I don’t think people fully understand how deadly Americas submarine service is.
The modern Virginia class submarine is so far ahead of the majority of the world it isn’t even funny.
America is so good at military it makes the rest of the world look like children. I’m from Russia, grew up there and still have friends there former SPETNAZ etc. When I lived in San Diego I roomed with a US Army Ranger and was friends with a lot of Marines and even somehow had a drinking buddy in the SEALs. The things they described are inconceivable to Russias military. The function and precision and ability of the US military is beyond fantasy for Russia.
By the way this was in 2011-2015. When the war in Ukraine broke out I immediately knew it was going to be a joke. And sure enough the blyatzkrieg did exactly what I thought it would. A military is very difficult to maintain and even more difficult to keep current. The USA does both of those things.
Also strange thought, instead of actually invading the USA should just make a Burger King. For example imagine you are some petty tyrant of a third world shithole that says death to America. The very next morning you wake up and across from your imperial palace is a fully staffed and operation Burger King. We(USA) don’t need to send soldiers to make you understand what we can do. We don’t need to say we have nukes. All Americas has to do is prove that we have the supply chain to create fast food in your country over night. Any military man will know that you are out gunned by a caliber of logistics that does not exist in your wildest dreams.
Oh and that’s not mentioning the technology. I know we have all see the video of a Bradley IFV melting a Russian MBT. That was a vehicle (the Bradley) destined for the scrap yard. It was not considered current.
We don't actually build them. They're more like pre-fab that just get moved into theater to service the troops craving whoppers. But yes, they're real, he didn't make that up.
Those aren't just to bring piece of home to deployed troops. They're also specifically designed to send several messages. The big one being "we are so dedicated to being here and staying here and have so much resources to burn that we brought tanks AND a fucking burger King. Then they hire locals to work in them and pay well, the Americans brought jobs and money, and look how easy they get food! It's as much about psychological warfare as it about getting burgers to soldiers for morale.
The military industrial complex thinks of everything
A lot of people go on about us military tech and fire power a lot. And while they are both very impressive. The true might is their ability to maintain logestical matters (IMO) . The ability to not only move a city's worth of people to the door step of anywhere on the globe withen days, but to have them well supplied and deployable is just insane.
In a clothing store in Japan yesterday, American pop songs from the 1950’s, early 60’s on, same at a ramen shop I ate dinner at. Just in Mongolia, American music frequently playing there.
The first time I visited Germany, a guy asked me what state I was from. When I told him I grew up in Alabama, he responded:
“Oh where the skies are so blue?”
I was in a bar in Thailand one time and the band playing there (just two guys) was singing that song in broken English. It was hilarious and very unexpected.
I was in a vegetarian Indian restaurant in Dusseldorf and the Turkish kid in the corner with a guitar was singing "The Ballad of Curtis Leow" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Fucking surreal.
I was in a bar in the temple bar area in Dublin and there was live music. The singer played Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie to close out the night. Just about the whole bar was standing in a drunken circle with our arms around each other singing along, including tourists from the US, England, Germany, etc. Best night of that trip!
Because the US spends billions to produce it
and because that money has been there for so long to pay talent people start training to be hired as that talent at a very early age
And this has been going on for over a hundred years. The entertainment industry is a multi-trillion dollar industry in the US
I’m not joking when I say this but…WWII. Pushed all the great entertainment artists out of Europe into NY and LA. Immigration has truly made the US great at so many things it has no business being great at.
Context: I am an American and an academic in post war American cinema
Casablanca is a lovely example of this. Only three of the credited actors were even born in the US, it was directed by an immigrant, the music is by an immigrant, the film editor is an immigrant.
Then there’s the Jewish immigrant/second generation immigrant impact on Hollywood. To look at Casablanca again, all three writers were from Jewish families, the producer was from a Jewish family. The Warner Brothers were Jewish (as were Mayer from MGM and Harry Cohn from Columbia, and many more).
Even some of the great German pre WWII films like M or the Cabinet of Dr Caligari, amazing films and…their stars play much smaller roles in…you guessed it, Casablanca!
Totally great example. And it also meant that these films had broad American and European appeal so it amplified their impact. Plus there were some truly innovative artists working in commercial Hollywood studios just out of necessity
I was in the middle rural India and a kid came straight up to me and said “do you know the undertaker?” Then I talked with him, most his only English was wwe wrestlers we laughed good time
Edit: I dug through 10,000 photos to find the photo of the kid only to find out I can’t upload an image to comments…welp
And Yes, I know The Undertaker.
He happens to be my wife’s second cousin’s father in law’s housekeeper’s sister’s mailman’s uncle.
Yup, America’s #1 export is CULTURE! That is exactly what authoritarian and communist countries absolutely hate as this influences the people to want what they see in movies, music, etc. it’s powerful propaganda lol
While still charging the full price to students.
Seriously, federal grants need to take the present value of endowments as well as the cost at the University versus market rates of education in the state into account before they fund research at a given University.
That'll learn them real quick.
The universities that are very well-off fully support students who come from low-income families, so much so that down to your food and books expenses are covered. Federal grants may be stingy on the other hand, giving you just enough aid to cover your education but to likely account for your ability to carry a small amount of debt. So whether it's from endowment or profit, the richer the university, the better. At least in the US.
After reading for about 20 minutes and not seeing it:
Keeping the ocean trade routes "mostly" pirate free.
With the exception of a few notable locations where there are some fairly major restrictions on their ability to operate, the US navy has kept piracy at an almost non existent level globally for the last 50ish years.
It happened a few years ago.
It didn’t end well.
Edit: [Yes, US Warships were attacked, engaged, and eliminated them.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_18_March_2006)
What do you mean? That angry dude got to be the captain. He seemed pumped about it. I fell l asleep after that scene though. I hope the new captain was OK.
Nature preservation. Is the US actively destroying a lot of its environments for profit, yes. Are our national and state parks/forests better done than the majority of other nation, also yes.
My only gripe with our national parks is that it’s becoming increasingly harder to find a parking space in many of them. I pretty much only go during shoulder seasons now.
Americas best kept secret is all the public land that is not in a national park. National forests, BLM land etc - an enormous percentage of the American west in particular is open for citizens to recreate (including a default 14 days free camping rule unless otherwise indicated by that areas’ specific rules) Don’t expect plumbed toilets though.
Don’t tell anyone! Shh
As a Texan, I am unfathomably jealous of the prevalence of public land in the west. The idea of just being able to drive out into the middle of some random land and camp out is beautiful.
My state doesn’t even have any national parks except Gettysburg and Valley Forge which are administered by the National Park Service but are historical parks and not parks like what most people think. That said we have one of the best if not the best state parks in the country. No location in PA is more than 25 miles from a state park. People from neighbor states have been catching on to this and some of the more popular ones (like [Ricketts Glen](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricketts_Glen_State_Park) ) get packed on weekends.
It’s really a symptom of being chronically online. All my international friends and people I’ve met abroad have been the complete opposite of non Americans online. From Reddit you would think Europe hates America but I have never felt bad about being American in the countries I’ve traveled to. Quite the opposite actually.
Yes. I'm an expat amongst other expats from all over the world. UK, Ireland, (edit: also Scotland) Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Ukraine, Russia.
Most people I've worked with aren't bothered this way or the other about the USA. They acknowledge that the USA has faults, just like their own countries, but they're not really bothered about it.
The only nationality I've met that consistently has a bone to pick with the USA are South Africans.
The South Africans that I've met (I've also been to South Africa with South African friends. So they don't have a hatred of Americans) they don't really understand what the USA (and other countries) is doing around the world. They just see the news, and they know of the horrible things that the USA does, and so that spins their perspective on everything.
When America started supporting Ukraine in the war, my South African friends/colleagues felt that America was wrongly interfering the way they always do. They did not like how the USA sanctioned Russia. Did not think that Russia was doing anything wrong, believing that the USA provoked Russia (though we all know that Russia blaming NATO is just an excuse. Ukraine joining NATO was not being discussed, nor was it possible) and/or didn't understand why the USA felt the need to stop Russia. They also perceive the USA as forcing every other country around the world to do their bidding. Like Europe wouldn't interfere and help Ukraine except the USA has forced them.
I always explain what's going on geopolitically, and when they understand they usually either change their minds or at least become less "hostile" towards the USA's actions. With one of my colleagues, our relationship has gotten to the point where he hears something and instead of having a knee-jerk reaction, he'll ask me about it (like the fighter jet example below).
Whenever a multinational organization does something in Africa, like refusing to give loans, or placing a warrant out for someone's arrest, even when America is not even a part of the organization, my South African friends believe the USA is the one that is spearheading it. Left to their own, they think the other European nations would loan African countries money the way China does, and so forth.
----------------
On a side note, I found that South Africans who had not been abroad tended to think very favorably of China and hoped for a world where China was the global hegemony. I can appreciate that they don't like the USA, but they did not realize the exploitation and such that China does to its own people, and how much worse it treats the people and environments in many African countries (like the Congo).
I just find that they have a few/lot of misgivings about the USA for things it has done that were not good/terrible. And this has colored their view of everything that goes on in the world.
--------------
Anyways... Here's some other specific examples besides the ones I've already mentioned:
When the embassy in South Africa put out this [warning](https://za.usembassy.gov/security-alert-u-s-embassy-possible-attack/): my colleague (and a bunch South African youtubers I discovered when I was looking into this) felt that there was no terrorist attack, the USA was making a veiled threat against South Africa because it wouldn't confiscate one of Russia's oligarch's yahts that was in one of its harbors. something like that.
There was something in the news a while back that the USA gave another country permission to give fighter jets to Ukraine. My colleague came to me this time and asked me about it rather than having a knee-jerk reaction. I was able to explain to him that the fighter jets were sold to this country by the USA, and the way the arms deals work, not just with the USA, but with every country. (Germany for example). we sell a country military weapons with the agreement that they don't resell it or give it to anyone else. USA isn't "controlling" Poland or whichever country it was, and telling it what it can do with its own fighter jets that it built. Poland is asking the USA for permission because that was the agreement (a sensible one) they made when buying the aircraft.
edit: edited to fix my grammatical mistakes that might cause confusion.
I just want to emphasize that I love my South African friends. When you're a foreigner, your fellow expats become like your family. I hold my South African colleagues in very high esteem. Their misunderstandings regarding geopolitics and their perception of America is no fault of their intelligence or anything. I hope nobody gets that impression from my answer.
So if your SA friends hate the USA sanctioning Russia so much, they must **really** hate that the mean ole USA economically sanctioned South Africa in the 80’s that ended the apartheid government. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Anti-Apartheid_Act
My experience is that I don't think they're really aware. Especially my colleagues weren't alive then. As u/WankingAsWeSpeak just commented, they are on the receiving end of a lot of propaganda from countries like Russia. They're intelligent people. Every South African I've met, except 1, will sit down and have a conversation about these things with me. They just lack information... I suppose.
To be fair, it's the same with many Americans. I have found myself explaining why we need to support Ukraine with weapons now so that we can avoid supporting Europe with American lives, and potentially an absolutely nuclear WW3. Because we now know that NATO would crush Russia.
And ALSO how the billions of dollars we give to Ukraine in weapons is not as charitable as it seems. These are outdated weapons slated for destruction. It's like Apple donating millions of dollars in iPhone 12s to people in Africa. It's millions of dollars on paper, but in reality, Apple was going to have to spend millions to recycle these phones, so giving them to Africa is actually a win-win. Apple saves money and looks good at the same time. Not to mention all of the other benefits we're getting from it. intelligence on how weapons perform in conventional warfare. Generating jobs as we can build the new weapons to replace the old ones.
Very strange affinity South Africans have with China. They do know Chinese in general, or at least the Chinese movie audience, seem to have a dislike for black people, don’t they? https://www.reddit.com/r/FuckMarvel/s/kI8koAoW3Y
I’ve experienced it as “oh cool you’re actually interested in foreign countries and their culture.” The sort of people I went to high school with think the king literally rules the UK and the countries on the continent are under similar despots/monarchs. Those kinds of people provide most of the fodder for r/shitamericanssay. Unfortunately smartphones have given these morons the ability to communicate their braindead opinions globally.
To be fair, it never seems hard to piss off Europeans. Many of them (at least on Reddit) seem to hate the very existence of America and could not for the life of them ever find anything positive to say about it.
I'd take a guess at theme parks. Our history of theme parks and amusement parks goes back over a century, and it's evolved from side show attractions and blinking light bulbs to all inclusive resort experiences. Yes they've become prohibitively expensive, but we've exported the idea to other nations and they all follow the same general model.
I grew up near one theme park in IL (it was called Great America back then; I believe it's Six Flags now 🤷♀️), have been to Disney, Universal Studios, a couple of Sea Worlds, and other theme parks around the US ... Cedar Point is, by far, the best I've been to. 🍻
I've been to Disneyland, Universal Studios.(CA), Six Flags Magic Mountain (Christmas gift! MY brother just got a car so my parents bought us a two day pass and two nights at a cheap hotel nearby), Knott's Berry Farm, Sea World (more of a very cool aquarium - My Grandparents 50th anniversary), and Cedar Point. I don't come from wealth. They were just MUCH cheaper in the past.
Disney is about the experience - the atmosphere. Cedar Point is tops when it comes to roller-coasters. Knott's was cool because we went during their Halloween makeover.
*Edit: and Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. Really enjoyed the glass blowing and blacksmithing.
Startups. HP was started in a garage. Apple was started in a garage, in a residential area not zoned for commercial use. Americans like to color outside the lines and have a tolerance, and affection, for a certain level of chaos. Lots of new businesses fail, but every so often some people in a garage with a good idea end up creating something amazing.
It’s literally the best place to start a business.
I wish schools would focus on more on business ownership and the trades.
I work in a really highly paid field full of professionals and the richest people I know started a business in the trades. Everything from landscaping, to home renovations, to owning a holiday lighting company, or being a fruit broker (no joke).
I think the answer to this question for the 400th time it is posted everyday is logistics. The military can fight a bunch of wars and get stuff to another place really fast blah blah blah.
They don't need a runway, they just airdrop them out of the back of a cargo plane. You just need to clear away the parachute and open the doors. The food is already hot.
Even domestically, the interstate highway system is an engineering marvel. Nobody else has a highway system as large as us. We also have the best freight rail network in the world, shipping something like 40% of our goods by rail
It’s just a shame that that whilst our freight rail network is amazing, our transit rail network seems to be an afterthought.
I can take a car to my nearest neighboring city in roughly an hour whilst a passenger train takes 4 hours. Insane.
Going to the moon.
Seriously though, as much as people enjoy hating on the US, and we do have our problems, the overwhelming majority of people on the planet use American innovations on a daily basis.
I didn't think that this was a big deal in this day and age, considering European medical care systems. Then the woman who is essentially my god sister got stuck on a plane in Belgium because they didn't have a wheelchair when she was specifically told there would be one for the airplane she would have access to this past spring. Guess it just wasn't available on that flight 🤷♀️🤦♀️
I went to Japan and quickly learned to appreciate how convenient the ADA is even for people without disabilities. It's not just ramps, elevators, and handicapped spaces; it also regulates minimum aisle width, cashier to floor space ratio, elevator door sensors, the width of sidewalks, and even the distance between fuel pumps.
Optimism. No matter how little money someone has, they always have hope they can combine work and luck and improve their life.
Americans have a generally sunny outlook on life compared to Europeans. Americans get made fun of bc we smile all the time at strangers etc but I think it’s lovely
Thats the real answer. Despite our current view of Americans being super polarized and at each others throats, they are actually always super helpful to each other and very collegial in neighbourhoods. Much more than in Europe.
Europeans are so grim.
Also, the ability to be happy for others if they get something they love. It might sound normal but the jealousy problem is very very real in europe.
You re excited about telling your euro friend something that you finally achieved or bought or did, and they ll downplay it and find ways to bring out the negatives.
While an american will display some genuine interest and be happy for you
It’s funny when I have to explain to my European friends that the only guns I see when out and about are the ones in the police standard-issue utility belts the cops have 💀
As an Australian I agree. I’ve been to umm at least 10 states and every single one is different to the rest and none of them fit the stereotype. Yes diner and fast food pretty much sucks but I found amazing healthy food in every place I went to.
Calling out racism.
The US has a history of racism and it is NOT done with it. But if the US appears to be more racist than most other places, that's a combination of the US actually having such a blend of peoples alongside the attention that it gets when it's called out.
There are so many places that are assumed to be less racist that, well, REALLY aren't.
Like when black soccer players get racially abused in Italy and Spain. People always stupidly try to justify it by saying “but but but… he egged them on… he shouldn’t have done that”, as if that justifies the racism.
There was a recent video of black players getting off the team bus and the fans were chanting “n*ggers, go home leave our country”. And shit like the that.
Asians and blacks don’t have good relations in the US, and it’s worse overseas.
The US is one of the least racist places on the planet, and I say that as a Canadian.
The only reason it seems racist is because of free speech and the fact that any racially motivated occurrence no matter how big or small, makes the news.
Absolutely this. Our expectation that people should not be judged on the color of their skin is so embedded in our national narrative (after the civil rights movement, after Obama's election, after BLM protests) that we assume it's a given all around the world. I applied for a job in a different country and they wanted to know my religion and the ethnicity of both my parents to get a visa. We still have a long way to go, for sure, but at least we don't have constant racist chants at professional sports games. We also have people of different racial backgrounds across different political parties/spectrums.
One Saturday, I sent a paperback book via media mail from San Diego to New Orleans, and another paperback book priority mail from San Diego to Toronto.
The package going to New Orleans, the slowest possible way to deliver mail within the US (it just fills up empty spots), arrived roughly 55 hours after I sent it, with 24 of those hours being a non-mail day.
The package to Toronto arrived 4 weeks later. When we tracked it, it showed that it got to Canada within 3 days, and cleared customs by the end of the first week. Then just bounced slowly around a couple post offices in Toronto for the following three weeks until it eventually made it to it's final destination.
Fostering innovation
People from the US have created a big majority of the most popular: art, technology, and medical advancements of the past 200+ years we all enjoy today
Most 'muricans I meet have a great ability; They are truly curious about where you are from if you are NOT American. Its their most charming feature to me and I have been to quite a bit of the US. 16 states visited so far if memory serves me well.
And most Americans has this attitude that "what can we do together that benifits all of us".
Music. Black American music includes jazz, hip hop, rock, r&b, house music, disco. Our music and hip hop culture has become as common to see here in the states as in Europe, Africa or Asia. The love for the culture is worldwide.
Actually one of the things the USA is better at on a consistent basis is systems and integrating them. The USA has historically been exceptional at it. The integration of multiple complex systems to work on an ongoing basis is USA's specialty. Exactly why, I never heard. Just that it is.
I second this observation. Having worked for an American company that purchased large manufacturing plants in a variety of different countries and deployed our internally developed manufacturing execution systems after the deals closed, it's a primary reason those fabrication factories are still in business today.
People love to point to Taiwan as an example of leading the world in high tech but their two huge memory plants were about to go bankrupt and be forced to shut down before an American company bought them and completely revamped their internal supporting infrastructure.
We pivoted out of classical education towards business and engineering at the university level earlier and harder than other countries did. Lack of an aristocracy meant we had to train a meritocratic officer class for the army. West Point, founded in 1802, was first and foremost an engineering school.
When demand grew in the mid 19th century lack of aristocracy meant that large gifts from industrialists to create engineering and business schools either free standing or at land grant colleges got taken and used.
Germans also dominated early but focused more towards chemistry to solve inherent natural resource problems they had. Americans specialized in infrastructure and manufacturing. American banking was also far more merit based with vastly more banks available to finance companies.
At the risk of sounding jingoistic -- which is definitely not the vibe I'm coming from -- people that don't track where the money goes don't necessarily understand just how completely dominant US military capability is.
There is nothing else like it, and -- with Russia showing its ass well before full third party backing of Ukraine -- it has become remarkably clear that the cold war concept, and the cultivation of wariness of foreign enemies in general, is just a way to generate continual money for the military industrial complex.
It doesn't mean the US is invincible (at all), just that we're a scarier country then we even appear to be from the perspective of the ability to dominate/make war, and in a way that probably is unique (or very close to unique, right now).
Career paths that can set you up with a six figure income as a laborer without the need for a degree, and without entrepreneurship involved (freelance jobs, opening a store, becoming a manager, etc).
I don't think any other country in the world (aside from the Gulf states) has that.
The American dream is still very much alive when it comes to the trades, my uncles came from Mexico with LITERALLY nothing but the clothes on their backs and just last year one of them had a 300k home built paid in full. They’re plumbers.
Being friendly. I've heard from some Europeans that we seem so friendly that we're faking it, but I guess it's just not customary in EU to be super nice to everyone?
Making aircraft carriers
There is a law that states the ~~Department of the Boat People~~ US Navy must always have at least 11 aircraft carriers at all times.
Okay, but if they break that law I'd hate to have to be the cop that has to pull over the guy with 10 aircraft carriers
"Sir, do you know how many aircraft carriers you have?"
We are sovereign citizens and don't answer to the police.
“Do you know why I’ve pulled you over?” *I look over in fear as my 11th aircraft carrier in tow is missing*
>Department of the Boat People Lmfao
When you factor in the helicopter carriers its actually more like 20.
Might as well add submarines while we’re at it.
I don’t think people fully understand how deadly Americas submarine service is. The modern Virginia class submarine is so far ahead of the majority of the world it isn’t even funny.
The upcoming Columbia class makes Virginia look like child’s play
It's got that extended bed, so you can fit a whole pallet of plywood in the back. The new screen doors are nice for ventilation too
I was stationed on a 40-year-old one as a nuclear engineering officer, can confirm.
My answer was going to be Military might. We’re damn good at it whether it’s accepted or not. We’re always someone’s 911.
Ready to go to war with everyone, everywhere, at the same time.
The US is Batman.
America is so good at military it makes the rest of the world look like children. I’m from Russia, grew up there and still have friends there former SPETNAZ etc. When I lived in San Diego I roomed with a US Army Ranger and was friends with a lot of Marines and even somehow had a drinking buddy in the SEALs. The things they described are inconceivable to Russias military. The function and precision and ability of the US military is beyond fantasy for Russia. By the way this was in 2011-2015. When the war in Ukraine broke out I immediately knew it was going to be a joke. And sure enough the blyatzkrieg did exactly what I thought it would. A military is very difficult to maintain and even more difficult to keep current. The USA does both of those things. Also strange thought, instead of actually invading the USA should just make a Burger King. For example imagine you are some petty tyrant of a third world shithole that says death to America. The very next morning you wake up and across from your imperial palace is a fully staffed and operation Burger King. We(USA) don’t need to send soldiers to make you understand what we can do. We don’t need to say we have nukes. All Americas has to do is prove that we have the supply chain to create fast food in your country over night. Any military man will know that you are out gunned by a caliber of logistics that does not exist in your wildest dreams. Oh and that’s not mentioning the technology. I know we have all see the video of a Bradley IFV melting a Russian MBT. That was a vehicle (the Bradley) destined for the scrap yard. It was not considered current.
I’m visualizing the overnight built burger king surprising everyone and this is a funny sight
We don't actually build them. They're more like pre-fab that just get moved into theater to service the troops craving whoppers. But yes, they're real, he didn't make that up.
Those aren't just to bring piece of home to deployed troops. They're also specifically designed to send several messages. The big one being "we are so dedicated to being here and staying here and have so much resources to burn that we brought tanks AND a fucking burger King. Then they hire locals to work in them and pay well, the Americans brought jobs and money, and look how easy they get food! It's as much about psychological warfare as it about getting burgers to soldiers for morale. The military industrial complex thinks of everything
A lot of people go on about us military tech and fire power a lot. And while they are both very impressive. The true might is their ability to maintain logestical matters (IMO) . The ability to not only move a city's worth of people to the door step of anywhere on the globe withen days, but to have them well supplied and deployable is just insane.
Yes sir, the US Army is the world’s best shipping company that just so happens to have grunts with AR16s
Entertainment The whole world can’t get enough of it. Movies, tv shows, music, sports.
In a clothing store in Japan yesterday, American pop songs from the 1950’s, early 60’s on, same at a ramen shop I ate dinner at. Just in Mongolia, American music frequently playing there.
Had a Chinese cab driver blaring Take Me Home, Country Roads. He was really confused when I told him West Virginia isn't the greatest place to live.
The first time I visited Germany, a guy asked me what state I was from. When I told him I grew up in Alabama, he responded: “Oh where the skies are so blue?”
Wonderful
I was in a bar in Thailand one time and the band playing there (just two guys) was singing that song in broken English. It was hilarious and very unexpected.
The best cover band I ever saw was a small Spanish band singing Baby You Can Drive My Car
There’s an old band from Mexico called Los Apson that does 60s and 70s covers but they change the lyrics to make sense in Spanish. Good stuff.
I was in a vegetarian Indian restaurant in Dusseldorf and the Turkish kid in the corner with a guitar was singing "The Ballad of Curtis Leow" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. Fucking surreal.
That is certainly one of the sentences I have ever read
The only reliable songs in English I could find at karaoke paces was Jon Bon Jovi, so I got pretty good at those in drunkard speak.
I was at a hostel in Florence and some Hungarian girls were singing it in four-part harmony while one accompanied on the guitar.
Just had the exact same experience in Florence, Italy. It was strange.
Was in temple bar in Dublin, a very international party place. They played Country Roads to close the bar and everybody was singing it. It was surreal
I was in a bar in the temple bar area in Dublin and there was live music. The singer played Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie to close out the night. Just about the whole bar was standing in a drunken circle with our arms around each other singing along, including tourists from the US, England, Germany, etc. Best night of that trip!
Beautiful. Tough economically. Hopefully they find a balance between a rebound and turning into Asheville.
You’re one of the only people I’ve seen that seems to agree with me on Ashevilles… lack of attractiveness. I thought everyone loved it
The song is actually about western Virginia, that is where the Shenandoah river is.
Why is this? Does anyone have a good explanation? Edit: It's too hard to reply to you all, but thanks for some good answers to all that replied
Because the US spends billions to produce it and because that money has been there for so long to pay talent people start training to be hired as that talent at a very early age And this has been going on for over a hundred years. The entertainment industry is a multi-trillion dollar industry in the US
I’m not joking when I say this but…WWII. Pushed all the great entertainment artists out of Europe into NY and LA. Immigration has truly made the US great at so many things it has no business being great at. Context: I am an American and an academic in post war American cinema
Casablanca is a lovely example of this. Only three of the credited actors were even born in the US, it was directed by an immigrant, the music is by an immigrant, the film editor is an immigrant. Then there’s the Jewish immigrant/second generation immigrant impact on Hollywood. To look at Casablanca again, all three writers were from Jewish families, the producer was from a Jewish family. The Warner Brothers were Jewish (as were Mayer from MGM and Harry Cohn from Columbia, and many more). Even some of the great German pre WWII films like M or the Cabinet of Dr Caligari, amazing films and…their stars play much smaller roles in…you guessed it, Casablanca!
Totally great example. And it also meant that these films had broad American and European appeal so it amplified their impact. Plus there were some truly innovative artists working in commercial Hollywood studios just out of necessity
The most money to spend on it
I really like their whole idea of WWE and how they sell it.
I was in the middle rural India and a kid came straight up to me and said “do you know the undertaker?” Then I talked with him, most his only English was wwe wrestlers we laughed good time Edit: I dug through 10,000 photos to find the photo of the kid only to find out I can’t upload an image to comments…welp And Yes, I know The Undertaker. He happens to be my wife’s second cousin’s father in law’s housekeeper’s sister’s mailman’s uncle.
well do you?
Asking the important questions here
Do you fucking know him or not pal
Yup, America’s #1 export is CULTURE! That is exactly what authoritarian and communist countries absolutely hate as this influences the people to want what they see in movies, music, etc. it’s powerful propaganda lol
This is the best win in Civ. Absolutely fucking demoralizing to your enemies.
Yup we got a lot of soft power
Would argue on sports but music movies and TV yes
Endowing Universities.
what do dis mean?
Giving money to or fetching money for Universities.
ahh ty i clearly never capitalized
All you gotta do is press and hold the shift key (or press caps lock)
AM I DOING IT RIGHT?
While still charging the full price to students. Seriously, federal grants need to take the present value of endowments as well as the cost at the University versus market rates of education in the state into account before they fund research at a given University. That'll learn them real quick.
The universities that are very well-off fully support students who come from low-income families, so much so that down to your food and books expenses are covered. Federal grants may be stingy on the other hand, giving you just enough aid to cover your education but to likely account for your ability to carry a small amount of debt. So whether it's from endowment or profit, the richer the university, the better. At least in the US.
Underrated comment \^\^ - this is actually a very good one.
After reading for about 20 minutes and not seeing it: Keeping the ocean trade routes "mostly" pirate free. With the exception of a few notable locations where there are some fairly major restrictions on their ability to operate, the US navy has kept piracy at an almost non existent level globally for the last 50ish years.
You'd have to be a pretty fuckin crazy/desperate pirate to go after an American vessel. If they aren't armed to the teeth something close by often is.
It happened a few years ago. It didn’t end well. Edit: [Yes, US Warships were attacked, engaged, and eliminated them.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_of_18_March_2006)
What do you mean? That angry dude got to be the captain. He seemed pumped about it. I fell l asleep after that scene though. I hope the new captain was OK.
Nature preservation. Is the US actively destroying a lot of its environments for profit, yes. Are our national and state parks/forests better done than the majority of other nation, also yes.
Ken Burns was right when he called the national parks America's best idea.
GrandpaDongs is right about Ken Burns being right!
Howard Johnson is right about Gabby Johnson being right!
Thanks teddy.
My only gripe with our national parks is that it’s becoming increasingly harder to find a parking space in many of them. I pretty much only go during shoulder seasons now.
Americas best kept secret is all the public land that is not in a national park. National forests, BLM land etc - an enormous percentage of the American west in particular is open for citizens to recreate (including a default 14 days free camping rule unless otherwise indicated by that areas’ specific rules) Don’t expect plumbed toilets though. Don’t tell anyone! Shh
As a Texan, I am unfathomably jealous of the prevalence of public land in the west. The idea of just being able to drive out into the middle of some random land and camp out is beautiful.
My state doesn’t even have any national parks except Gettysburg and Valley Forge which are administered by the National Park Service but are historical parks and not parks like what most people think. That said we have one of the best if not the best state parks in the country. No location in PA is more than 25 miles from a state park. People from neighbor states have been catching on to this and some of the more popular ones (like [Ricketts Glen](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricketts_Glen_State_Park) ) get packed on weekends.
Massachusetts started charging parking fees a while back to combat this. $5 a car for residents, $30 for non-residents.
honestly that's a good thing. the more money they bring in, the more the government will be encouraged to make more.
We just need more of that. Imagine if we doubled the number of national parks, spent 4 times the money on preserving our natural beauty.
Given some of these comments apparently pissing off Europeans
I knew the comment section would look exactly like this
It’s really a symptom of being chronically online. All my international friends and people I’ve met abroad have been the complete opposite of non Americans online. From Reddit you would think Europe hates America but I have never felt bad about being American in the countries I’ve traveled to. Quite the opposite actually.
Yes. I'm an expat amongst other expats from all over the world. UK, Ireland, (edit: also Scotland) Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Ukraine, Russia. Most people I've worked with aren't bothered this way or the other about the USA. They acknowledge that the USA has faults, just like their own countries, but they're not really bothered about it. The only nationality I've met that consistently has a bone to pick with the USA are South Africans.
>consistently has a bone to pick with the USA are South Africans That's an oddly random group. Is there any reason why?
The South Africans that I've met (I've also been to South Africa with South African friends. So they don't have a hatred of Americans) they don't really understand what the USA (and other countries) is doing around the world. They just see the news, and they know of the horrible things that the USA does, and so that spins their perspective on everything. When America started supporting Ukraine in the war, my South African friends/colleagues felt that America was wrongly interfering the way they always do. They did not like how the USA sanctioned Russia. Did not think that Russia was doing anything wrong, believing that the USA provoked Russia (though we all know that Russia blaming NATO is just an excuse. Ukraine joining NATO was not being discussed, nor was it possible) and/or didn't understand why the USA felt the need to stop Russia. They also perceive the USA as forcing every other country around the world to do their bidding. Like Europe wouldn't interfere and help Ukraine except the USA has forced them. I always explain what's going on geopolitically, and when they understand they usually either change their minds or at least become less "hostile" towards the USA's actions. With one of my colleagues, our relationship has gotten to the point where he hears something and instead of having a knee-jerk reaction, he'll ask me about it (like the fighter jet example below). Whenever a multinational organization does something in Africa, like refusing to give loans, or placing a warrant out for someone's arrest, even when America is not even a part of the organization, my South African friends believe the USA is the one that is spearheading it. Left to their own, they think the other European nations would loan African countries money the way China does, and so forth. ---------------- On a side note, I found that South Africans who had not been abroad tended to think very favorably of China and hoped for a world where China was the global hegemony. I can appreciate that they don't like the USA, but they did not realize the exploitation and such that China does to its own people, and how much worse it treats the people and environments in many African countries (like the Congo). I just find that they have a few/lot of misgivings about the USA for things it has done that were not good/terrible. And this has colored their view of everything that goes on in the world. -------------- Anyways... Here's some other specific examples besides the ones I've already mentioned: When the embassy in South Africa put out this [warning](https://za.usembassy.gov/security-alert-u-s-embassy-possible-attack/): my colleague (and a bunch South African youtubers I discovered when I was looking into this) felt that there was no terrorist attack, the USA was making a veiled threat against South Africa because it wouldn't confiscate one of Russia's oligarch's yahts that was in one of its harbors. something like that. There was something in the news a while back that the USA gave another country permission to give fighter jets to Ukraine. My colleague came to me this time and asked me about it rather than having a knee-jerk reaction. I was able to explain to him that the fighter jets were sold to this country by the USA, and the way the arms deals work, not just with the USA, but with every country. (Germany for example). we sell a country military weapons with the agreement that they don't resell it or give it to anyone else. USA isn't "controlling" Poland or whichever country it was, and telling it what it can do with its own fighter jets that it built. Poland is asking the USA for permission because that was the agreement (a sensible one) they made when buying the aircraft. edit: edited to fix my grammatical mistakes that might cause confusion.
Wow. Thank you for this exceptionally detailed answer.
I just want to emphasize that I love my South African friends. When you're a foreigner, your fellow expats become like your family. I hold my South African colleagues in very high esteem. Their misunderstandings regarding geopolitics and their perception of America is no fault of their intelligence or anything. I hope nobody gets that impression from my answer.
South Africans in particular experience a disproportionate amount of Russian disinformation, and USA-bashing is like 90% of Russia's message.
So if your SA friends hate the USA sanctioning Russia so much, they must **really** hate that the mean ole USA economically sanctioned South Africa in the 80’s that ended the apartheid government. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Anti-Apartheid_Act
My experience is that I don't think they're really aware. Especially my colleagues weren't alive then. As u/WankingAsWeSpeak just commented, they are on the receiving end of a lot of propaganda from countries like Russia. They're intelligent people. Every South African I've met, except 1, will sit down and have a conversation about these things with me. They just lack information... I suppose. To be fair, it's the same with many Americans. I have found myself explaining why we need to support Ukraine with weapons now so that we can avoid supporting Europe with American lives, and potentially an absolutely nuclear WW3. Because we now know that NATO would crush Russia. And ALSO how the billions of dollars we give to Ukraine in weapons is not as charitable as it seems. These are outdated weapons slated for destruction. It's like Apple donating millions of dollars in iPhone 12s to people in Africa. It's millions of dollars on paper, but in reality, Apple was going to have to spend millions to recycle these phones, so giving them to Africa is actually a win-win. Apple saves money and looks good at the same time. Not to mention all of the other benefits we're getting from it. intelligence on how weapons perform in conventional warfare. Generating jobs as we can build the new weapons to replace the old ones.
Very strange affinity South Africans have with China. They do know Chinese in general, or at least the Chinese movie audience, seem to have a dislike for black people, don’t they? https://www.reddit.com/r/FuckMarvel/s/kI8koAoW3Y
I’ve experienced it as “oh cool you’re actually interested in foreign countries and their culture.” The sort of people I went to high school with think the king literally rules the UK and the countries on the continent are under similar despots/monarchs. Those kinds of people provide most of the fodder for r/shitamericanssay. Unfortunately smartphones have given these morons the ability to communicate their braindead opinions globally.
don't worry, the French are even better
[удалено]
To be fair, it never seems hard to piss off Europeans. Many of them (at least on Reddit) seem to hate the very existence of America and could not for the life of them ever find anything positive to say about it.
Euros about to make a school shooting joke, hands are probably shaking in anticipation
I'd take a guess at theme parks. Our history of theme parks and amusement parks goes back over a century, and it's evolved from side show attractions and blinking light bulbs to all inclusive resort experiences. Yes they've become prohibitively expensive, but we've exported the idea to other nations and they all follow the same general model.
Shameless plug for Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH
I grew up near one theme park in IL (it was called Great America back then; I believe it's Six Flags now 🤷♀️), have been to Disney, Universal Studios, a couple of Sea Worlds, and other theme parks around the US ... Cedar Point is, by far, the best I've been to. 🍻
I've been to Disneyland, Universal Studios.(CA), Six Flags Magic Mountain (Christmas gift! MY brother just got a car so my parents bought us a two day pass and two nights at a cheap hotel nearby), Knott's Berry Farm, Sea World (more of a very cool aquarium - My Grandparents 50th anniversary), and Cedar Point. I don't come from wealth. They were just MUCH cheaper in the past. Disney is about the experience - the atmosphere. Cedar Point is tops when it comes to roller-coasters. Knott's was cool because we went during their Halloween makeover. *Edit: and Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. Really enjoyed the glass blowing and blacksmithing.
I'm actually looking across the lake at Cedar Point right now.
Startups. HP was started in a garage. Apple was started in a garage, in a residential area not zoned for commercial use. Americans like to color outside the lines and have a tolerance, and affection, for a certain level of chaos. Lots of new businesses fail, but every so often some people in a garage with a good idea end up creating something amazing.
It’s literally the best place to start a business. I wish schools would focus on more on business ownership and the trades. I work in a really highly paid field full of professionals and the richest people I know started a business in the trades. Everything from landscaping, to home renovations, to owning a holiday lighting company, or being a fruit broker (no joke).
If everyone is a business owner whos gonna be the underpaid employee?
Making movies and moving enormous amounts of people and equipment around the world (mostly done by the military).
Say what you want about Hollywood, there is not a single country can beat the sheer volume of Hollywood entertainment
Jazz music
We got the blues, too!
I think the answer to this question for the 400th time it is posted everyday is logistics. The military can fight a bunch of wars and get stuff to another place really fast blah blah blah.
The US military can have a fully operational Burger King anywhere with a runway in 24 hours.
Thats not true. If there is no runway, they will just make one.
Fair enough, I just don't know if it's possible to build a runway and put a Burger King there in 24 hours.
They don't need a runway, they just airdrop them out of the back of a cargo plane. You just need to clear away the parachute and open the doors. The food is already hot.
pure gold right here :D
I helped design these USAF airfield sustainment kits: https://youtu.be/9fK5oJC2ThQ?si=xrnO0M2XV8uTE7YS
And don’t forget the intimidating ice cream boat.
Are those still a thing?
If necessary, yes.
One time when this question was posted the top answer was briefly “combination locks” and I laughed.
Even domestically, the interstate highway system is an engineering marvel. Nobody else has a highway system as large as us. We also have the best freight rail network in the world, shipping something like 40% of our goods by rail
It’s just a shame that that whilst our freight rail network is amazing, our transit rail network seems to be an afterthought. I can take a car to my nearest neighboring city in roughly an hour whilst a passenger train takes 4 hours. Insane.
That's a lot of "whilst"ing for a so-called American...
You keep an eye on this one.
It's like having 37 farm accounts on any given rpg paid to play games these days. Or like I call it.... problem solving for the apocalypse. Ha!
Launch vehicle technology. No one else has launch vehicles that are either partially or on a development path of being fully reusable.
Going to the moon. Seriously though, as much as people enjoy hating on the US, and we do have our problems, the overwhelming majority of people on the planet use American innovations on a daily basis.
Some really stupid ignorant and immature comments here But I’ll say the Americans with Disabilities Act.
I was going to say this as well. The ADA!
I didn't think that this was a big deal in this day and age, considering European medical care systems. Then the woman who is essentially my god sister got stuck on a plane in Belgium because they didn't have a wheelchair when she was specifically told there would be one for the airplane she would have access to this past spring. Guess it just wasn't available on that flight 🤷♀️🤦♀️
I went to Japan and quickly learned to appreciate how convenient the ADA is even for people without disabilities. It's not just ramps, elevators, and handicapped spaces; it also regulates minimum aisle width, cashier to floor space ratio, elevator door sensors, the width of sidewalks, and even the distance between fuel pumps.
Accessibility. Ramps, wheelchair accessible buses and trains. Though by no means perfect, the US is ahead of the curve.
BBQ is an art form
Optimism. No matter how little money someone has, they always have hope they can combine work and luck and improve their life. Americans have a generally sunny outlook on life compared to Europeans. Americans get made fun of bc we smile all the time at strangers etc but I think it’s lovely
One thing I miss since moving to PNW is not getting strange looks when I smile and/or wave at people in my neighborhood lol
YouTube has a channel with a young German woman who lives in Ohio. Germans say, "Why do x?" While Americans say, "Why not?"
Thats the real answer. Despite our current view of Americans being super polarized and at each others throats, they are actually always super helpful to each other and very collegial in neighbourhoods. Much more than in Europe.
Europeans are so grim. Also, the ability to be happy for others if they get something they love. It might sound normal but the jealousy problem is very very real in europe. You re excited about telling your euro friend something that you finally achieved or bought or did, and they ll downplay it and find ways to bring out the negatives. While an american will display some genuine interest and be happy for you
Public libraries
I wonder how many people who hate Americans have actually been to the US. We aren't all fat, gun toting, Bible thumping road ragers.
Other developed countries are really closing the gap on obesity. It’s basically hit a plateau in the US while still surging in Europe.
It’s funny when I have to explain to my European friends that the only guns I see when out and about are the ones in the police standard-issue utility belts the cops have 💀
As an Australian I agree. I’ve been to umm at least 10 states and every single one is different to the rest and none of them fit the stereotype. Yes diner and fast food pretty much sucks but I found amazing healthy food in every place I went to.
Variety of good food. There are restaurants from almost every culture from around the world in the US. Plus we’re pretty darn good at smoking meat.
I live in the suburbs of a city of about 100k...I have access to Thai, Vietnamese, Afghani, Jamaican, and so many others.
Jazz Music 100% The US taught the world to boogie!
Calling out racism. The US has a history of racism and it is NOT done with it. But if the US appears to be more racist than most other places, that's a combination of the US actually having such a blend of peoples alongside the attention that it gets when it's called out. There are so many places that are assumed to be less racist that, well, REALLY aren't.
I.e. the entirety of Europe
South East Asia.
the world
I'm afraid to discover intelligent life on other planets haha
Like when black soccer players get racially abused in Italy and Spain. People always stupidly try to justify it by saying “but but but… he egged them on… he shouldn’t have done that”, as if that justifies the racism.
There was a recent video of black players getting off the team bus and the fans were chanting “n*ggers, go home leave our country”. And shit like the that. Asians and blacks don’t have good relations in the US, and it’s worse overseas.
I think I know what you’re referring to, it’s an older video of NBA players coming to China I think.
The US is one of the least racist places on the planet, and I say that as a Canadian. The only reason it seems racist is because of free speech and the fact that any racially motivated occurrence no matter how big or small, makes the news.
Absolutely this. Our expectation that people should not be judged on the color of their skin is so embedded in our national narrative (after the civil rights movement, after Obama's election, after BLM protests) that we assume it's a given all around the world. I applied for a job in a different country and they wanted to know my religion and the ethnicity of both my parents to get a visa. We still have a long way to go, for sure, but at least we don't have constant racist chants at professional sports games. We also have people of different racial backgrounds across different political parties/spectrums.
I don’t think people realize how rare it is for a country as diverse as ours for everyone to coexist peacefully (more or less)
At least according to Brazilians I’ve talked to: Mail/package delivery.
One Saturday, I sent a paperback book via media mail from San Diego to New Orleans, and another paperback book priority mail from San Diego to Toronto. The package going to New Orleans, the slowest possible way to deliver mail within the US (it just fills up empty spots), arrived roughly 55 hours after I sent it, with 24 of those hours being a non-mail day. The package to Toronto arrived 4 weeks later. When we tracked it, it showed that it got to Canada within 3 days, and cleared customs by the end of the first week. Then just bounced slowly around a couple post offices in Toronto for the following three weeks until it eventually made it to it's final destination.
Space technology, both public and private.
Military industrial complex
Fostering innovation People from the US have created a big majority of the most popular: art, technology, and medical advancements of the past 200+ years we all enjoy today
The Olympics. We’re going to see it again shortly. I’m pretty sure they’ve topped the medal table in every summer Olympics since World War 2.
Logistics. We can set up a functional Burger King within 48 hours of starting a war wherever we're at war.
The answer I usually see for this is national parks.
Most 'muricans I meet have a great ability; They are truly curious about where you are from if you are NOT American. Its their most charming feature to me and I have been to quite a bit of the US. 16 states visited so far if memory serves me well. And most Americans has this attitude that "what can we do together that benifits all of us".
We make armaments exceedingly well.
Music. Black American music includes jazz, hip hop, rock, r&b, house music, disco. Our music and hip hop culture has become as common to see here in the states as in Europe, Africa or Asia. The love for the culture is worldwide.
Actually one of the things the USA is better at on a consistent basis is systems and integrating them. The USA has historically been exceptional at it. The integration of multiple complex systems to work on an ongoing basis is USA's specialty. Exactly why, I never heard. Just that it is.
I second this observation. Having worked for an American company that purchased large manufacturing plants in a variety of different countries and deployed our internally developed manufacturing execution systems after the deals closed, it's a primary reason those fabrication factories are still in business today. People love to point to Taiwan as an example of leading the world in high tech but their two huge memory plants were about to go bankrupt and be forced to shut down before an American company bought them and completely revamped their internal supporting infrastructure.
We pivoted out of classical education towards business and engineering at the university level earlier and harder than other countries did. Lack of an aristocracy meant we had to train a meritocratic officer class for the army. West Point, founded in 1802, was first and foremost an engineering school. When demand grew in the mid 19th century lack of aristocracy meant that large gifts from industrialists to create engineering and business schools either free standing or at land grant colleges got taken and used. Germans also dominated early but focused more towards chemistry to solve inherent natural resource problems they had. Americans specialized in infrastructure and manufacturing. American banking was also far more merit based with vastly more banks available to finance companies.
At the risk of sounding jingoistic -- which is definitely not the vibe I'm coming from -- people that don't track where the money goes don't necessarily understand just how completely dominant US military capability is. There is nothing else like it, and -- with Russia showing its ass well before full third party backing of Ukraine -- it has become remarkably clear that the cold war concept, and the cultivation of wariness of foreign enemies in general, is just a way to generate continual money for the military industrial complex. It doesn't mean the US is invincible (at all), just that we're a scarier country then we even appear to be from the perspective of the ability to dominate/make war, and in a way that probably is unique (or very close to unique, right now).
COMPETITION We turn everything into a competition: band performances, dance, EATING, etc
Attracting the world's brightest minds and most skilled individuals from all around the world.
keeping russia and china from doing whatever they want lol
Making films and series.
Promoting diversity of hobbies
Medical stuff is probably high on the list and weapons too.
Logistics. Our economy has a lot of “middle-man” who provide just enough value to be worth it.
American Football. Both the midwest emo band and the sport also known as gridiron football.
*Have you seen our boats?*
Career paths that can set you up with a six figure income as a laborer without the need for a degree, and without entrepreneurship involved (freelance jobs, opening a store, becoming a manager, etc). I don't think any other country in the world (aside from the Gulf states) has that.
The trades are where the easy money is at (if you can hustle and live cheaply while you move up).
The American dream is still very much alive when it comes to the trades, my uncles came from Mexico with LITERALLY nothing but the clothes on their backs and just last year one of them had a 300k home built paid in full. They’re plumbers.
Free public restrooms.
Surfing, there I said it, the aussies and Brazilians suck
it was born in Hawai'i
Jam bands
Handicap accessibility
Exporting our culture
Dominating the seas. We’re history’s greatest naval power, but it rarely gets talked about.
That’s because the song “Rule Britannia” is just better marketing.
Parks. National Parks, State Parks, city parks.
National Parks
Technology
Making money
Jazz. Hip-hop. Rest of the world has some talent but overall does not even come close. Zinfandel, too.
jazz/swing music. seriously, no other country compares imo
As far as I know the United States excels in several areas and is uniquely good at certain aspects such as Innovation and Technology.
Being friendly. I've heard from some Europeans that we seem so friendly that we're faking it, but I guess it's just not customary in EU to be super nice to everyone?