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 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.
Many American Christians are so weird, yelling things like "Jesus hates f**s" when if they'd read the bible they would know Jesus never said anything about homosexuality
If you are actually Christian, you know Jesus doesn't hate anyone. So if you hear someone say things like that, believe me when I tell you, they have not read the instructions.
Load More Replies...
We call them Weekend Christians. They go and praise God on Sunday...love their fellow man...have a pure soul. And by Monday..they're cursing at people on the road, bilking people out of millions and generally treating people like c**p.
On Sundays in my town, I hear the gun nuts shooting away at the local gun clubs. They were at it when I go up at 9am today. Isn’t that even BEFORE these people go to church? Sundays: guns and god. How Murrika.
Load More Replies...
I was in the Church of Christ for a year with my hostfamily. And on two occasions I was really close to leaving but didn't want to embarasse my hosts. First was about sex and contraception. And the other one about a woman who had left her husband and had moved in with an other man whom she wasn't married to (too her children with her). The community was supposed to talk her into returning to her husband and after that didn't work everyone was told to not speak to her or her children anymore. --- and now that I beginn writing - the pastors wife had a sister who married a man from another christan church, and they quit the contact because she left the Church of Christ. ---- I just really don't get this!
There’s a lot of that kind of utterly inhuman horror inside church “communities” in the USA. I’m not just atheist; I’m antitheist. Religion is by and large horrifying. The USA acts like it’s superior to middle eastern theocracies, but almost half of this country wants the USA to BE a backwards, anti-science, misogynistic theocracy.
Load More Replies... Puritans founded the USA. Many religions are all about the sexual repression. Sexual repression is correlated to acting out against sexual repression in dysfunctional ways... ie: taboos become fetishes. Porn services that repressed culture. Statistics on porn traffic show that the most sexually repressed regions on earth with internet access present the most porn website traffic and the most f****d-up porn interests. It’s all connected, even though it seems like it shouldn’t be.
Some people act like Christianity as a government religion, it's not. That's one of the reasons this country was founded, religious persecution in Europe. There is no declared government religion, and people can choose who or what they want to worship freely. There are people who talk about how this country was founded on Christian values, but those people don't really understand the beliefs of our Founding Fathers (mostly Deists, not Christians). Also, the statement made above is generalizing the entire country of $330 million people, you can't do that.
How grotesquely ironic that the USA was founded by people who wanted to be free to choose their religion... and then the countries they fled ended up more free and secular than the USA is today.
Load More Replies...
More porn is sold in the "Bible Belt" than anywhere else in the country.
Christianity Makes this Life into Just a waiting room... People dawdling around Waiting for Heaven.
Interesting, everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die, even when they're miserable here on earth and the paradise is awaiting them with all their departed love ones waiting.
Load More Replies...
You are damning all of us for the acts of the few. Not everyone watches porn or disregards Christian values. Europe is far from utopia. You sure are hypocritical
Porn, so long as it’s not abusive, is fine. “Christian values” are nothing to worship, when you look at the atrocities committed BY organized religion. Religion has no monopoly on ethics (but they sure want you to think they do). The USA would be far better off if people stopped being acculturated to believe in magical myths and nonsense from childhood on up. It would make it harder to get them to believe b******t from politicians as adults.
Load More Replies...
They aren’t the same people doing this. There are different types of Americans.
This is because of a repressive and unconscious culture. Americans- esp. “ Christians”- do not recognize their “ shadows”...; MUST EVOLVE!!
Please do not single out Christians. All religions are oppressive, at least Christians don't kill you if you opt out - in this modern era.
Load More Replies...
That is a description of two different "cultures". Being an American isnt really a culture. It is just a place where many people with alternate and often opposing ideas on how they want to live their lives.
Go ask the "Christians." And that's not just a problem in the US....last I checked the Catholic Church was a world-wide organization. Frankly, many "Christians" have lost sight of the single most basic thing Jesus taught: the Golden Rule....Don't need to be Christian to live that one.
Teri, but who lives by the golden rule? Humans everywhere in the world are unable to rule themselves and co-exist in peace. "Do unto all other sentient beings as you would want your fellow men do unto you" - cu And, then there won't be any dangerous bacteria and deadly viruses to kill you.
Load More Replies...
I don’t think Americans are prude. I do agree our society has dipped in values and morals. It’s sad. I like to think what goes down must come up—so there’s hope, hopefully, 😚
No. Never accept that. There are idiots everywhere. And you are not responsible for other people's decisions and actions.
Load More Replies...
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 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... 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... 