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!
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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 f*****g 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!
That tips is damn near mandatory. Screw that. Pay your god damn workers a decent wage and if I get good service I will tip. If I feel like it. And before anyone jumps on me. Yes, i do tip in the US but it’s mostly because i don’t want to offend anyone. It doesn't feel right to me.
Getting an uber to the hospital because of the ambulance cost
I once refused to go to the ER in an ambulance due to the almost $2,000 bill I would incur and one of the EMTs responding asked his superior if they could give me a taxi voucher. They did. The reality of being underinsured....
the obsession with their military, like i feel like veterans are war heros , everyone has to thank them fr their service...
and then again, they dont really care about the veterans medical conditions...
there is a whole of a lot wrong with the USA
Lobbying, I never understand how every politician on both sides gets away with legalized bribery and everyone just accepts it, I understand the need for specialist interest groups to promote their ideas but to be allowed to visibly finance a politician and rate their friendliness to your cause with no repercussions is insane to me. Its bribery no matter how you dress it up.
Been watching Sons of Anarchy on Netflix and it reminded me of something really odd about US telly. You can show people being brutally murdered, tortured, raped, overdose on drugs, hint at child sex abuse, and have a story arc start with a school shooting. Cant say f**k though. What's that about?
Why do you have so many Ads on TV? When I visited I swear there were Ads every 5 minutes and they last so long! I honestly don't understand why anyone watches TV when it's like that. Speaking of Ads, the prescription drug Ads are fu**ing creepy and weird and ya'll should stop that.
No one in America actually watches real TV anymore. Netflix, Disney+, Youtube, etc
I still do. I mean if my shows (A Million Little Things, 9-1-1: Lonestar, Grown-ish, etc.) were on Netflix instead of Fox, ABC, or Freeform, I'd probably not watch tv at all. There is an ABC and Freeform streaming service, but it's too expensive. All I truly have is Netflix, Disney+, and Youtube.
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Thank Reagan for that. He lifted the restrictions on commercials for TV.
Ads are part of the Culture now... Every Hollywood Production is filled with them
Ads are an annoying neccessity. But a few years back you had 30 minutes of film and 10 minutes of commercials. Now it's come to the point that there's a 10 minute commercial break nearly every 5 minutes. I'm waiting for the day that they'll charge you to watch commercials that are interrupted by commercial breaks.
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That is why everyone is doing streaming content. Don't have to watch the ads!
That alcohol needs to be covered in paper bags
That you can and will sue for anything
Asking how someone is, but not wanting to hear the real answer
That any type of leave is essentially non-existent: sick, maternity... and related to this that you have so little PTO in the beginning of your career that it is really inhumane
That Whole Foods is such a big deal. Looks like any normal European food store to me..
The alcohol in paper bags is from state to state. I think it goes to a "kindness" issue in regards to alcoholics. An apartment complex I stayed in was housing for recovering alcoholics, even though not everyone was an alcoholic. Any purchases of alcohol had to be carried from your car to your home in a paper bag or other concealing bag. But then..it's kind of a stupid rule since television programs, especially sports, are riddled with commercials for booze.
With no intend to be rude, but I can't understand how so many people eat themselves to the point of needing a mobility scooter or the point of being bedbound. I live in Sweden and I believe that the absolutely heaviest person I've ever seen in 30 years was about 400 pounds.
This happens in the UK as well, the amount of people that use scooters and crutches that are obese is so sad...
People not using all of their annual leave.. ‘vacation’ days. And you have so few. I get 9 weeks and I still feel deprived.
Their toilet stalls are so fuc**d up it’s unbelievable. Huge gaps in the side you can see people through, huge gaps at the top and bottom, and they don’t have “occupied” signs that show when the door is locked. I was listening to an American podcast recently where they suggested having a light above the stall to show when it’s in use... they don’t have a clue lol
I’ve never understood why in America movies with nudity are rated R but movies with violence and blood is PG13 or less. It’s opposite of other countries.
I agree with this. Also in R-rated movies why is the word "F*ck" used so much. I watched the new A Star Is Born when it came out in theaters (Bradley Cooper, Lady Gaga) and every 5th word in a sentence was some variation of "F*ck"
Why most Americans i've spoken to are so opposed to universal free/ way cheaper healthcare. I'm from the Netherlands and if I fell ill and needed medicine i would either not have to pay because health insurance is mandatory and pretty cheap and almost everything is insured or i'd have to pay very little for a medicine my insurance doesn't cover. I've heard talk of people dying because they could not afford medicine for a chronic illness( e.g. insulin) when i'm fairly certain that here either your insurance covers it or its super cheap.
TLDR; Why do most Americans not want free/cheap healthcare
Tipping, paying for health care (thank god for the NHS), ridiculous living costs, not having holiday time
A dozen inches is a foot, 5280 feet are a mile or 1760 yards. 231 cubic inches are a gallon or 256 american tablespoons. Not to be confused with british tablespoons which would only take about 213.165 to fill an US-gallon, but not exactly. When I was little I asked myself: How the freak did you come up with landing people on the moon? Then I dug deeper into that and found out about Wernher von Braun who was the leading engineer and rocket scientist behind the Saturn V rocket that launched Apollo 11 to the moon and back to earth. Braun was german and I'm almost certain that if he had to deal with a freakton of imperial units, America would've missed the moon by about 10 billion furlongs, which is another bullshit unit.
The basic measure of rocket engine efficiency, Specific Impulse or Isp, is usually reported in seconds because von Braun knew that if it was expressed in either SI or Imp units someone would mess up the conversion. By expressing it in seconds it is the same in both systems.
How everyone seems to think they're middle class. Like it seems to be like 90% of Americans... that's a big deviation from the middle. As a rule of thumb, if having your appendix out could bankrupt you, you're not middle class
modern civilizations don't need to guns to defend themselves. If you need guns to defend yourself you're living in the wild west/savage land
bulk buying is cheaper, so universal health care is cheaper(not a rocket science)
lobbying is legalized bribery
electoral college? this 2020 not 1820
In the US the states elect the president and the electoral college was deliberately designed to increase the weight of smaller states. Otherwise California, New York, Texas and Florida alone would decide each election. Anyway, it's their country and only Americans should be able to decide about the way they want to elect their president. Overall the electoral college isn't that unfair to cause an outcry around the globe
The amount of lobbying a company can do to influence laws. Paying your way out of the crinimal system, if you have money you don't go to jail. The excessive prison sentences for minor crimes. The amount of black people in jail. The tax system. Inequality. The lack of social support. Its all pretty nuts
There's a very good reason why 1% of US citizens are in prison: indentured labour. Prisoners are used as very cheap contract labour by privately run detention centres. Goods manufactured in US prisons are therefore very competitively priced in comparison to imported goods, which means that someone is making seriously big bucks. The prisoners are paid a token amount so it's not considered slavery - but it cuts very close to the bone.
Paid holiday leave seems to be non existent?
A lot of countries give you 3 or more weeks a year paid holiday (and also around 5 sick days per year also).
I honestly don't know you all haven't marched or rioted.
Having a life long debt for education
That abortion is even an issue, let alone the main thing people care about when they cast their vote!
Not exclusively American. Ireland just legalized abortion. It is still illegal in Poland.
Probably not really European but Finnish, memes about forgetting to connect your phone to wifi. Here we have unlimited internet and it's working almost everywhere. Edit: Also the unlimited mobile data costs here like 30€ in month
I pay 5 euros for unlimited 4G data on my mobile, like 100% unlimited. And it includes unlimited calls and 1000 SMSs, but who uses them nowadays? And pay around 17 euros for unlimited WiFi at home, but this include the TV channels too...
I don't know if this is considered a problem for Americans but it sure as hell was a problem/inconvenience for me while I was there. Unreasonably high water level in the toilets like, holy crap my balls were almost touching the water.
Political campaigns costing hundreds of millions of dollars, and everyone donating to them. Wouldn't that money be better utilised in Govt funding? I appreciate US has huge population states to cover, but wouldn't it be better to cap it?
yes, yes it would. it also stops the average person from running and makes high public office only available to the rich
Having to fear death by not being able to pay
Yeah..had my father had universal healthcare, my sister could have hired a nurse to come look after him every so often so she wouldn't be expected to take care of him 24/7. He recently passed..but she is still reeling from the depression and anxiety from having to care for his every basic need.
Tax, drinking age, tipping, college debt, dying because you can't afford hospital, school shooting... Yeah, America is weird for some !
Food portions, the amount of fat and sugar in food. I have been to the us a few weeks ago. I couldn't deal with the nasty food after 2 weeks.
I've lost 22 kilos since moving from the US to Belgium just over a year ago. More walking and better food will do that for you!
Caring about other people's food.
As a Pole I don't care how do you like your pierogi, pyzy, kartacze, bigos, etc.
But damn me if I ask in the US for a "well done" steak. Or if I order a Hawaiian Pizza.
pineapple on pizza is great and everyone needs to just calm down and not eat it if they don't like it
Why the hell does anyone still use checks? Like actual, paper checkbooks that you write on and then deposit to a bank? How is that still a thing?
I know a lot of phrases like "write a check" or "the check had bounced", but I assumed they were leftovers in the language from the pre-internet era.
Small talk. Every time when I’m in America I feel I have to be super extroverted and there is more drama everywhere. In Europe it’s more relaxed overall and I don’t need to be in a really talkative mood all the time.
How your credit score system works. I will never understand why using a debit card, so only spending money you actually have, doesn't have a positive effect on your CS but paying your credit card every month has.
Ridiculous brand obsession (besides general corporate slavery). When I lived in Israel I saw a FB thread asking American expats what they missed most from home. I thought they'd mention something profound; instead, most people just listed whatever brands I had never heard of they missed and weren't available.
i never understood four things in us:
healthcare (or mostly healt-don't-care)
prices are written on goods without taxes
toilets that looks like small lake
shower that have only one knob to set intensity and temperature of water
Why insulin is so expensive. Even with an insurance.
Greed. LIke everything in the US is based on the principle of profit and greed. Even charities and religion.
I understand America's problems just fine. The real question is why so many of their solutions are too European for Americans to understand. It's almost like the only other country that exists in American politics is Venezuela.
That you can get fired just like that and have no income.
Here if you are fired your employer needs to pay you at least 3 months after you were fired.
Here it depends on the reason you were fired. If they just want to get rid of you, you get paid (length depends on how long you paid taxes and your income). If it was for poor performance you don't get paid, but they need to prove you were doing a poor job and give several warnings before firing you. In all cases you get a month's notice. All that means you have enough time to secure a new job if you know your employer wants to fire you one way or another.
That there's no such thing as free higher education.
In my country there's paid education as well, but... I think that in many cases free education is better than various grants and money benefits. It makes education more available.
The entire entertainment industry. Everything looks so fake. Even European films feel so ‘American’ now, it’s extremely off-putting
”Ask your doctor about THIS DRUG” ads.
I live in the US and was appalled at my last doctor's appointment. They had changed to an on-line sign-in and after that was complete, I had to sit through 3 different drug ads on my phone before it finished. Quit advertising drugs FFS. If you need a certain drug, your doctor will know and prescribe it, you shouldn't be shopping for prescriptions to "ask your doctor about".
Why are American ADULTS offended by swear words being spoke if there are no children around?
Humongous food portions
Not sure if this qualifies but I don't understand how every american on the internet also thinks everyone else is an american (from experience at least) I sometimes talk about products and always get recommended to America exclusive stores or told where to go in America for it
It's the same as men assuming that everyone on the internet is also a man unless they have a female sounding user name.
The complete and utter lack of physical affection. Two guys hugging is gay. Girls holding hands? Ah those lesbians. A guy and a girl can't even come close. Like folks just stop being touch hungry weirdos and hug!
PDA is a major thing in America. we show our love and affection for each in public all the time
Having to remember that cars can turn on a red light.
I know this is a thing. I've known this for ten years. I still forget and nearly die every time I need to cross a road when I'm in the US.
Credit Score.
You have to make debts to prove you can make more debt?
Tipping. I mean in England you just... Pay for your food, eat it and leave. What, I'm supposed to give extra money? I am so unfamiliar with the concept I don't even know if its a good idea or a bad idea.
Credit card debt.
You have a credit card, you buy something with your credit card, you pay it all off from your checking account in the same month.
The interest works never in your favor.
Having to assemble a 22,000 person armed militia outside your state Capitol in order to terrify your Senate into rejecting a bill to turn you into a felon for obeying the law.
Your indicator light is just a flashing tail light.
When it's used. That's also an American thing. "I need to change lanes or turn..but I'm not going to turn on my turn signal because it's a big secret and I want to keep you guessing." My husband always jokes.."Must've been born before turn signals were invented."
Why don’t you guys drink tea?!?
Because electric kettles are draw too much power to work on the USA system of 120 volts, thats why you never find on in a hotel room
Massive Collage debt. University isnt free but with work and maybe BAföG you dont have debt you will never pay of with your arts degree.
I have one for you... children beauty pageants... that's legalised child abuse... wtf is that?
Children's beauty pageants are f****d up and a paradise for pedophiles
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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.
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Extremely expensive education and healthcare, because all the money goes to the armed force ... and putting so much money to the armed force in the territory who wasn't attacked since Pearl Harbour.
Drives me nuts when their military is worshiped domestically as "protectors". From who? They are guarded by 2 oceans. NOBODY can touch them militarily yet they act as if soldiers overseas dying in other countries is somehow protecting them. SEAL teams attacking Jihadi extremists who want to attack America? Sure. But having bases all over the world and being the world police? Dumb.
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Guns. I’ve heard the arguments and I still don’t get it. Children are being murdered on a regular basis.
Tiny Dynamite, please stop trolling everybody. If America is so terrible, you're not going to change anything by just calling the US f****d up.
Some of these are true, but I don't understand why there are SO many posts making fun of Americans. Surely we can't be the only country that has problems. If there was to be a post making fun of the UK, our "insensitivity" would probably get added to this post. We realize our country is not doing great, but it's kind of unfair that every other country is on our back as well.
Sure, but some problems are unique to America. Like all the stuff about health care costs.
Load More Replies... if the U.S. is so horrible, why do so many people from other countries want to come live here?
Because they also believe the lies that are shown in TV programmes and films that show everyone to be rich and beautiful. I used to teach Tibetan exiles in India who could watch TV for an hour a day. They drooled over those programmes because America looked perfect. On the other side of the mirror, 600,000+ are homeless there.
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Half of Americans agree that most of these are serious problems. I don't think most Europeans get how politically fractured the US really is. There's a slight correlation between political ideology and whether you see these as actual "problems". Also, we actually do use the metric system here. We just have to layer a thin veneer of Imperial units over everything for about half the population.
"I don't think most Europeans get how politically fractured the US really is". You mean the place with Brexit and recent riots in the streets of Greece and France etc? That's the place where everyone agrees?
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Almost all of these issues are cause by one of two things; unregulated capitalism or overly zealous religion
The USA is one of the most Globally Prominent countries in the Media... of Course it's Stupidity is going to be Revealed more. Every country has its Stupid Aspects and I'm so tired of "USA bad, Europe good"
Look at the Whole Brexit mess... my Country isn't doing much Better. Indonesia dumps the most Plastic of all. N Korea literally Executes political Enemies. But wait, USA puts the Month before the Day...
Load More Replies... Lack of public transit wasn't mentioned for some reason. Since everyone is driving the streets look almost empty compared to Europe, especially after dark. Just looks eerie to me)
Oh, this one is the result of car companies and lobbyists, if I understood correctly. There are documentaries about this.
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Every country has it's good and bad. As an American this was hard to read. I understand a lot what is said but I also don't need to see people bashing my country.
But the USA bashes other countries all the time (not just the current president but past ones, too, but ESPECIALLY the current president) and insists it is the best country in the world. And none of the problems listed here are false; these show the reality of America, not the dream.
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The biggest impression I get from this post is how quick Europeans are to stereotype others. See, not so nice is it?
The irony in this sentence.... anyway, yeah, generalisations and stereotypes suck.
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I want to read more of these. It is interesting to see how America is seen from the outside. Sometimes I wonder if we in America have some type of Stockholm Syndrome lol
It's not all one or the other though. I'm outside USA, and some of these do confuse me, but others are applicable in other countries (ie student debts). I just think maybe this article is a little polarizing...(heh heh I used a 'z' in polarising, a random american/UK spelling difference that didn't seem to make the list)
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Why are Americans so set against a free health care system despite the rest of the world proving it works?
Because people are afraid of change, and the health care industry has spent billions of dollars to appeal to that fear.
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Almost every question can be answered by "Unchecked Capitalism." Every horrible problem in America comes down to the reality (or the illusion) that simply pulling yourself up the bootstraps means you will have zero problems.
So all the undeniable evidence is there. American society is totally r******d, inefficient, paranoid, childishly and hypocritically prudish, violent, lazy, unhealthy, backward, behind the times, illogical and just plain f****d up.
calling themselves americans when america is a whole continent, with 35 countries
Great video about US Americans made by American lady living for years in Prague / Czech republic. It's spoken in Czech so you have to turn the English subtitles on. The title says it all: Americans are strange. https://youtu.be/VpQYmrQktao
As an American I ask ALL of those questions myself. And I still don't have any more insight. This country is fubar.
You are free to leave at any time. I bet you won't. That makes you a hypocrite.
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This is really making me wish it was easier to move out of this country and convince all of my friends and family to come with me.
Americans thinking everyone in Africa is black, when I went there a while back they were shocked that i was white and from South Africa......Also we do not have wild animals running up and down the street.........................
Some of them were kinda dumb, but everyone’s different, people and countries too. So idk why they have to complain about how we’re different. Oh well...
The quality of our American life began to plummet with Reagan and has continued, making all the European observations here true. (I also agree with the ones about the flag, which preceded him). The Electoral College and Republicans and their donors are holding the country hostage with the help of ignorant racist, sexist fools who don't mind that they are being cheated of a decent life so long as people of color and women suffer more. I just hope Sanders wins big, and that it's not too late.
well - honestly the USA is one of the most crazy and psychologically as well as emotionally distorted countries in the world - it is a very dangerous fact for our planet the most powerful country is acting and feeling like a psychopath - sorry to say that but it is true - most of media in the USA are lying - to see the whole theatre around Trump is ridiculous - what a challenge for the collective hipocrisy
Ooh. Why does England have a royal family that gets paid big bucks for just being royal when Parliament is actually in charge & don't get paid the same?
Some of these are over generalized & don't apply to the entire US population. Some I agree with.
I'm an American an I wonder why new drugs that are curing ailments overseas aren't quickly approved here.
Because our government is interfering, that's why. The Federal government is highly inefficient, and the FDA, which has to approve all drugs, moves slowly. That is why many Americans want LESS government in our lives, not more.
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"My country 'tis of the thee, sweet land of artillery.." But seriously tho, people here are ridiculously obsessed with guns.
Where do I start? Let's start with killing. The US Government has a higher defense budget than the next ELEVEN highest budgets COMBINED. The US manufactures in the ballpark of 10 MILLION guns every year, and the US has more firearms in private hands than any other nation on Earth by a WIDE margin. American media and entertainment is just SOAKED in brutally violent imagery, while showing a nipple or saying a swear word is enough to get you fined or arrested. Outside of an ACTIVE war zone, there is no country on EARTH where they spend more time killing each other, talking about killing each other, fantasizing about killing each other or simply preparing to kill each other. The whole country is full of sociopaths.
At least for Germany - when you tell an Amercian, that you are German, they will always have story to tell about them, their relatives, their neighbours... who comes from germany oder has been here. - is it the same for other countires? ---- and 4-way-stop signs. Why? eather give the right of way for one direction or install traffic light. OOOOR use a roundabout, but of, they don't know how to drive through these :)
What i really don't understand about us citizens is that way of always acting. Most of them are dramatizing every little thing in their life,and playing roles, like they are on a stage. I find it pretty sad.
That's what BP is for, haha. Everyone complaining and virtue signalling.
Load More Replies... No doubt our USA has both good and bad things, like every other country. But here's a question for all non-Americans on here: if we're so questionable, why does so much of the rest of the world passionately embrace our culture? Why do so many of your people beg for our Levi's Jeans, Nike shoes, Apple products & access to our social networks? Those ones I sort of understand, but they also embrace the stupidest parts of our culture, our fast food, our diabetes-giving Coca-Cola & Starbucks, our dumb pop music and sitcoms. We don't embrace brands from other cultures nearly as much as the billions around the world embrace brands from ours. Of course US culture is itself a hodge podge of things, much of which was borrowed heavily from many other cultures, but we seem to have a knack for packaging and marketing culture into things that a major chunk of the rest of the world wants. Does that raise questions about us or them?
We wouldn't have so many problems if the rest of the world would stay the hell home and fix their own problems. They all think this is the land of plenty. Yeah, plenty of people escaping the problems of their own countries. -and then they want us to change to fit their notions of what we should be and what we should provide for them.
Nobody, absolutely NOBODY ever asked your country to come and fix their problems. And while you might have a lot of immigrants, you are not number one destination for immigrants in the world. That is actually Europe.
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They have TV programmes such as 'Naked and Afraid' and then blur the breasts and genitals as though we mustn't see them because we might be offended! Also, I believe that one girl even sued the TV station because a programme was aired and they had failed to censor her vagina in one scene! How hypocritical is that?
HAVE ANY OF YOU EVEN BEEN TO THE USA?!?!?! OR ARE YOU JUST GOING ON HEARSAY???? Practically none of this is correct.
Ah yes. These things are exactly what I myself hate about country. I cannot tell you how badly i want to leave.
Well, you might need a good financial plan, but you actually can leave. Pick your favourite country, find out about their visa requirements and maybe start looking for job offers in your country of choice. Some companies in some countries even have you covered with a place to stay/live. But most will not provide flight costs, sadly. Still, you can try.
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I don't get why in America ( and not only), you get in to the elevator on ground floor, and it's called the first floor. The next floor above is called the second. When the first floor above the ground level should be first floor, not second.
The ground floor has a floor. So, it's the first floor of the building, unless you want 1 to be the top floor and count up as you go down, which is of course silly. So, the first floor you encounter being called the first floor makes perfect sense to me.
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The USA did not enter WW2 until after they were attacked at Pearl Harbour.
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Anyone can start a post on Boredpanda. Why don't you do it?
Load More Replies... I have one for you... children beauty pageants... that's legalised child abuse... wtf is that?
Children's beauty pageants are f****d up and a paradise for pedophiles
Load More Replies... 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.
Load More Replies... Extremely expensive education and healthcare, because all the money goes to the armed force ... and putting so much money to the armed force in the territory who wasn't attacked since Pearl Harbour.
Drives me nuts when their military is worshiped domestically as "protectors". From who? They are guarded by 2 oceans. NOBODY can touch them militarily yet they act as if soldiers overseas dying in other countries is somehow protecting them. SEAL teams attacking Jihadi extremists who want to attack America? Sure. But having bases all over the world and being the world police? Dumb.
Load More Replies... Guns. I’ve heard the arguments and I still don’t get it. Children are being murdered on a regular basis.
Tiny Dynamite, please stop trolling everybody. If America is so terrible, you're not going to change anything by just calling the US f****d up.
Some of these are true, but I don't understand why there are SO many posts making fun of Americans. Surely we can't be the only country that has problems. If there was to be a post making fun of the UK, our "insensitivity" would probably get added to this post. We realize our country is not doing great, but it's kind of unfair that every other country is on our back as well.
Sure, but some problems are unique to America. Like all the stuff about health care costs.
Load More Replies... if the U.S. is so horrible, why do so many people from other countries want to come live here?
Because they also believe the lies that are shown in TV programmes and films that show everyone to be rich and beautiful. I used to teach Tibetan exiles in India who could watch TV for an hour a day. They drooled over those programmes because America looked perfect. On the other side of the mirror, 600,000+ are homeless there.
Load More Replies... Half of Americans agree that most of these are serious problems. I don't think most Europeans get how politically fractured the US really is. There's a slight correlation between political ideology and whether you see these as actual "problems". Also, we actually do use the metric system here. We just have to layer a thin veneer of Imperial units over everything for about half the population.
"I don't think most Europeans get how politically fractured the US really is". You mean the place with Brexit and recent riots in the streets of Greece and France etc? That's the place where everyone agrees?
Load More Replies... Almost all of these issues are cause by one of two things; unregulated capitalism or overly zealous religion
The USA is one of the most Globally Prominent countries in the Media... of Course it's Stupidity is going to be Revealed more. Every country has its Stupid Aspects and I'm so tired of "USA bad, Europe good"
Look at the Whole Brexit mess... my Country isn't doing much Better. Indonesia dumps the most Plastic of all. N Korea literally Executes political Enemies. But wait, USA puts the Month before the Day...
Load More Replies... Lack of public transit wasn't mentioned for some reason. Since everyone is driving the streets look almost empty compared to Europe, especially after dark. Just looks eerie to me)
Oh, this one is the result of car companies and lobbyists, if I understood correctly. There are documentaries about this.
Load More Replies... Every country has it's good and bad. As an American this was hard to read. I understand a lot what is said but I also don't need to see people bashing my country.
But the USA bashes other countries all the time (not just the current president but past ones, too, but ESPECIALLY the current president) and insists it is the best country in the world. And none of the problems listed here are false; these show the reality of America, not the dream.
Load More Replies... The biggest impression I get from this post is how quick Europeans are to stereotype others. See, not so nice is it?
The irony in this sentence.... anyway, yeah, generalisations and stereotypes suck.
Load More Replies... I want to read more of these. It is interesting to see how America is seen from the outside. Sometimes I wonder if we in America have some type of Stockholm Syndrome lol
It's not all one or the other though. I'm outside USA, and some of these do confuse me, but others are applicable in other countries (ie student debts). I just think maybe this article is a little polarizing...(heh heh I used a 'z' in polarising, a random american/UK spelling difference that didn't seem to make the list)
Load More Replies... Why are Americans so set against a free health care system despite the rest of the world proving it works?
Because people are afraid of change, and the health care industry has spent billions of dollars to appeal to that fear.
Load More Replies... Almost every question can be answered by "Unchecked Capitalism." Every horrible problem in America comes down to the reality (or the illusion) that simply pulling yourself up the bootstraps means you will have zero problems.
So all the undeniable evidence is there. American society is totally r******d, inefficient, paranoid, childishly and hypocritically prudish, violent, lazy, unhealthy, backward, behind the times, illogical and just plain f****d up.
calling themselves americans when america is a whole continent, with 35 countries
Great video about US Americans made by American lady living for years in Prague / Czech republic. It's spoken in Czech so you have to turn the English subtitles on. The title says it all: Americans are strange. https://youtu.be/VpQYmrQktao
As an American I ask ALL of those questions myself. And I still don't have any more insight. This country is fubar.
You are free to leave at any time. I bet you won't. That makes you a hypocrite.
Load More Replies... This is really making me wish it was easier to move out of this country and convince all of my friends and family to come with me.
Americans thinking everyone in Africa is black, when I went there a while back they were shocked that i was white and from South Africa......Also we do not have wild animals running up and down the street.........................
Some of them were kinda dumb, but everyone’s different, people and countries too. So idk why they have to complain about how we’re different. Oh well...
The quality of our American life began to plummet with Reagan and has continued, making all the European observations here true. (I also agree with the ones about the flag, which preceded him). The Electoral College and Republicans and their donors are holding the country hostage with the help of ignorant racist, sexist fools who don't mind that they are being cheated of a decent life so long as people of color and women suffer more. I just hope Sanders wins big, and that it's not too late.
well - honestly the USA is one of the most crazy and psychologically as well as emotionally distorted countries in the world - it is a very dangerous fact for our planet the most powerful country is acting and feeling like a psychopath - sorry to say that but it is true - most of media in the USA are lying - to see the whole theatre around Trump is ridiculous - what a challenge for the collective hipocrisy
Ooh. Why does England have a royal family that gets paid big bucks for just being royal when Parliament is actually in charge & don't get paid the same?
Some of these are over generalized & don't apply to the entire US population. Some I agree with.
I'm an American an I wonder why new drugs that are curing ailments overseas aren't quickly approved here.
Because our government is interfering, that's why. The Federal government is highly inefficient, and the FDA, which has to approve all drugs, moves slowly. That is why many Americans want LESS government in our lives, not more.
Load More Replies... "My country 'tis of the thee, sweet land of artillery.." But seriously tho, people here are ridiculously obsessed with guns.
Where do I start? Let's start with killing. The US Government has a higher defense budget than the next ELEVEN highest budgets COMBINED. The US manufactures in the ballpark of 10 MILLION guns every year, and the US has more firearms in private hands than any other nation on Earth by a WIDE margin. American media and entertainment is just SOAKED in brutally violent imagery, while showing a nipple or saying a swear word is enough to get you fined or arrested. Outside of an ACTIVE war zone, there is no country on EARTH where they spend more time killing each other, talking about killing each other, fantasizing about killing each other or simply preparing to kill each other. The whole country is full of sociopaths.
At least for Germany - when you tell an Amercian, that you are German, they will always have story to tell about them, their relatives, their neighbours... who comes from germany oder has been here. - is it the same for other countires? ---- and 4-way-stop signs. Why? eather give the right of way for one direction or install traffic light. OOOOR use a roundabout, but of, they don't know how to drive through these :)
What i really don't understand about us citizens is that way of always acting. Most of them are dramatizing every little thing in their life,and playing roles, like they are on a stage. I find it pretty sad.
That's what BP is for, haha. Everyone complaining and virtue signalling.
Load More Replies... No doubt our USA has both good and bad things, like every other country. But here's a question for all non-Americans on here: if we're so questionable, why does so much of the rest of the world passionately embrace our culture? Why do so many of your people beg for our Levi's Jeans, Nike shoes, Apple products & access to our social networks? Those ones I sort of understand, but they also embrace the stupidest parts of our culture, our fast food, our diabetes-giving Coca-Cola & Starbucks, our dumb pop music and sitcoms. We don't embrace brands from other cultures nearly as much as the billions around the world embrace brands from ours. Of course US culture is itself a hodge podge of things, much of which was borrowed heavily from many other cultures, but we seem to have a knack for packaging and marketing culture into things that a major chunk of the rest of the world wants. Does that raise questions about us or them?
We wouldn't have so many problems if the rest of the world would stay the hell home and fix their own problems. They all think this is the land of plenty. Yeah, plenty of people escaping the problems of their own countries. -and then they want us to change to fit their notions of what we should be and what we should provide for them.
Nobody, absolutely NOBODY ever asked your country to come and fix their problems. And while you might have a lot of immigrants, you are not number one destination for immigrants in the world. That is actually Europe.
Load More Replies... They have TV programmes such as 'Naked and Afraid' and then blur the breasts and genitals as though we mustn't see them because we might be offended! Also, I believe that one girl even sued the TV station because a programme was aired and they had failed to censor her vagina in one scene! How hypocritical is that?
HAVE ANY OF YOU EVEN BEEN TO THE USA?!?!?! OR ARE YOU JUST GOING ON HEARSAY???? Practically none of this is correct.
Ah yes. These things are exactly what I myself hate about country. I cannot tell you how badly i want to leave.
Well, you might need a good financial plan, but you actually can leave. Pick your favourite country, find out about their visa requirements and maybe start looking for job offers in your country of choice. Some companies in some countries even have you covered with a place to stay/live. But most will not provide flight costs, sadly. Still, you can try.
Load More Replies... I don't get why in America ( and not only), you get in to the elevator on ground floor, and it's called the first floor. The next floor above is called the second. When the first floor above the ground level should be first floor, not second.
The ground floor has a floor. So, it's the first floor of the building, unless you want 1 to be the top floor and count up as you go down, which is of course silly. So, the first floor you encounter being called the first floor makes perfect sense to me.
Load More Replies... The USA did not enter WW2 until after they were attacked at Pearl Harbour.
Load More Replies... Anyone can start a post on Boredpanda. Why don't you do it?
Load More Replies... 