A great many positives remain intact (although often tattered) in the United States.
Freedom, property rights, respect for (honest) law, Christian / human values of compassion and respect for the rights of others are still in evidence here -- more so than most places in the world -- and the follow-on effects include material benefits we often take for granted in this country. This article includes a nice list of such benefits.
The link below is one many here may choose to pass by, as Buzzfeed is a heavily leftist (maliciously so, imo) site in many of their posts (here's a page of their stories on "Trump"). I certainly understand if you'd rather avoid the site, or even if you're angry at my posting this here. To each his own.
But obnoxious anti-MAGA viewpoints are not the only thing they post, and I'm happy to visit them when they have something positive to offer, like the article below. I was surprised at some of the perceived benefits of my home country that Europeans wished were common in their own part of the world.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/ajanibazile/europeans-jealous-of-american
1 - "If you have insurance: healthcare. Yeah, you see all the absurdities of the US healthcare system, however everything is much faster. You can get a specialist in a few days or a non-emergency surgery in a week. In Europe, it may take months." —u/Phadafi
2 - "Garages are pretty uncommon here, and it definitely seems like a luxury to have a house for your two or three cars attached to your house for your people." —u/YouCanLookItUp
3 - "College availability. The US has outstanding community colleges and easy transfer to world-class universities. In EU, such universities are unavailable without family or prep school credentials in advance." —u/PigletAltruistic9339
4 - "Insulation and heating. Eastern Europe and Scandinavia were different, but in the UK and much of continental Europe, 'heavy curtains' are viewed as suitable insulation in the winter and the heat goes on for an hour and a half a day. Brrrr."
5 - "Wild legal car customization. Here in Switzerland, you'd have to pay about 10K in order to install a turbocharger on a small car and It can only add 10% of power (legally)." —u/Kronocide
6 - "For some people, the size of your homes in places like Utah and Texas. There's a dedicated room for everything. Kids playroom that isn't the living room or the kid's bedroom, walk-in pantry room, a laundry room, and more." —u/mcnunu
7 - "More disability access. I can go to any place — theatre, store, office, school, whatever — with confidence that I'll be able to navigate fine in my wheelchair, and they'll have ramps and/or elevators." —u/5AgainstRhodeIsland
8 - "Free use of public bathrooms. Using them in Europe usually costs .50 cents to a full Euro." —u/New_Midnight6134
9 - "Europeans cannot comprehend how much better American vented clothes dryers are. There is a reason nobody in the US line dries their clothes. American dryers dry everything perfectly at low temperatures, unlike ventless dryers which just kinda heat the clothes up. The dryer in the average American home is better than the ones in European laundromats." —u/notyourproblem1
10 - "You can pretty much choose to live in any climate you like when you live in the USA and still be in the same country. You like four seasons? Move to the Northeast. You like humid ocean climate? Move to Seattle. You like dry warm weather? Move to Los Angeles. You like deserts? Move to Arizona. You like warm and humid weather? move to the Southeast. As a German who loves warm weather, I am always jealous because of those options. If I wanted to try to move somewhere warm I would have to move to a new country and learn Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, Greek, or other southern European languages." —u/DachauPrince
11 - "24 hour pharmacies." —u/HoyAIAG
12 - "Air conditioning. Americans pump it all summer long." —u/Meeeeehhhh
13 - "Free refills at restaurants."
14 - "Extensive national parks." —u/livingfeelsachore
15 - "Backyards. I'd plant so many vegetables." —Lanky-Truck6409
16 - "Being a consumer in the US is incredibly convenient. There's same-day or next-day free delivery on almost any item on Amazon. Most stores and restaurants are open seven days a week and you're able to return almost anything you buy for a full refund, no questions asked." —u/asuth
17 - "Apartment complex pools and the regular washing of the windows of high-rise buildings (it’s infrequent in Europe)." —petrastales
18 - "Huge schools with labs and gyms and theaters." —PckMan
19 - "Big kitchens and big refrigerators and freezers. Even in my student apartment, we had a pretty good-sized kitchen. I was dating a Czech girl and her parents came to visit. When they went to my apartment for dinner, the mom was just amazed at the size of my fridge. They were amused when I dumped the scraps in the sink and turned on the garbage disposal. They’d heard about it but had never seen one." —u/Granadafan
20 - "I’m surprised no one has mentioned a nice shower. Not everywhere in Europe is the same but far too often showering is a chore instead of a relaxing experience." —u/Workywork15
21 - "Real Mexican food. We have Mexican restaurants in my home country but the owners are usually not Mexican and it’s just not the same. Now, I’m living in Japan and it’s the same problem. Mexican food is so delicious." —u/punpun_Osa
22 - "It used to be 24-hour stores and restaurants. That went away with covid." —u/MikeDunleavySuperFan
23 - And lastly, "Fresh air. It’s illegal in America to smoke in restaurants for example." —u/stacity
Just think how great it would be if we hadn't been held back and robbed of our wealth for the last 100+ years.
Exactly! And I think we're about to find out!
A good chunk of it spent on NATO so we can protect Europeans as they don’t want to spend their own money on protecting themselves.
I was in sweden once visiting family and they lent me a car to drive,and I kept looking in gas stations for wiper fluid. Finally I asked my uncle about it. He said you had to buy a tiny bottle and mix your own. I'm like WTF that's messed up.
Then he visits me in New Mexico and I take him out to show him the dessert. Like all normal Americans I toss a gun or two in the truck. He asks me if we need guns,and I'm like probably not,but why take a chance....... Everyone else in the desert is armed.
"What are you so afraid of that you carry a gun?"
"Nothing while I have my gun. You're not brave for not having one you're just an unprepared potential victim."
That is one of the things I'm most jealous of. I'd love to be able to carry.
Besides, when talking about that potential threat Finland may have from Russia - which probably would have been pretty non-existent these days if we hadn't joined NATO, but Russia has gone off the rails before in history so no guarantees on the long run - it would, to me at least, make more sense if we were a nation where most people own guns and know how to use them, and are used to freedom, thus making the potential control of our population by an invader look difficult and at the same time maybe not worth the bother, than joining NATO, thus turning us into a potential threat, while having a population that is now used to very tight government control, does.
We were able to withstand Soviet Union as well as we did during Winter War probably mostly because back then we HAD a lot more men who had grown up using guns (plus doing hard physical labor so in good shape), the gun laws here used to be more tolerable even when I was a teenager some 40 years ago, but they are now idiotically tight. Simo Häyhä was somebody who had been shooting his whole damn life, I highly doubt we have anybody like him anymore in this country (yes we lost anyway, but at least it wasn't a complete loss).
I'm familiar with your history and Simo, I was born and raised in upper Michigan with a lot of Finns,and i can tell you lots of Finns are still enjoying the freedoms you once had. Just not in Finland.....
https://www.thoughtco.com/finnish-culture-of-michigans-upper-peninsula-1434523
I visited that area a few decades ago. Wish I could have emigrated then, but I had obligations in Finland, and then way later after those were gone I was not eligible anymore.
That's cool. I could have gotten Swedish citizenship if I wanted.
But I didnt.
A yooper! Saying hi from NE Wisconsin.
Cool wish I was up north right now. I'm working in oklahoma.
I remember how behind the parts of Europe I visited in the 90s felt and am surprised not much has changed since then. It also irritates me so much when idiot lefty Americans who've never been there talk about Europe like it's the pinnacle of western civilization. Also the ones who want to go to Japan (usually because anime colored their perception of it) and don't know how fast they'll want to return home especially when they see what the Japanese think of their attitude and behaviors.
Uh ----- IMO --- US "Heathcare" has gone to mRNA hell.
THIS IS WHAT I LOVE ABOUT AMERICA: 🇺🇸 🏍
VIDEO: https://youtube.com/shorts/gQDkIypr3HQ?si=sJE6U_j9hMEwWGeN
Wearing Trump's: hat, suit, shirt, tie and gold tennies!
Looks legal to me.....
Big fun!
Dunno about Europe, but as an Aussie, I miss the American basements.
Basements are common the the East and Midwest but not so much in the West coast states, especially near the ocean. They're damn useful; I had one put in (under an addition) when we bought the place we have now.
When I lived in the east coast, all the houses we rented had a basement and it was the cosiest room with lazy boys, big TVs and what not. When I moved to west coast, I used live in apartments, so dont really have a taste for what real life there was like.
I've lived in over half a dozen houses in SoCal, and not one of them had a basement.
Basements are almost free up north,as the footing for the house has to go down 4 feet or more due to the frost line.
I have never seen #1 work like that.
Both specialist referrals and non-emergency surgeries can take months.
Heck! Even a new patient appointment for primary care can take months!!
I recently had a hernia surgery in 3 weeks one week to see the doctor,and scheduled two weeks later.
That's great! :)
I've lived in all different states with different insurances (Blue Cross/Blue Shield, United Healthcare, etc.) and have always had long waits. Family and friends in CA definitely have long waits
The illegals are driving up the time I bet.
We don't have that many illegals wear i live.
Ah, good point! You're probably right.
It has definitely gotten worse over the last decade or so. The Fall in this are began with LBJ's Great Society and Medicare. Using Big Government to run so much of the medical industry has had the same effect that using Big Government to run Welfare, Education, and everything else it touches has had: turned it to shit.
EDIT: But overall, things are still better here than in England and most of Europe, from what I hear (I have relatives in the EU).
Yeah it definitely became much harder to get medical services when the Affordable Care Act went into effect. Premiums sky rocketed and wait times became insane.
Even in late 2020 I made an appointment with a dermatologist office to have a growth on my hand looked at and was seen the next week where they removed it on the spot and ran a biopsy to confirm it was benign. Didn't even both to get a referral, just made the appointment directly on their website.
I've also gotten into a new dentist the very next day when I chipped a tooth one night, made the appointment that night and by morning the confirmed they could see me and did a filling that day.
Wow! You're lucky!!
I don't know anyone in real life who has had that experience. Lately that's been a hot topic in my Bible study class. Locally they're struggling to get referrals and/or scheduling procedures. And they even complain about relatives in other states having a hard time with it.
BTW, that one thing you have in bigger shape and more of I am NOT jealous of: supervolcanoes. Two active ones, Yellowstone Caldera and Long Valley Caldera in California, and third potentially still active, Valles Caldera in New Mexico.
Those things may not go off very often, but when one of them does your country is probably toast. Lots of problems for the rest of the world too, though.
The area of Europe has only one that is obviously active, Campi Flegrei in Italy, and it's a lot smaller, although there may be one or two under the Mediterranean sea near Italy, opinions of their potential size seem to differ. Maybe just "normal" volcanic areas, maybe bigger. But those would probably for certain only destroy Italy, not all of Europe, although lots of trouble for everybody.
Yep, if Yellowstone goes off, most of the US will be finished. For that matter, the entire world will likely have serious weather problems (a mini ice-age perhaps) and millions will starve. Might happen tomorrow; might happen 100,000 years from now.
Kind of like another Dinosaur-ending meteor, or like the cometary shower that killed most of mankind about 12,500 years ago (not a widely-held theory but one I think holds water, and we're due for another one pretty much any time now).
Yep. Those are the kind of things we should use money and resources to prepare for, not "climate change"... although I suppose the cabal has prepared shelters for themselves. Perhaps some of the money that has supposedly been used to "battle climate change" has actually gone for building their shelters.
Mt etna
Mt Etna is still just a normal stratovolcano. Dangerous mostly only to its immediate surroundings, although a collapse of its flank into the sea would cause a nasty tsunami. But still just a "normal", mostly or at least somewhat manageable catastrophe.
A big eruption of Campi Flegrei on the other hand would be catastrophic in the scale of "problems for the whole world, and bye bye for at least half of Italy", especially since part of it is under the Bay of Naples. And the potential for its eruption is not small now, it has been very active for decades, although luckily most eruptions of even these large caldera volcanoes are not full scale ones. And Campi Flegrei is on the smaller end of them anyway.