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In an attempt to start an interesting discussion, Reddit user tycooperaow posted a question on r/AskReddit: "What is clearly a scam but Americans have been conditioned to believe that it is 'normal?'" And they succeeded. Even though the post has received 4.6K upvotes (far fewer than some of the most popular ones on the subreddit), it has accumulated over 5.5K comments. Non-Americans started sharing their take on the US, testing the definition of the word 'scam', and all the replies paint a pretty good picture of the way the rest of the world sees the country.

#1

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Tipping restaurant servers so the owners of the restaurant don’t have to pay them a living wage.

Mean_Increase_ , Jinx! Report

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Brandy Grote
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Decades ago, restaurant workers were paid "regular" wages, and got tips. A single mother could feed 3 kids AND buy a small house with those tips. Greedy restaurant owners hated the idea of their workers getting "money for nothing" (except busting their butts!) and changed the laws so the workers are paid obscenely low wages and then have to share their tips with EVERYONE employed at the restaurant whether they bust tail or not. It's disgusting. Especially because "tipping is optional", but those workers don't get their wages supplemented if diners don't tip!

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Tycooperaow came up with the idea for the question after noticing a similar tweet gain decent notoriety on Twitter. "My sister notified me of this by sending me a link to a video on TikTok in which someone did a react video about the subject matter. My sister and I jokingly started talking about this subject and discussed all the things we Americans interact with on a daily basis that is actually pretty scummy," the told Bored Panda. "As I read through the comments on this TikTok video, many people stated their frustration. I proposed the same question again on Reddit for the sole purpose to ignite a thought-provoking discussion where people can share their opinions and give more personal insight on this matter. I knew this was a perfect place to study this situation more and learn from people who experience certain things that I can be aware of in the future. So that's what sparked me to ask the question!"

#2

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Megachurches are literal scams. They make a lot of money, saying it's for the church, then they buy 12 mansions.

SteelWarrior- , Jennifer Morrow Report

Once the first couple hundred post replies came in, tycooperaow started reading and responding to as many as they could, asking people to further expand on their ideas to "get an overarching grasp of just how much stuff is wired into our everyday life that takes advantage of people." At that point, tycooperaow began thinking that there are a lot of fundamental problems that the culture of the US has.

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"I am a US resident, and reading through the Redditors' comments I could tell that numerous people made it abundantly clear they felt strongly and passionately about these current issues that we have been conditioned into just accepting as normal. The majority of the responses were politically related issues as there's a strong distaste for the current government, but there were other answers that spoke about businesses socially engineering the public to perpetually buy a product that they ultimately have full control over."

As an example, tycooperaow mentioned De Beers and how they own nearly the entire diamond supply and push forth aggressive advertising, telling people they can't start a marriage without a diamond ring.

#3

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Americans thinking that medical procedures are actually that expensive. Fun fact: In a normal country, you don't pay tens of thousands of dollars.

punsexual_disaster , Navy Medicine Report

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Mike Crow
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Two things. 1) Citizens in most other developed countries don’t have to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket as Universal Healthcare provides. 2) Americans hospitals are businesses so they will try to charge more if they can.

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Tycooperaow would answer their own question by saying that a 'scam' that affected them personally the most comes from modern-day universities. "Many people in the post already covered everything there is to say about the barrier of entry of schooling and its relation to the future financial sustainability for the average person. It's very dissatisfying that even at the age of 14 public schools practically brainwash students by stating 'if they don't go to college or the military they end up as bums or delinquents.' Why should students get into thousands of dollars of student debt when [so many] of them do not have the right financial literacy to properly manage even $1,000 if it was gifted to them at 18. This issue itself I feel that places our country more at a financial disadvantage than it claims."

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#4

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies "America is the greatest country in the world."

Forimdema19 , cloudbuilding Report

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Kevin Donegan
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you've ever traveled outside the United States (and, sadly, only a small percentage have), you will quickly find out that the United States is not the greatest country in the world.

judithrance avatar
Jay Are
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No kidding. USA is a 3rd world country. No health care, bankrupt, uneducated, starving, unemployed red necks.

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bcgrote avatar
Brandy Grote
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm patriotic, a veteran from a family of veterans. I have to agree, America is not top of the heap.

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Adam C
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe because most American thinks USA is the only country with freedom.

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Luther von Wolfen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yep. The "America is the greatest" propaganda is unrelenting and many, many people never question it. Which is weird, since the lie is so blatant. I do love the place where I live - the mountains in Virginia - but not the whole "America #1" thing. I'm hoping, voting, working for change.

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Gergely Kiss
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, as much as I like to criticize the U.S. for their shortcomings, I'll take a hard "no" on this one. I'm pretty sure people from North Korea, Somalia, Iraq, Sudan, or any war-torn or dictator-led country would agree. I'd also pick the U.S. over countries like Russia, Turkey or China where the populace might be okay with being oppressed, but I sure as heck wouldn't like it. I'd say they are definitely in the running for the most disappointing country in the world, but they are far from being the worst.

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In the previous century people would say "Only in America" with respect and amazement. In this century they say it with disgust and pity. Trump and his gang of greedy old perverts have destroyed every bit of goodwill there ever was for the US.

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Hugh Cookson
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I lived and worked in the States for a few years back in the 80's / early 90's and I can say, hand on heart, that it was (mostly) a truly wonderful place (ok, I didn't visit everywhere, but NY, Florida, West Coast, Arizona, Texas etc were pretty bloody good) with forward looking, optimistic people. Fast forward to 2002 (ie post 9/11), the last time I visited, and I was struck by the amount of paranoia, aggression to anyone non American and just general angriness / fear that was shown by everyone from politicians to newsreaders to the general public. When I returned to the UK, I vowed that would be the last time I went to the USA and decided shortly after that to close two reasonably profitable businesses there due to the sheer bloody mindedness of officialdom towards non American companies. I must point out at this juncture that I'm a white, middle aged guy with a military background, so if I felt rather put out, how do you think someone of a middle eastern/ asian background felt

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Vicky Zar
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That reminds me of the German-American Author of "Destined to witness" Hans J. Massaquoi. He was a black man born in Germany. He spent his childhood and youth in Nazi Germany and he STILL said that he NEVER met with more racism then in the US.

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Brett Layton
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Were not the best at everything by a longshot, but overall yeah I agree. And I would absolutely think that folks from other countries will argue they are the best and rightly so.

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Rez Fidel
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

yep thats a brainwash for sure....the american dream has become a nightmare for most.

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wandile dludlu
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is the worst lie ever... the sad thing is that Americans don't get world news, only american news

jamieagl avatar
Thenatural
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Will Mcavoy (Jeff Daniels) Newsroom......America is not the greatest country in the world.....watch on YouTube,pretty much says it all......love the bit where he says "we used to wage war on poverty not poor people "

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KT
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They are anything but the greatest country :/ Especially with that orange Turd in office

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Tambot
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Living close to the border in Canada, I have met many Americans that I can relate too, and many that seem like they are from a different planet than me. The ones that live and breath by the "second Amendment - the right to bear arms" are the ones that I struggle to understand. It's just so different in Canada.

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BIG FOOT
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well Soldiers fought for us Americans freedom so that we can be proud of our country and have freedom of speech and by no means am I saying ours is better than any other country I'm just saying that there are things for us to be thankful/proud of

tore_1 avatar
Tore Hana
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Which specific soldiers or war are you referring to here, the Revolutionary War back in 1775 or more recent wars like Korea/Vietnam/Iraq/Afghanistan? Not trying to be an ass here, but Americans always talk about the ‘freedoms’ they enjoy like Freedom of Speech as if those are somehow unique to the US…

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C.S. E.
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, the line between patriotism and national is thin and dangerous.

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Clearly sunny
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not at the moment, glad they're getting new president in soon, both for them and the rest of the world say " Good riddance too Trump!'

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Malinda Petersen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've travelled enough of the world that I appreciate and enjoy other countries and cultures. But I still feel America is the best place, flaws and all.

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Robert Persson
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A variant on this is that America is the "greatest democracy" in the world, which prompts the obvious question: Did it become the "greatest democracy in the world" before or after the abolition of slavery?

deb_14 avatar
Carrie de Luka
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Always interesting to look at the Democracy Index to see that the US is officially classified as a Flawed Democracy, not a full democracy, and ranked 25th in the world.

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Soap
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My friend believes this. He wants to be a soldier for America. I'm trying to explain... but....

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Treessimontrees
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never hear someone say "God bless Portugal" do you. Americans have been drinking the Kool Aid for 2 hundred years+

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A Lemon
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

America is pretty terrible. I don’t get why anyone would think it’s great.

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Noel Benavente
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3 years ago

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Not only americans, a lot of people from around the world think that too...

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SirPatTheCat
Community Member
3 years ago

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Why do people think we think this...the people (who have brains) here literally hate America...

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Salty Old Woman
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3 years ago

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Then move to Turkey. Or Iran. Or maybe North Korea? How about Mexico? Oh wait, maybe the US isn't the worst.

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Lauren Potts
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3 years ago

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Why do we have to fight over what country is 'the best' it really doesn't matter. I'm American and I know our country is really messed up in so many ways. But we need to work to improve the world around us, not just point out everything wrong. All countries have their faults and successes. I just don't get why everyone is so obsessed with comparing and bringing others down. So what is someone is proud to be American, Russian, Australian, you name it. Yes America truly does suck but instead of pointing out the faults in each other we need to fix them.

laurenpotts avatar
Lauren Potts
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I just want to apologize to anyone who sees this, I phrased this comment really badly and had zero intentions of hurting anyone's feelings or anything. I didn't truly mean that America sucks and everything we do is wrong, I'm very sorry I wrote this in a way that implies that. I am proud to be an American but I also recognize the faults of our country and yearn for improvement. I guess my original point was that everyone and every system has its pros and cons, flaws and successes, etc and we don't need to be putting each other or each other's systems down, just work for improvement and peace. Once again I had no intention to disturb anyone or peeve them off. Thank you for reading and have a good day. :)

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Abhijeet
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3 years ago

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It's more of a hollywood movie plot than anything else.

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Demi Ajazi
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3 years ago

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Uh, America is the greatest country to have ever existed, no nation in the history of mankind has done more for the common man

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Izzie Drameli
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Have you ever heard of the trail of tears or slavery? Cause umm.. you might change your mind if you knew. America is not the best. Guess why? Cause we're made up of humans, living things. Living things make mistakes, countries make mistakes, contrary to your opinion. And mistakes we can learn from

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Miguel justino C
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3 years ago

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I agree we are over the top, but when a country is having militaristic issues they call the USA. De Gaulle and Churchill begged us for support. Our boys crossed the pond and took care of your countries. The French helped us during the revolution only because they wanted the British defeated.

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ProfessionalTimeWaster
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

USA should stop poking its nose in other countries' business. There has been plenty of time US looked the other way, even during situations of genocide.

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It's a chain reaction, the op said. "If you get into debt at 18 and get out of college at 21-22 then you have to put off buying a home, buying a car, and establishing assets. This slows down the economy. Heaven forbids if you have medical problems. If you can't pay, then you to go bankrupt. I can't tell you how many people resort to crowdfunding options just to pay for medical expenses. I don't think people should need to result to use GoFundMe as a health coverage option, nor use lottery tickets as a retirement plan. This is why we see such a transformative push for financial literacy among teens and young adults. It's the reason why eCommerce, Cryptocurrency, Forex, Social Media Marketing, Content Creation, etc.. are so idolized in our generation because the traditional methods essentially disbar proper progression. Sometimes it's not because people do it out of luxury, but do it out of necessity."

#5

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Somehow, a person who works 65 hours a week at a minimum-wage job just to pay the rent "isn't working hard enough". At the same time, an executive whose "work" boils down to signing a few forms, making a couple of phone calls, collecting investment payouts, and playing golf is considered "a hardworking American".

demo1318 , Dan McWeeney Report

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Helen Haley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Right name, connections, or education and you can get through life with good money and almost no actual work.

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"Lastly, the thing I would like to leave off with is that there are a lot of people who face challenges with our (if you live in the US) country and it will take some fixing," tycooperaow added. "I wish and motivate everyone to do not be afraid to speak on troubling topics. We have the power to change the narrative of how things are running regardless of how prominent they may seem. For example, once I started to learn about blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, this fundamentally shifted my view on governance and how something that seems so insignificant can have a huge impact. People have the power to do what is best, it all starts with just asking the right questions."

#6

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Healthcare, all the way. All those heartfelt stories on people who raised 100,000 for their neighbors surgery, and it's great, but no one seems to question why that was necessary in the first place. The person in question has insurance and they're still struggling to pay for this procedure?

Even worst if it's life-threatening. People have to make GoFundMe's, petition, all kinds of stuff. To have the basic right to not have to go broke when you see a doctor.

Sexcalator , Presidencia de la Repúblic of Mexica Report

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Bacony Cakes
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's working how it's supposed to, it just isn't designed to benefit the patient.

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#7

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies The idea that you need to work endless hours and never have time off.

There are plenty of countries where people work reasonable hours, have five-week summer vacations and the economies don't fall apart.

You are not lazy if you don't eat at your desk or while driving.

Pontus_Pilates , Luke Jones Report

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Julie C Rose
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love using the “...other countries manage it though?” argument on businesses. New Zealand has a terrible sick leave allowance so our progressive party poked Jacinda with a stick about it and she agreed to up it. She’s coddling the effing HELL out of the businesses but a bunch of them are still like “How are we supposed to survive if we give our employees a less pitiful amount of sick leave?!?!” And I’m like “the same way companies in other countries do it?”

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#8

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies College Tuition. Being in debt for thousands of dollars as a young adult just starting their life

Naweezy , 401(K) 2012 Report

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Helen Haley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Any job over minimum wage now requires a college degree. Even for an interview. The exceptions are few.

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#9

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Getting limited days worth of annual leave per year and then being encouraged not to use it.

vietcong420 , RichardBH Report

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Ceredwyn Ealanta
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Employers like this fail with diminishing returns. Their employees are too exhausted to work efficiently, and unable to come up with good policies to increase efficiency. You end up with people doing four hours worth of work in a twelve hour day because they're just too broken for more.

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#10

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Millionaires/Billionaires are just like you and me, who just worked harder than everybody else.

JasperDyne , Keith Cooper Report

#11

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Lawmakers allowed to invest in the stock market.

tripster72 , Andreas Poike Report

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Tabitha L
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Totally f****d up. Should be a blind trust. The way lawmakers sold off stocks and bought others after coronavirus briefings in February is disgusting. Looking at you Kelly Loeffler. Gross.

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#12

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies "If you're not 15 minutes early, you're late."
B*tch, that adds up to 65 hours a year you should have paid me for. That is 8 full days of work.

StanePantsen , kenkwsiu Report

#13

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies The two party system

hoosyourdaddyo , Hillary Report

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Nicolas Pilot
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Its literally only one party at the top of the heirachy, devided in two, to give you the illusion of having a choice

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#14

Working 50+ hours a week to barely make ends meet, no health care, and no future but you're 'free' so it's worth it.

That_Trapper_guy Report

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Liz Tynne
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is America in a nutshell. People who think hard work matters aren't being objective. The hardest workers make the fewest dollars, and they're desperately praying for the day when their "American Dream" finally begins. It's incredibly demoralizing.

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#15

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Trickle-down economics.

Frigguggi , wikipedia Report

#16

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Really expensive funerals. People are charged astronomically high prices at a time when grief means they’re not prepared to make sound decisions.

Altrano , Eugene Peretz Report

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Pamela24
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Highly recommend the Youtube channel "Ask a mortician" to learn more - Caitlyn Doughty there offers some great education and information (and fun, too!).

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#17

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Advertising medicine. Seriously what the hell?

ShwingMAN13 , Open Grid Scheduler Report

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Julie C Rose
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For some reason, New Zealand is the only other country that does it. Even though we have effing public healthcare. For what it’s worth, I always just kind of assumed that everyone finds those ads as boring and annoying as I do.

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#18

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies College text books, you pay $400 for a book because you have to have the newest version that’s rarely changed much, and the school might offer you $40 and sell it for $150 used

ArtyParty0848 , wohnai Report

#19

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies The price for healthcare in America. For the love of God just travel overseas and compare, like, to any country in the world... And then realize how big of a rip-off it is in America. And it's all insurance companies fault.

MakubeXGold , Mads Bødker Report

#20

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Your cellphone plans. In my country, I pay €20 for unlimited calls, SMS, and data. I work in phone sales, and whenever I speak to an American, they cannot believe how cheap our plans are compared to what they pay

deccytag , Jacqui Brown Report

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Full of Giggles
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It depends on your provider. I pay $35 for unlimited everything on two devices.

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#21

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies The pledge of allegiance was actually an advertisement to sell flags.

Gremlin0011 , E Photos Report

#22

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Tax Filing

For the majority of wage earners, the IRS can easily determine how much you owe and tell you, or tell you what you're owed in a refund. It's simple.

That they don't do so is only because tax preparation companies lobby lawmakers to keep the system as it is. Tax preparation companies only exist because they are legally allowed, middle men. They are slow, complicated, costly, and the opposite of free market efficiency.

johnydeformed , Motaz Altahir Report

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Julie C Rose
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It frustrates the HELL out of me when Americans blame their schools and say “Schools should teach kids how to do taxes!” Or, and hear me out here, the IRS could do what New Zealand does and calculate that stuff themselves. Even as a nonstandard worker who does have to do a tax return, it’s a short process where I just fill in how much money I made that year and set my provisional tax for the following year.

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#23

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Health insurance. Studied abroad in France for a year. When I went to the hospital for urinary retention due to an infection and had to spend the night. The only thing I had to pay for was the antibiotics they gave me to take home for a week which was about $10 for 7 pills. Ours is a joke.

THExBEARxJEW , 1662222 Report

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Dave P
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

when you are a foreign student, you pay a fee to your American health provider for overseas care, then the Euro hospitals bill the heck out of it because they love American re-embursments. In fact they jump americans ahead of all the lines and give higher care, especially in places like france, because they want the American Insurance money.

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#24

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Politicians talk about the need for healthcare, but create legislation for healthcare insurance.

Those are not the same things. In fact, the latter actually is a barrier to the former.

WatchTheBoom , Parentingupstream Report

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cybermerlin2000
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Stop the insurers completely and replace them with Private Healthcare. It's almost the same thing only cheaper, and you're guaranteed to get help paying for your medical costs. Better still, use some of the tax millions being frivolously wasted on falsely overly inflated costs for mundane things, and you could fund a free at access public health service.

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#25

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies 'Overdraft protection,' which actually allows the bank to charge you when you use a debit card, instead of just declining the transaction.

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Helen Haley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Never understood overdraft fees or overdraft protection. Money isn't there, just decline. It is all done electronically, not like they're paying someone to look at each and every transaction to approve or deny. Money there? Transaction goes through. No money, no transaction.

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#26

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies The push that 'college is for everyone!' Also, you aren’t able to default on your student loans, so banks will give them to anyone. Coincidentally, society started telling people that they should all go to college, no matter their situation, right after passing the bill that made student loans impossible to hide from.

jude802 , COD Newsroom Report

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natie marie
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I could have started doing the job I do now, 3 years earlier without debt had I not gone to uni. and I have friends who finished school at 18 and now own houses and are very comfortable. Uni is not the only way to succeed.

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#27

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Rent To Own products. (Rent-A-Center, Aarons, Conns, etc..) You end up paying triple or quadruple the value of the product for virtually no other benefit than you'd get if you just saved a little money and bought the product out-right.

bloomfaith , Mr. Blue MauMau Report

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Helen Haley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Everyone knows this is a scam. If people are resorting to rent to own, it is generally because they don't have a better option. If it takes you 3 years to save up for a bed, that is three years sleeping on the floor. Not really conducive to getting the sleep needed to work the 3 jobs you need.

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#28

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Paying thousands of dollars for basic dental work

ReapeR_ahhh , Aiko, Thomas & Juliette Report

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Missy Moo Moo
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I paid $10000 for a front tooth implant in Australia. $2k to have the broken tooth removed, $800 for the fake tooth, $5k for the metal implant (surgery, hospital, anesthetist), $700 for the new fake tooth plate, $2k for the new tooth

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#30

Identity theft. The bank fails to properly vet someone they gave money to, and now it's your problem.

You did nothing, the bank made a mistake. How is that your problem?

And look at credit monitoring companies, they claim they can detect fraud on your credit report. Yet, credit monitoring companies and credit reporting companies are one and the same -- literally the same company. So the real message is "pay us and we will not make false reports about you in our credit reports, we have the ability to detect falsehoods, but will only do so if you pay us". There should be a clear case of libel here. The credit reporting companies often report things that they reasonably know to be false.

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Brandy Grote
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Use credit unions. Don't just use the 1st bank you find. Get the best deal for your life. Every credit union we've used has bent over backwards to help us with fraud.

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#31

The war on drugs. Cheap informal pharmacopeia is what's left for anyone who can't afford or access doctors, psychiatric help, or prescription meds. Rehab for the privileged, prison for the rest. Political talking points, to get us riled up. A gray market with selective enforcement, like gambling and prostitution. Employment in the Informal Sector. Employment, asset seizure, bribery, and extortion opportunity for cynical Enforcers. Prohibition 2.0.

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Julie C Rose
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

New Zealand is godawful about drugs too. Our organisation that helps addicts is absolutely furious about it.

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#32

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Commercialized medication.

fklavernl , Paolo Gamba Report

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#33

For profit health insurance. We still pay for other people's healthcare, we just do it in a much more bloated and expensive way than universal healthcare.

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Kevin Donegan
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have a good friend who works in the insurance industry. Every year their entire work group goes somewhere (Hawaii, Mexico) for a week all paid by the company. I'm guessing for 50 people it probably comes up to $150,000 (airfare, accommodations, etc.). When I explain to her that their trip is paid for on the backs of people/companies paying their insurance coverage premiums. She's adamant that it's paid for out of the her boss' "profit" for the company. There are million examples like this that inflates the cost of health insurance. And, speaking of the boss' profit, he lives in a multi-million dollar home and drives a Maserati. Capitalism is good to point ... until it leads to gross excess and severe income disparity.

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#34

Water bottles

Cost less than a cent to fill.

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Anne Reid
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

What really needs to be addressed is that not every place in the US has drinkable water. Where I live in Florida, I’m ok. My friends less than a mile away? Their water is so heavily chlorinated that you might as well drink from a swimming pool. No water filter to date has been able to overcome it. Of course, that’s nothing compared to Flint, Michigan.

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#35

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies 90% of ads you see in social media. Hair fruit gummies do not help your hair.

ThatGirlNo1Knows , icethim Report

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Katrina B.
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

First off, that's B12 which does other things, and you do need B vitamins. The one you're thinking of is biotin which has shown mixed results in helping in human bodies.

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#36

Prescription eye glasses. They should be maybe $100 tops but we pay multiple times that for them.

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Bill
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This because of that Italian company that has a complete monopoly onthe industry.

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#37

Insurance. Sure it works as intended, but it could be non-profit so rates are cheaper and rebates are given, not so someone can get filthy rich. All the unused money at the end of the year should go back to the insured, not the insurer less a fair wage.

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Kevin Donegan
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have a good friend who works in the insurance industry. Every year their entire work group goes somewhere (Hawaii, Mexico) for a week all paid by the company. I'm guessing for 50 people it probably comes up to $150,000 (airfare, accommodations, etc.). When I explain to her that their trip is paid for on the backs of people/companies paying their insurance coverage premiums. She's adamant that it's paid for out of the her boss' "profit" for the company. There are million examples like this that inflates the cost of health insurance. And, speaking of the boss' profit, he lives in a multi-million dollar home and drives a Maserati. Capitalism is good to point ... until it leads to gross excess and severe income disparity.

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#38

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Car dealerships. They're literally just middle-man functions that do nothing more than raise the cost of the 'good' and produce taxation for the government on multiple levels of the transactions involved in purchasing a car through the third party.

AdultReasoning , Brian Timmermeister Report

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Mimi777
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Buying a car from a dealership was a huge mistake. I will never do it again. I was young and dumb and should have taken my dad’s advice.

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#39

Person Asks Non-Americans To Share "Scams" That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies Greeting cards cost like $5!

ItsPronouncedTribe , Honou Report

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Tabitha L
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You can get them for $0.99. But you can also find $7.99 cards. Or more. Depends on what you want to spend.

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