上位 200 件のコメント表示する 500

[–]Mtfthrowaway112 963 ポイント964 ポイント  (78子コメント)

Driving everywhere. Unless you live in a place like New York or Washington DC the mass transit system either doesn't exist or is so slow and underdeveloped as to be useless. Walking to the corner store isn't practical for me since the corner store is over a mile and a half away. Bikes are not the safest on 5 lane thoroughfares and they are also massively impractical in places where winter covers sidewalks and roads for months and doesn't give up, like Northern Michigan where I used to live. My job commute is also in the neighborhood of 12 miles... I'm driving to remain economically viable, not just out of convenience.

[–]ChrysW 108 ポイント109 ポイント  (17子コメント)

I had people ask me why I drove an hour one-way to my university. While they're right that I had a local option, it was too expensive and would've required more debt on my part or work to get scholarships/grants. Oh and it was still 30 minutes away, so I chose the cheaper option and just dealt with the longer commute. For many other areas in my state, driving was their only option, usually via state routes and back roads. My two hour round-trip commute was actually shorter than several of my peers who lived in these more rural areas, and considering they had jobs, they likely spent 3 hours on the road every time they had class and work on the same day. This still doesn't account for errands, food, etc, as I live 10 minutes from anything (gas stations, post office, etc), and if I want better options, 20-30 minutes more.

I've graduated now but I'll likely have a similar commute to get better jobs since I doubt I'd like city life (plus I'd probably still need a car. Public transportation is spotty at times). I already drive 20-30 minutes for my part-time job, but I need to get something better in the future. Driving is how I'll solve this problem, and many others. I'm not entirely fond of doing so much driving just to complete simple tasks, but what choice do I have? Plus I have an extensive CD collection and enjoy my alone time, so it's kinda nice.

[–]DeepSouthPrincess 54 ポイント55 ポイント  (3子コメント)

I was going to come here and say driving, but you've already done it. Not driving in rural America = Not working, not eating, no anything, really.

The nearest bus is 25 miles away or so.

[–]blay12 91 ポイント92 ポイント  (12子コメント)

Lol I live within the area covered by the DC Metro system, and calling it "developed" is a big stretch, especially right now since half of the trains are shut down on a rotating basis for repairs. NYC probably has by far one of the the most robust public transportation systems in the US between the train and buses, and even that has a bunch of issues.

That being said, yeah, driving is a necessity.

[–]sharkboy421 21 ポイント22 ポイント  (3子コメント)

I live the DC Metro area as well. Metro is nice to get into the city for specific reasons (going to the Smithsonian or to see a Caps game) but as you said, with all of the repairs and delays it is horrible to rely on for transportation.

I do have several coworkers who live much closer to the city and use it come to work, but for someone like me who is on the edge of the system, driving is just simply the better option.

[–]7_up_curly 74 ポイント75 ポイント  (2子コメント)

This!! I'm Canadian, but when I was younger my cousins from Europe came over the visit. It didn't take them long to realize that in North America, you NEED a car to go anywhere. We lived in a rural farming town, there wasn't a bus for 50 miles, and even if there was a Greyhound, that's not a bus you want to get on.

Major cities like Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal will have a somewhat reliable system, but everything else is vehicle dependent... at least if you ever want to leave a 15 block radius... and in winter, no car = not happening.

[–]IveAlreadyWon 23 ポイント24 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Crazy part is that your 12 mile commute isn't even that bad. That's on the low side of the commuting.

[–]Morallvar 47 ポイント48 ポイント  (7子コメント)

I have literally never had another option for transportation besides driving. I've never used public transport, it doesn't exist here.

[–]BrainDamage1027 13 ポイント14 ポイント  (5子コメント)

Same here. I live in rural Pennsylvania. If you live in town, you can take a small bus that looks more like a big van to certain key areas-grocery store and such. But if you live out of town, surrounded by farms, you either drive or walk 10 miles to the closest grocery store.

[–]vengeance_pigeon 35 ポイント36 ポイント  (2子コメント)

I met a UK dude recently who grasped the lack of public transport, but didn't get why Americans don't walk everywhere. He specifically cited grocery stores as an example. (Side note, this particular dude was a dick, and was speaking in a way that strongly implied Americans are just fucking lazy.)

I told him my current home is the first place I have EVER lived, in 33 years, that had a grocery store close enough to walk to. He challenged this and I cut him off saying the grocery store was only a few miles from my house, as opposed to the 10+ miles that has been standard throughout my life. He stared at me a while as though he couldn't believe it, and then was quiet a long time. I was not upset by this outcome.

[–]taintlesswinner 11 ポイント12 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Sorta unrelated but I feel like this is a good place to mention automatic transmission. Due to the fact that our public transportation sucks there's no avoiding traffic. I could drive stick, but I do not want to do that during my bumper to bumper commute. Also automatics are generally more fuel efficient in traffic conditions.

[–]Imissyourgirlfriend2 35 ポイント36 ポイント  (1子コメント)

I fucking love driving places! Best place to listen to my music and sing and bother no one.

[–]SleeplessShitposter 1609 ポイント1610 ポイント  (91子コメント)

Deep fried everything.

Two things you should know:

  1. We only ever deep fry food at fairs or festivals. The average American doesn't just have a deep fryer that they constantly cook their Oreos in before eating them.

  2. Deep frying is delicious, fuck you.

[–]Thrower152 244 ポイント245 ポイント  (47子コメント)

I can give up a lot of things to lose weight. I don't eat ice cream, I've cut milk from my diet, I don't eat pasta terribly often, soda I've broadly removed from my diet- or I fill the fuck outta that cup with ice- but fried food I will never give up. Whoever realized you could deep fry slices of potato is a demon.

That and cheese. I love my cheese.

[–]audigex 130 ポイント131 ポイント  (26子コメント)

To be clear, Europe will never give you shit for loving cheese.

We'll give you shit for that sliced and spray crap you call cheese. But when you eat proper cheese, we're all on board with that.

[–]Oriolez 29 ポイント30 ポイント  (6子コメント)

American here, and I don't think I actually know anyone who actually buys the spray crap. I'm pretty sure most Americans also find it shitty.

[–]youre_a_burrito_bud 63 ポイント64 ポイント  (4子コメント)

Yo that's cheese product, it's literally not allowed to be called cheese. I'm sure there's countless examples of things that are shortened in conversation in the UK.

[–]sfzen 25 ポイント26 ポイント  (3子コメント)

I have a small deep fryer. I don't use it too often, but I'm glad I have it. It was pretty cheap, too. Somewhere in the range of $20-50, I believe.

[–]Lilahsfriend 528 ポイント529 ポイント  (42子コメント)

It's a social convention in the US to have a short conversation like the following multiple times a day with people you don't know (like a cashier) or people that you don't know very well,

"Hi, How are you?" "Good, How are you?" "Fine, thanks."

I have heard many times that because we do that, it means that Americans don't care about how others actually are doing and that we're shallow. It's just a social nicety and we do want to know more from people we are closer to.

[–]Mr5wift 237 ポイント238 ポイント  (19子コメント)

Brits do this too, but by law the weather has to be mentioned also.

[–]Quaytsar 167 ポイント168 ポイント  (8子コメント)

But with Brits it goes:

"Alright?"

"Alright. Alright?"

"Alright."

[–]foster34 113 ポイント114 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Now I know where Matthew Mcconaughey gets it from.

[–]NuklearAngel 49 ポイント50 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Also we actually don't care how others are doing. We'd much rather do everything in silence.

[–]miss_anthro_p 78 ポイント79 ポイント  (3子コメント)

I think it's not just for nicety, but for opportunity. It can be difficult to approach someone and ask for assistance or ask a personal question with no pretext. The howdy dos give you an opportunity that you can accept or decline with neither party feeling dissatisfied with the encounter.

[–]HolidayBarbie 26 ポイント27 ポイント  (2子コメント)

I kind of agree with this, if I'm having trouble finding something in a store if a worker comes up and does the little conversation song and dance I'm way more likely to ask for help than if they simply asked if I need help.

[–]LastPlacePodium 642 ポイント643 ポイント  (97子コメント)

In Germany I got a lot of comments and shit for how insincere Americans are. Except, I don't think Americans are insincere. Same with the politeness. Europeans I met seemed to think it was phony or something. But it usually isn't.

That always confused me.

[–]Iquey 360 ポイント361 ポイント  (14子コメント)

I can explain this. I was in the USA for a couple of months for my study, and you guys just talk so... Fake interested to outsiders.

Example is when I was telling a story American people will go: "oh really?" and mean it as: "go on".

Outsiders take that as sarcasm really quickly. That's why people call americans incencere I think while they are genuially interested.

[–]lavalampmaster 193 ポイント194 ポイント  (4子コメント)

Yeah, we're brought up such that "go on," "and then?" And profuse nodding is the polite way, as it indicates that you're actually listening and reacting to a long story rather than tuning out.

[–]Darrens_Coconut 39 ポイント40 ポイント  (0子コメント)

It's a clash of cultures, we consume so much American media in Europe we can feel that Americans are just like us and judge them by how we act, but they're not, they are their own people.

[–]AmericanOSX 28 ポイント29 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Its almost like a low-level form of improv. You're providing feedback to show interest, but also setting up the story teller to respond with more emphasis or to make a joke or add more detail.

Nobody wants to feel like they're talking to a wall.

[–]KCarriere 8 ポイント9 ポイント  (1子コメント)

(I'm American) I guess I can see that. If someones telling me something I'll go "Really!?" or "no shit!" or "no way!" And mean them as genuine reactions and tell me more about this. Ican see that seeming insincere but it isn't. IF you're telling me about seeing a fight on your way to work I'm going to go "no way!" and "your kidding!" but I am damn interested in this fight.

[–]PM_me_goat_gifs 56 ポイント57 ポイント  (1子コメント)

But... I genuinely am interested in the opinions and experiences of strangers. Are you saying you aren't? Why the fuck are you on reddit then?

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

I don't think he's saying that. He's saying that Americans may come across as sarcastic to foreigners because they're not used to that kind of "over-excitement" when talking to someone. Personally, I love that about Americans and it's great how they're always genuinely interested in what you have to say.

[–]SleeplessShitposter 40 ポイント41 ポイント  (1子コメント)

"How are you so nice?!"

When everyone else around you is nice you get like that.

[–]OoooooohSnap 188 ポイント189 ポイント  (36子コメント)

I might be able to explain this. So I'm British and my partner is American. The only times we have ever had issues is when I forget about her accent. She will tell me I look nice or something, but the accent makes it sound soooooo sarcastic that it either sounds fake, or like an insult.
I've noticed the same thing with other Americans, and in media etc.

Obviously you guys have different accents depending on where you live, but in general, I find American people come across as very insincere because of this.

[–]Pola_Xray 226 ポイント227 ポイント  (11子コメント)

...because of our accents?

[–]tdasnowman 153 ポイント154 ポイント  (6子コメント)

Think about how we always make fun of the germans for always being angry. Truth germans are fucking hilarious, and an excited laughing german isn't angry sounding. It's just our perception of the accent.

[–]LastPlacePodium 39 ポイント40 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Every German I met there was awesome. Super friendly. And they're very aware of the stereotypes. So it would lead to funny scenarios where German students would approach us, talk to us, invite us to their table, and then tell us sincerely about how difficult it must be to meet people in Germany because they are all so cold and standoffish. XD I'd always get a kick out of that.

[–]imabsolutelyatwork 108 ポイント109 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Hazarding a guess, it might be inflection? I'm not a linguist but I'm just going to take a shot here.

Similar to how some people think Aussie's are always asking a question because of how stereotypically their pitch raises at the end of a sentence, which to American's indicates a question. It could just be that our inflection can sound sarcastic or dismissive when compared to how other people speak English.

[–]sarcazm 37 ポイント38 ポイント  (4子コメント)

All these answers to this are just... off base, for me.

I'm an American living in Texas. So, if anything, I know a little of southern hospitality.

It's just American culture. My parents brought me up to be polite and what to say and how to say it. And their parents did the same. And now I'm doing the same for my sons.

It's not insincere. Firstly, it's an acknowledgement. An acknowledgement of your existence, acknowledgement that you're standing right there, and acknowledgement that I know you (if I know you). So, "Hi, how are you?" would fit this requirement.

Secondly, it breaks the ice easily. For instance, if I am at a register and the cashier is ringing up my items, he will say, "How are you?" or "Did you find everything okay today?" It breaks the ice from awkward silence. And it might end with my reply or maybe we'll start talking about something.

Thirdly, it puts people (maybe just Americans) at ease and spins positivity. So, let me talk about this for a moment. As someone who has been in the service industry for some time, it is imperative to make sure customers are happy, right? And what we've learned is that happiness/positivity can be contagious (even if it's just a small amount). And if customers are happy, they will return. So, for example, if a customer comes into my place of business, I might say in a positive tone, "Hello. How are you today?" They will return the gesture, and then that is one point in the direction of happiness.

This is also true for even non-business relationships. A "Hello. How are you?" is just a "I hope this little interaction sends one point of happiness your way today."

Culture. Politeness. Happiness. These are the reasons for the "over-politeness that looks insincere but really not" Americans.

[–]elephantsarechillaf 184 ポイント185 ポイント  (36子コメント)

I see a lot of people online talk about how rude Americans are. When I traveled to both Europe and South Africa, I ran into a lot of locals who said they loved American tourists the most and found us to be very polite while overseas. I also know a couple of Canadians who have told me that they have found Americans to be just as nice as Canadians.

[–]1982throwaway1 266 ポイント267 ポイント  (11子コメント)

No one is as nice as Canadians, they were probably just being nice.

[–]Spectre1313 8 ポイント9 ポイント  (0子コメント)

No one is as nice as Canadians, they were probably just being nice Canadian.

[–]Long-username 35 ポイント36 ポイント  (3子コメント)

One of the first things my mom noticed when she moved to America is how nice and polite people are.

This is off topic but I want to mention it:
The other thing she noticed was how big the cars and roads are. She grew up in Istanbul so that's understandable.

[–]willie27 1045 ポイント1046 ポイント  (335子コメント)

Not traveling outside of the United States/Americas when most of us have jobs with limited vacation time that don't put enough green in our pockets to reasonably fly across the ocean.

[–]oh_boisterous 146 ポイント147 ポイント  (18子コメント)

Yeah...I have friends who live in Australia and England and they're flying out to exotic locations every year. My Australian friend has visited America every year for the past five years, among other vacations. I have no idea how he has the money or the time. I went to London a few years ago and that was the last time I flew in a plane, and the first time I ever left the country (not including driving across the Canadian border).

[–]TerribleAttitude 109 ポイント110 ポイント  (22子コメント)

Oh yes. I see the term "American privilege" or "privileged Americans" thrown out a lot by Europeans and Australians a lot. Yet they don't understand that even most relatively privileged Americans don't have the means to jet set about the world for weeks on end twice a year. Growing up middle class, we were really pushed into studying abroad in school, and now that I've graduated, I understand that this was because our parents knew there's a good chance that even if we match their financial success, we will never be able to afford it again. And even being able to travel at student rates with steep discounts and loans/scholarships covering the expenses is a privilege most Americans can't afford; I was very lucky to be able to do so. Traveling overseas (with the exception of Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean) is prohibitively expensive for most of us; just the passports for a family of 4 would come to nearly $400, and many families don't even have that level of discretionary income, much less the funds to get plane tickets (air travel outside of North America is several hundreds if not thousands of dollars). Most Americans can't even afford to get outside of North America, much less afford a long vacation when they land. Not that a long vacation is a given. Most people aside from teachers get maybe two or three weeks of vacation time total, and it's often frowned upon to take that time off all at once or in big chunks (if your workplace will let you take your requested time off at all. I have serious trouble even getting long weekends off to visit my ailing grandmother in a different state. My dad already knows he can't go on a 4-day family vacation this summer even though he asked nearly a year in advance). If you do manage to wrangle 3 or 4 consecutive days off, you're not going to want to spend 2 of them flying and in airports even if you've got all the money in the world.

Americans are not better off financially or via benefits than many of those criticizing us. We may have a higher GDP than, IDK, Norway, but the average American is not more privileged.

[–]Quarkfrosch 24 ポイント25 ポイント  (3子コメント)

Norways GDP per capita is actually twice as much as in the US. Norway is crazy rich..

[–]waterbuffalo750 401 ポイント402 ポイント  (210子コメント)

And why do we need to, really? We have great mountains, beaches, deserts, forests, plains, hot, cold, wet, dry... we have everything here. Sure, there are historical and cultural landmarks that would be great to see in other countries, but it's also reasonable not to. We have a lifetimes worth of vacation spots right at home.

Edit* yup, I get it guys. I'm uncultured swine for thinking I can have a decent vacation in the US.

[–]rawbface 197 ポイント198 ポイント  (78子コメント)

There are several states that have all of those things within a 2-hour drive.

[–]Clydseph_III 39 ポイント40 ポイント  (23子コメント)

I love living in Michigan for this reason. Oceans, no, but the sand dunes at lake Michigan are just as good. We've got everything

[–]Oh_WOW_I_Cant_Even 31 ポイント32 ポイント  (14子コメント)

Michigander here as well. Love this state. Only complaint is winter as it's depressing as hell, but spring summer and fall are amazing!

[–]cuddlefish333 13 ポイント14 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Michigan native now living in the south. I miss the Great Lakes so much and I'd take a dozen Michigan winters over one godawful humid summer in the south.

[–]Arizonian323 7 ポイント8 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Michigander here. I hate the winter, but the summers are pretty nice.

[–]Incontinentiabutts 77 ポイント78 ポイント  (44子コメント)

Except some of the history. There's not much older than the 1800s. Some cities are a bit older but not much remains.

If you want to see a lot of history then europe and Asia are the places to go. Also some central and South america.

[–]unia 103 ポイント104 ポイント  (22子コメント)

In order to learn about other cultures, see how other people live, develop empathy and a better understanding of the world outside our own country. All things I think a lot of us could be a lot better about. There's more to traveling than just seeing pretty geography.

[–]LuxNocte 61 ポイント62 ポイント  (28子コメント)

It would be nice if more Americans saw other cultures. It's very easy, as an American, to think that the whole world is just like here.

[–]waterbuffalo750 62 ポイント63 ポイント  (12子コメント)

Yeah, it'd be nice. But when I'm planning time and budget, a trip to the Grand Canyon just looks a lot more appealing than Rome for a family of 4.

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

Another factor is how far flung families are in the U.S. (due to its size). A lot of people use their limited vacation time to visit parents/siblings across the country that they only see once every other year

[–]h2man 46 ポイント47 ポイント  (0子コメント)

I used to give shit to American colleagues about this until I actually visited the States and realized that not only is the country huge, it is pretty damn diverse too.

So I can totally relate to it now, the same way that I relate with a lot of people in the UK that default for vacation in the US. They speak the language, there's any type of vacation available and is reasonably safe.

[–]jephw12 9 ポイント10 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Good point. If going to other countries was as easy as going to other states then I'd have been to far more countries than I have.

[–]cthulu0 103 ポイント104 ポイント  (29子コメント)

If I hear one more European consider themselves an international traveler because they took a train from Spain to France and then lecture Americans on how they don't travel enough, I am going to lose it.

The culture difference between New York City and rural appalachia is probably greater than the cultural difference between Spain and France.

[–]Mr5wift 710 ポイント711 ポイント  (155子コメント)

Not American (British), but I think you guys get unreasonably shit on for a high percentage of you not owning a passport. Some Europeans are ignorant of how big the US is and how varied the climate and landscape can be - so you can go to a scenic / hot sunny state for a holiday etc. Plus the expense of flying to foreign countries is far higher than in Europe for example.

[–]AlbaDdraig 264 ポイント265 ポイント  (29子コメント)

I always used to be confused by this fact too (also British) until I met an American living over here. He mentioned that his mother hadn't visited in the 30 years he'd been over here as she didn't have a passport and I asked why. He told that there's no point in getting a passport if you have a beach, mountains, beautiful rolling valleys, shopping centres, friends and family all within a 3 hour drive.

[–]grizzlyking 440 ポイント441 ポイント  (1子コメント)

I feel like visiting your son at some time in 30 years is a pretty damn good reason to get a passport

[–]AlbaDdraig 78 ポイント79 ポイント  (0子コメント)

I asked about this one too and his family (wife and kids) travel a lot and they'd visit the States once a year so travelling wasn't a concern. It was the birth of her first grandkid that forced it.

[–]doctor-rumack 78 ポイント79 ポイント  (18子コメント)

On another note, it was only until somewhat recently that Americans could travel to Canada or Mexico without a passport. More of us have them now, especially in the northern states where we can be in Montreal, Toronto, or Vancouver within a 3-4 hour drive.

[–]Trivi 21 ポイント22 ポイント  (15子コメント)

And many people living in border states can still drive to and from Canada with just their drivers license.

[–]ChristyElizabeth 26 ポイント27 ポイント  (13子コメント)

They have enhanced driver licenses , its kinda like a mini passport as it was described to me.

[–]hereforthecommentz 28 ポイント29 ポイント  (4子コメント)

This is pretty much why the French never leave France, either. They've got skiing, beaches, and everything in between. And everyone speaks French.

[–]BelindaTheGreat 11 ポイント12 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Also I don't know about in other countries, but in America it's kind of a pain just to go through the process of getting one, especially if you are a woman who has been married more than once.

[–]Mtfthrowaway112 42 ポイント43 ポイント  (37子コメント)

Tropical (Hawaii) to Arctic (Alaska) and everything in between.

[–]Mr5wift 36 ポイント37 ポイント  (28子コメント)

US citizens not needing a passport to fly to Hawaii from the US mainland fries my brain as a Brit.

[–]goldmedalz 63 ポイント64 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Passport isn't required to get to American Samoa, that's almost to Australia

[–]hansologruber 33 ポイント34 ポイント  (4子コメント)

Didn't you guys rule most of the world at some point?

[–]Heyyoguy123 15 ポイント16 ポイント  (5子コメント)

The US has many biomes, and you don't need to own a passport to go there.

[–]TheMekar 28 ポイント29 ポイント  (3子コメント)

A guy in r/dota2 said something in a discussion about distances with me that kind of made me understand this. He said "Europeans think 200 miles is a long distances. Americans think 200 years is a long time." It made a lot of sense to me. I drove about 280 miles for work at the beginning and end of every week for a few years and it seemed normal to me but that distance is nearly the width of a lot of European countries.

[–]Halafax 27 ポイント28 ポイント  (7子コメント)

I rent a beach house with my extended family every year. It's a 14 hour drive for me and my 2 kids. Canada is 8 hours closer to us, as far as that goes. Just visiting my sisters is a 500 mile, or 650 mile drive.

The other day there was a silly pic post on reddit with a 500 mile, and then 1000 mile radius superimposed on a map of Europe (because of The Proclaimers song). I furrowed my brow a bit and and thought about where 800 miles from Scotland would get me.

Obviously it's a very different situation. We don't travel through different languages, and the local culture doesn't have the variety that Europe offers, but still... I used to fly to California for work (training and conferences), and that's 2500 miles. I'm trying to think of where 2500 miles from Scotland gets you, and I'm guessing Turkey.

[–]Mr5wift 27 ポイント28 ポイント  (5子コメント)

Syria is approx 2500 miles from Scotland, Moscow's only 1500 or so. You can even get to Mali and some sub saharan African countries. Areas of Nova Scotia are within 2500 of Scotland too. Crazy.

*Edit - playing around on google earth from one of the Outer Hebrides (Scottish Islands) the USA (Maine) is a tad over 2500 miles away. 2561.

[–]mittelpo 48 ポイント49 ポイント  (3子コメント)

Glasgow to Caribou, Maine (2715 mi) is closer than Caribou, Maine to San Diego (2744 mi). So, there are places in the continental US that are closer to Scotland than to other places in the continental US.

[–]v1p3r1128 202 ポイント203 ポイント  (46子コメント)

Giant Soda sizes. Only teenagers and truckers actually buy them. Truckers need them so it lasts for the whole trip.

[–]Erunamo99 94 ポイント95 ポイント  (7子コメント)

The 512 oz soda from Parks and Rec.

[–]ludololl 132 ポイント133 ポイント  (0子コメント)

It's roughly the size of a 2-year-old child, if the child were liquefied.

[–]Solid_Waste 9 ポイント10 ポイント  (0子コメント)

"You're gonna wanna pull your trailer around back. I'll start the pump."

[–]reddituser902 512 ポイント513 ポイント  (55子コメント)

Calling it soccer. It's a perfectly good word. Everyone forgets it was the English who came up with it... especially the English.

[–]hoffi_coffi 41 ポイント42 ポイント  (0子コメント)

I think most Brits are aware it is (was) a "British" word, insofar as it was upper class slang for the game in the early days, pre-1900. It half-lingers on in a slightly ironic sense. It is odd to us as the equivalent would be the official name we give basketball being "shootin' hoops" or something and calling some other sport basketball. Come on, Americans would give us loads of shit for that.

Really no one has a claim on the term football. They are all different codes of sports which involve some kind of ball getting into / over some kind of goal or line.

[–]beso858 35 ポイント36 ポイント  (5子コメント)

I agree, and the us isn't the only country that uses the term either.

It bugs me when a team has fc from the us. It sounds like it's trying way too hard to European.

In the us it's either soccer or futbol

[–]afcmitchell 8 ポイント9 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Real Salt Lake though lol

[–]youseeit 13 ポイント14 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Yeah that royal warrant from the King of Utah sure adds a lot of cachet lmao

[–]poppop_n_theattic 67 ポイント68 ポイント  (9子コメント)

Drinking light beer. It's freaking hot in much of this country much of the time. Sometimes you want a beer that is extremely cold and extremely easy to drink, not a room-temp 7% ABV hop-fest. And sometimes you want to drink 18 of them.

[–]Colonel_C0tton_Hill 14 ポイント15 ポイント  (5子コメント)

Kirkland light. 48 cans, $20. I dont care how good your fancy German beer is. You cant beat that value.

[–]Agent_Orange7 68 ポイント69 ポイント  (5子コメント)

Those videos where they ask random Americans super easy questions (where is Australia, what country did the US fight in the revolutionary war) etc. and then get dumb answers and go "look how stupid Americans are!"

The thing is that they ask literally thousands of people those questions and show only the 5-10 dumbest ones. You can do the same exact thing in all sorts of countries.

[–]hero-of-winds 8 ポイント9 ポイント  (0子コメント)

I remember about ten years ago one of those videos circulated that was conducted in the UK. The question that stands out the most in my memory was:

Journalist: "Who is the prime minister?"

Teenager: "George Bush"

Idiots can be found all around the world if you look hard enough

[–]SAOkirito1 197 ポイント198 ポイント  (36子コメント)

Calling ourselves Americans as if we're the only country in either America. Its a hell of a lot easier to say than "USAians"

[–]iremainnameless 36 ポイント37 ポイント  (13子コメント)

. . . and "Statesman" would just be confusing.

[–]HopelesslyLibra 19 ポイント20 ポイント  (11子コメント)

could you imagine if we were that anal but with what state we're from?

"Where you from?"

"I'm a Massachusettsan."

"what?"

[–]jaijaikali 32 ポイント33 ポイント  (5子コメント)

Seriously. Like what the fuck else are we gonna call ourselves?

Also at the time of our country's formation Canada was still English territory and Mexico was still a part of Spain. So in a way we we're the only sovereign "Americans," as natives never called the land America to begin with.

[–]scorpionmintred 98 ポイント99 ポイント  (17子コメント)

Not knowing the capitol and location of every country in Europe.

(Just as they don't know the capitol and location of every state in the U.S.)

It's easy to forget that every state is just that, with its own government that is comparable in most ways to any other nation-state. And the are 50 of them.

Relative simplicity is an understandable view because the federal government is the face of international affairs, but internally it's far more complex than most other nations, geographically and politically. It's a lot to learn at a young age.

[–]jurassicbond 467 ポイント468 ポイント  (147子コメント)

Only knowing one language. Unless you live in an immigrant heavy area like Miami, there's zero point to learning more than English unless you travel internationally a lot.

[–]tahlyn 278 ポイント279 ポイント  (126子コメント)

Then consider that the countries of Europe fit into the contiguous 48 of the United States twice over and all of that land, plus the neighbor to the north who is just as large, all speak English.

That's like traveling from Ireland to just short of the middle east and finding only the same culture and language.

You learn multiple languages when you can drive 20 minutes and be in another country with another culture and another language. We can travel 20 hours and still be in a place where English is the primary language and the culture be largely the same.

[–]Burninator05 292 ポイント293 ポイント  (43子コメント)

Hell, you can drive for 12 hours and still be in Texas.

[–]ImAtWorkOkay 70 ポイント71 ポイント  (23子コメント)

It takes me 8 hours to reach Georgia from my hometown in Florida..

[–]wanderluststricken 27 ポイント28 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Driving across the country, Texas seemed to never end

[–]DieSinner 29 ポイント30 ポイント  (0子コメント)

The sun did rise and the sun did set and we ain't out of Texas yet.

[–]Mr5wift 68 ポイント69 ポイント  (7子コメント)

English here, we don't learn any other languages either as everyone learns ours ;)

[–]hoffi_coffi 39 ポイント40 ポイント  (5子コメント)

Yep, I try to brush up on foreign languages, especially French. But wherever I go there will always be someone with better English than my ham-fisted attempts at Serbian or whatever.

[–]youseeit 85 ポイント86 ポイント  (5子コメント)

"None of you speak any other languages."

Bitch you can drive for a fucking WEEK in the United States without a realistic chance of having to use another language. Don't piss on us because your country is 150 miles across and everyone learned English from the TV by age nine anyway.

[–]Any-sao 48 ポイント49 ポイント  (7子コメント)

Spending more on defense than the next ten highest spenders combined. $700 billion ever year may seem like a really big number, but you have to adjust for the size of the American economy. Per NATO regulations, we are mandated to spend 2%+ on defense. While we do still spend a disproportionate amount, ~3.5%+, it is not because we simply want a larger military. It is because we have a lot more money to spend. If we were to drop spending to a level nearer the second highest spender, China, we would be well below the 2% mandate.

But at the same time, those Americans who believe cutting any defense spending is virtual bankruptcy have no idea what they're talking about.

[–]Agent_Orange7 43 ポイント44 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Also important to note that the US overshooting it's 2% mandate is what allows Europe to cheap out on their defense. We subsidize European defense, and get shit on by Europeans for it.

[–]scroom38 24 ポイント25 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Its our fault and we're terrible people when we intervene and it goes bad, but we're also at fault and terrible people if we dont intervene when something goes bad.

Make up your fucking mind europe.

[–]PippenRedux 438 ポイント439 ポイント  (99子コメント)

As a Canadian living in the United States.....

Trump (Not a supporter, by any means)

The world watched BBC news, CBC, ABC, Sky, TV5, ARD, etc. Trump was portrayed as an idiot, bigot, racist, troglodyte with no redeeming qualities. Just an epic buffoon, which outlined America's "cartoonish" politics.

But, Hillary Clinton didn't really campaign. Compared to Trump's nearly 300 campaign stops, Hillary did less than 90. Her stops were less attended, much more controlled and less free-form. She had long policy discussions that went no where, spoke quickly, didn't interact with her audience and her staff purposely kept her away from the people as much as possible.

Trump engaged people. He was on the ground. He was at fairs. He did exactly what Obama did in 2008 and 2012. He won states that Obama won using Obama's strategy.

So, while the world is still in shock, I'm sitting here going "Yeah, it makes sense."

[–]BillDrivesAnFJ 139 ポイント140 ポイント  (14子コメント)

Not to get too deep but looking back some of the things Trump did that seemed wild were probably controlled chaos to stay in the media.

[–]nunsinnikes 44 ポイント45 ポイント  (1子コメント)

There was a staffer AMA that confirmed he sometimes trolls the media to draw attention to whatever he wants to draw attention to.

Check out Scott Adams blog or his interview on the Rubin Report on how he uses persuasive tactics with the media and some of his stunts. It appears impulsive but is actually quite calculated and usually works to whatever ends he's after.

[–]Baked_Bt 41 ポイント42 ポイント  (7子コメント)

That's what a lot of people don't understand. He played the media like a fiddle to stay in the news. He was always in the headlines and when you looked into the stories, things he did or said typically made more sense

[–]Josephrules 33 ポイント34 ポイント  (3子コメント)

Everyone likes to jump on the "Trump's an idiot" circlejerk, but the man is a genius and extremely dedicated. The man was doing 5 rallies a day in different states at 70 years old .That's unbelievable.

[–]skieezy 14 ポイント15 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Then there are places like Seattle where the city is so anti-Trump that a police officer is under investigation for calling immigration on an illegal immigrant felon (aggravated assault/selling drugs) because Washington state is sanctuary state.

Saying Trump is a genius might get you lynched here.

[–]itoldyousoanysayo 45 ポイント46 ポイント  (2子コメント)

He spent way less money than her on campaigning though. Someone on Reddit calculated the exact price per voter. Clinton paid more than double what Trump dos for each vote.

[–]hoot1991 45 ポイント46 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Under budget, ahead of schedule?

Really though, as an outsider looking in it was obvious he was going to win. Clinton was just offering more of the status quo, and people are clearly sick of that.

[–]wanderluststricken 51 ポイント52 ポイント  (9子コメント)

I agree. He made people feel like he cared and he definitely talked to and met so many more than Hillary, but in her defense she had been having some health issues. Trump visited my city 3 or 4 times and got people excited and then came back two more times after the election. I think he really focused on it because nearly everyone is either in the military, retired from the military, or immediate family of someone in the military.

[–]ipretendiamacat 66 ポイント67 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Heh I remember the good ole days a few months ago where even alluding to the fact that Hillary may have health problems would've practically gotten you kicked from the politics sub

[–]Rexel-Dervent 27 ポイント28 ポイント  (4子コメント)

Danish voter here: the exact Trump scenario happened in the 70's-80's.

Older independent businessman proposed tax reductions and caused "the landslide of '73". He was sentenced for tax evasion and never formed government but still made a bigger impact than the average Prime Minister.

Some years ago a pro-anti filmmaker made "Spies & Glistrup" about his life. The burn is clearly felt.

[–]Thrower152 82 ポイント83 ポイント  (12子コメント)

Trump was the kind of person who could mock his teleprompters for not working well into his speech, and then dismantle them on stage to a cheering crowd.

Hilary Clinton's idea of a joke was bemoaning that the hot new App was Pokemon Go and not Pokemon Go to the Polls.

In the simplest of terms, the Democrats elected everything bad about American politics, all wrapped up into a dumpy old woman. Unless you got some Trump grade charisma- he's 70 but he behaves like a horny 50 year old goat- you really need to pick younger candidates. Trump told people what they wanted to hear about globalist politics that was destroying their jobs and eroding national sovereignty. Hilary gave support to the exact same policies responsible for that- and only backed off when she realized it wasn't popular.

Trump's win makes perfect sense and I was predicting he'd win back when I saw him take Jeb 'Please Clap' Bush's campaign out back with a shotgun. And based on the DNC's behavior, and history, they're going to lose in the mid terms as well.

[–]nickburgess 43 ポイント44 ポイント  (14子コメント)

Not only did Hillary not really campaign another issue is that when she did campaign she left out so many groups. Her target demographics were non-whites and females. I'm a white male. I hated Trump and I didn't vote for him but as far as white males go Hillary didn't give a crap about them. And there are a lot of white males. And males in general. Trump had a large hispanic male vote. Its shocking.

[–]nunsinnikes 38 ポイント39 ポイント  (0子コメント)

There's also the fact that she alienated everyone who didn't already support her. She also went pretty exclusively after special interest and minority groups, and the reality is that they don't make up the majority of voters.

She also lost people like my parents who were on the fence. They agreed and disagreed with parts of both platforms. They actually were very familiar with Trump before he entered politics and always liked what he had to say on economics and the more practical parts of his campaign, but didn't like his demeanor and stance on immigration.

When Hillary called everyone who supported Trump a basket of deplorables and racist, they got fed up with her. They were considering him for some of his proposed policies and when it became clear Hillary was dismissing everyone under that umbrella as bigoted and irredeemable, they decided she was out of touch with the middle and working class and actually quite divisive. She could have gotten their vote and instead pushed them away with her campaign.

She also ensured that no one who was already sold on Trump would change their mind by positioning herself as morally superior to his supporters. All she succeeded in doing with that was pushing half the voters away even further. She should have extended a hand and made a case for why she was the better candidate for the demographic of people who thought Trump spoke for them.

[–]GreenVasDefrens 42 ポイント43 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Absolutely nothing. Wtf weather, wtf McGee's, wtf everything. After four months, all I love are the people. Movies don't do y'all justice. I love America. Big shout out from a weird Rwandan!

[–]apposet 8 ポイント9 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Why are people from central to southern Africa always the nicest people? Whatever it is, thanks for the kind words about my home country.

[–]YellowTealBox 284 ポイント285 ポイント  (77子コメント)

Portion sizes.

I don't know anyone who goes out to dinner expecting to finish their entire meal. The appetizers, bread, soda and salad fills you up, and you take the entree home for the next day.

[–]Ezmar 55 ポイント56 ポイント  (2子コメント)

I don't know about this. A lot of people have a "clear your plate" mentality.

You're not wrong, but it's not the whole story.

[–]hobosox 105 ポイント106 ポイント  (25子コメント)

I've heard his before. All the restaurants I go to have normal sized portions. Where is this huge portions idea coming from?

[–]YellowTealBox 222 ポイント223 ポイント  (6子コメント)

Every restaurant in the US is the Cheesecake Factory, apparently

[–]Corgiwiggle 87 ポイント88 ポイント  (0子コメント)

In my experience Asian and Italian places give you lots of food since noodles and rice are cheap

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

My anecdotal experience is that when I moved to chicago, I was shocked by the huge portions and incredible amount of cheese/meat that was on everything. Not that I complained.

[–]PippenRedux 50 ポイント51 ポイント  (3子コメント)

Portion

I like big American portion sizes. When I spent time in the UK or back in Canada (where I'm from) a meal costs 15-20% more per person than in the U.S., but you get less per dollar -- and the quality isn't somehow superior. You get more for your buck here, and I really respect that.

[–]wizardlydray 412 ポイント413 ポイント  (91子コメント)

Our military allows our international allies to not spend as much on their militaries, thus they have more money to spend on progressive domestic programs.

[–]Beard_of_Valor 160 ポイント161 ポイント  (14子コメント)

I was surprised to find military spending so low in the thread. Love or hate the interventionism and cowboy "not on our watch" shit, the UN often puts us in charge of their international military efforts. We've got the goods and the training.

[–]Corgiwiggle 305 ポイント306 ポイント  (14子コメント)

America is bad for interfering in other countries unless we don't interfere in which case America is bad for not preventing tragedy

[–]CaptainUnusual 37 ポイント38 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Yep. We're villains for trying to fix Libya, and we're villains for not trying to fix Syria.

[–]TVsAdamWestWHERE 82 ポイント83 ポイント  (48子コメント)

Many Europeans and people from other countries constantly point to the US as racist or not being able to handle race problems well. Whether you think that's true or not, Europe is incredibly homogeneous. We have to deal with many different types of people in greater numbers living in one country: about 40% of the US is non white. Compare that to 13% in England, 15% in France and 8% of China are minorities. So when everyone is of the same race of course you will have less problems with race.

[–]DabLord5425 35 ポイント36 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Bring up gypsies around any Europeans and see how they compare to the US in racism.

[–]spaghatta111 53 ポイント54 ポイント  (13子コメント)

With the rising anti semitism in Europe, it's hard to take that accusation of Americans being racist seriously.

Jews have been leaving Europe in very large numbers in the last 2 years

[–]funobtainium 9 ポイント10 ポイント  (2子コメント)

The legacy of slavery has a lot to do with that, as well, and how long it took to get rid of Jim Crow.

If black Americans were all voluntary immigrants from Africa, we wouldn't have the issues that we do. Sure, people can be racist against other groups, but we treated people like property on our own soil.

[–]spaghatta111 15 ポイント16 ポイント  (3子コメント)

I've noticed that a lot of Europeans talk about how Americans don't know about what goes on in the world, but then if you bring up some news story out of Latin America (as an example) rarely do other people know what we are talking about.

Also, not owning a passport. It isn't that weird considering that the US is a pretty large place. Traveling to another country for a European is much the same distance as traveling to another state for us, and we don't require a passport to travel between states.

[–]wakka-wakka-wakka 171 ポイント172 ポイント  (49子コメント)

Immigration (hear me out). The United States is 95% immigrant made. As a result going back for... depending on how you look at it our entire history we've been a nation binding together clashing cultures. Everyone can claim to be a minority that was shit on in the United States (well, except protestant whites I guess... so long as they were English).

Even then you can go to almost any of the older American cities and find a Germantown, China town, Little Italy, etc. Churches that existed because each one was for a different ethnicity and language. Our society and our culture is the result of that melting pot and points of ethnic friction.

I don't condone any of this Know-Nothing Party bullshit but human nature provokes conflict when groups meet. So the US is seen as a hellhole of racism and relgious insanity when in reality, all we are is a reflection of mankind as a whole, condensed into a single goddamn country. We are better for it, in my opinion. I don't get to hide behind the idea that there's any such thing as an "ethnic" American (yes, of course except for the natives. thanks smartass) in order to keep my countries opportunities from anyone else who believes in American ideological principles.

So Im glad the media puts it all on display. I want us to come to terms with our nature every day. But I take exception to the idea that this is because Americans are assholes or racist bigots. No, friend, we're all assholes on this big blue world of ours, we're just the ones who prove it.

[–]Lurkolantern 119 ポイント120 ポイント  (30子コメント)

The vast, vast majority of Americans are completely fine with legal and sensible immigration.

Immigrate illegally? OUT! OUT OUT OUT!

[–]CutieMcBooty55 88 ポイント89 ポイント  (8子コメント)

People say that, but what needs to be addressed is that it isn't that simple. Our immigration process is insane, and a horrifically underfunded investment. It's so bad that it's embarrassing, and the party that gives a shit the most about immigrants is way too focused on essentially a non-issue (illegal Mexicans, and it isn't a big problem because we've been losing more illegal Mexicans than gaining for the last decade now) and not focused at all on the actual problems that our system has.

There is a growing narrative of fear and xenophobia over 'dem illegals, Trump for example proposing VOICE despite how illegal immigrants commit crime at a provably lower rate than natural born citizens.

They aren't supposed to be here, we know. But the ends really don't justify the means, because we are proposing extreme policies that are wildly impractical (and in the case of the infamous wall, completely useless in every conceivable way) to solve a problem that really isn't nearly as big of a deal as people make of it. That is where the contention is.

[–]calico765 83 ポイント84 ポイント  (21子コメント)

That the cars are shit. Sure, in the 1980's, they weren't great, and even recently, but from 2014 on, domestic-made/domestic-company (US Domestic) brand cars have actually gotten a lot better. The build quality and reliability has really surpassed an acceptable level. Excluding Fiat-Chrysler, they can get their shit together on their own.

[–]Legion213 13 ポイント14 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Not exactly "reasonable" as I agree prison reform is in other, but I've seen way too many posts on FB extolling the Norwegian prison system and how it's way better, lower recidivism rates, lower crime, etc. It's less than half the size of Texas, it's entire population could fit in the DFW Metroplex and have room to spare, it's insanely homogeneous (like 90% of the population is ethnic Norwegian, another 5% is Sami which might as well be, and barely 5% are foreigners), they have a shared history and culture going back millennia, and they don't border anyone in the midst of a crushing drug war and poverty. Of COURSE it's easier for them. I mean, awesome for the Norwegians, but it's apples and oranges. In fairness to the Norwegians, it's generally young white American college kids posting this asinine comparison, not Norwegians themselves.

[–]MD_Mike 12 ポイント13 ポイント  (1子コメント)

Air conditioning everywhere. It gets fucking hot here, man.

[–]flyingcircusdog 29 ポイント30 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Not speaking languages other than English. I can travel 1000 miles in any direction and use English with no problems. Even the tourist areas in Mexico and many Eurpoean cities don't require you speak the local language.

[–]whatsgoingonwith 32 ポイント33 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Spending 3% of our GDP on defense. A lot of it goes to research and development into C4ISR capabilities and improving IT capabilities. It has also been necessary for the past 3 years because several NATO countries weren't able to meet their target spending.

People see defense spending and immediately think tanks and bombs which may have been true in the 70s but modern military demands have changed drastically.

Look at the quarterly reports for the big 5 defense contractors. All 5 have reported consistent and rapid growth in their IT revenue within the past decade.

[–]Keep-reefer-illegal 178 ポイント179 ポイント  (43子コメント)

Our gun death rate is actually really low when you subtract suicides. In context, the odds of dying via gun violence are extremely low, lower than the chances of slipping and falling in the shower

[–]Five_Decades 75 ポイント76 ポイント  (8子コメント)

I believe 60%+ of murders are criminals killing each other.

Another 10-20% are domestic violence situations.

So if you are not involved in either of those situations, your odds of being murdered are pretty low.

[–]PhinsPhan89 40 ポイント41 ポイント  (0子コメント)

I believe 60%+ of murders are criminals killing each other.

Don't know if the number is accurate but I usually see it cited as "gang violence".

[–]BackwardsChic 41 ポイント42 ポイント  (6子コメント)

I understand what you're saying, but there's something a little odd about the idea of "Just don't get yourself involved in a domestic violence situation and you'll be fiiiiiiiiine."

[–]ParaTodoMalMezcal 155 ポイント156 ポイント  (56子コメント)

Measuring temperature in fahrenheit.

The rest of the metric system is great, and Celsius and/or Kelvin are better for science, but for everyday human experience of temperature having 0 be just about the coldest day you can expect and 100 be just about the hottest day you can expect with a lot of room for description in between is pretty excellent.

[–]hoffi_coffi 38 ポイント39 ポイント  (12子コメント)

There are pros and cons. The main pro for me with Celcius is 0 is freezing. That is the key for pretty much anything weather related (here anyway). 40 is a very hot day. It is not just about weather though, you know 100 is water boiling, useful for cooking.

In the end it is what you are used to. I would be far more on board with F if freezing was at least at a round number like 50 or something.

[–]HeightPrivilege 59 ポイント60 ポイント  (6子コメント)

useful for cooking

I hear this a lot but I don't know when I've ever had to set a temperature to get water to boil. You turn on the burner and let it happen.

Granted I'm not the best cook but when is this information ever useful for cooking?

[–]Lateraltwo 117 ポイント118 ポイント  (24子コメント)

Our inability to put into context the atrocities of war (general public).

Put down your pitchforks. We're plenty belligerent, but we haven't had a foreign entity wage a land war on us since 1812, and a civil war since 1860.

We don't know what it's like, really, so we advocate for it all the time. We (I say we to be simple) think it's a competition of sorts, actually. "My country can beat up your country" has been the biggest crux of our wartime rallying cry for decades.

We only like war because we are so far removed from it.

[–]TheMekar 7 ポイント8 ポイント  (0子コメント)

We fought a mostly land war against Mexico in the late 1840s. Very little action happened on American territory because the war was completely one sided but hey there you go.

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

Hillbillies. Almost every nation on Earth has an equivilent, but media makes it seem we are the only one.

[–]Caloonese 19 ポイント20 ポイント  (5子コメント)

Reading the N-word in a classic novel written during the slavery period.

[–]CryptidGrimnoir 172 ポイント173 ポイント  (170子コメント)

Gun ownership is probably the biggest, culturally.

Many Europeans (Piers Morgan to name one) take umbrage with gun ownership in America, and often see it directly connected to our high homicide rates.

The truth is far more complicated than that.

Americans own guns, and like to own guns, for a myriad of reasons: practicality in self-defense, sport (both for hunting and competition shooting), historical significance of individual pieces, and above all else, Constitutional rights to name a few.

[–]i_am_just_a_number 178 ポイント179 ポイント  (9子コメント)

While I don't necessarily agree or disagree with you, I'd just like to say please, for the love of God, do not cite Piers Morgan's opinions as an example of anything other than Piers Morgan's opinions. The man is an imbecile, and is well known here in Europe for it.

[–]semicartematic 26 ポイント27 ポイント  (4子コメント)

Good for you. Glad to hear that he is seen for what he is across the pond as well.

[–]PM_ME_UR_REDHEAD 27 ポイント28 ポイント  (3子コメント)

Can confirm most Brits think he's a cunt.

Source: am British and think he's a cunt.

[–]doctor-rumack 100 ポイント101 ポイント  (27子コメント)

The cultural part of gun ownership is almost never considered. The US is largely rural, and in unincorporated towns across America (i.e., areas that rely on county sheriffs to police very large geographical areas), the closest police station could be 40 miles away. Gun ownership has always been considered a necessity in those areas, because people feel they have no other way to protect themselves. As these rural areas grew and became more suburbanized, that cultural element doesn't necessarily go away. With like-minded people living closer to each other, firearms also became an enormously popular hobby, and an absolutely giant industry in the US.

Obviously there are drawbacks to the availability of firearms, but people are pretty serious about not wanting to give them up.

[–]imabsolutelyatwork 51 ポイント52 ポイント  (0子コメント)

As someone who grew up without local law enforcement I agree with this statement. The closest law enforcement was the state trooper's barracks 40 minutes away. One of my neighbors called them because he saw someone snooping around his house. The response he, and many others have gotten from them,

Make sure they're inside and that they're dead click

[–]Zacoftheaxes 21 ポイント22 ポイント  (2子コメント)

My dad always wanted to own a farm. He ended up buying one some years back and he has raises chickens.

He keeps a gun around for the occasional coyote that tries to mess with his chickens.

He goes on a hunting trip once or twice a year, but he typically hunts with a bow. So the guns are pretty much for defending chickens.

[–]TheWildRumpusStarts 64 ポイント65 ポイント  (1子コメント)

If you look through history, the most powerful government in the world at the time is always looked at as some massive, disgusting, insensitive, dumb thing that just steps on everybody else. It's the nature of being a hegemonic power. Everyone else jumps on the hate bandwagon.

Americans aren't stupid, our government isn't any more fucked up than any others, and our way of life isn't any more disgusting and self-serving than any others.

People love to have something to blame, and it's usually the system. The system right now has the United States at its center. Ergo, even Americans talk shit about their own country.

I'm not some patriot, but I get really sick of hearing all the people from extremely developed countries talking shit about the US and Americans (Western Europe and America) and how fucked up everything we do is, while so many people from poorer, ridiculously corrupt, and oppressed countries do extremely desperate things in the vein hope that they may get a taste of what it's like to live even at the bottom rungs of the country.

I agree that the American world view is too limited in general. But I don't take part in considering America exceptional as either the best country or a shitty country. It's just a country trying to do best for itself and often its neighbors. I don't need the whole Trump hates Mexico thing, because I've taught students in Myanmar whose lives were changed because of scholarships offered by the US Embassy. We do a fuckload of good in the world. We also fuck up sometimes. So does everybody. Its just when we do things, the consequences (good or bad) are more extreme because we are the hegemonic power.

[–]TheFightingFishy 45 ポイント46 ポイント  (3子コメント)

I think this is a risky post, but I'll go for it anyways. While I want to make sure to state that I feel like the actions taken were still unjust and wrong I think that much of the early cold war anti-communism fears and McCarthyism were understandable reactions to legitimate concerns. I study a lot of history and I feel like it's portrayed now most often as just the worst excesses of McCarthyism and there being no founding basis for America's resistance to communism in the 50s and 60s. Which I personally feel like is a pretty poor reading on the actual political situation at the time.

It doesn't excuse the excesses of McCarthyism or all the various ways that we messed up interfering in other countries, but the Soviets were actively involved with espionage against the United States and the fears that came along with the Atomic bomb project getting infiltrated and handed over to the Soviets by spies like the Rosenbergs and Klaus Fuchs is hard to really grasp in this day and age. Combine that with the Communist victory in China and the outbreak of the Korean war and I actually think that it's super understandable how the American resistance to anything associated with communism or socialism came about.

Basically TLDR American domestic and international policy was pretty messed up during the cold war, but many of the actions taken are actually quite understandable in the context of the time. Which has all contributed to the lingering anti-socialism sentiments that still crops up so often in American politics and seem to confuse non-Americans.

[–]MeanLeanKeane 114 ポイント115 ポイント  (34子コメント)

A drinking age of 21. It makes perfect sense when you think about it.

Wait.. no it doesn't.

[–]MyMimesNameIsSteve 28 ポイント29 ポイント  (3子コメント)

Interestingly, between 1978 and 1984, the minimum drinking age was 18, then they changed it back to 21

[–]Bomeler 24 ポイント25 ポイント  (0子コメント)

Which is hilarious, because my mom turned 18 in 1979. She was really confused when I asked her to go to the liquor store for me when I was in college. She didn't understand why I couldn't do it myself.

[–]derpderp37 41 ポイント42 ポイント  (17子コメント)

should be lowered to 19 (little chance of highschoolers legally drinking). i can join the military and vote at 18 but can't drink? foh.

[–]hallinunu 8 ポイント9 ポイント  (2子コメント)

Kraft American cheese is the greatest cheese known to man!!

I actually have to be honest and say that I made my first homemade sandwich with cheese I had to slice myself, and that shit was amazing. It was ridiculously expensive though, and I'm ridiculously poor. Lol

[–]that_snarky_one 12 ポイント13 ポイント  (3子コメント)

Huge portion sizes. If you're a normal, healthy individual, you can get 2 or 3 meals out of a restaurant portion! You're really not meant to eat ALL of it.

[–]CowboyXuliver 71 ポイント72 ポイント  (19子コメント)

The country is called "United States of America". America is the noun. "United States" is the qualifier. What the heck would they expect us to call ourselves.