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No country is perfect, but the United States often gets bad press. From gun control to healthcare and political division that seriously hampers positive change, there are a lot of issues the land of the brave is currently facing. But there are plenty of victories it can celebrate as well.

So let's take a look at a recent Reddit post by user KyleB2131 that asked people: "What does America do better than most other countries?" More specifically, its 11,800 comments, where folks have been listing all the things they believe the US should be proud of.

#1

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries I love the Interstate Rest Areas on road trips. I'm a Canadian from the west coast, and was always VERY impressed with the 24/7 rest areas. Clean washrooms, nice grassy areas for dogs, picnic tables, and a lot of times people selling crafts, or offering free coffee!

I've only driven through the western states, (WA,OR,CA,NV,UT,AZ) but yeah, those rest areas were always reliable. Always well marked signs when the next one was coming up. Just made everything about travelling easier! Thanks neighbours!

Ubba-Ga , Steven Weeks Report

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Pages ByTheSea
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Pacific Northwest loves our Canadian neighbors! We missed you during Covid lockdowns!

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#3

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Chatting, I’m from an Asian country where most people will avoid talking to stranger. But you can literally talk to anyone you met in the street in the US and most of them are willing to talk

_formosa_ , Alexis Brown Report

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#4

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Turning corn into things that are not corn.

rlemon , Wouter Supardi Salari Report

#5

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries So, here's the truth. America is, and does, a *lot* of things.

We have the world's greatest athletes and most obese population. We have the best healthcare in the world, and 90% of our population can't afford it. We're leaders in creating new wealth and dead end service jobs. We were founded on a revolutionary promise of liberty and justice, by men who owned slaves.

If you really want my top four wins, though, here they are:

**The national parks system and Bureau of Land Management.**
We have hundreds of thousands of square miles of wilderness that is preserved, leased for commercial purposes, available for recreation, or simply held in trust for the people of the United States. And if you haven't seen for yourself, I assure you, [it's f*****g gorgeous](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/best-national-parks-in-usa/). We have wild ancient forests, coral reefs, stunning mountains, tundra, grasslands, deserts, and some of the most impressive and beautiful natural features on this planet. Huge portions are preserved and maintained where literally everyone can enjoy them.

**NASA**
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration put a man on the moon, led the world in space exploration, and spurned developed literally [hundreds of incredible technologies we use every day](https://spinoff.nasa.gov/): Aside from the obvious aerospace advances, we have them to thank for GPS, memory foam mattresses, improved HVAC and insulation, LCD screens, LEDs, microcomputing, food preservation, water purification, solar panels, high capacity batteries, and dozens of different materials and processes. In addition, they've been the leading source of new information about our planet, climate change, and the universe.

**The Smithsonian Institution**
There are people who mistakenly think the Smithsonian is a museum. The Smithsonian is in fact a collection of over 20 museums, galleries, and zoo across three states, plus dozens of research and education centers, collections, affiliates around the globe. It is the single largest organization for science, culture, and history in the world, and it's contributions to preserving history and to literally every scientific discipline are beyond measure. And to me, the greatest part is the heart of the organization in Washington DC: *THIS* is what we've chosen to surround the National Mall, the platonic ideal of our commons and center of our democracy- Dozens of living monuments to art, science, history, and culture. I've personally made at least 3 or 4 visits totaling more than two full weeks, and I've only made it halfway through.

**Music**
The United States is the birthplace of Blues, Jazz, Rock and Roll, Hip Hop, Punk, Bluegrass, Country-Western, Rap, and a half a dozen different forms of regional folk music. Nearly every culture in the world imitates our musical forms.

MikeTheBard , History in HD Report

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#6

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Holidays. My favorite time to be an American is October, I love how hype we get about Halloween here.

PerfumePoodle , David Menidrey Report

#7

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Wilderness/land conservation. Hands down. It still isn’t enough and it’s largely a product of the fact that this continent was industrialized/colonized so late in the game + its sheer vastness, but we have some of the best land conservation schemes on the planet. It might be the only thing where I prefer the US over much of Europe, and it’s a huge thing.

SkittlesRobot Report

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lunacrow avatar
Luna Crow
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Agree more strongly than anything else on this list. And it's starting to go away too! I hope we can preserve the wild spaces for future visitors to also appreciate

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#8

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Serious answer? Logistics. We're quite a large country and we've gotten very good at moving things around.

weirdoldhobo1978 , Marcin Jozwiak Report

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Hphizzle
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But… the transit systems are kind of c**p. (Mind you I live in Japan where I’m a bit spoiled by how good the transit systems are).

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#10

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Handicap/wheelchair accessibility. Even in smaller towns, our family member in a wheelchair got in and out of restaurants and stores easily.

mbbzzz , Robert Ruggiero Report

#11

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Honestly? Being friendly and welcoming to strangers. Saying this as a Canadian.

Reasonable-Mess-2732 , Jed Villejo Report

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loty moty
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Does welcoming strangers extend to welcoming mexican migrants at the southern border?

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#12

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Air conditioner everywhere and free public restrooms. You have to pay to use the restrooms in Europe.

SnooDoughnuts231 , Yena Kwon Report

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Notme
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is true about some countries, but not others. From where I’ve been, you have to pay in Germany, but not in the UK, Spain, Italy or Greece.

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#13

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Friendliness.

I’m from London and have lived in the US for 15 years. People here overall are very open to talking to strangers

sleeptrain123 , Priscilla Du Preez Report

#14

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Geodiversity. We have nearly every biome on Earth available in the lower 48 alone. Adding Alaska and Hawaii just completes the set.

Question: Is there any biome that doesn't exist in The US?

Ursa_Mid , Rui Silvestre Report

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AW
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Unless geodiversity was done on purpose, size itself doesn't necessarily make the US better than other countries?!

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#15

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Buffets. No buffet I’ve had can beat the one’s I had in the states.

sueRiot , Ulysse Pointcheval Report

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Philly Bob Squires
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just wash your damned hands before and after restroom before going to the buffet??? PLEASE!

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#16

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries The ability of the American farmer to produce food. It is really staggering the amount of food that is grown here.

fat-dum-stoopid , Richard Bell Report

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Pizzagirl 91
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But... Isn't that just about the area that is used? I'm sure European farmers get the most out of the area they have, as well, and there are lots of innovative methods being developed for growing things inside, with as little water as possible. Especially with the growing water crisis, this seems like applauding the student with the most pokemon cards over the one who wins a tournament, right?

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#17

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Good ethnically diverse food.

There’s a lot that Europe does better about food (for instance, care about quality of ingredients and preparation even at “everyday” priced restaurants).

But in most of the non-US world, you can get very good food of the place you are in, and maybe some mediocre Asian food. (England and Indian food being an exception.) If you are in Rome, for instance, the Italian food will be excellent, but you won’t find a great Spanish tapas bar, Mexican taqueria, or some great pho.

The fact that in most major US cities you can get excellent food that represents a dozen or more different food cultures is unique and awesome.

nudave , Fernando Santos Report

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MoMcB
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not true of the UK, I live in a medium sized town, and I can get all kinds of cuisine of my doorstep. Most European places I've visited are the same.

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#18

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Women's sports are really wells supported here - so are female athletes.

Despite many memes americans might say about it - if you go to other countries female athletics is really almost non-existent.

Juls7243 , Jeffrey F Lin Report

#20

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries While we have a LONG way to go, the USA is comparatively better than a lot of places regarding supporting people with disabilities.

kittenesque02 , ThisisEngineering RAEng Report

#21

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Convenience. In other countries I’ve lived in, many shops and businesses close relatively early and you can’t easily get food or groceries delivered to your door.

Eldergod74 , Morgan Vander Hart Report

#22

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Make sure there's ice in your beverage

HegemonHarbinger , Kaffee Meister Report

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#23

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Cultural diversity. We have a place for everyone, despite what some people say

LateFig8010 , RODNAE Productions Report

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eds2 avatar
Doctor Strange
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Except bigots. We don't have a place for bigots. They can get right out of here.

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#24

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries A non-sarcastic answer: public parks

Shepard_Wrex14 , Frank Eiffert Report

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kathoco
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I feel like these answers were all posted by people that have never left the US and are just basing what they’re saying on some vague ideas they’ve heard about Europe.

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#25

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Entertainment

AW_0730 , Tijs van Leur Report

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ezekielrhymes1 avatar
JoyfulZebra
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just because we have the largest entertainment industry, doesn't mean we have the best.

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#26

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Right turn on red light

CrundleMonster , PhotoMIX Company Report

#27

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Sewage treatment. A lot of countries you'd consider modern and Western are only just now installing treatment plants so they aren't just dumping their sewage directly into the ocean.

LarsAlereon , Patrick Federi Report

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Na Schi
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wasn't aware of that... at least in Germany we have sewage treatment installed for a fairly long time.

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#28

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Putting people on the moon & putting cheese like substances in spray cans. Nobody else comes close.

aecarol1 , Dave Matos Report

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Jojo
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah using German scientists...you can keep your "cheese" to yourself

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#29

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries Many of our restaurants offer free bread, or chips and salsa at the Hispanic restaurants. Very few places I’ve been in the world offer a free food item to snack on while waiting for your food to arrive.

acg7 , Markus Spiske Report

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Syrah
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's because your restaurants expect the customer to tip 20% or more to pay the waiters so they don't have to.

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#30

30 Things The US Does Better Than Most Countries General aviation. There are few countries in the world where you can hop into a light airplane and just go. No flight plan required, no extra taxes and fees, just freedom. There are over 5000 public use airports in the US and more than 10000 private use. I'm not talking about millionaires and billionaires flying their gulfstreams around, but the middle class American putzing around in a Cessna on a weekend. Yes, it is an expensive hobby but can be much more attainable than a lot of people think.

zuk280 , Bao Menglong Report

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AndThenICommented
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2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure about the extra freedom and def have to have a flight plan in the US, but will agreed getting a private pilots license is more attainable in the US

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Note: this post originally had 46 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.

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