a streetcar line used to run along the median of Highway 101 in Hollywood, before being removed to add extra lanes on the freeway.

              [–]raevnos [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

              GM did buy and shut down street cars in a lot of cities, but the lines were already in decline. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy

              [–]The_Max_Power_Way 4ポイント5ポイント  (0子コメント)

              It was the plot of Who Framed Roger Rabbit :)

              [–]RupeThereItIs [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

              Same for the Detroit metro area.

              There used to be street cars all over the place here.

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                [–]ahoyhoyhey 1ポイント2ポイント  (25子コメント)

                I don't know that I agree with that at all.

                New York is ok, not perfect but pretty decent, but beyond that I can't really think of anything that good. DC is mediocre, as I recall, Chicago I wouldn't even call mediocre, I can't think of anything that great in California at all... I suppose San Fran and parts of the Bay Area are doable, I don't believe Boston is that great...

                Can you think of any other actually good inner city public transportation systems? Clearly I could be wrong, but I think as a whole we do a pretty terrible job in the US, frankly.

                I say that having lived for a year in Madrid, Spain (great, great train system) and traveled a fair amount throughout much of Europe, relatively speaking. I can't really speak for SE Europe or NE Europe, but much of the rest (at least the more affluent countries) is way better than we are in my experience.

                EDIT: For clarity, Madrid is Amazing! I think I got spoiled there, which I'm sure influenced my view.

                [–]DerangedDesperado 16ポイント17ポイント  (7子コメント)

                The Chicago transit system is pretty fucking great my friend.

                [–]iusedtoexercise 4ポイント5ポイント  (1子コメント)

                Not sure about other cities but Minneapolis and Saint Paul actually have a fantastic metro bus system and light rail. However they are the only decent cities I've been on public transportation in Minnesota or the Dakotas.

                [–]RegressToTheMean [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

                New York is okay? What in the world makes other systems better? You can get anywhere in Manhattan with the Subway.

                The only bad last of the T in Boston is that it stops running at 2am. Other than that is pretty great.

                [–]BlueHighwindz [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                I would like to be able to commute to work by train in the morning but we've let the Hudson River tunnels rot and they won't be fixed until 2035. So I guess it's traffic over the GW, massive tolls, and eventual starvation for me. Or I get a new job.

                [–]mipadi [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                If you're commuting over the Hudson, you live in another state. Mass transit within New York City itself is great.

                [–]PacSan300 2ポイント3ポイント  (3子コメント)

                I live in the Bay Area and public transport's woefully insufficient here. In fact, it's true for California in general.

                And I can also confirm Europe's reliable transportation: I've rarely used a taxi or private car when I've visited the continent.

                [–]ahoyhoyhey 1ポイント2ポイント  (0子コメント)

                This has generally been my experience. Madrid, I think, was easily the best public transit that I've ever experienced. It was so smooth.

                [–]TBatWork 1ポイント2ポイント  (1子コメント)

                The BART screams at you because it's powered by the anguish channeled from its daily riders.

                [–]PacSan300 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                Even more anguish when they suspend transbay service. Understandable, as it creates a huge traffic clusterfuck on the Bay Bridge.

                [–]mgzukowski 1ポイント2ポイント  (1子コメント)

                People bitch, but the Boston T system works pretty well.

                [–]ahoyhoyhey 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

                Do you have anything to compare it to? I will admit it's been quite some time since I was in Boston, and I don't much experience at all w/ the public transportation system, but I don't remember it being anywhere near the level of, say, Madrid. Granted, Madrid was probably the best public transportation system I've ever seen.

                [–]TheDunkirkSpirit 1ポイント2ポイント  (2子コメント)

                Portland, Oregon has probably the best inner-city mass transit system of a city our size in the US. Bus, light rail, street car, and multiple car share options all readily accessible.

                [–]ahoyhoyhey 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

                That's cool - I don't know Portland. I'm not surprised, though - it seems like a pretty cool city that culturally would probably aim for less cars, less pollution, etc.

                [–]Mudnart [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                Portlander here. I work 17 miles from home. My wife works 7 miles from home. I drive, she takes Trimet. Our commutes are each about an hour.

                [–]cstemple 0ポイント1ポイント  (1子コメント)

                I don't use public transportation often, but it seems pretty decent here in Baltimore. Two different rail systems, tons of bus routes, free circulator for the city. Then again I've only actually used the subway/lightrail.

                [–]ahoyhoyhey 1ポイント2ポイント  (0子コメント)

                I'm not familiar w/ Baltimore. Interesting.

                [–]ZeGoldMedal [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                Grew up near DC, and just moved to Chicago. The public transit here is amazing compared to DC, though DC isn't bad. Maybe I've just been lucky, but neither are just mediocre and Chicago is certainly better than DC.

                [–]Barrister_Ryan 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

                And in any case, an indictment is not evidence of guilt.

                [–]soonerguy11 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

                Hey now! We're finally getting the Metro train in Santa Monica!

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                  [–]wjbc 19ポイント20ポイント  (2子コメント)

                  We also have a very effective rail system -- for freight. Subsidizing passenger service cuts into the efficiency of a highly-profitable freight service.

                  [–]wgc123 6ポイント7ポイント  (0子コメント)

                  This never gets enough attention - rail development went one way in the US and the other way in Europe

                  [–]UCMCoyote [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                  I took Amtrak a few times across country as a kid. Often the train would have to weight for a freight train because they got priority on the tracks.

                  [–]JohnnyBrillcream 4ポイント5ポイント  (3子コメント)

                  To piggyback on that, the land grab that would be required would be astronomical. There is a proposal for High Speed Rail from Houston to Dallas. I'm looking forward to see how Eminent Domain works for this one.

                  Edit: Word correction

                  [–]red2wedge 2ポイント3ポイント  (2子コメント)

                  Eminent Domain is the proper term. This is a common and understandable mistake.

                  "The term "eminent domain" was taken from the legal treatise De Jure Belli et Pacis, written by the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius in 1625"

                  Per Wikipedia

                  [–]JohnnyBrillcream 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

                  I stand corrected.

                  [–]jeksyjarvis [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                  Was Grotius the first person to be on a jury and then write a book about it? I think they did that with OJ Simpson too.

                  [–]woguwoku 4ポイント5ポイント  (1子コメント)

                  Los Angeles was the first major city developed after the mass production of the car. That's why the city landscape is so spread out, people thought that everyone would just drive in the future instead of public trans.

                  That's also why there's so much smog.

                  [–]ldn6 2ポイント3ポイント  (2子コメント)

                  Many US cities (apart from the more sprawling ones in the South that are newer) have very strong urban foundations with the potential for significant infill development that could be complemented well by improved public transport...in fact, they exist because of developers speculatively putting up neighborhoods along streetcar lines.

                  [–]DerangedDesperado 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

                  Yes outside cities. But there's no reason to get a massive transit system reaching Mexican hat, Arizona.

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                    [–]Aurailious 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

                    Look at a population map instead. We can quite easily connect regionally close cities with rail. Such as Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio. Or upper midwest like Minneapolis, Madison, to Chicago and others in that area.

                    The US as a whole is spread apart, but there certainly are regionally dense areas.

                    [–]Dicks4feet 2ポイント3ポイント  (1子コメント)

                    Everytime I go to san francisco I never am in a car. between the busses and the bart public transportation is great. Lots of big cities have it

                    [–]RupeThereItIs [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                    It is entirely feasible and affordable, we just chose to build the interstate highway system instead.

                    I'm not saying one is right & the other wrong, it's just that it's cost prohibitive to do both.

                    [–]Whatofitpunk [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                    ...what? China has this.

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                      [–]su5 31ポイント32ポイント  (7子コメント)

                      We have very different laws in different states. Hell, some of our states have legalized marijuana, while others had sodomy laws on the books after the year 2000. What people need to keep in mind is how incredibly large the US is. Texas is bigger than France, and the distance between Maine and California is 3,300 miles (5,400 km), almost the same distance as England from Russia.

                      [–]Denny_Craine [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                      The sodomy laws thing doesn't actually matter. Regardless of what laws are still written down the supreme court invalidated all sodomy laws in 2003

                      [–]weealex [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                      For the most part, stuff like sodomy laws are the result of congressional laziness. Even after the courts ruled that sodomy laws weren't kosher, it'd take time out of the various state legislatures to actually strike the law from the books. Until someone actually gets arrested for the laws, it's just not worth the effort for the government to get rid of the laws. It's assumed that everyone knows that the laws aren't enforced.

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                        [–]SirThomasYorkeshire 203ポイント204ポイント  (46子コメント)

                        If we didn't have our guns, the king of England could just walk into our homes and start bossing us around.

                        [–]The_Max_Power_Way 36ポイント37ポイント  (2子コメント)

                        Do you want that? Huh? Do ya?!

                        [–]Photoshart 21ポイント22ポイント  (5子コメント)

                        The tyrant King George of course!

                        [–]chilly-wonka [スコア非表示]  (4子コメント)

                        I'm 95% sure you're not the real Benjamin Franklin.

                        [–]Photoshart [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                        Well please don't tell anyone, especially the women. This will only serve to upset them, they are, after all, the gentler sex.

                        [–]UseTheCoasterYaPleb [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

                        Are you near sighted or far sighted?

                        [–]woguwoku 1ポイント2ポイント  (0子コメント)

                        disgruntled English royal - name checks out.

                        コメントをもっと表示する (36 返事)

                          [–]MooneySuzuki36 125ポイント126ポイント  (40子コメント)

                          Intervening all the time in foreign countries. It's a gray area really. We don't do something and we are being greedy and neglecting and the entire UN looks to the US to do something about it. We do something and now we are intervening on everyone's business and being the "world police".

                          We give more humanitarian aid than any other nation but we are seen as this huge aggressor/death machine.

                          [–]CarneyAsada 48ポイント49ポイント  (22子コメント)

                          Even most Americans don't understand this.

                          [–]AThinkerNamedChip 2ポイント3ポイント  (21子コメント)

                          That and the fact that our founders explicitly stated no foreign entanglements. Just do business with other countries and let them deal with their internal issues. If aggression against us becomes an issue, then it will be dealt with in context.

                          [–]fallingalt 15ポイント16ポイント  (5子コメント)

                          Your founders established a country on the Eastern Seaboard in a time where it took weeks if not months to cross the Atlantic.

                          America today has to deal with a world where some buggers with a pilot license and penknife training from a foreign country can take down two skyscrapers. This is to say that America's security needs and the security environment it operates in 1776 and 2015 are vastly different.

                          [–]brickmack [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                          And the entire reason that those people attacked us is because we'd spent the last few decades interfering in their countries, toppling their governments and resulting in the deaths of thousands of people.

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                            [–]CarneyAsada 22ポイント23ポイント  (11子コメント)

                            Who gives a fuck what people who died over 200 years ago said? they world today would be absolutely unimaginable to them. If you told them it would one day be possible to send a message instantly from the US to France, they would call you an idiot. I'm tired of people using them to try to dictate what we should do today. Their opinions or what they wanted are almost irrelevant because the world is a complete and utterly different place.

                            [–]ScroobyDoo92 [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

                            I disagree with this sentiment. They were brilliant students of history and social and the concepts they implemented for the new U.S. came from studying, for example, the ancient Republic of Rome and from great Greek political thinkers that were already thousands of years dead at the time, and those ideas served the country very well. Their ideas are far from irrelevant today.

                            [–]yeahhhsuuure [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                            They were also cool with slavery.

                            It's not like they were infallible with the constitution and that laws can't be changed or amended to reflect society's current view or world climate.

                            [–]Quetzel [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                            They would probably agree with you. I believe Jefferson said the constitution should be rewritten every 20 years since the world changes so much.

                            [–]jeksyjarvis [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                            The degree of socioeconomic change experienced every 20 years in the 18th Century is exceeded in about 4 years today.

                            [–]AThinkerNamedChip [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                            So, since you have though about this alot, please bestow your new Constitution and founding documents upon us. I, at least, would love to see how the modern age policymakers would do it.

                            [–]Kate2point718 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                            Who gives a fuck what people who died over 200 years ago said?

                            Yeah, I mean the country's founders certainly accomplished a lot and deserve respect for that, but I don't really get why what they said then should determine policy now.

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                                [–]VitruvianDude 10ポイント11ポイント  (1子コメント)

                                I agree, but want to add a point. We do it because our economy is so large and developed, stability in the larger world is essential for our continued prosperity. It also happens to be in the interest of the rest of the world. It has little to do with humanitarianism on one side or a desire for hegemony on the other.

                                [–]fallingalt 9ポイント10ポイント  (5子コメント)

                                Let's be frank here. Not all interventions are equal. America has done wonderful stuff in the past. Like defending South Korea from North Korean aggression in the 50s. Like driving out the Iraqis from Kuwait back in 91. But in the same vein, the US has also done more morally questionable stuff like the Iraq War and supporting little tinpot dictators in Latin America and Southeast Asia during the Cold War.

                                It's a gray area precisely because some interventions are iffier than others.

                                [–]MooneySuzuki36 6ポイント7ポイント  (2子コメント)

                                Yes precisely why I said it. But people tend to dwell only on the negatives. Yes what the US, more specifically the CIA, did in the Cold War to overthrow governments in the name of democracy was horrible, but too many times do we forget all the good some intervention has done.

                                [–]fallingalt 2ポイント3ポイント  (1子コメント)

                                I think the public perception with the US is that people look at America and nobody has a moderate middle ground opinion about her.

                                America isn't Great Satan that wants to force you to sell your children on the altar of capitalism. Similarly, America isn't your personal knight in shining armour to save your country from any and every problem that it might have. America is in the middle of these two extremes.

                                I know this might sound strange with folks used to American exceptionalism but the US is just like every other country. It has its own interests and does what is appropriate(or what your leaders think is appropriate) to preserve these interests. Not Great Satan. Not the world police.

                                [–]The_Prince1513 1ポイント2ポイント  (1子コメント)

                                Both of the times you mentioned weren't really 'American' interventions. They were the only times the UN Security Council has actually voted to intercede in a conflict with force.

                                [–]fallingalt 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

                                I should also like to point out that American forces contributed the majority of forces in both cases.

                                [–]Coffee-Anon 1ポイント2ポイント  (0子コメント)

                                When some huge disaster strikes I've seen people bitch about how much less, as a percentage of GDP, the US gave in comparison to their country...yet the US still gave a much larger dollar amount than any other country. So who helped more?

                                [–]Tactically_Fat 2ポイント3ポイント  (2子コメント)

                                Humanitarian aid and even billions of aid dollars... It's all considerably less expensive than fighting a war.

                                [–]UrDonutsMakeMeGoNuts [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                I would encourage you to read up more on our history of intervention, it would shed some more light as to why we intervene and why people call us aggressors. Just looking at how things are right now doesn't give the context as to why those issues arise and what could be done differently in the future. You'll also find that why groups like the UN point to us to intervene is because there's a difference from what we preach and what we do, and then we won't intervene on issues that directly stem from previous US constructed destabilization (think Islamic State now) even though it would fit our current rhetoric (currently "democracy" promotion). A short book that's very well cited would be William Appleman William's Empire as a way of life. Check it out!

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                                  [–]lukepa 69ポイント70ポイント  (43子コメント)

                                  Not having a passport or speaking a second language. This place is fucking YUGE (and classy) and everyone more or less speaks English. You couldn't explore everything there is here in one lifetime much less the world.

                                  [–]mitch_fwbsbpt 18ポイント19ポイント  (4子コメント)

                                  Was gonna correct your spelling, but YUGE actually sounds okay out loud.

                                  I agree though. I'd say the majority of americans are never put into a situation where they need to speak anything other than English anyways. It would more or less be a waste of time for most people

                                  [–]kimay124 9ポイント10ポイント  (7子コメント)

                                  I live mid-America and I'd say you should have a passport. You need one to get into Canada and Mexico now. But the second language I'd agree with. Most Americans learn a second language in grade school but loose it because we don't utilize the language anywhere.

                                  [–]cohrt [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                  You need one to get into Canada and Mexico now.

                                  nope. just need an enhanced license i can get into canada without a passport.

                                  [–]DerangedDesperado 2ポイント3ポイント  (3子コメント)

                                  The language thing must be new then because I've never known anyone who was taught Spanish in elementary school

                                  [–]meiswhitey [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                  I'm not being a dick but in NY at least I think you can get what they call an "enhanced" drivers license. You can travel to Canada and Mexico by land with it. I could also be completely wrong but that's what those awesome people at the dmv told me like 3 years ago. I'm not knocking your passport comment, I'm just adding some half assed info.

                                  EDIT: http://dmv.ny.gov/driver-license/get-enhanced-driver-license-edl

                                  Apparently it's by land and sea and it includes some places in the Caribbean as well. What's weird is that page only says "return from" those places and not travel to. Maybe it was just an oversight. I have no idea why I replied at all to your comment, I'm just drunk.

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                                    [–]Lumberjay85 3ポイント4ポイント  (1子コメント)

                                    I like to say that America is a Europe Simulator. Whereas Europe is a collection of countries with various cultures all sharing a continent, the US is a collection of states with various cultures all sharing a country.

                                    [–]mutt1917 1ポイント2ポイント  (7子コメント)

                                    Fair enough, but that's not how people usually travel. They don't visit every square inch of home country before moving to the next one. You check out what's interesting to you, and then you move to another bit of the planet.

                                    So, if you're from California, you might check out San Fransisco, LA, a few national parks, and then go on holiday in Mexico. Then move on to Europe, Asia, and whatever you fancy...

                                    A lot of the planet is very different from what you might find in the US.

                                    [–]Schneiderman 14ポイント15ポイント  (0子コメント)

                                    A lot of the US is very different from what you might find in California.

                                    [–]PacSan300 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

                                    You basically described me in the second paragraph. I've been to several countries, seen most of California's highlights, but haven't been to at least half of the US states. Some I've only been because I was changing flights at the airport.

                                    [–]potterHead1121 [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

                                    Unless you're poor. Or don't have the means to travel outside of the US. Are you generalizing "not how people travel" to just your experience/observations or do you have evidence that the majority of Americans travel outside of the United States?

                                    [–]mutt1917 [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                                    Not at all! By "how people usually travel", I was referring to how middle-class Europeans travel.

                                    My point was that Americans would need a passport if they travelled like we, middle-class Europeans, do in Europe, which fit within a different mindset.

                                    Note that I'm not issuing any qualitative judgement about any of it.

                                    [–]cohrt [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                    They don't visit every square inch of home country before moving to the next one.

                                    true but it costs a tone of money to actually go somewhere that you would actually need a passport.

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                                        [–]HarveySpecs 7ポイント8ポイント  (2子コメント)

                                        Lawsuits. For example, accidents happen, but so do the medical bills that often follow, and not everyone has adequate/any insurance to pay those bills.

                                        [–]dude_icus [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                                        But the people who typically file those sorts of cases for malpractice or whatever already have some money. Hell, my family is thoroughly middle class, and we couldn't afford to take anyone from a nearby hospital to court after they screwed over my dad.

                                        [–]TooBuyFor 32ポイント33ポイント  (14子コメント)

                                        Having a military the size of our military.

                                        [–]CripzyChiken 43ポイント44ポイント  (3子コメント)

                                        largest air force in the world - the US Air Force. 2nd largest Air Force - the US Navy!

                                        [–]iammandalore [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                                        Another fun fact: if you count commissioned and reserve aircraft carriers, there are 40 in the world. We have half of them.

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                                          [–]TheDunkirkSpirit 26ポイント27ポイント  (8子コメント)

                                          Everyone complains about it until shit goes down, then everyone complains about how the US isn't sending military support fast enough.

                                          [–]lupusmagnus11 [スコア非表示]  (3子コメント)

                                          The U.S. is like a modern day Rome. There's usually a single country or government that has control over a good chunk of the policies of the entire world. It used to be Rome. Now its the U.S. And, if it wasn't us, it'd be someone else. That was the idea behind the Cold War. If our military and presence shrank, other countries would rise up to fill the vacuum of being the superpower.

                                          [–]vikinick [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

                                          France and the UK stopped being top world powers after losing the Suez Canal.

                                          [–]lupusmagnus11 [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                                          Exactly. The U.S. didn't really have such a large world presence until the 20th century. At least that's how I've come to understand how the events played out.

                                          [–]andwhyshouldi 9ポイント10ポイント  (1子コメント)

                                          Which is ridiculous, because honestly, if you want our help that much, perhaps don't act like we're the worst people to ever walk the earth until you need us?

                                          [–]Coziestpigeon2 [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                                          No one complains about the US not sending military support anywhere. At least, not in any publications I've read as a Canadian.

                                          [–]duderex88 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                          Our military size keeps other countries from having to upscale their military.

                                          [–]dqsg22 26ポイント27ポイント  (8子コメント)

                                          Beer. I was so excited to try beer in England. To my dismay they mostly drink a beverage that is identical to bud/Miller/Coors only they call it carlsberg/carsling/ or 1554 (is it 1664?).

                                          I admit that the cask ales were amazing.

                                          As for craft beers the average pub had less than a dozen choices. In America it's easy to find places with over a hundred to choose from. The US is a beer mecca right now

                                          [–]Prodigy195 8ポイント9ポイント  (1子コメント)

                                          Absolutely. I went to Australia and people were shitting on American beer. I asked them what they had and it was mostly Bud, Bud light, Coors, or some of the other basic domestic stuff.

                                          Well no shit, you didn't try one of the literally hundreds of better craft beers that are easily available.

                                          [–]FishTacos [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                          You've got USA and Belgium at the top for beer, no contest even.

                                          [–]negativeyoda [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                                          America is killing it on beers right now. There are actually breweries in England producing American style IPAs now. IE, the English are copying an American take on an English style

                                          [–]Rjc1992 1ポイント2ポイント  (0子コメント)

                                          This inspired me to start a name your favorite American craft beer ask reddit so i can use the answers to add to my arsenal

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                                            [–]Nulono[S] 9ポイント10ポイント  (10子コメント)

                                            It irritates me when people make fun of America for having bizarre laws like "it's illegal to whistle underwater" or "it's illegal to carry ice cream in your back pocket". These tend to be laws in specific cities, not all of America, and they're usually instituted because some specific incident made them necessary. The latter one, for example, is an attempt to deter cattle theft; if any animal who wanders onto your land becomes your property, all you have to do to steal an animal is lure it onto your property with a tasty treat, and if it's in your pocket you can claim that you didn't do so intentionally.

                                            [–]Iposthigh 4ポイント5ポイント  (4子コメント)

                                            Wait, cattle like ice cream?

                                            [–]DivinelyMinely 5ポイント6ポイント  (2子コメント)

                                            Did you know the cows in Hershey, PA, eat chocolate and then the farm sends their milk to Hershey's Chocolate make more chocolate?

                                            [–]Phantom0808[🍰] 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

                                            They will eat everything especially sweets.

                                            [–]a_great_thinker 1ポイント2ポイント  (3子コメント)

                                            I'm from America and I still don't understand how someone couldn't come up with a less specific law than "don't carry ice cream in your back pocket" to deter cattle theft buy luring it onto your property. Put it in your front pocket and you bypass the law completely while committing essentially the same act.

                                            [–]The_Crooked_Man 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

                                            To be fair, 90% of these ridiculous laws are just not enforced. All they're really good for is a good chuckle while reading them online.

                                            [–]theblackfool [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                            A lot of the laws were also written by small town folks 100 years ago.

                                            [–]LoisNoLastName [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                            Or carry frozen yogurt instead of ice cream.

                                            [–]Laann7 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                            What about the whistle underwater thing?

                                            [–]-eDgAR- [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                            Hollywood. As much as people complain about the industry, the stars, etc. America is a powerhouse for entertainment, not just for ourselves, but for the rest of the world.

                                            [–]wjbc 13ポイント14ポイント  (4子コメント)

                                            Urban sprawl. Planned cities sound great, but the price of housing goes up and it's very undemocratic. There's something very elitist about sneering at cheap housing. There's room for both, let the people decide which they like better, Houston or Portland -- and which they can afford.

                                            [–]ldn6 10ポイント11ポイント  (0子コメント)

                                            Sprawl is more expensive in the long run, though. While housing prices may be cheaper due to lower land values, the costs of infrastructure that's used less efficiently due to geographic spread (roads, sewers, power etc) and travel and congestion costs negate the short-term gains from reduced housing costs.

                                            [–]RolandSchlopendorf 13ポイント14ポイント  (1子コメント)

                                            very undemocratic

                                            And how is sprawl democratic? Real Estate developers aren't elected and have no accountability to anyone.

                                            [–]deadlast [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                            Zoning boards are typically democratically elected and have vast power.

                                            [–]FishTacos 3ポイント4ポイント  (0子コメント)

                                            This is such an odd view to me - its a city and the home to millions of people. Why wouldn't you want to make it an awesome place? Repeated studies have shown that green space, public transportation, and urban growth boundaries make that happen and prevent disasters like we have in texas where there was an industrial explosion next to a school and the closest hospital was across town.

                                            [–]--jake-- [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

                                            American "cheese" is fucking delicious on cheeseburgers so shut the fuck up!

                                            [–]dick-nipples 8ポイント9ポイント  (7子コメント)

                                            Pretty much every American enjoys some greasy, salty fast food every once in a while.

                                            [–]sPIERCEn [スコア非表示]  (6子コメント)

                                            I think if you don't eat at 5 guys once a year you should be deported.

                                            [–]bonnie_metal [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

                                            Where am I getting deported to? Haven't eaten there in at least 2 years.

                                            [–]mrspeacockwasaman [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

                                            Send me away with my In N out, idgaf

                                            [–]sPIERCEn [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                                            That would be a fitting substitute. and arguably tastier than 5-guys. (I've never eaten there, but I would love to)

                                            [–]mrspeacockwasaman [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                            I've had 5 guys and I don't remember it. But oh, a double double animal style, or with grilled onions, ohhh, I remember you

                                            [–]OldManTrafford16 9ポイント10ポイント  (13子コメント)

                                            Well we actually are pretty shitty at soccer.

                                            Edit: To clarify, our men's team and club league are pretty shitty at soccer.

                                            [–]Coffee-Anon 6ポイント7ポイント  (3子コメント)

                                            For good reason though, most of our best male athletes end up playing football. An infrastructure for women to play American football in the US is almost non-existent, and lo and behold, our Women's soccer teams are very competitive internationally, where our men's teams are not.

                                            [–]lewiitom [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

                                            There is also considerably less competition in women's soccer. Not to take anything away from America's achievements, but there aren't too many other countries where women's soccer is taken as seriously - whereas for the men's, almost every big country (excluding a few) takes it really seriously.

                                            [–]abigwiener [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                            Women's soccer in other countries is similar to men's soccer in the US. It just doesn't have very much support nor do many young athletes aspire to go pro in it.

                                            [–]Coffee-Anon [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                            I don't know much about women's soccer but that sounds exactly like women's college basketball in the US - the lack of parity is disappointing, championships seem to be won by a revolving door of the same 5 teams that get all the best players, and there's usually little doubt who will be playing for championship from the beginning of the season.

                                            [–]AFandAM 2ポイント3ポイント  (2子コメント)

                                            What is a "soccer"?

                                            [–]hitbyacar1 2ポイント3ポイント  (2子コメント)

                                            Um our women kick ass.

                                            [–]duderex88 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                            Yes American women kick ass

                                            [–]OldManTrafford16 0ポイント1ポイント  (0子コメント)

                                            You are absolutely correct. I should have clarified. I will fix that.

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                                              [–]eggshitter 13ポイント14ポイント  (3子コメント)

                                              The whole thing about "too much guns"

                                              If someone came in to my home and tried to take my shit, I'd want to shoot them to be frank. But that's illegal in my country, so I have no idea what I'm meant to do if someone breaks in. Hide? Fuck no.

                                              [–]AnalTyrant [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

                                              The big one that I haven't seen in this thread yet would be a lot of the negativity around our healthcare/insurance/medicine companies. People like to point out how expensive it is to get sick, and how rich the insurance companies are and how much money big pharma makes off selling it's medicine in the US, especially when those same meds are sold cheaper outside the US.

                                              Basically, all I should say is "you're welcome rest-of-the-world."

                                              We spend insane amounts of money on our medical system, yes, and lots of that system is kind of broken or fucked up. But a good chunk of all that money we're shoveling in there goes to developing those fancy medicines and medical tech, so that you all can use it in your countries too. We'll cover the r&d costs on this stuff, so you don't have to.

                                              Yes, there are other people in the world doing research and creating medical breakthroughs, I don't want to ignore that. But no other individual nation is doing it on the scale that we are.

                                              [–]DangerDamage [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                              I'd like to add on a lot of people are actually under the really stupid impression that if we break a rib or some shit in a car accident, they just leave us there like "lol you don't have insurance."

                                              No, we get proper medical care and they do have charity care as well.

                                              I honestly think people compare out health-care system to someone browsing a porn website with no anti-virus on IE. No, we're not walking around taking a huge fucking gamble like that, guys.

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                                                [–]6thFairway [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                                Speaking English only. Do you know how far we have to go to find some place that doesn't have English as a primary language? You travel across Europe and hear many languages. I leave Georgia and go 2000 miles to California without leaving a primarily English-speaking area. I learned Spanish in high school, but never got to practice it and now I don't speak it anymore.

                                                [–]_ShutThatBabyUp [スコア非表示]  (2子コメント)

                                                We have all these big trucks, but its not our fault that we have so much farmland and nothing runs like a Chevy Silverado

                                                [–]HungryMoose1 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                                Dashing through the snow

                                                In a recalled Chevrolet

                                                Over the fields we go

                                                Until our tie rods break

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                                                  [–]fallingalt [スコア非表示]  (9子コメント)

                                                  If anything I don't understand, as seen by some posts in this thread, is how some Americans treat the constitution like some holy text and the founders like saints and apostles.

                                                  [–]Alberich10025 [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                                                  I think it's a stability thing. We hold up the Constitution as Holy Writ not because it is, but because by doing so, we are less apt to change with every passing fad, so-to-speak. Does this mean that we can be less progressive on social issues than other countries? Sure. But it also means that we can't as easily change our underlying structure so as to allow a Third Reich-like scenario here, or find ourselves in the position where a leader can develop a Putin-like cult of personality and linger for decades.

                                                  [–]fallingalt [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                                  Maybe some of your compatriots overdo it a little but what you're saying kinda makes sense.

                                                  [–]BlueHighwindz [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                                  The brilliance of the Constitution is not in the glorious holiness of the document or how George Washington was secretly clean-shaven Jesus in a wig. The brilliance is that representative democracy has created the most stable system in human history. I don't actually know if any of that has anything to do with people's ability to choose their own future or any of our other high-minded ideals (probably nothing at all) but rather that political power is decentralized, there is a clear system for passing on power, and nobody is in any position to fuck things up too badly.

                                                  Older civilizations had to fight civil wars upon the death of every king/emperor. They would be rocked to their foundation by coups and revolutions, or be rendered paralyzed when an incompetent teenaged fool would take the throne thanks to no credentials better than being the son of the last guy. There's considerably greater barriers to entry now, a truly insane nutfuck can never actually be president. But even when we have a bad leader he has hardly any real power (comparatively) and is out of there in at most eight years. Congress can bicker and scream at each other in a clearly defined and safe way of rival powers and factions to clear our their grievances without needing to call in the troops. It's turned wars into politics, essentially a sideshow to distract politicians and the public while the real gears of stable government continue to turn unmolested.

                                                  So yeah, Congress is disgusting and depressing and full of unbelievable stupidity. But luckily none of these people can ever wield real power. Enjoy it.

                                                  [–]Chocolate_Boy [スコア非表示]  (4子コメント)

                                                  Because it represents more than a framework for governance. It marks the birth of the American nation, and is thus significant to our national identity. Same kind of thing for the Declaration of Independence. Older nations have rich and ancient history to draw from. For us, this was the first time 13 distinct and often disagreeable local cultures stood together and said "this is happening. We're a thing now." This is also why the founders have been deified.

                                                  [–]fallingalt [スコア非表示]  (3子コメント)

                                                  Hmmm, I understand the point you're making but wouldn't a common heritage of decades of British colonialism be sufficient basis for forming a nation? Not to mention a common heritage of Protestantism.

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                                                    [–]_FillerName 8ポイント9ポイント  (4子コメント)

                                                    Kinder Eggs. Is it unreasonable to think that kids will choke on the toys inside? They aren't even that good, either. They just achieved meme status for being banned.

                                                    [–]PantsPastMyElbows [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                                                    There's a giant plastic container that the toy is in. If they toy was just floating around in a hollow chocolate egg then, yeah, it makes sense.

                                                    [–]-eDgAR- [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                                                    You know what I think is weird, they can sell off-brand Kinder eggs at my local grocery store.

                                                    [–]nine_t_nine 4ポイント5ポイント  (41子コメント)

                                                    The fact that we're all so damn fat.

                                                    It's true that many of us could put down the pastries, but with so many poor people in food deserts and the unhealthiest foods being the cheapest, it's hard NOT to be fat when you're poor. Add in cultural attitudes towards food and cooking that don't usually help healthy eating, and you have a lot of fat ass Americans.

                                                    [–]smeyers 2ポイント3ポイント  (0子コメント)

                                                    This really needed a serious tag

                                                    [–]LongTimeLurkerDude 1ポイント2ポイント  (9子コメント)

                                                    The Kardashians. Without them, several people at E! would be out of a job. They would then have to depend on the government for assistance, increasing the national debt, and eventually leading to another Great Depression. They are the glue that keeps the global economy together, but somehow get shit on by everyone around the world.

                                                    [–]Kate2point718 [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                                    I almost think that some people enjoy hating the Kardashians so much that they would be disappointed if the Kardashians became irrelevant.

                                                    [–]KuroShiroTaka 1ポイント2ポイント  (7子コメント)

                                                    And getting shit on is justified when the main Kard is a Histrionic, Narcissistic gold digger married to an even bigger narcissist and idiot.

                                                    [–]LongTimeLurkerDude 3ポイント4ポイント  (5子コメント)

                                                    You must be employed by the TLC network. Sorry, but Little Women L.A. and Married at First Sight have no significant impact on the global economy. Think of the future man.

                                                    [–]KuroShiroTaka 0ポイント1ポイント  (4子コメント)

                                                    Don't even have a job yet, and even if I did, I'd never work with those hicks

                                                    [–]LongTimeLurkerDude 0ポイント1ポイント  (3子コメント)

                                                    You clearly don't understand sarcasm

                                                    [–]KuroShiroTaka 0ポイント1ポイント  (2子コメント)

                                                    It's hard to convey it with text

                                                    [–]LongTimeLurkerDude 0ポイント1ポイント  (1子コメント)

                                                    Agreed. It's Friday, enjoy the weekend.

                                                    [–]KuroShiroTaka 1ポイント2ポイント  (0子コメント)

                                                    Yep, just living life as an average 18yr old redneck in the ass end of Ohio (West side of Cincinnati) browsing reddit and feeling pissed that the cats ruined my headphones.

                                                    [–]ok_not_ok 1ポイント2ポイント  (0子コメント)

                                                    gold digger

                                                    Kim Kardashian has always been rich.

                                                    [–]username9k 1ポイント2ポイント  (1子コメント)

                                                    Capitalism. I mean sure its kinda fucked now, but it was a pretty good idea at the start.

                                                    [–]Team_Single_Male [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                                    Marxist beliefs states that Capitalism will crack under its own weight and give way to communism.

                                                    [–]super_toker_420 [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                                                    Paying for health care. A lot of governments are bleeding money because of their universal health care.

                                                    [–]hirethestache [スコア非表示]  (1子コメント)

                                                    If we get shit about it, wouldn't that mean it's not completely reasonable?

                                                    [–]DangerDamage [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                                    No, it would mean a lot of the outside viewers don't actually live her nor know what they're speaking about.

                                                    Like a lot of the responses in this thread pointing out how it's reasonable we don't have mass transportation or the reason why we eat more fast food or something.

                                                    [–]kalir [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                                    we're fat and shallow. without our ability to collective shallowness or greediness you wouldn't have your music celebrities or tasty junk foods.

                                                    [–]nightmarejetfuel [スコア非表示]  (0子コメント)

                                                    We were working on it. GM, in the early part of the last century, purchased the rail system. They started limiting the availability of the trains in order to sell more cars. They sold it under the aspect of freedom of movement.

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