Person Asks Non-Americans To Share “Scams” That Americans Think Are Normal, And Here Are 39 Of Their Replies
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.
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Tipping restaurant servers so the owners of the restaurant don’t have to pay them a living wage.
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!
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!"
Megachurches are literal scams. They make a lot of money, saying it's for the church, then they buy 12 mansions.
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.
"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.
Americans thinking that medical procedures are actually that expensive. Fun fact: In a normal country, you don't pay tens of thousands of dollars.
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."
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."
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".
Right name, connections, or education and you can get through life with good money and almost no actual work.
"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."
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.
It's working how it's supposed to, it just isn't designed to benefit the patient.
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.
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?”
College Tuition. Being in debt for thousands of dollars as a young adult just starting their life
Any job over minimum wage now requires a college degree. Even for an interview. The exceptions are few.
Getting limited days worth of annual leave per year and then being encouraged not to use it.
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.
Millionaires/Billionaires are just like you and me, who just worked harder than everybody else.
"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.
The two party system
Its literally only one party at the top of the heirachy, devided in two, to give you the illusion of having a choice
We only have a 2 party system because the VAST majority of America is too lazy to investigate candidates and figure out what their policies and personal ethics are. If we all did that, you would just vote for a person, not a party.
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A surplus of political parties isn't that great either. In the Netherlands we have 14 political parties including the "Party for the animals" "Party for Freedom" and "GreenLeft".
there are other parties but they're just not as large and strong s the top two so basically its like you have to pick one of them
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I want ranked choice voting so bad so that maybe we can see the end of this. It isn't perfect but we shouldn't feel like we have to compromise in the voting booth because we fear the worst possible outcome.
we HAVE more than two parties, they just suck. take votes away from the people who will actually win the election.
This is why we need ranked choice voting.
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USA and Canada are thousands of kilometers long and wide. Lower population density increases infrastructure costs dramatically.
Fun fact: you know New Zealand’s super famous covid response? The chain of events that led to that began with people in the early 90s getting irate about the two-party system and demanding an alternative. We ended up with MMP, where each of the big two parties forms a coalition with smaller parties and the coalition with the most votes wins. Jacinda only won in 2017 because of this system, so if we had a fully two-party system, the other party would have been governing during covid. And based on the things that party said in March and April, a lot more people could have got sick and died.
Having to choose between just one party or the other, doesn't really seem like freedom to me.
Many people think the US is a democracy, that the people choose the president. The US is a republic, and the president is chosen by the electoral college. It's in the Constitution. The founders wanted to ensure the people didn't make the decisions.
We had 50+ parties on our last voting ballot, 90% of which were unheard of. The reality is that we have 1 major (useless) party who all the uneducated masses vote for, because they are led by lies and unrealistic promises. You would think after 20 years someone would have figured it out.
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.
Really expensive funerals. People are charged astronomically high prices at a time when grief means they’re not prepared to make sound decisions.
Indeed it's horrible and the family are left with debt even. Put me in a white sheet in the ground and pray for me and I'm fine.
Advertising medicine. Seriously what the hell?
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.
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
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.
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
It depends on your provider. I pay $35 for unlimited everything on two devices.
The pledge of allegiance was actually an advertisement to sell flags.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
'Overdraft protection,' which actually allows the bank to charge you when you use a debit card, instead of just declining the transaction.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Paying thousands of dollars for basic dental work
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
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.
I live in Europe. The ATM said on screen that it gave me X amount of money, but nothing came out of the machine. Called the bank and they told me that in their system it looks like i collected the money but they decided anyway to instantly refund my account and told me that they will investigate further the situation and that my money are automatically insured at their bank (you can't lie the bank about this because you'd be breaking the law). Everything related to my bank account (including my card) is 100% free because I get my salary there. No hidden fees, no taxes. I can extract money from any ATM machine without any fees from my Bank or the Bank owning said ATM machine.
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.
New Zealand is godawful about drugs too. Our organisation that helps addicts is absolutely furious about it.
Commercialized medication.
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.
Water bottles
Cost less than a cent to fill.
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.
90% of ads you see in social media. Hair fruit gummies do not help your hair.
Prescription eye glasses. They should be maybe $100 tops but we pay multiple times that for them.
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.
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.
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.
A good number aren't uniquely American anymore
the entire human race is doomed unless we can collectively get rid of greed. The USA is one of the worst offenders, but the problem is species-wide.
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one question do you live in the usa
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Was tried already - didn't end that well for millions of people (hard socialism; communism). Greed is part of the human nature, the evolutionary society structure of us is structured like a wolf pack. We just replaced strength with property and social status
What the hell is hard socialism?
Who says Americans don't realize these are scams?
Living in the US, it's abundantly clear the majority do not.
Well it’s abundantly clear that you’re not speaking to the majority of Americans then. I don’t know who you know but whoever you’re hanging out with aren’t the majority.
GC Good response!
And yet...
Yet what? The poorest of us have the least amount of power to do anything about it, and most of the rich want to keep things the way they are. The government is corrupt and in bed with the rich.
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yeah like the medicinnnnn and school ones. do they expect people to be like oh thank you i will never by medicine again.
a lot of these apply to other countries as well
Do you ever have the feeling that the entire world isn't normal anymore? That we somehow slipped onto the realm of insanity so gradually that we don't even know it anymore? Yeah, me too.
I can't upvote this twice or I would. This is TRUE!
C Hypercube like
C Hypercube lol
As monetary gain over time equalled power and influence more and more, sure.
A lot of Americans here getting precious about America. I think that's one of the most fked up things of them all...us brits are like this fking country is a fking pile of s**t run by a fking moron. We dont sit here like "can we say some nice things about Great Britain please" ... a lot of Americans remind me of the spoiled kid who's always been told they are beautiful and clever... until the day they leave the nest and they're told the stark truth...that no one gives a s**t
Dee Mcgee follower
Dee Mcgee -
Did it ever occur to anyone that MANY of us Americans do in fact know these things are not normal. A LOT of us want change.
contrary to what a lot of people here think, I believe this kind of posts get americans more involved and aware. how else do people, in general, change if not by facing uncomfortable information or experiences?
Yeah, that's why they never actually talk about these things as being a problem. Or even defend them. Such as when some moron in the government tries to act like universal health care is evil, out and out evil, and you have people agreeing with that.
Exactly!!
but you are to bussy fighting "real problems" :)
Filip Nowakowski haha
Filip Nowakowski lol
Most of these most Americans do not think are "normal". Any thinking American (yes I know that is a stretch) realize that these things are not "normal" but we are stuck with them until something can be done to change them.
You know, I've been living in US for few years now, and can't see Americans doing anything about it. In other places in the world people protest, in India there were 250 mln people prostesting just few weeks ago, but not here. The only protest were BLM protest and I'm asking why so late? And what about all the other stuff? Americans are so brainwashed that they just can't unite on anything! And that's their doom. McConall just said that Uncle Sam doesn't have money to help Americans, who tf is Uncle Sam? Because what I've been thought is that the money he was reffering to was from taxes from Americans, but IDK maybe there is some ghost being giving US Gov money that I just didn't hear about before. You need to stop waiting for a good time, good moment or whatever else you're waiting for and start acting now. You. Not someone somewhere. You.
Uncle Sam is of those pure fantasy based terms US politicians use a lot. "The American Dream" is the most commonly used. The problem is that people BELIEVE in pure fantasy.
Sure, I'll get right on that between my three jobs. That's the whole idea is to keep us too poor, sick, and overextended to be able to.
I think part of that is because our political system has been broken for sooooo long and it's just worn people down.
More people should probably realize modern politicians care nothing for their citizens.
Some things are the same in other countries too.Other countries have their own problems,like women cant drive or vote.Others don't let you speak bad about politics or you'll end up in jail.But bp doesn't give a s**t as long as the article can be #usabaaad..Cant wait for the next "why usa sucks" article tomorrow.I have never been to the usa but according to this articles it is a shithole.But then why do so many people wanna live in this shithole country?Bp please explain...
People fleeing to the US doesn't mean it's the greatest. Just less crappy. Sorta like never having a car, then getting a used, mostly ok car.
Americans are actually fleeing the US! https://news.gallup.com/poll/245789/record-numbers-americans-leave.aspx
But according to bp it is only the US that is crap.Why does bp hate the USA so much?Why won't we ever see articles like "things that suck in Saudi Arabia" but once a week we get to see #Americabad?
"why do so many people wanna live in this shithole country?" - I can explain. Because the USA is the *best* shithole country out there. Compare it to a developing country like Zambia, or Cambodia, or Haiti, and it looks great. Totally the #1 shithole country in the world. Compare it to a developed country like Canada, New Zealand or Switzerland... and it doesn't look too great. And there aren't too many people from THOSE countries trying to get into the USA - unless they are already wealthy and influential and want to benefit from all the corruption.
Bill, which government is paying the BP writers for anti-USA propaganda? If it's Liechtenstein, I can take on Prince Hans-Adam II with one hand behind my back. Belize might be a little trickier, but I hear the monkeys accept bribes to go pro-USA.
No, Ivan, according to this site America can do enormously better because it's way more developed than a third world country, so the expectations grow as well, especially when a lot of the intern propaganda teaches people that they're in the best country in the world. it's simply not, it has a lot to improve. I'm not saying they're right to only focus on America's short comings though, but in the end, they're only posting what people are indirectly asking for through views, shares and comments
ivan, you can make your own article about Zimbabwe, if you want. Unless you'd rather start small and piss off folks from Tuvalu, San Marino, or Saint Kitts and Nevis.
The US actively created a mythology to get immigrants to move to the US and work for pennies on the dollar. They did that for about 70 years.
But according to this site the USA are worse than Zimbabwe because we get to see this articles almost on a weekly basis
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This is what propaganda looks like. The article writers are getting paid by governments to write this. This isn't the first time I have pointed this out
its nice and the wildlife is beautiful here in pa i like the us but apparently bp does not. this is like the 4 post this month about how america sucks this month
Wow - 4 posts this month and all by 4th Jan! I missed those.
I do have to agree it does feature a lot. But then again, America puts itself out there a fair bit on the world stage, and is a country of paradoxes (America, not Americans per se). In particular the last four years have given many countries a sense of horror fascination as they watched a Democratic nation come to the brink of dictatorship in such a short time (ie the latest, find me 11780 votes Georgia example), a nation that has gone to the extreme measure many times of going to war in a foreign nation to 'free' that nation from a despot
I was born in the US, have lived here my whole life (in 9 states), and I've been to 5 other countries. America doesn't have a monopoly on beauty or wildlife, but our elite class has ensured hardworking people dont get their fair share. America's best days are WAY behind us. Covid interrupted my plans to leave, but I'm looking forward to being an American expat. Political gamesmanship that panders to the obscenely rich are destroying this country, even as we all blindly claim to be #1. We're a joke.
Yeah, because sexism and authoritarianism don't exist in the US......wait a minute. It's because people in other countries believe in pure myth just like people that live in the US do.
Yeah, those people in China are totally delusional that they are living in a prison. As are people in Africa and other countries. They all live in paradise, right?
LOL. Who are those mysterious people coming to USA anymore? It's not '90 and nobody from EU, Australia, New Zeland wants to go and live there anymore, and nobody wants their halfass overpriced healthcare. You need to stop with propaganda that might have been true decades ago, but certainly is not anymore.
Girl, I can see how this overpriced education got you here. Read again what I said and look up Top 15 sending countries in the recent years in USA and come back with conclusion.
So, you were born in Clueless? The United States has more immigrants than any other country in the world. Today, more than 40 million people living in the U.S. were born in another country, accounting for about one-fifth of the world’s migrants. The population of immigrants is also very diverse, with just about every country in the world represented among U.S. immigrants.
Historically speaking, purely from a factual, and worldwide perspective, the United States is one of the absolute most successfully propaganda based countries to ever exist. Period. The Roman Empire very much used propaganda on every level, governmental, militaristic, and especially in it's ultimately corrupt, corporatist fueled economy, which is why anyone who actually knows anything about history makes comparisons between the two quite often. :D
you forgot the countless wars USA still participates in under false pretence. They're all about selling weapons and getting oil
As the US has been totally self-sufficient with regard to oil for several years, you are going to have to come up with a new faux argument aka propaganda.
I'm surprised it's not in the list but to me, it would be lobbies. Those are just legalised bribes!
And many of these are things Americans think are dumb or weird too.
KMill yes
I think the biggest scam of all is the belief that America is the land of the "Free" No one in the world is free. :I
I got one that is uniquely American; The cost of electronics are subsidized by all the data the devices collect and sell. The EU has pretty good data laws while the US is still the wild west.
Fucken Apple TV+. You pay a subscription to that m**********r and every second movie needs to be rented.
Dude, it's Apple. It's amazing they don't charge by the minute.
Recycling. we've been sold a bill of goods there, too. most of the things we try to recycle either get incinerated, end up in landfills, or in the oceans, dumped. total bs. and it's heartbreaking.
Jessica Bertram +
F*ck this dystopian hellscape. I will get the f*ck out or die trying. I'll die horribly anyway if I don't get out, so what is there to lose?
The major healthcare corporations in America make enough money to buy all the political protection they need to keep the gravy train running.
What's the best country for an American who wants to get out of America?
Most countries will want to know what you bring to them - if you come with skills and money then there are quite a few.
Canada, probably. It depends how much of a change you want.
Do some research: what are the immigration requirements, will you have to learn another language or can you get by on English (most of Canada), are you emigrating alone or not (that mean looking at education if you have children), can you adapt to the weather (if you're from Florida, Canada's winters will seem brutal), tax system and benefits, etc.
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"What is clearly a scam but Americans have been conditioned to believe that it is 'normal?'" No one said that no other country has the same or that Americans are unique in this, they're simply things that Americans have been conditioned to believe it being a normal practice.
It does come across as particularly insane though, does it not?
These aren’t scams that we somehow think are normal. We don’t have our heads in the sand about these things.
We know this is not normal, or moral, but we can't do anything about it because we're poor, and the rich dictate policy.
Not surprised they repeat the same 5 things. Expenses, healthcare...
I think America has plenty of good things, too. Like I said earlier, every place has some good and some bad in it.
There's not really a balance there. Especially when you rightly count the history of the country, the apartheid and whatnot.
Unfortunately, these fall along the lines of our two political party's. The majority of these are beyond the most Americans control.
I feel like a lot of these are somewhat overexaggerated. I'm American and I love it here. Of course, I live in a small town and have had fantastic experiences. It is largely the politics and people prioritizing money over other people's lives. But yes, America is not the top of the heap, best country. No WAY!
A great many of these comments about "scams" are totally and completely ignorant about the reality of what is going on.
Heh, how's that exactly? Because they think logically?
Because we have the ability to think for ourselves and choose not to do something OR choose to do something. Unlike what most Europeans think about Americans, we are neither gullible nor stupid. But since most Europeans seem to think acting like playground bullies is the way to go, I am not surprised by their attitudes.
Al
Bored panda certainly is not subtle about pushing their own political agenda.
They originally wanted to pick on Vatican City, but the Pope told them to piss off.
Since there are so many posts about the health care system, I wanted to share some numbers from Central Europe. I make pretty much an average income for my country. I pay about €86 ($105) per month for my mandatory health insurance which is income dependent. Additionally, I pay for a private health care insurance for €40 ($49) per month that covers outpatient treatments at private clinics, medical aids such as glasses and refunds the co-pays. That adds up to €126 ($154) per month or €1512 ($1848) per year for health insurance. I should add that the additional private insurance is a personal choice. The mandatory insurance perfectly covers all health care needs. Since I am sometimes visiting private practices, I have to pay for the medical bills out of pocket and have it then reimbursed by my mandatory insurance. My private insurance then covers the rest.
Not every implementation of a health care system is going to be fair in every country. But a privatized, unregulated, oh and it is effectively unregulated in reality, health care system is not as good.
Lol, I was at the dentist few moths ago in USA, they charged me $300 for CLEANING, they didn't even have a sanding machine (no idea how it's called). And they did a poor job too.
I pay €80 ($98) for dental cleaning. My health care insurance reimburses €20 ($24,50). They only cover the dental checks in full. Dental cleaning is not seen as medically necessary, so they only reimburse a small amount.
So here are some examples for costs at private clinics/practices: yearly OB/GYN checkup: €162 ($198); yearly nuclear medicine checkup (thyroid issues): €270 ($330); yearly dermatologist checkup: €90 ($110); gastroscopy and colonoscopy: €600 ($735). Various co-pays: co-pay for hospitalisation: €11 ($13,50) per day; co-pay for prescription medication: €6 ($7,35) per package; co-pay for a visit at a clinic/practice with a state insurance contract (non-private): €0 ($0).
Santa Claus. Invented only to sell more Coca-Cola in the winter.
You may have crossed your wires there, Santa/saint nick/Pierre Noel etc has existed a lot longer than that; however Yes, due to a coca cola campaign showing Santa wearing red and white, this became the accepted way Santa is represented. Before that, he wore white furs (at least he did in the old story books I have seen)
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Oh look, it is the weekly USA bashing thread. Thank you Bored Panda.
But its also important to talk about it so the us can change
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I don't understand why this website just LOVES to bash America. We give more to charities than any other Western country ( https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-us-is-the-most-generous-country-but-americans-say-debt-is-keeping-them-from-giving-more-to-charity-2019-10-18 ), we do far more medical research than any other country thanks to capitalism which provides the money for the research ( https://www.quora.com/What-countries-have-lead-the-world-in-medical-research-and-innovation-during-the-time-period-between-1995-and-2014 ), and more people wish they could immigrate to the US than any other place ( https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/these-are-the-countries-migrants-want-to-move-to/ ). We are not perfect, but no country is because humans are not capable of perfection. I detest the current view that unless something is perfect, it should be discarded and defamed. I am proud of my country. There is more good than bad.
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Can BoredPanda please stop painting the US a shitty country? Like I get it we have our difficulties but we also have some really good things, let’s focus on that for once?
Because if you sweep the bad things under the carpet, you don't try to fix them. "focus on good things for once"... for once? The US has had over 200 years of chanting "we are the best! USA! USA!"... and as a result completely refused to acknowledge any faults.
Yep, especially during the segregation years.
Oh no! It is Bored Panda, the weekly US bashing thread is a staple here. We can't go a week without AmEriCAns are WeIRd..
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oh my such original content bored panda can we please have another article about how america is the worst pleeeeeeeeeese
But if we don't talk about it, how will the us change for the better.
Why can't we bitch about the Marshall Islands for a change? For starters, they're in the middle of nowhere.
The problem is that they only talk about how the USA sucks.Would be nice to see some positive article once in a while.And yes, many other countries suck as well
A good number aren't uniquely American anymore
the entire human race is doomed unless we can collectively get rid of greed. The USA is one of the worst offenders, but the problem is species-wide.
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one question do you live in the usa
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Was tried already - didn't end that well for millions of people (hard socialism; communism). Greed is part of the human nature, the evolutionary society structure of us is structured like a wolf pack. We just replaced strength with property and social status
What the hell is hard socialism?
Who says Americans don't realize these are scams?
Living in the US, it's abundantly clear the majority do not.
Well it’s abundantly clear that you’re not speaking to the majority of Americans then. I don’t know who you know but whoever you’re hanging out with aren’t the majority.
GC Good response!
And yet...
Yet what? The poorest of us have the least amount of power to do anything about it, and most of the rich want to keep things the way they are. The government is corrupt and in bed with the rich.
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yeah like the medicinnnnn and school ones. do they expect people to be like oh thank you i will never by medicine again.
a lot of these apply to other countries as well
Do you ever have the feeling that the entire world isn't normal anymore? That we somehow slipped onto the realm of insanity so gradually that we don't even know it anymore? Yeah, me too.
I can't upvote this twice or I would. This is TRUE!
C Hypercube like
C Hypercube lol
As monetary gain over time equalled power and influence more and more, sure.
A lot of Americans here getting precious about America. I think that's one of the most fked up things of them all...us brits are like this fking country is a fking pile of s**t run by a fking moron. We dont sit here like "can we say some nice things about Great Britain please" ... a lot of Americans remind me of the spoiled kid who's always been told they are beautiful and clever... until the day they leave the nest and they're told the stark truth...that no one gives a s**t
Dee Mcgee follower
Dee Mcgee -
Did it ever occur to anyone that MANY of us Americans do in fact know these things are not normal. A LOT of us want change.
contrary to what a lot of people here think, I believe this kind of posts get americans more involved and aware. how else do people, in general, change if not by facing uncomfortable information or experiences?
Yeah, that's why they never actually talk about these things as being a problem. Or even defend them. Such as when some moron in the government tries to act like universal health care is evil, out and out evil, and you have people agreeing with that.
Exactly!!
but you are to bussy fighting "real problems" :)
Filip Nowakowski haha
Filip Nowakowski lol
Most of these most Americans do not think are "normal". Any thinking American (yes I know that is a stretch) realize that these things are not "normal" but we are stuck with them until something can be done to change them.
You know, I've been living in US for few years now, and can't see Americans doing anything about it. In other places in the world people protest, in India there were 250 mln people prostesting just few weeks ago, but not here. The only protest were BLM protest and I'm asking why so late? And what about all the other stuff? Americans are so brainwashed that they just can't unite on anything! And that's their doom. McConall just said that Uncle Sam doesn't have money to help Americans, who tf is Uncle Sam? Because what I've been thought is that the money he was reffering to was from taxes from Americans, but IDK maybe there is some ghost being giving US Gov money that I just didn't hear about before. You need to stop waiting for a good time, good moment or whatever else you're waiting for and start acting now. You. Not someone somewhere. You.
Uncle Sam is of those pure fantasy based terms US politicians use a lot. "The American Dream" is the most commonly used. The problem is that people BELIEVE in pure fantasy.
Sure, I'll get right on that between my three jobs. That's the whole idea is to keep us too poor, sick, and overextended to be able to.
I think part of that is because our political system has been broken for sooooo long and it's just worn people down.
More people should probably realize modern politicians care nothing for their citizens.
Some things are the same in other countries too.Other countries have their own problems,like women cant drive or vote.Others don't let you speak bad about politics or you'll end up in jail.But bp doesn't give a s**t as long as the article can be #usabaaad..Cant wait for the next "why usa sucks" article tomorrow.I have never been to the usa but according to this articles it is a shithole.But then why do so many people wanna live in this shithole country?Bp please explain...
People fleeing to the US doesn't mean it's the greatest. Just less crappy. Sorta like never having a car, then getting a used, mostly ok car.
Americans are actually fleeing the US! https://news.gallup.com/poll/245789/record-numbers-americans-leave.aspx
But according to bp it is only the US that is crap.Why does bp hate the USA so much?Why won't we ever see articles like "things that suck in Saudi Arabia" but once a week we get to see #Americabad?
"why do so many people wanna live in this shithole country?" - I can explain. Because the USA is the *best* shithole country out there. Compare it to a developing country like Zambia, or Cambodia, or Haiti, and it looks great. Totally the #1 shithole country in the world. Compare it to a developed country like Canada, New Zealand or Switzerland... and it doesn't look too great. And there aren't too many people from THOSE countries trying to get into the USA - unless they are already wealthy and influential and want to benefit from all the corruption.
Bill, which government is paying the BP writers for anti-USA propaganda? If it's Liechtenstein, I can take on Prince Hans-Adam II with one hand behind my back. Belize might be a little trickier, but I hear the monkeys accept bribes to go pro-USA.
No, Ivan, according to this site America can do enormously better because it's way more developed than a third world country, so the expectations grow as well, especially when a lot of the intern propaganda teaches people that they're in the best country in the world. it's simply not, it has a lot to improve. I'm not saying they're right to only focus on America's short comings though, but in the end, they're only posting what people are indirectly asking for through views, shares and comments
ivan, you can make your own article about Zimbabwe, if you want. Unless you'd rather start small and piss off folks from Tuvalu, San Marino, or Saint Kitts and Nevis.
The US actively created a mythology to get immigrants to move to the US and work for pennies on the dollar. They did that for about 70 years.
But according to this site the USA are worse than Zimbabwe because we get to see this articles almost on a weekly basis
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This is what propaganda looks like. The article writers are getting paid by governments to write this. This isn't the first time I have pointed this out
its nice and the wildlife is beautiful here in pa i like the us but apparently bp does not. this is like the 4 post this month about how america sucks this month
Wow - 4 posts this month and all by 4th Jan! I missed those.
I do have to agree it does feature a lot. But then again, America puts itself out there a fair bit on the world stage, and is a country of paradoxes (America, not Americans per se). In particular the last four years have given many countries a sense of horror fascination as they watched a Democratic nation come to the brink of dictatorship in such a short time (ie the latest, find me 11780 votes Georgia example), a nation that has gone to the extreme measure many times of going to war in a foreign nation to 'free' that nation from a despot
I was born in the US, have lived here my whole life (in 9 states), and I've been to 5 other countries. America doesn't have a monopoly on beauty or wildlife, but our elite class has ensured hardworking people dont get their fair share. America's best days are WAY behind us. Covid interrupted my plans to leave, but I'm looking forward to being an American expat. Political gamesmanship that panders to the obscenely rich are destroying this country, even as we all blindly claim to be #1. We're a joke.
Yeah, because sexism and authoritarianism don't exist in the US......wait a minute. It's because people in other countries believe in pure myth just like people that live in the US do.
Yeah, those people in China are totally delusional that they are living in a prison. As are people in Africa and other countries. They all live in paradise, right?
LOL. Who are those mysterious people coming to USA anymore? It's not '90 and nobody from EU, Australia, New Zeland wants to go and live there anymore, and nobody wants their halfass overpriced healthcare. You need to stop with propaganda that might have been true decades ago, but certainly is not anymore.
Girl, I can see how this overpriced education got you here. Read again what I said and look up Top 15 sending countries in the recent years in USA and come back with conclusion.
So, you were born in Clueless? The United States has more immigrants than any other country in the world. Today, more than 40 million people living in the U.S. were born in another country, accounting for about one-fifth of the world’s migrants. The population of immigrants is also very diverse, with just about every country in the world represented among U.S. immigrants.
Historically speaking, purely from a factual, and worldwide perspective, the United States is one of the absolute most successfully propaganda based countries to ever exist. Period. The Roman Empire very much used propaganda on every level, governmental, militaristic, and especially in it's ultimately corrupt, corporatist fueled economy, which is why anyone who actually knows anything about history makes comparisons between the two quite often. :D
you forgot the countless wars USA still participates in under false pretence. They're all about selling weapons and getting oil
As the US has been totally self-sufficient with regard to oil for several years, you are going to have to come up with a new faux argument aka propaganda.
I'm surprised it's not in the list but to me, it would be lobbies. Those are just legalised bribes!
And many of these are things Americans think are dumb or weird too.
KMill yes
I think the biggest scam of all is the belief that America is the land of the "Free" No one in the world is free. :I
I got one that is uniquely American; The cost of electronics are subsidized by all the data the devices collect and sell. The EU has pretty good data laws while the US is still the wild west.
Fucken Apple TV+. You pay a subscription to that m**********r and every second movie needs to be rented.
Dude, it's Apple. It's amazing they don't charge by the minute.
Recycling. we've been sold a bill of goods there, too. most of the things we try to recycle either get incinerated, end up in landfills, or in the oceans, dumped. total bs. and it's heartbreaking.
Jessica Bertram +
F*ck this dystopian hellscape. I will get the f*ck out or die trying. I'll die horribly anyway if I don't get out, so what is there to lose?
The major healthcare corporations in America make enough money to buy all the political protection they need to keep the gravy train running.
What's the best country for an American who wants to get out of America?
Most countries will want to know what you bring to them - if you come with skills and money then there are quite a few.
Canada, probably. It depends how much of a change you want.
Do some research: what are the immigration requirements, will you have to learn another language or can you get by on English (most of Canada), are you emigrating alone or not (that mean looking at education if you have children), can you adapt to the weather (if you're from Florida, Canada's winters will seem brutal), tax system and benefits, etc.
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"What is clearly a scam but Americans have been conditioned to believe that it is 'normal?'" No one said that no other country has the same or that Americans are unique in this, they're simply things that Americans have been conditioned to believe it being a normal practice.
It does come across as particularly insane though, does it not?
These aren’t scams that we somehow think are normal. We don’t have our heads in the sand about these things.
We know this is not normal, or moral, but we can't do anything about it because we're poor, and the rich dictate policy.
Not surprised they repeat the same 5 things. Expenses, healthcare...
I think America has plenty of good things, too. Like I said earlier, every place has some good and some bad in it.
There's not really a balance there. Especially when you rightly count the history of the country, the apartheid and whatnot.
Unfortunately, these fall along the lines of our two political party's. The majority of these are beyond the most Americans control.
I feel like a lot of these are somewhat overexaggerated. I'm American and I love it here. Of course, I live in a small town and have had fantastic experiences. It is largely the politics and people prioritizing money over other people's lives. But yes, America is not the top of the heap, best country. No WAY!
A great many of these comments about "scams" are totally and completely ignorant about the reality of what is going on.
Heh, how's that exactly? Because they think logically?
Because we have the ability to think for ourselves and choose not to do something OR choose to do something. Unlike what most Europeans think about Americans, we are neither gullible nor stupid. But since most Europeans seem to think acting like playground bullies is the way to go, I am not surprised by their attitudes.
Al
Bored panda certainly is not subtle about pushing their own political agenda.
They originally wanted to pick on Vatican City, but the Pope told them to piss off.
Since there are so many posts about the health care system, I wanted to share some numbers from Central Europe. I make pretty much an average income for my country. I pay about €86 ($105) per month for my mandatory health insurance which is income dependent. Additionally, I pay for a private health care insurance for €40 ($49) per month that covers outpatient treatments at private clinics, medical aids such as glasses and refunds the co-pays. That adds up to €126 ($154) per month or €1512 ($1848) per year for health insurance. I should add that the additional private insurance is a personal choice. The mandatory insurance perfectly covers all health care needs. Since I am sometimes visiting private practices, I have to pay for the medical bills out of pocket and have it then reimbursed by my mandatory insurance. My private insurance then covers the rest.
Not every implementation of a health care system is going to be fair in every country. But a privatized, unregulated, oh and it is effectively unregulated in reality, health care system is not as good.
Lol, I was at the dentist few moths ago in USA, they charged me $300 for CLEANING, they didn't even have a sanding machine (no idea how it's called). And they did a poor job too.
I pay €80 ($98) for dental cleaning. My health care insurance reimburses €20 ($24,50). They only cover the dental checks in full. Dental cleaning is not seen as medically necessary, so they only reimburse a small amount.
So here are some examples for costs at private clinics/practices: yearly OB/GYN checkup: €162 ($198); yearly nuclear medicine checkup (thyroid issues): €2