Even though both Europe and the USA belong to the Western World and agree on most fundamental democratic principles, they don't see eye-to-eye on everything. According to a recent study, Americans and Europeans often have different perspectives on the way of life - individualism, the role of government, free expression, religion, and morality.
However, Reddit user IBringTheGinger wanted to know how these differences manifest themselves in everyday life. So they created a post, asking Europeans to list the funny problems that are too American for them to understand. It immediately blew up, and, as of this article, has nearly 64K upvotes and 57,5K comments. Scroll down to read some of the most popular first world problems and let us know if you agree with them!
This post may include affiliate links.
Here is one I can't understand:
Strong violence on tv: No one bats an eye...
Nipple slip: Everybody loses their minds.
"Since Reddit is US-centric, I've seen many posts and comments about problems that seemed typically American to me such as being broke because of student debt or postponing going to the doctor because you can't afford it. So I was curious to see if other Europeans like myself ever felt the same way or if they had heard about other 'American problems' that I didn't know about," IBringTheGinger told Bored Panda.
Why doesn't the guy with the most votes just win the election?
The amount of attention their post got really surprised IBringTheGinger. "From what I've seen on r/AskReddit, how many upvotes you get can be extremely random depending on the day and hour you post at and there's nothing you can do about it. I never managed to get past like 300 upvotes before. Almost 60k comments is just crazy."
Even though they knew a lot of the things that were mentioned in the replies such as problems in the healthcare system or excessive swearing-censoring on the TV, they made IBringTheGinger understand the different culture better. "I learned about others and seeing all those issues combined in one place really made me realize I'd never want to chase the American dream myself. Well, not if I wouldn't be hugely compensated for it at least, like a job offer or something. But I doubt that would ever happen anyway."
Why tipping is considered part of someone's paycheck.
So the Customers have to feel Guilt about Poverty, not the Employers
You Americans eat like you've got free health care.
Have you seen the ridiculous large portions we get here? In most European countries that's considered a meal for at least a family of 4 at minimum!
Why the big amount of flat-earth and antivax people?? Is your education system not doing well??
The Flat Earth Society exists across the globe- ahem, disc... :D
21 Drinking age like whaaaat you can vote , go join the army , get married , have children and drive but you're too immature to drink ???!!???!
The idolization of politicians. They are public servants, similar to a courthouse clerk or a city hall coordinator. They are not rock stars. You don't need to scream their name, buy their merch, fully commit your life to them and believe everything they say. Just... treat them like public servants. Sure, they get power and position but hold them accountable when they abuse it. Don't let corporations and politicians take over, the political system is created by the people, FOR the people. It just... boggles the mind.
Not being able to afford to study
Not being able to afford to pay medical bills
Not being able to afford school lunch
Not being able to have schools without security guards
Not being able to drink water straight from the tap
Not being able to walk because you are morbidly obese
toddlers involved in politics
Their obsession with celebrities, media and “perfect” looks. How often do I read comments from Americans saying:”Bad European teeth“ while in reality they are totally healthy, just aren’t bleached.
People going bankrupt for getting sick. Stupidly expensive "education". Gun control. No repercussion for police brutality.
Why are you paying taxes for?
It's crazy that American police can straight up murder people based on their skin colour and there's no repercussions for it. In my country if the police uses a gun even once, even to just injure a suspect, there's massive investigation launched into whether that use of force was called for
I'm too European to understand how swearing and curse words are such a big deal in movies and songs, but violence and guns are taken with a grain of salt
You have $4.50 in your pocket. The fancy drink is advertised at $3.99. Do you have enough money to buy it? Dunno!
You have to always calculate tax and tip like we're some kind of math geniuses or something!
The American Dream. Basically every other developed county is living the ‘American Dream’ while Americans really just think they are, but if you describe the way their country works to someone it sounds like you’re describing a third world country.
And whenever to tell someone that there’s something wrong with how the USA does things, people do one or more of the following: A. Yell at you “if you don’t like it, then leave!” (mindless nationalism, not patriotism)... B.They refuse to believe it’s better anywhere else... C. They tell you that any place with a seemingly better system is still actually worse because it’s “socialism” (and they are fully convinced by obsolete and never correct Cold War propaganda to reject anything that has the scent of “USSR” on it, whether legit or not)... D. They go as far as comparing the USA to some third-world hellhole or theocracy just to make the USA seem better by comparison (sinking to that low a bar is really fucking revealing!!!).
The confusing Imperial measurements system and US customary units.
I don't understand the concept of punching holes in the wall. If you tried that here in Ireland, you'd just break your hand.
Double standards. E.g. being prude but having the largest porn industry in the world, praising religion but disregarding Christian values IRL.
The fact that Americans refer to a 24h clock as “military time” you mean just regular time?
Also, suing culture. Got injured? Sue! Fell down some stairs? Sue! Fight with neighbour? Sue!
I will NEVER understand why you guys allow children to not be guaranteed free health care and dental care! Why aren't you up in arms over this, protesting in the streets? They're CHILDREN, why on earth would a rich country not guarantee free health care to all children?! I don't get it.
They won't even protect their children from getting shot dead. We had one school shooting in the UK and even gun owners were so sickened they supported the changes in the law. In the US children getting shot in the face is less horrifying than not being allowed to walk around showing off a gun.
Having to take out a second mortage because you twisted your ankle in the wrong state.
Why Americans are so proud of being American and their obsession with military. Like what did they do other than being born American? What good does military do other than wasting money they could use for e.g. health care.
European here, why are all your houses made from cardboard if you have a problem with hurricanes? My country has no natural problems and our houses are made from reinforced cement.
Not using the metric system. Counting in football fields/moon landings instead... I don't get it.
You're not the only one but, alas, it's one of those: "it is what it is" things.
Why do you guys wear shoes in the house??
Or put their feet with the shoes on, on the bed!! I mean, hygiene people!!
While watching Chelsea vs Manchester United yesterday on NBCSN, during halftime there was a Good Rx commercial where the guy is asking a woman if she would like to fill her prescription, he pulled up the phone and showed her that the same pill can cost from $10 to $90 depending on the area. And that Good Rx can help her fill the prescription with the cheapest prices. Now someone please explain to me how in the ever-loving f**k is it possible for a drug to cost 10x more depending on your location !? Don't they have constant prices like in the rest of the civilized world !?
First off: What makes you think we have a civilized world here? The Civil war here is still going on in some people's mind albeit not physically. In answer to your question about the Rx pricing: Yes, it does depends where you live because we here live the good life of out of control predatory greed.
Joining the army for college money and free healthcare. Also how religious they are
The religion stuff has always bugged me. It annoys me how people dont see freedom from religion as part of our freedom to religion. Not to mention Christianity is everywhere
Expensive required textbooks that you HAVE to buy to take a university class
How much do I tip? 10%? 15%? Do I tip everywhere? Why isn’t the tax included? Why does the tip vary? Why are the waiters so underpaid?
Also, why do you have to do your tax bill? You could literally go to prison but it’s like a guessing game from what I heard?
In the Netherlands we do our annual taxes in an online app where most of the data is already entered. All you need to do is check, enter your deductibles and hit "Send" and you're done. But that isn't possible in the US because some greedy software companies managed to block the IRS from setting up a similar system as a free service.
Being scared of the police.
How strongly Americans feel about the flag. I saw a photographer get torn to pieces online because someone was standing on the tiniest bit of the flag and people went fuc**ng ape s*it. In the UK most people probably couldn’t spot if the Union Flag was round the wrong way.
Nipples, or in general the hyper-sexualization of nudity.
I love going to my local sauna. Everyone is naked. Boys and girls. You might see your boss or teacher naked. It's just completely normal, and I love it. But for my American friends, when I tell them, the first thing they ask is if people have sex orgies there or how I avoid getting a boner. 😖
Don't know if it's already mentioned but your delivery drivers just leaving packages outside your front door. I can't wrap my mind around this, how did this ever came acceptable?
Here you sign for deliveries. If you're not there they'll leave a note when they'll come again. If still not delivered you can pick it up yourself. Also if you didn't sign for delivery it's marked as not delivered.
This is not an american problem, it happens as well in Europe..Trust me, I am working in the logistics business for over 30 years :-)
Student debt. I pay €20/Semester tuition in Austria.
We do have student loans in Norway, too, but that's to pay for food and rent. The interest rates are low, however, and I've never heard of anyone not being able to pay it back.
Many people do not vote because they cannot get time off work to do so.
30 degrees fahrenheit
They say "it's like 70 degrees outside" and I never understand if it's cold or hot!
Note: this post originally had 102 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
I have one for you... children beauty pageants... that's legalised child abuse... wtf is that?
Children's beauty pageants are fucked up and a paradise for pedophiles
even for pedos... I am not able to understand how it could be amusing for any mentally healthy people.
LOL. Hardly. I have never heard of a single case of a kiddy fiddler molesting a kid that was in a beauty pageant. It is being a paradise for vain, attention-seeking parents destroying their kid's natural childhood that's the problem, dummy.
True! This beauty pageants are so wrong on so many levels. The parents are sick. Poor children.
it is a sick understanding of beauty. This is just a small part of the same crap.
This comment has been deleted.
I have a double opinion about this post. Part of me thinks this is good because we have a chance to find out about each other's cultures and discuss important topics, yet, the other part tells me this is just another one of the America-bashing material. And it horribly polarises the world, as if there's only U.S.A vs. EU. I dunno, I agree most of these are dystopian problems, but honestly, I'm a bit tired of all this bashing. It's more useless than it seems.
Agreed. We've got lots of problems and probably criticize ourselves more than other countries. If we were to bash another country like this we'd be labeled insensitive American louts.
Well that is stuff i always ask myself when i read memes or watch movies/shows from u. S. A. And i dident think this was bashi g? There is nothing new or surprising there. It doesent need to be usefull but entertaining. For ne it was bc i saw that other noUS also wounder about that. And i loved some of the explanations from americans🙃
Like it or not, the elected President of the United States has.... in the past 3 years..... publicly bashed: Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, France, Germany, the rest of the EU, South Korea, Japan, all of America's NATO allies, and I think it's safe to say "shithole" was applied to pretty much all of Africa, South and Central America. About the only nations Trump has NOT insulted at least once are Russia and Israel. This is the person who is the official representative of the US to the rest of the world. No offense, but it's sort of a dick move to ask why everyone is insulting you when your leader is insulting pretty much EVERYBODY. I realize that Trump doesn't speak for everyone, and i realize there are internal political divisions within the US... but like it or not, Trump decides your foreign policy, Trump is your public voice and Trump DOES speak for the US as a nation.
Why the 2nd person form? I have nothing to do with the U.S.A. "My" leaders are Zoran Milanović, Andrej Plenković and 문재인. Their leader is a poophole indeed, but he wasn't even the one who got the majority of votes, so I don't think you can use him as an excuse to go trashing the culture of an entire nation. Also, you really wanna put yourself on his same level by doing the same as he does?
Daria B, Thank you!
Maybe Americans shouldn't always tell the rest of the world that they are so much better, thats very annoying
Okay, this one stands. Although your statement is pretty much a generalisation, but it's this world wide dominance that is annoying indeed. However, the US vs. EU polarisation problem is still there. The world is big and varied, and beautiful.
This polarisation is all to blame to your president. the orange toddler. He's the one picking fights with all of America's allies while at the same time is tightening strings to dictators like Kim Jung Un. He even declared his love for the sadist tyrant. On top of that; You really can't tell the rest of the world that your country is doing great, while there are people dying in the streets because of a lack of humanity.
By "your president", do you mean Zoran Milanović or 문재인? None of them is orange, so I don't know. And yes, I CAN go around telling how my little Mediterranean country is great, because we depend heavily on tourism. ♡
playing/singing the national anthem at every event
Better that saying the pledge every day
I have one for you... children beauty pageants... that's legalised child abuse... wtf is that?
Children's beauty pageants are fucked up and a paradise for pedophiles
even for pedos... I am not able to understand how it could be amusing for any mentally healthy people.
LOL. Hardly. I have never heard of a single case of a kiddy fiddler molesting a kid that was in a beauty pageant. It is being a paradise for vain, attention-seeking parents destroying their kid's natural childhood that's the problem, dummy.
True! This beauty pageants are so wrong on so many levels. The parents are sick. Poor children.
it is a sick understanding of beauty. This is just a small part of the same crap.
This comment has been deleted.
I have a double opinion about this post. Part of me thinks this is good because we have a chance to find out about each other's cultures and discuss important topics, yet, the other part tells me this is just another one of the America-bashing material. And it horribly polarises the world, as if there's only U.S.A vs. EU. I dunno, I agree most of these are dystopian problems, but honestly, I'm a bit tired of all this bashing. It's more useless than it seems.
Agreed. We've got lots of problems and probably criticize ourselves more than other countries. If we were to bash another country like this we'd be labeled insensitive American louts.
Well that is stuff i always ask myself when i read memes or watch movies/shows from u. S. A. And i dident think this was bashi g? There is nothing new or surprising there. It doesent need to be usefull but entertaining. For ne it was bc i saw that other noUS also wounder about that. And i loved some of the explanations from americans🙃
Like it or not, the elected President of the United States has.... in the past 3 years..... publicly bashed: Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, France, Germany, the rest of the EU, South Korea, Japan, all of America's NATO allies, and I think it's safe to say "shithole" was applied to pretty much all of Africa, South and Central America. About the only nations Trump has NOT insulted at least once are Russia and Israel. This is the person who is the official representative of the US to the rest of the world. No offense, but it's sort of a dick move to ask why everyone is insulting you when your leader is insulting pretty much EVERYBODY. I realize that Trump doesn't speak for everyone, and i realize there are internal political divisions within the US... but like it or not, Trump decides your foreign policy, Trump is your public voice and Trump DOES speak for the US as a nation.
Why the 2nd person form? I have nothing to do with the U.S.A. "My" leaders are Zoran Milanović, Andrej Plenković and 문재인. Their leader is a poophole indeed, but he wasn't even the one who got the majority of votes, so I don't think you can use him as an excuse to go trashing the culture of an entire nation. Also, you really wanna put yourself on his same level by doing the same as he does?
Daria B, Thank you!
Maybe Americans shouldn't always tell the rest of the world that they are so much better, thats very annoying
Okay, this one stands. Although your statement is pretty much a generalisation, but it's this world wide dominance that is annoying indeed. However, the US vs. EU polarisation problem is still there. The world is big and varied, and beautiful.
This polarisation is all to blame to your president. the orange toddler. He's the one picking fights with all of America's allies while at the same time is tightening strings to dictators like Kim Jung Un. He even declared his love for the sadist tyrant. On top of that; You really can't tell the rest of the world that your country is doing great, while there are people dying in the streets because of a lack of humanity.
By "your president", do you mean Zoran Milanović or 문재인? None of them is orange, so I don't know. And yes, I CAN go around telling how my little Mediterranean country is great, because we depend heavily on tourism. ♡
playing/singing the national anthem at every event
Better that saying the pledge every day