USA is number one!!
a reply to:
Vroomfondel
All my life I have held the belief that the USA was a step ahead of the rest of the world in all the things that really mattered.
Why?
It's a mystery to me how anyone can think this, when the truth is so evident. When you look at Europe, and the 'happiest countries', you can notice
MANY things they have done better, that USA is struggling with, like city infrastructures that are CAR-centric in USA, but PEOPLE-centric (or
bicycle-centric) in some European countries.
USA and Canada have lots of 'Stroads' (the worst thing ever invented), Europe has much fewer of them. Look for a youtube channel 'Not Just Bikes' for
very interesting and well-done explanation videos about this type of stuff.
American 'healthcare system' is also very inhuman and capitalistic, instead of being common-sensical, like it is in Europe. No matter what happens to
you, the first priority is in 'healing/treating you', and the monetary stuff comes in second, if it happens at all. I have had several treatments done
for me in the recent years, completely free. I am sure it would all have cost in USA.
I have lived in other countries, but I have visited USA and some asian countries a couple of times, and besides weird things like not taking off your
shoes inside (don't your floors get dirty?) and wasting a lot of water when it comes to a toilet bowl (having your feces floating RIGHT under to your
buttocks, almost touching, is disgusting to me, but whatever) and even more of a waste when it comes to food (you are not supposed to eat ALL that's
on your plate, which is sickeningly crazy to me), I don't see much of what would be different enough to be so proud about it.
The roads don't seem to be in as good a condition as they're in Europe and Japan, the money is actually worse, because someone blind can't easily tell
what bills they're holding (in Europe, you have been able to do this for decades, as there's braille and the bills are of different sizes), you can't
drive your car very fast in USA, but look at German's Autobahn and over 200 km/h is the norm, the Imperial system is much more confusing than metric,
which is logical (0 °C is freezing point of water, 1000 meters is a kilometer, measuring how tall someone is is so easy with just centimeters or
meters - and meter is 100 cm of course)..
I mean, when I compare USA to Europe, Japan and some other places, I don't see why USA would be considered 'number one', except in the international
phone book; yes, you have to dial ONE to get to USA!
So as I said earlier, USA is number one! But only in the phone book..
Don't get me wrong, there's nothing THAT bad about USA, it seems pretty 'normal, civilized place' to live, but its social culture is based on lying to
each other ('Hi, HOW ARE YOU' never means 'Greetings, I wish to inquire about your wellbeing at the moment', but it just means 'Hello, whatever' or
even 'F off, I don't want to talk to you' depending on the case), because you have to 'protect everyone's feelings' instead of 'everyone being strong
enough to be able to handle the truth'.
It's the land of the free, but you're expected to become a wage slave for all your life, unless you're super rich, then you're expected to just be a
worshipped idol.
There are good things about USA, of course - the constitution, the bill of rights and other similar, very sensible things that some ingenious people
actually bothered to write down. The old American architecture is amazing, USA has produced some really wonderful movies and music, technology and
even 'cultural icons'.
We must remember that Nikola Tesla moved to USA and became an American inventor as well.
I could mention great computer games and such as well, of course, but I think I made my point.
USA is not special in my opinion; it has good sides and bad sides, just like about every other country. To me, it's just an ordinary country among
other ordinary countries, its buildings and people are ultimately the same as European buildings and people, generally speaking. Sure, USA has
skyscrapers and such, but it also has ordinary living quarters, apartments, suburbian homes and same type of personalities you can find in Europe
easily.
USA is number one, but it also has many things it could improve, but so does every country in the world. I think Japan is actually ahead of the curve,
when it comes to 'cleanliness of big cities' and 'trains arriving in time' and other such things, Japan's social structure seems a bit more
conformist, but for that reason, maybe a bit more functional as well. There are many comparisons that can be made between all kinds of countries, that
would be way beyond the scope of this post, but I just wanted to give a bit of my perspective to USA compared to other countries.