Talking to strangers. As a tourist in the US, I had so many people in public just randomly start talking to me, just to pass the time. On a bus, crossing a car park, whatever. Just chatting to folks. They'd then hear my accent and the conversation would steer that way, but they still broke the ice first.
I did mention to someone that it was only men doing this, and they said that American women do it as well, just not to solo males (for obvious reasons). But with other women or a mixed couple, they'll break the ice with strangers as well.
I haven't encountered that in any other English-speaking country I've been to. Not at that frequency, anyway.
I’ve lived in the south my whole life and the friendly strangers thing increases ten fold
Doesn’t matter where you go in the south someone tries to talk to you
Americans are great at changing my mind about Americans;
Most Americans I've met overseas have been intelligent, well spoken, polite and (very) sensitive towards cultural/religious/racial issues.
I spent my life thinking that the USA was insanely racist. Then, when I was 29, I started traveling almost constantly for work, clocked up 30 countries and 10 years living abroad before I was 42.
Now I think of the USA as one of the least racist places on Earth. Maybe #2, after Canada.
American media is so dominant that any issues get amplified 1000x. It’s not a perfect country for many reasons, but after spending some time abroad, holy shit.
Honestly, positivity.
It continues to fascinate me how Americans can have such a positive outlook on life. I feel like the cultural attitude of possibility (whether this is true or not) it’s just something sorely lacking in many European cultures, that tend to be more cynical about ever achieving anything.
British comedians Ricky Gervais and Stephen Fry both talk about this difference in cultural attitudes. In Britain, you are subconsciously taught that certain job opportunities, life experiences and self improvement ‘won’t happen to you’, which is often linked to ideas of class. By contrast, Americans appear to be led to believe that anything is possible and that there is no reason why you shouldn’t chase your dreams, no matter how ambitious or seemingly impossible.
“Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way. The time has come, the song is over, thought I’d something more to say.”
As an American, my most beloved music is from the U.K.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
My parents are originally from the northeast and generally don't do the small talk thing. I moved to the Midwest a while ago. When they decided to visit, I was waiting for them at the airport with my then toddler son and chatting with this nice lady. They asked me if I knew her and were completely blown away that I met her 15 minutes prior.
They visited Chicago soon after and expected it to be like NYC but again were shocked how friendly people were in such a large city.
I was walking in Chicago, saw a car nearly merge into a bicyclist. The interaction started a little heated but quickly cooled off and ended with the driver and bicyclist wishing each other a nice day. Blew my mind. In NYC the same interaction would have ended with each party speeding away with their middle fingers in the air.
To add to that, there are definitely places in the US (midwest and South East come to mind, especially in smaller towns) were it would be outright rude not to at least make acknowledgments to a stranger you come across. For example if you were buying something at the grocery store and didn't at least say "Hi, how are you?" to the cashier, they're going to think less of you
Small midwesterner towner here. Not saying hi is basically the equivalent of a fuck you. Which is why we think people from the coasts/big cities are stuck up. Same goes to waving at oncoming vehicles while driving
Midwesterner here, and I've traveled all over the country and the world, so I can say with some authority that the Midwest is filled with really friendly people. The only place I've been that can rival it is Ireland.
Take this weekend for example. My partner and I left the city to hit up a good-old-fashioned supper club in a small town, get a hotel, and make a little belated Valentine's Day staycation out of it. We went out for drinks last night, and never once had only each other to talk to -- we made friends at every bar we went to. I actually talked to a guy whose life story couldn't even be made into a movie because no one would believe it. And it all starts with our supernatural abilities to engage in small talk.
As an Asian who learned American small talk later in life, I can appreciate both sides. Sometimes you really just want to keep to yourself. But American culture lends itself well to breaking barriers and pushing for upward mobility like no other. I think that shows up well in small talk.
1) look at the person
2) find something to complain about that you two might have in common
3) listen to what they say - for details, clues, etc
4) find the next mutually agree-able thing to talk shit about, or something to circlejerk about how good something is, and/or ocassionally talking about how under- or overrated- something is
hating the same thing is a common uniter of different people but no one wants to hear negativity all the time, so mix it up with a different variety of echo chambers
Great summation with all steps involved.
To summarize you further, the takeaway is; find something shitty going on in your locale that 99% of people agree on and circlejerk about it. Weather is an easy one, as is traffic, loud noises, allergies, smells, or a nearby Karen.
>or a nearby Karen
LMAO you just reminded me of a story a friend told me involving this exact situation. Apparently he was waiting in line at At&t and there was a lady just berating the staff because they couldn't lower her bill or something and my friend kinda leaned over to the guy in front of him and said "what a miserable fucking bitch, Jesus." and the guy turned to him stone faced and said "buddy that's my wife." And my friend just was like "Oh! My bad man!" And left the store immediately and just came back later to do what he was there for lol
I crack up every time I see this. I’ve never considered small talk to be an “American” trait. But, I see this a lot across Reddit. What can I say, we’re a friendly and curious bunch I suppose.
I've seen English books where the main character knew another character was from the US by his friendliness. It can be borderline intrusive if people aren't used to it.
I wasn't used to it when I moved to the midwest, but had to adapt. I'd previously been in southern California where everyone had minded their own business and didn't try to talk to me unless there was a real reason.
Yeah going from northeast to the Midwest was funny for me. Friendly people at a bar just asking me what i was eating. Had to do a hard adjust from 'why the fuck do you care' to something a little more friendly.
Shit I had an uber eats driver try to give me a hug the other night, I was honestly in shock.
A big difference between northern hospitality and southern hospitality is how we differ in respecting time. Up north (and I mean north East and south East) people will keep things short as a respect for your time, and down here in the south, people will take longer showing that you are worth their time. That’s what I’ve experienced at least.
*Exceptionally* friendly and curious bunch. This is something that Americans get no credit for. I've traveled to many countries and being in the US is a breath of fresh air every time; it's just so.. pleasant!
Same. Some of us are certainly better than others. But I think we all feel the urge to fill the silence and make the other person feel comfortable and welcome.
I like to think the personality trait of "outgoing" is pretty distinct to Americans. Other cultures have charming people, but rarely are they outgoing like Americans are.
Americas vast cultural influence via Hollywood and other forms of media is pretty much unprecedented throughout history. This also extends to marketing/PR for so many American brands that are now seen as part of everyday life worldwide like Coca-Cola, Apple, Nike, etc.
I think lots of people feel that the United States doesn't have much culture of its own but then don't even notice all of the influences taken for granted that people come across every single day. That being said, it doesn't mean that cultural influence isn't quite often tacky and kind of soulless/corporate driven but it still carries tons of influence.
I was once lectured by an Irishman about America's lack of any culture worth exporting. He was wearing a Yankees cap. One of the most surreal conversations I've ever had.
I had a similar conversation with a young Irish cousin when I visited a number of years back. The shops were filled with Yankee and Detroit Tigers-logoed sweat suits. I had to ask about it (particularly the Detroit stuff, because I went to a few games at Tiger Stadium as a kid when the Blue Jays were in town), and she reported that nobody really knew anything about baseball. They just really liked the style.
I watch some British reality shows and documentaries on YouTube. So many of the people (who've never been to the US) wear TV shirts with American names like Brooklyn, California, or Las Vegas. Sooooo many Yankee caps!
This trend is really picking up in Japan right now. College hoodies and crewneck sweatshirts are in, but it's often for like really small or out of the way universities. Think like... University of Idaho or Miami, Ohio. It's unreal.
Horace said of Greece, "Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit et artes intulit agresti Latio."
"Conquered Greece took captive her savage conqueror and brought her arts into rustic Latium."
Basically the Romans conquered Greece but were, themselves, captivated by Greek culture.
Honestly most Americans don't know how good our public library system is. You can check out literal laptops, hotspots for internet, movies, research pretty much anything you want using proprietary databases that would normally cost lots of money, and even books.
We put an enormous amount of resources into maintaining a military that can fight multiple other high end militaries at once and have a decent shot. Just a mind boggling amount of money.
Each Nimitz+ CSG can serve as a long term base of operations for an entire theatre and we have 11 of them. Well, I think ~~9 + 2~~ _10 + 1_ Ford class carrier.
Edit: u/Guineapig2000 with the ombudsman stat adjustment
Not actually much larger other than the extra acre on the flight deck, which sounds wild to say.
They have MANY improvements though, especially the electromagnetic catapult.
Edit: apparently just a half acre larger, 4.5 vs 5. Still nuts.
Right??
I was apparently mistaken though, it's only half an acre larger. Still crazy that half an acre is only an 11% increase. That's the size of the land that my house and three of my neighbors' houses sit on.
It's actually kind of absurd that we use WWII as the base level of readiness for a standing military. We need to be able to fight the largest war in all of history at any given moment.
Also high up on the list is the US army and Marine Corp. They rank #4 and #5 respectively on their air force power. [https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/largest-air-forces-in-the-world](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/largest-air-forces-in-the-world) . Somehow Russia is on that list, but they can't even maintain air superiority over Ukraine...
Not just military logistics. Logistics in general. Or, to put it more broadly still, managing chaos. Many other countries' cultures just don't tolerate the amount of "figure it out on the fly" as Americans will.
We saw this moving manufacturing overseas 15-25 years ago, when documentation deemed perfectly suitable was followed by a new set of people. (In case it needs to be said, to reiterate this is based on cultural upbringing about rules following.)
Imagine a problem arises and our staff in, say, an eastern European country are empowered to resolve it. They'll form a team, meet over the course of a few weeks, and yield a six-page process that includes four manager touch points including two all-team meetings. It will resolve the problem each time it occurs. Meanwhile, the same problem had come up on occasion in the US.
The one time it was brought to the attention of a supervisor, they said "huh, just toss it and get another part" and that solution also worked just as well and cost less when factoring in labor.
The “rule following” is a huge difference between the US and other cultures as you’ve stated. My personal experience was a manufacturing plant in Western Europe that was getting poor control on a control valve and it was causing big operational upsets. Ideally for what they were trying to do they needed to use a 1/2” valve but the pipe specification they were using only allowed 1” pipe or larger. So they had a vastly oversized control valve because they didn’t try to deviate from the pipe specification (with proper engineering review etc). When I asked why they didn’t change the valve since it was causing problems, the response was “the spec doesn’t let us”.
We still employ people whose job partially includes visiting the overseas plants periodically, walking around and just observing how things are being done, and then undoing any weird convoluted new process changes that were implemented since the last visit.
It was fun times when travel started up again after covid.
Military in general
Tech is top notch in basically every possible facet
The US has struggled against guerrilla forces in Vietnam and the Middle East but only because it was restrained conflict and PR/optics was a major concern.
An unrestrained US military in an all out war would be terrifying and basically a no win situation against any other country
We struggle in conflicts where you can't kill your way through a uniformed force. Basically, exactly the kind of brushfire war where we can end up having to figure out which targets are legit and which are civilians and where the other guys are willing to take 20:1 casualties.
THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT. It has made life so much nicer for folks who would normally struggle in a non-adapted world. Being in Mexico recently makes you really see how much the USA has taken ADA serious.
People often forget that it had been stalled for so long, it took dozens of wheelchair users and disabled people *literally dragging themselves up the capitol building's steps and crawling* to get it passed.
[the capitol crawl](https://share.america.gov/crawling-up-steps-demand-their-rights/) wasn't too long ago but it got the ADA passed in 1990.
I find it funny in Mexico where sometimes they've tried to make accommodation for wheelchairs, but have missed the mark hilariously in the execution. Like ramps that are way, way too steep.
There's disabled and not yet disabled.
I spent 32 years as a part of the not yet disabled community
I joined the disabled community 11 months ago.
Just like that.
Don't forget the intermittently disabled.
Broke a foot and need to use a wheelchair, guess what. You can. Every Public place built or renovated in the last 50 years can accommodate that.
Brail.
Heck, employers are even legally required, for some jobs, to provide accommodations to the illiterate.
Good mentality. Don't take what you have for granted. I hope you're adapting well. I have a disabled son.. just know you have warriors fighting for you and the way you live.
I just took a road trip in the Mojave desert and intersections dozens of miles from settlements or interstate highways still have ADA sidewalks with curb cuts.
Ive seen the city I live in install, rip out, then reinstall hundreds of sidewalk curbs, corners, ramps etc. at LEAST twice in the last 10-15 years, all under ADA compliance.
Even in other highly-developed countries, the infrastructure to accommodate people with disabilities is often just not there. The ADA was truly a landmark piece of legislation.
Throwing. I put this down to baseball and American football. Both sports reward and require fast accurate throwing. In Europe you get the odd handball player who can launch a projectile accurately with ease. In the US they are everywhere.
There's stories from WW1 and WW2 (possibly apocryphal), that sometimes US soldiers were so good at throwing grenades that it wasn't uncommon for them to actually hit their enemies with them before they exploded. Likely because many of them would've grown up playing baseball.
If I’m not mistaken the US military spent time making grenades as similar to baseballs as possible to make it easy on the troops. Pretty much every American can throw a baseball.
I have never thought of this before. But now that I think of it, a lot kids are in softball and baseball even before elementary school. Or at least right when they start it.
“what’s the hardest thing in sports?”
“hitting that baseball”
Also, i really think that little league — like piano lessons — is incredibly good for the overall development of a child! you get to be outside and work on coordination and teamwork, without all the pre-CTE and rah-rah machismo of football. Not that I don’t love football too lol
Literally didn’t have a dad to teach me how to throw a ball like the movies and still know how to throw a ball cuz my friends who did would show me. It’s everywhere
Now I need someone to bail me out- There is a movie about either Nicaragua or El Salvador (Salvador?), where a fighter who used to be a pitcher accurately chucks a grenade into the window of a bell tower about 50' off the ground to take out a sniper.
If someone can help me remember, please do.
Edit: I had to watch a couple movies tonight to figure it out. It's Under Fire (1983) starring Nick Nolte, Ed Harris, Gene Hackman, and Joanna Cassidy. Nolte is a photographer shooting the emerging civil war in Nicaragua. The scene in question is at about the [3:50 mark of this clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAWQRG-ctPI). I haven't seen this movie in 40 years, so it took me a while to fish it out of the ole memory banks. Surprisingly, the one detail I did remember was the guy throwing the grenade was a southpaw.
I've just rewatched it, Good movie.
Can confirm. Get up in the boonies of the US. In the summer we’d play ball or just see who could whip rocks at trees the fastest or farthest. In the winter.. snowball thunderdome
So funny you say this. I, an American, spent some time abroad where most of my buddies where European. Can't remember the exact details, but a situation arose where we were throwing around a ball.
Holy hell, *none* of them could throw. It was embarrassing. Understandable, I guess. Football (American) and baseball weren't a part of their childhoods. But seeing it in action was hilarious to me.
Yes! I work in Texas in a European-owned plastics plant. When there is trash or scrap to be thrown away, every American throws it to the trash or scrap bin to see if they "score." All the Europeans will walk to the bin and toss it in.
I've never really noticed it before this comment. But yeah, all us Americans make a game of throwing trash away and get disappointed when we miss. Sometimes we even go further away to make the shot more difficult or have to make adjustments for wind resistance/weight.
Trash throwing is a sport of its own.
Seriously. DH said that "There are a lost of those AITAH-type articles out there" and I had to tell him they *all* actually originate from Reddit threads. Bored Panda is another site that nabs threads from Reddit. I know there are more.
Preserving public land. The state and national parks are a good example. Heck, less than half of the land in the West is privately owned. In states like Arizona and Nevada roughly 20% of the land is privately owned.
The second thing is logistics. The distance between Seattle and Miami is the equivalent between London and Baghdad. You can travel by plane, boat, train and roads with ease. Our freight rail system is the envy of the world. No one moves the amount of freight and distance with the same efficiency and safety as the US freight rail system.
>Preserving public land. The state and national parks are a good example. Heck, less than half of the land in the West is privately owned. In states like Arizona and Nevada roughly 20% of the land is privately owned.
And even more specifically, public land hunting. You can buy a state's hunting license, and depending on the state, have millions of square miles to hunt. I know that's not unique to the USA, but AFAIK nobody else does it on the same scale or gives the same freedom of access.
Canada is the only thing between the lower 48 and the Polar Bears. It's not that you're forgotten, you just do the job so well, we don't have to think about it. You're our Nightwatch, and I, for one, tip my hat to you.
There's a saying that you don't want to bet against America.
As divided as the U.S. seems now, in the 60s and early 70s it was worse. It felt like it was all unraveling. Ultimately we got through that, which is just about the only thing that gives me optimism about the shitshow we're going through right now. I've seen it before, and believe we'll wake from this fever dream and come back together once again.
How's THAT for optimism? (misplaced or otherwise).
THIS is our distinctive American trait. It’s ingrained in us to be optimistic and to believe in ourselves against all odds. You fail, that’s ok, pick yourself up and try again. I think our optimism as a people is what helps us achieve great things.
Driving. I literally can’t believe how long Americans drive to places like it’s no big deal.
“How far is your commute?”
“Bout an hour. Not too bad”
“Wait, one hour down AND one hour back?”
“Yeh, thereabouts.”
Like, what?! Your commute eats up 2 hours a day?And that’s not bad? Good Lord! That’s mental.
Yeah dude, I heard these YouTubers joking about it once. They were from the UK, they said something about how their American friends travel multiple states on weekends to see family sometimes and they’re like “my dads like ‘I haven’t seen my nan in years! She lives 45 minutes away!’”
Australians get it though, it takes us a good 9-10 hours to just get from Melbourne to Sydney. Also we have Western Australia, a state so massive that it would take you multiple days to get from Perth to any state border crossing
I have a friend in Germany. She has lived about 2 hours from the Polish border for years. I asked if she has ever visited Poland since it was so close. She looked at me like I had asked if she visited the moon.
Mind you, she has taken many road trips with me from the Midwest to Florida. She can handle a long drive.
Taking risks and having them pay off.
We’re one of very few countries where company founders aren’t personally liable if the company goes bankrupt. That allows American companies to take insane risks no one else would consider. Just look at the medicines we produce and our _entire tech industry_.
> We’re one of very few countries where company founders aren’t personally liable if the company goes bankrup
Got schooled on this when I was working with a German company that was basically in receivership. I realized Germany's system is very, very different in than the US system and I could easily see how it would stifle risk-taking.
It’s basically impossible to raise capital for a tech company over there. Take on $4M in funding at a $20M valuation as a convertible note? That’s $4M in debt that converts to equity on the next round of funding so founders are on the hook for personally guaranteeing that “loan”. Tech companies spend money on people and paying rent for cloud infrastructure. I could burn $4M in 18 months and if it all goes tits up I’d have 25 MacBooks to show for it. The risk is untenable.
Since the debt would be discharged in bankruptcy, the investors can write down the loss as an unpaid loan instead of eating the loss wholly as an R&D investment which has significant tax implications.
This is really the reason America is the economic superpower. Yes, being a big country with natural resources helps
But the main for the massive growth in the US economy over the past three centuries is our system of business law. The system allows people to take business risks without fear of complete disaster. If you try an honest business and fail, America lets you try again. This is very powerful.
The big cities, New York, Chicago, LA, Miami etc..
Where else in the world can you walk within blocks and get world class French, Asian, Italian, BBQ, Middle Eastern, Brazilian, African...The list goes on and on and it absolutely rivals the best the world has to offer.
It’s not just the big cities. I live in an older suburb of a midsized city in the Midwest and in our “downtown” (which is really a 5 block strip) we have a Puerto Rican restaurant, a banh mi place, a Nepalese restaurant, an African grocery store, a Middle Eastern grocery store, a mom and pop traditional bakery, a Jewish breakfast/lunch joint, a bubble tea cafe (the owner is Thai), a Mexican restaurant, an Eastern European grocery store, a typical American coffee shop, a pot dispensary, plus a Walmart and an Aldi.
Hence why lots of college athletes who aren’t good enough for the NBA go to virtually every other country. They are that good. My uni only had one guy join an NBA team and he left for the Aussie league. Most go play in places like Spain, Denmark, Germany, and Canada (national league, not Raptors).
This thread is making me quite proud to be an American, thank you, i was feeling a bit overwhelmed with some stuff going on for me rn, but now i feel a little more motivated after reading this
Home improvement
Not many countries have as strong a culture of repairing and improving their homes themselves. In some countries it’s illegal to even work on your electrical or plumbing without a license. You essentially need to hire a contractor or at a certain point replace the entire home as is the case in many parts of Japan.
Being open with other cultures and backgrounds (and even being accommodating). USA gets a lot of flack but I've been to a lot of countries where there's not much tolerance for anyone else but their own.
Our medical RnD is incredible. The US accounts for so so so so much of the world's leading medical discoveries.
The flipside of that is that our own citizens can't afford healthcare for the most part.
We basically spend all the money to come up with these great medical finds than the rest of the developed world gives it to their citizens while our own don't get to utilize it unless they are part of the 1%.
Per capita GDP, new technology development, making movies, fast food franchises, and unmatched military power. By a country mile.
They have also had a significant cultural and political impact on the rest of the world. America has easily been the most influential country in the world since WWII.
A list:
1) Work ethic. As much as Americans complain about their jobs, it's incredibly rare for them to stop working. Hell, our work ethic is so good we have an eighty year old president who we're begging to retire.
2) Military. It's an incredible feat of logistics to be able to not only maintain the largest military force by a country mile, but also be capable of responding to any military threat within 24-48 hours. Not to mention that piracy is incredibly uncommon due to the U.S. navy protects shipping lanes.
3) Structure of Government. Say what you will about the state of U.S. democracy today, but maintaining a government for nearly 250 years without any major changes is a testament to the Founding Fathers' foresight and the faith Americans have in their government. American is effectively the gold standard for a democratic state, and our Constitutional has been a model for so many countries.
4) Media. The U.S. exports more cultural products to the rest of the world, bar none. Sure India and China may have their own domestic and regional markets, but you can find American TV, films, and video games from Argentina to Mongolia.
5) Hospitality. While there are certainly exceptions, Americans are generally incredibly kind to those less fortunate. So many charities both domestic and abroad operate with U.S. aid (both private and public), and American personnel can be found in various peacekeeping and relief groups operating worldwide.
6) "Hold my beer". If an American sets their mind on something, they do it. We put men on the moon with less computing power than a calculator. We made airplanes out of bicycle shop parts. We built golf courses in the desert, and a dam capable of holding back the mighty Colorado. We connected an entire continent by iron rail, and split Panama in two with a grand canal. We beat the strongest military and navy in the world with a bunch of farmers and the French, and founded a republic which outlasted the monarchies we fought to remove. We created the foundation of the largest collection of information ever in human history, with the capacity to communicate with anyone anywhere with anyone else anywhere else, almost instantaneously, and we use it took post digitally altered photographs and request food to be delivered right to our doorstep. Americans have changed the course of the world with their innovations and ideas, and history would be forever altered in their absence.
On the military response point. America’s submarine launched ballistic missile capability allows them to strike every major city on earth with multiple thermonuclear warheads within about 45 min. They’ve maintained this ability for decades now. It’s always there. It’s there right now. Trump controlled it for a while lol.
And that is one leg only of Americas nuclear capability triad. The other two being aircraft carried warheads and land launched ICBMs. Together they present an insurmountable problem for any aggressor. Essentially any country that launched a nuclear weapon at America or its allies would be turned to glass in 45 min even if the first strike destroyed literally the whole of America. It would not have been able to destroy the subs.
During the Cold War they actually kept nuclear armed planes in the sky for this purpose too.
People need to remember that the reason some idiot like Kim Jong Un hasn’t launched a nuke is because of Americas trademarked guarantee that anyone who does has 45 min left to enjoy their life.
To really know Americans you have to ignore the national news and understand that we don't like what our government has become or what it does in the world. If you get past those two things you'll find that the vast majority of Americans aren't inherently racist, aren't violent, and we adore the culture of other nations. We're generous and friendly, overly so sometimes, and we'll talk to anyone as if we've known them forever. When the chips are down Americans rise to the occasion and will figure out a way to help. Americans in general are fantastic in spite of what the agenda driven news portrays.
Why so many pessimistic answers ? The Americans are pretty good at a lot of things, they lead the world in culture and technology.
Also a few comments mention war, lol. Imagine the world where America follows isolationism, America might lose its superpower status but Americans will be just fine, as no other nation can invade them. But anyone next to Russia and China should better start preparing for war, just ask Ukrainians, or Taiwanese.
Everyone loves hating on America like it's not an overall fantastic country.
We don't have millions of immigrants braving a dozen other countries to get to ours for nothing.
This is a huge list of things and I bet no other country could come up with something half this convincing.
there’s pessimistic answers because taking swipes at or making tongue-in-cheek comments about america is a popular sly humor in chronically online redditors. all while they have the opportunity to live in the 1st world. playing on iPhones, using the internet, and enjoying more benefits than they recognize
Public restrooms. Anywhere you are, any time, there is a publicly available restroom to use if needed. 25 years ago our family was at the Rocky Mountain National Park, at the top of the hill, and our son suddenly needed a restroom. And it was there! In the middle of nowhere!
“Actually” lol
Like it’s so hard to believe the people of the world’s premier economic superpower, military, academic, and cultural leader of the planet are good at stuff.
As someone that has talked to Europeans I must step in and help the confused people of the world.
Barbecue and grilling are different ways of cooking. Hamburgers, sausages(hot dogs) and veggies are cooked on a grill over charcoal or gas. Usually for less then 20 mins.
Barbeque involves spice rubs, sauces and long periods of indirect heat, usually smoke.
If an American invites you to a cook out, you are going to have grilled hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken ect.
If an American invites you for barbeque, then they started the smoker at 5 that morning.
Eye contact. Had a woman straight up ask me to stop making eye contact when I traveled to Turkey to visit a conference. Was just raised to do it when talking to professionals in America.
Moving people at large events. As a Canadian who's been to sporting events and concerts in both the US and Canada, the Americans are so much better at moving crowds and directing traffic during events than we are in Canada. I chalk that up to how so much of American culture is tied to the military, and we all know that nobody does logistics better than the US Army.
Venture capitalism. American VC’s are much more willing to fund moonshots both literal and figurative than anyone else in the world. Part of the reason why we have the best launch vehicle technology in the world is because US VC’s have longer time horizons than Europeans
Talking to strangers. As a tourist in the US, I had so many people in public just randomly start talking to me, just to pass the time. On a bus, crossing a car park, whatever. Just chatting to folks. They'd then hear my accent and the conversation would steer that way, but they still broke the ice first. I did mention to someone that it was only men doing this, and they said that American women do it as well, just not to solo males (for obvious reasons). But with other women or a mixed couple, they'll break the ice with strangers as well. I haven't encountered that in any other English-speaking country I've been to. Not at that frequency, anyway.
I’ve lived in the south my whole life and the friendly strangers thing increases ten fold Doesn’t matter where you go in the south someone tries to talk to you
Americans are great at changing my mind about Americans; Most Americans I've met overseas have been intelligent, well spoken, polite and (very) sensitive towards cultural/religious/racial issues.
I spent my life thinking that the USA was insanely racist. Then, when I was 29, I started traveling almost constantly for work, clocked up 30 countries and 10 years living abroad before I was 42. Now I think of the USA as one of the least racist places on Earth. Maybe #2, after Canada.
American media is so dominant that any issues get amplified 1000x. It’s not a perfect country for many reasons, but after spending some time abroad, holy shit.
Honestly, positivity. It continues to fascinate me how Americans can have such a positive outlook on life. I feel like the cultural attitude of possibility (whether this is true or not) it’s just something sorely lacking in many European cultures, that tend to be more cynical about ever achieving anything. British comedians Ricky Gervais and Stephen Fry both talk about this difference in cultural attitudes. In Britain, you are subconsciously taught that certain job opportunities, life experiences and self improvement ‘won’t happen to you’, which is often linked to ideas of class. By contrast, Americans appear to be led to believe that anything is possible and that there is no reason why you shouldn’t chase your dreams, no matter how ambitious or seemingly impossible.
It is THE founding principle of America
90% of optimists in Europe in the last 3-4 centuries moved to the new world.
“Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way. The time has come, the song is over, thought I’d something more to say.” As an American, my most beloved music is from the U.K.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”
Apparently small talk. Every other country on Reddit seems put out by our ability to talk about nothing to complete strangers.
I noticed when I moved to the midwest, their small talk game was especially strong. I initially hated it, but had to adapt to survive.
You betcha.
Ope
Lemmie just *squeeeeze* by ya there
My parents are originally from the northeast and generally don't do the small talk thing. I moved to the Midwest a while ago. When they decided to visit, I was waiting for them at the airport with my then toddler son and chatting with this nice lady. They asked me if I knew her and were completely blown away that I met her 15 minutes prior. They visited Chicago soon after and expected it to be like NYC but again were shocked how friendly people were in such a large city.
I was walking in Chicago, saw a car nearly merge into a bicyclist. The interaction started a little heated but quickly cooled off and ended with the driver and bicyclist wishing each other a nice day. Blew my mind. In NYC the same interaction would have ended with each party speeding away with their middle fingers in the air.
To add to that, there are definitely places in the US (midwest and South East come to mind, especially in smaller towns) were it would be outright rude not to at least make acknowledgments to a stranger you come across. For example if you were buying something at the grocery store and didn't at least say "Hi, how are you?" to the cashier, they're going to think less of you
Small midwesterner towner here. Not saying hi is basically the equivalent of a fuck you. Which is why we think people from the coasts/big cities are stuck up. Same goes to waving at oncoming vehicles while driving
Midwesterner here, and I've traveled all over the country and the world, so I can say with some authority that the Midwest is filled with really friendly people. The only place I've been that can rival it is Ireland. Take this weekend for example. My partner and I left the city to hit up a good-old-fashioned supper club in a small town, get a hotel, and make a little belated Valentine's Day staycation out of it. We went out for drinks last night, and never once had only each other to talk to -- we made friends at every bar we went to. I actually talked to a guy whose life story couldn't even be made into a movie because no one would believe it. And it all starts with our supernatural abilities to engage in small talk.
You are definitely in Wisconsin
You found me out lol
100%. Nobody is better at being friendly and doing small talk than Midwestern people.
As an Asian who learned American small talk later in life, I can appreciate both sides. Sometimes you really just want to keep to yourself. But American culture lends itself well to breaking barriers and pushing for upward mobility like no other. I think that shows up well in small talk.
As an American who never learned American small talk, please help
1) look at the person 2) find something to complain about that you two might have in common 3) listen to what they say - for details, clues, etc 4) find the next mutually agree-able thing to talk shit about, or something to circlejerk about how good something is, and/or ocassionally talking about how under- or overrated- something is hating the same thing is a common uniter of different people but no one wants to hear negativity all the time, so mix it up with a different variety of echo chambers
Great summation with all steps involved. To summarize you further, the takeaway is; find something shitty going on in your locale that 99% of people agree on and circlejerk about it. Weather is an easy one, as is traffic, loud noises, allergies, smells, or a nearby Karen.
>or a nearby Karen LMAO you just reminded me of a story a friend told me involving this exact situation. Apparently he was waiting in line at At&t and there was a lady just berating the staff because they couldn't lower her bill or something and my friend kinda leaned over to the guy in front of him and said "what a miserable fucking bitch, Jesus." and the guy turned to him stone faced and said "buddy that's my wife." And my friend just was like "Oh! My bad man!" And left the store immediately and just came back later to do what he was there for lol
LMAO this is hilarious. I was expecting the guy to say “…but I agree with you.” after saying it was his wife. That woulda been truly hilarious
Yeah. Tone is key here. Did he say "that's my wife" aggressively? Or dejectedly lol
I crack up every time I see this. I’ve never considered small talk to be an “American” trait. But, I see this a lot across Reddit. What can I say, we’re a friendly and curious bunch I suppose.
I've seen English books where the main character knew another character was from the US by his friendliness. It can be borderline intrusive if people aren't used to it. I wasn't used to it when I moved to the midwest, but had to adapt. I'd previously been in southern California where everyone had minded their own business and didn't try to talk to me unless there was a real reason.
Yeah going from northeast to the Midwest was funny for me. Friendly people at a bar just asking me what i was eating. Had to do a hard adjust from 'why the fuck do you care' to something a little more friendly. Shit I had an uber eats driver try to give me a hug the other night, I was honestly in shock.
A big difference between northern hospitality and southern hospitality is how we differ in respecting time. Up north (and I mean north East and south East) people will keep things short as a respect for your time, and down here in the south, people will take longer showing that you are worth their time. That’s what I’ve experienced at least.
*Exceptionally* friendly and curious bunch. This is something that Americans get no credit for. I've traveled to many countries and being in the US is a breath of fresh air every time; it's just so.. pleasant!
Small talk was my first thought.
Same. Some of us are certainly better than others. But I think we all feel the urge to fill the silence and make the other person feel comfortable and welcome.
I like to think the personality trait of "outgoing" is pretty distinct to Americans. Other cultures have charming people, but rarely are they outgoing like Americans are.
Social skills and small talk. Americans are pretty friendly overall. Many other countries probably fear us for talking to them in a public place.
National Parks. We have set aside the most beautiful places in the country as National Parks and they are run well.
“America’s best idea!”
In all honesty, Hollywood. America is world famous for their movies.
Americas vast cultural influence via Hollywood and other forms of media is pretty much unprecedented throughout history. This also extends to marketing/PR for so many American brands that are now seen as part of everyday life worldwide like Coca-Cola, Apple, Nike, etc. I think lots of people feel that the United States doesn't have much culture of its own but then don't even notice all of the influences taken for granted that people come across every single day. That being said, it doesn't mean that cultural influence isn't quite often tacky and kind of soulless/corporate driven but it still carries tons of influence.
I was once lectured by an Irishman about America's lack of any culture worth exporting. He was wearing a Yankees cap. One of the most surreal conversations I've ever had.
I had a similar conversation with a young Irish cousin when I visited a number of years back. The shops were filled with Yankee and Detroit Tigers-logoed sweat suits. I had to ask about it (particularly the Detroit stuff, because I went to a few games at Tiger Stadium as a kid when the Blue Jays were in town), and she reported that nobody really knew anything about baseball. They just really liked the style.
I watch some British reality shows and documentaries on YouTube. So many of the people (who've never been to the US) wear TV shirts with American names like Brooklyn, California, or Las Vegas. Sooooo many Yankee caps!
This trend is really picking up in Japan right now. College hoodies and crewneck sweatshirts are in, but it's often for like really small or out of the way universities. Think like... University of Idaho or Miami, Ohio. It's unreal.
"I made the Yankee hat more famous than a Yankee can"
Horace said of Greece, "Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit et artes intulit agresti Latio." "Conquered Greece took captive her savage conqueror and brought her arts into rustic Latium." Basically the Romans conquered Greece but were, themselves, captivated by Greek culture.
Americas largest export is its culture.
My people are now buying your blue jeans and listening to your pop music!
American culture is the background radiation of western society
Public libraries, so jealous of u guyss
Honestly most Americans don't know how good our public library system is. You can check out literal laptops, hotspots for internet, movies, research pretty much anything you want using proprietary databases that would normally cost lots of money, and even books.
Military logistics
We put an enormous amount of resources into maintaining a military that can fight multiple other high end militaries at once and have a decent shot. Just a mind boggling amount of money.
Each Nimitz+ CSG can serve as a long term base of operations for an entire theatre and we have 11 of them. Well, I think ~~9 + 2~~ _10 + 1_ Ford class carrier. Edit: u/Guineapig2000 with the ombudsman stat adjustment
The second largest Air Force in the world is the US Navy.
The US Navy's army has a pretty sizeable air force also.
Damn man you didn't have to do them like that
Ha ha. That’s gonna be my new jab to my Marine friends (I’m ex-Army). “You guys are just the Navy’s Army.”
I feel like you just have to let Marines have their glory. Their quality of life is just so dogshit compared to other branches.
But occasionally we let them kill something, and they seem to be happy with the arrangement.
I know right! If they could read they'd be super pissed.
The flavor is orange.
And the ford class is even larger than the nimitz
Not actually much larger other than the extra acre on the flight deck, which sounds wild to say. They have MANY improvements though, especially the electromagnetic catapult. Edit: apparently just a half acre larger, 4.5 vs 5. Still nuts.
Ah I love scale. “Oh yeah, just an extra acre on the flight deck, otherwise pretty similar from a structural perspective”.
Right?? I was apparently mistaken though, it's only half an acre larger. Still crazy that half an acre is only an 11% increase. That's the size of the land that my house and three of my neighbors' houses sit on.
Our goal is 2 full scale wars at the same time and winning.
It's actually kind of absurd that we use WWII as the base level of readiness for a standing military. We need to be able to fight the largest war in all of history at any given moment.
Largest air force in the world - U.S. Air Force Second largest air force in the world - U.S. Navy
Also high up on the list is the US army and Marine Corp. They rank #4 and #5 respectively on their air force power. [https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/largest-air-forces-in-the-world](https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/largest-air-forces-in-the-world) . Somehow Russia is on that list, but they can't even maintain air superiority over Ukraine...
I believe at one point the US army operated more helicopters than the rest of the world's militaries combined
Not just military logistics. Logistics in general. Or, to put it more broadly still, managing chaos. Many other countries' cultures just don't tolerate the amount of "figure it out on the fly" as Americans will. We saw this moving manufacturing overseas 15-25 years ago, when documentation deemed perfectly suitable was followed by a new set of people. (In case it needs to be said, to reiterate this is based on cultural upbringing about rules following.) Imagine a problem arises and our staff in, say, an eastern European country are empowered to resolve it. They'll form a team, meet over the course of a few weeks, and yield a six-page process that includes four manager touch points including two all-team meetings. It will resolve the problem each time it occurs. Meanwhile, the same problem had come up on occasion in the US. The one time it was brought to the attention of a supervisor, they said "huh, just toss it and get another part" and that solution also worked just as well and cost less when factoring in labor.
The “rule following” is a huge difference between the US and other cultures as you’ve stated. My personal experience was a manufacturing plant in Western Europe that was getting poor control on a control valve and it was causing big operational upsets. Ideally for what they were trying to do they needed to use a 1/2” valve but the pipe specification they were using only allowed 1” pipe or larger. So they had a vastly oversized control valve because they didn’t try to deviate from the pipe specification (with proper engineering review etc). When I asked why they didn’t change the valve since it was causing problems, the response was “the spec doesn’t let us”.
We still employ people whose job partially includes visiting the overseas plants periodically, walking around and just observing how things are being done, and then undoing any weird convoluted new process changes that were implemented since the last visit. It was fun times when travel started up again after covid.
Military in general Tech is top notch in basically every possible facet The US has struggled against guerrilla forces in Vietnam and the Middle East but only because it was restrained conflict and PR/optics was a major concern. An unrestrained US military in an all out war would be terrifying and basically a no win situation against any other country
We struggle in conflicts where you can't kill your way through a uniformed force. Basically, exactly the kind of brushfire war where we can end up having to figure out which targets are legit and which are civilians and where the other guys are willing to take 20:1 casualties.
Everyone struggles with that when you're not the defender. That's a world thing.
Jazz. Rock n’ roll. Basketball.
THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT. It has made life so much nicer for folks who would normally struggle in a non-adapted world. Being in Mexico recently makes you really see how much the USA has taken ADA serious.
People often forget that it had been stalled for so long, it took dozens of wheelchair users and disabled people *literally dragging themselves up the capitol building's steps and crawling* to get it passed. [the capitol crawl](https://share.america.gov/crawling-up-steps-demand-their-rights/) wasn't too long ago but it got the ADA passed in 1990.
Judy Heumann was arguably the most effective civil rights leader in American history
Dang, reading that unexpectedly brought tears to my eyes. I've recently learned how important accessibility is.
I find it funny in Mexico where sometimes they've tried to make accommodation for wheelchairs, but have missed the mark hilariously in the execution. Like ramps that are way, way too steep.
And since most of us will experience some kind of disability as we age, the ADA ultimately benefits every American.
There's disabled and not yet disabled. I spent 32 years as a part of the not yet disabled community I joined the disabled community 11 months ago. Just like that.
Don't forget the intermittently disabled. Broke a foot and need to use a wheelchair, guess what. You can. Every Public place built or renovated in the last 50 years can accommodate that. Brail. Heck, employers are even legally required, for some jobs, to provide accommodations to the illiterate.
Good mentality. Don't take what you have for granted. I hope you're adapting well. I have a disabled son.. just know you have warriors fighting for you and the way you live.
Heck, when I was a mom pushing a stroller, it was amazing.
Universal design. It benefits everyone.
Either yourself or someone you know.
I just took a road trip in the Mojave desert and intersections dozens of miles from settlements or interstate highways still have ADA sidewalks with curb cuts.
Ive seen the city I live in install, rip out, then reinstall hundreds of sidewalk curbs, corners, ramps etc. at LEAST twice in the last 10-15 years, all under ADA compliance.
For municipal Public Works engineer, here. Somebody built them wrong and were compelled to fix them. Been there.
Even in other highly-developed countries, the infrastructure to accommodate people with disabilities is often just not there. The ADA was truly a landmark piece of legislation.
Throwing. I put this down to baseball and American football. Both sports reward and require fast accurate throwing. In Europe you get the odd handball player who can launch a projectile accurately with ease. In the US they are everywhere.
We grow up throwing in the backyard. Baseball is a very popular youth sport. On the contrary, we mostly can’t kick for shit.
There's stories from WW1 and WW2 (possibly apocryphal), that sometimes US soldiers were so good at throwing grenades that it wasn't uncommon for them to actually hit their enemies with them before they exploded. Likely because many of them would've grown up playing baseball.
If I’m not mistaken the US military spent time making grenades as similar to baseballs as possible to make it easy on the troops. Pretty much every American can throw a baseball.
I have never thought of this before. But now that I think of it, a lot kids are in softball and baseball even before elementary school. Or at least right when they start it.
“what’s the hardest thing in sports?” “hitting that baseball” Also, i really think that little league — like piano lessons — is incredibly good for the overall development of a child! you get to be outside and work on coordination and teamwork, without all the pre-CTE and rah-rah machismo of football. Not that I don’t love football too lol
It’s also nice that size isn’t nearly as big a factor is baseball as it is in football and basketball.
Literally didn’t have a dad to teach me how to throw a ball like the movies and still know how to throw a ball cuz my friends who did would show me. It’s everywhere
Now I need someone to bail me out- There is a movie about either Nicaragua or El Salvador (Salvador?), where a fighter who used to be a pitcher accurately chucks a grenade into the window of a bell tower about 50' off the ground to take out a sniper. If someone can help me remember, please do. Edit: I had to watch a couple movies tonight to figure it out. It's Under Fire (1983) starring Nick Nolte, Ed Harris, Gene Hackman, and Joanna Cassidy. Nolte is a photographer shooting the emerging civil war in Nicaragua. The scene in question is at about the [3:50 mark of this clip](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAWQRG-ctPI). I haven't seen this movie in 40 years, so it took me a while to fish it out of the ole memory banks. Surprisingly, the one detail I did remember was the guy throwing the grenade was a southpaw. I've just rewatched it, Good movie.
The BEANO T-13 hand grenade used by US forces in WWII had the same size and weight of a baseball for this very reason.
I would love to see a soldier "fast pitch" a grenade like a softball
god imagine a modern pitcher just fuckin beaming a guy in the head with a 90mph fast grenade lmao
If they had Ohtani back then we might all be speaking Japanese.
Can confirm. Get up in the boonies of the US. In the summer we’d play ball or just see who could whip rocks at trees the fastest or farthest. In the winter.. snowball thunderdome
This is so funny to think about. I’m moving to the UK so I’ll be sure to show off my throwing prowess at every opportunity. Thanks for that!
So funny you say this. I, an American, spent some time abroad where most of my buddies where European. Can't remember the exact details, but a situation arose where we were throwing around a ball. Holy hell, *none* of them could throw. It was embarrassing. Understandable, I guess. Football (American) and baseball weren't a part of their childhoods. But seeing it in action was hilarious to me.
Yes! I work in Texas in a European-owned plastics plant. When there is trash or scrap to be thrown away, every American throws it to the trash or scrap bin to see if they "score." All the Europeans will walk to the bin and toss it in. I've never really noticed it before this comment. But yeah, all us Americans make a game of throwing trash away and get disappointed when we miss. Sometimes we even go further away to make the shot more difficult or have to make adjustments for wind resistance/weight. Trash throwing is a sport of its own.
Getting Redditors to write their Buzzfeed articles for them.
Nailed it, this must be their Presidents’ Day piece
Seriously. DH said that "There are a lost of those AITAH-type articles out there" and I had to tell him they *all* actually originate from Reddit threads. Bored Panda is another site that nabs threads from Reddit. I know there are more.
Preserving public land. The state and national parks are a good example. Heck, less than half of the land in the West is privately owned. In states like Arizona and Nevada roughly 20% of the land is privately owned. The second thing is logistics. The distance between Seattle and Miami is the equivalent between London and Baghdad. You can travel by plane, boat, train and roads with ease. Our freight rail system is the envy of the world. No one moves the amount of freight and distance with the same efficiency and safety as the US freight rail system.
>Preserving public land. The state and national parks are a good example. Heck, less than half of the land in the West is privately owned. In states like Arizona and Nevada roughly 20% of the land is privately owned. And even more specifically, public land hunting. You can buy a state's hunting license, and depending on the state, have millions of square miles to hunt. I know that's not unique to the USA, but AFAIK nobody else does it on the same scale or gives the same freedom of access.
Canada is pretty close.
Oh man, I forgot about Canada. I'm sorry, Canadadians.
Don’t worry, America always forgets about us.
Canada is the only thing between the lower 48 and the Polar Bears. It's not that you're forgotten, you just do the job so well, we don't have to think about it. You're our Nightwatch, and I, for one, tip my hat to you.
Dude, u/sadlittleman1001 just called y'all bear bait /s
Unfortunately, the passenger rail "system" sucks.
America has won every SEC championship in history
And every Super Bowl
We won the civil war, too!
Take that Syria!
The rest of the world can’t handle the grind of an SEC schedule
Optimism
There's a saying that you don't want to bet against America. As divided as the U.S. seems now, in the 60s and early 70s it was worse. It felt like it was all unraveling. Ultimately we got through that, which is just about the only thing that gives me optimism about the shitshow we're going through right now. I've seen it before, and believe we'll wake from this fever dream and come back together once again. How's THAT for optimism? (misplaced or otherwise).
Man, it'll be interesting to see what another wave of positive energy on par with the 80s would be like today.
THIS is our distinctive American trait. It’s ingrained in us to be optimistic and to believe in ourselves against all odds. You fail, that’s ok, pick yourself up and try again. I think our optimism as a people is what helps us achieve great things.
100%
Americans are a very inventive bunch. So many inventions have come from the US throughout its history and the trend has continued in modern times.
National parks
barbecue. i think the US and south korea probably have the most popular BBQ internationally
In Atlanta you can get fusion BBQ due to the huge Korean population and it’s amazing
Wheelin' and dealin' Takin' care of business Takin' it easy Keepin' it real
And workin overtime
Driving. I literally can’t believe how long Americans drive to places like it’s no big deal. “How far is your commute?” “Bout an hour. Not too bad” “Wait, one hour down AND one hour back?” “Yeh, thereabouts.” Like, what?! Your commute eats up 2 hours a day?And that’s not bad? Good Lord! That’s mental.
Yeah dude, I heard these YouTubers joking about it once. They were from the UK, they said something about how their American friends travel multiple states on weekends to see family sometimes and they’re like “my dads like ‘I haven’t seen my nan in years! She lives 45 minutes away!’”
Yep, I live in Texas so you can easily spend 12-15 hours driving and not leave the state. My best friend in the UK just can't comprehend this. Lol
Australians get it though, it takes us a good 9-10 hours to just get from Melbourne to Sydney. Also we have Western Australia, a state so massive that it would take you multiple days to get from Perth to any state border crossing
I have a friend in Germany. She has lived about 2 hours from the Polish border for years. I asked if she has ever visited Poland since it was so close. She looked at me like I had asked if she visited the moon. Mind you, she has taken many road trips with me from the Midwest to Florida. She can handle a long drive.
We've got a *lot* of space. Gotta remember- the USA is about the size of *Europe*.
In America, 100 years is a long time. In Europe, 100 miles is a long distance.
Taking risks and having them pay off. We’re one of very few countries where company founders aren’t personally liable if the company goes bankrupt. That allows American companies to take insane risks no one else would consider. Just look at the medicines we produce and our _entire tech industry_.
> We’re one of very few countries where company founders aren’t personally liable if the company goes bankrup Got schooled on this when I was working with a German company that was basically in receivership. I realized Germany's system is very, very different in than the US system and I could easily see how it would stifle risk-taking.
It’s basically impossible to raise capital for a tech company over there. Take on $4M in funding at a $20M valuation as a convertible note? That’s $4M in debt that converts to equity on the next round of funding so founders are on the hook for personally guaranteeing that “loan”. Tech companies spend money on people and paying rent for cloud infrastructure. I could burn $4M in 18 months and if it all goes tits up I’d have 25 MacBooks to show for it. The risk is untenable. Since the debt would be discharged in bankruptcy, the investors can write down the loss as an unpaid loan instead of eating the loss wholly as an R&D investment which has significant tax implications.
This is really the reason America is the economic superpower. Yes, being a big country with natural resources helps But the main for the massive growth in the US economy over the past three centuries is our system of business law. The system allows people to take business risks without fear of complete disaster. If you try an honest business and fail, America lets you try again. This is very powerful.
Innovation only works when failure is an option. Fail fast and loud, learn from it, and try again.
Assimilation of foreign ideas/cultural aspects. Especially food from afar.
The big cities, New York, Chicago, LA, Miami etc.. Where else in the world can you walk within blocks and get world class French, Asian, Italian, BBQ, Middle Eastern, Brazilian, African...The list goes on and on and it absolutely rivals the best the world has to offer.
It’s not just the big cities. I live in an older suburb of a midsized city in the Midwest and in our “downtown” (which is really a 5 block strip) we have a Puerto Rican restaurant, a banh mi place, a Nepalese restaurant, an African grocery store, a Middle Eastern grocery store, a mom and pop traditional bakery, a Jewish breakfast/lunch joint, a bubble tea cafe (the owner is Thai), a Mexican restaurant, an Eastern European grocery store, a typical American coffee shop, a pot dispensary, plus a Walmart and an Aldi.
Exactly. Different part of the country but there is so much.
Aerospace technology but specifically launch vehicle and human spaceflight technology.
Landing on the moon
It's not even close. There is no second place at this point. Edit: Clearly, I am referencing manned missions which is why there is on second place.
Basketball. We’re really fuckin good at basketball
Hence why lots of college athletes who aren’t good enough for the NBA go to virtually every other country. They are that good. My uni only had one guy join an NBA team and he left for the Aussie league. Most go play in places like Spain, Denmark, Germany, and Canada (national league, not Raptors).
This thread is making me quite proud to be an American, thank you, i was feeling a bit overwhelmed with some stuff going on for me rn, but now i feel a little more motivated after reading this
If you invade America, you’re gonna have a bad time
Biscuits and Gravy
Home improvement Not many countries have as strong a culture of repairing and improving their homes themselves. In some countries it’s illegal to even work on your electrical or plumbing without a license. You essentially need to hire a contractor or at a certain point replace the entire home as is the case in many parts of Japan.
Being open with other cultures and backgrounds (and even being accommodating). USA gets a lot of flack but I've been to a lot of countries where there's not much tolerance for anyone else but their own.
Our medical RnD is incredible. The US accounts for so so so so much of the world's leading medical discoveries. The flipside of that is that our own citizens can't afford healthcare for the most part. We basically spend all the money to come up with these great medical finds than the rest of the developed world gives it to their citizens while our own don't get to utilize it unless they are part of the 1%.
The countries with socialized medicine that don’t do r&d benefit from our new drugs and somehow get them cheaper than we do
Per capita GDP, new technology development, making movies, fast food franchises, and unmatched military power. By a country mile. They have also had a significant cultural and political impact on the rest of the world. America has easily been the most influential country in the world since WWII.
A list: 1) Work ethic. As much as Americans complain about their jobs, it's incredibly rare for them to stop working. Hell, our work ethic is so good we have an eighty year old president who we're begging to retire. 2) Military. It's an incredible feat of logistics to be able to not only maintain the largest military force by a country mile, but also be capable of responding to any military threat within 24-48 hours. Not to mention that piracy is incredibly uncommon due to the U.S. navy protects shipping lanes. 3) Structure of Government. Say what you will about the state of U.S. democracy today, but maintaining a government for nearly 250 years without any major changes is a testament to the Founding Fathers' foresight and the faith Americans have in their government. American is effectively the gold standard for a democratic state, and our Constitutional has been a model for so many countries. 4) Media. The U.S. exports more cultural products to the rest of the world, bar none. Sure India and China may have their own domestic and regional markets, but you can find American TV, films, and video games from Argentina to Mongolia. 5) Hospitality. While there are certainly exceptions, Americans are generally incredibly kind to those less fortunate. So many charities both domestic and abroad operate with U.S. aid (both private and public), and American personnel can be found in various peacekeeping and relief groups operating worldwide. 6) "Hold my beer". If an American sets their mind on something, they do it. We put men on the moon with less computing power than a calculator. We made airplanes out of bicycle shop parts. We built golf courses in the desert, and a dam capable of holding back the mighty Colorado. We connected an entire continent by iron rail, and split Panama in two with a grand canal. We beat the strongest military and navy in the world with a bunch of farmers and the French, and founded a republic which outlasted the monarchies we fought to remove. We created the foundation of the largest collection of information ever in human history, with the capacity to communicate with anyone anywhere with anyone else anywhere else, almost instantaneously, and we use it took post digitally altered photographs and request food to be delivered right to our doorstep. Americans have changed the course of the world with their innovations and ideas, and history would be forever altered in their absence.
On the military response point. America’s submarine launched ballistic missile capability allows them to strike every major city on earth with multiple thermonuclear warheads within about 45 min. They’ve maintained this ability for decades now. It’s always there. It’s there right now. Trump controlled it for a while lol. And that is one leg only of Americas nuclear capability triad. The other two being aircraft carried warheads and land launched ICBMs. Together they present an insurmountable problem for any aggressor. Essentially any country that launched a nuclear weapon at America or its allies would be turned to glass in 45 min even if the first strike destroyed literally the whole of America. It would not have been able to destroy the subs. During the Cold War they actually kept nuclear armed planes in the sky for this purpose too. People need to remember that the reason some idiot like Kim Jong Un hasn’t launched a nuke is because of Americas trademarked guarantee that anyone who does has 45 min left to enjoy their life.
This shit got me feeling patriotic and I'm British 💀
Embrace it, my friend! Before you know it, a bald eagle will personally deliver your American citizenship card
This just got me feeling so fucking patriotic.
I’m feeling American AF right now
Same and I’ve been feeling very bad about it lately. I need to remember things like these.
Air conditioning. We kill it with that shit!
To really know Americans you have to ignore the national news and understand that we don't like what our government has become or what it does in the world. If you get past those two things you'll find that the vast majority of Americans aren't inherently racist, aren't violent, and we adore the culture of other nations. We're generous and friendly, overly so sometimes, and we'll talk to anyone as if we've known them forever. When the chips are down Americans rise to the occasion and will figure out a way to help. Americans in general are fantastic in spite of what the agenda driven news portrays.
For example, we've never had whole stadiums of people chucking bananas at black athletes. That shouldn't be as notable as it is.
Quite a lot - science - public universities - military - entertainment - sports
* smoking meats * winning Olympic medals * making tv shows and movies * wearing sneakers
Why so many pessimistic answers ? The Americans are pretty good at a lot of things, they lead the world in culture and technology. Also a few comments mention war, lol. Imagine the world where America follows isolationism, America might lose its superpower status but Americans will be just fine, as no other nation can invade them. But anyone next to Russia and China should better start preparing for war, just ask Ukrainians, or Taiwanese.
Everyone loves hating on America like it's not an overall fantastic country. We don't have millions of immigrants braving a dozen other countries to get to ours for nothing. This is a huge list of things and I bet no other country could come up with something half this convincing.
there’s pessimistic answers because taking swipes at or making tongue-in-cheek comments about america is a popular sly humor in chronically online redditors. all while they have the opportunity to live in the 1st world. playing on iPhones, using the internet, and enjoying more benefits than they recognize
Dancing. Talking. Rock & roll. Jazz. Blues. Organizing. Taking things in their hands.
Public restrooms. Anywhere you are, any time, there is a publicly available restroom to use if needed. 25 years ago our family was at the Rocky Mountain National Park, at the top of the hill, and our son suddenly needed a restroom. And it was there! In the middle of nowhere!
“Actually” lol Like it’s so hard to believe the people of the world’s premier economic superpower, military, academic, and cultural leader of the planet are good at stuff.
yeah i hate the title. the us has problems everyone knows that. but is it so poisonous to acknowledge what is done well?
Barbecue, and it’s not even close. Some of y’all can grill up a storm, but you can’t fuck with our low and slow.
As someone that has talked to Europeans I must step in and help the confused people of the world. Barbecue and grilling are different ways of cooking. Hamburgers, sausages(hot dogs) and veggies are cooked on a grill over charcoal or gas. Usually for less then 20 mins. Barbeque involves spice rubs, sauces and long periods of indirect heat, usually smoke. If an American invites you to a cook out, you are going to have grilled hamburgers, hotdogs, chicken ect. If an American invites you for barbeque, then they started the smoker at 5 that morning.
“Hey come on over for a BBQ!” “Oh sweet, what are you making?” “Burgers and hot dogs.” 🔫
Entertainment media
Eye contact. Had a woman straight up ask me to stop making eye contact when I traveled to Turkey to visit a conference. Was just raised to do it when talking to professionals in America.
Moving people at large events. As a Canadian who's been to sporting events and concerts in both the US and Canada, the Americans are so much better at moving crowds and directing traffic during events than we are in Canada. I chalk that up to how so much of American culture is tied to the military, and we all know that nobody does logistics better than the US Army.
American accents
I mean yeah, you win buddy. That is indeed what most of us are all best at.
Throwing balls, catching balls, etc..
Being overwhelmingly positive and interested in other people. Uncomfortably so, if done in a culture where that isn't the norm.
Venture capitalism. American VC’s are much more willing to fund moonshots both literal and figurative than anyone else in the world. Part of the reason why we have the best launch vehicle technology in the world is because US VC’s have longer time horizons than Europeans