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30 Trivia Tidbits About America’s Worst Habits and Policies

This list is a mirror, America! Take a long, hard look at yourself

30 Trivia Tidbits About America’s Worst Habits and Policies

June 22, 2024

They call America an experiment in self-government, but since we’re still mid-experiment, it’s hard to know if it’s been a success or not. Globally, we’ve had some beastly successes as well as some colossal face-plants. And because face-plants are usually a lot funnier than successes, here’s a big ol’ batch of misfires. Deep fried. Yup, deep-fried misfires. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

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FOR TRIPS OF LESS THAN ONE MILE... 70% OF AMERICANS WILL DRIVE. 70% OF EUROPEANS WILL WALK, BIKE, OR USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT. CRACKED.COM — Source

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When shopping in America, consumers end up paying more money than what's on the price tags because the tax is added at the checkout point. In the EU, tax and other additional costs must be added to the total value before any payment is made. Otherwise, consumers have a right to request a complete refund of the excess charges. CRACKED.COM — Source

28

America incarcerates more of its citizens than Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland combined. x 2. The U.S. incarceration rate is 698 per 100,000 people. In Finland, it's 55 per 100,000. Sweden: 57 per 100,000. Denmark: 67 per 100,000. Norway: 75 per 100,000. Switzerland: 84 per 100,000. http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-fo-lowest/ CRACKED.COM prison_population_rate?field_region_taxonomy_tid=All — Source

27

American Healthcare (Or Lack Thereof)

37% of Americans skip going to the doctor or refilling prescriptions because of the cost. In Great Britain and Sweden, that number is 4-6%. $ A hip replacement costs $80,000 in the U.S. and less than $14,000 in Europe. Nexium costs $215 in the U.S. and $20-60 in Europe. http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/ CRACKED.COM 05/30/n0-the-us-doesnt-have-the-best-health-care-system-in-the-worid — Source

26

CRACKED THE U.S WORKS WAY TOO MUCH. INSURICARE A adidas | I SERVICE Americans work almost 25% more hours than Europeans, 137 more hours per year than the Japanese, and 499 more hours per year than the French. Americans retire later, and take fewer vacations than most other countries. — Source

25

CRACKED WEARING SHOES IN THE HOUSE. The rule is household to household in the U.S., but it's considered rude and offensive in most of Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Canada. — Source

24

CRACKED AMERICAN DATES ARE CONFUSING. 12 17 18 19 24 25 Americans write the month, the day, then the year, but pretty much every other country writes the day first, then the month, then the year. So 06/03/1985 is June 3rd, 1985 in the U.S., but the 6th of March, 1985 everywhere else. — Source

23

CRACKED SITTING IN THE BACK OF A CAB. In many countries, sitting in the back of the cab/Uber/Lyft is considered offensive and elitist, so riders sit in the front passenger seat. To be fair, most American cabbies would prefer you sit in the back too. — Source

22

CRACKED ATHLEISURE ISN'T COOL EVERYWHERE ELSE. TRADEIDRED Sure, stylish sportswear outside of the gym is trendy, but in Japan, most of Europe, and elsewhere, wearing sweatpants, leggings, flip flops, and even baseball caps in public is disrespectful. — Source

21

CRACKED ASKING WHAT DO YOU DO? Asking about someone's profession is a common American icebreaker, but is considered insulting or possibly classist in countries like The Netherlands. If the dinner party guest says lawyer or janitor are you going to treat them differently? — Source

20

Sleep Stats

On workdays, 53% of Americans get fewer than seven hours of sleep. Those numbers are considerably lower in other Western countries - 39% in the UK, 36% in Germany, 30% in Canada, and 29% in Mexico. CRACKED.COM — Source

19

CRACKED COM In the US, it's normal to go to college for four years. BIOLOGY HISTORY ENGLISH sociology POLITIC GEOMETR MATHEMATICS - ELIGION ECONOMY PHYSICS TUC ARTS OLOGY EDUCATION MISTRY In Europe, it's usually just three years, as lots of the general education that US students take is taken care of in high school. — Source

18

Almost 80% of American boys are circumcised. In Europe and South America, however, this number averages below 20%. GRACKED.COM — Source

17

BREAD To visitors from other countries, American bread tastes like cake. That's because manufacturers add a ton of high-fructose corn syrup-the stuff is so cheap there, thanks to corn subsidies. Some people think American bread tastes better. Others think the sweetness makes it incompatible with any kind of topping. CRACKED.COM — Source

16

COLLEGE LOANS xx STOP R.I.P. T the Price OUR of our DR FUTURE Even keeping to where student loans are necessary, there's a big difference in how the U.S. and other countries handle them. In America, you'll be hounded to pay back loans even after declaring bankruptcy. In the UK, your student debt is completely written off if you have not repaid it in 25-35 years. CRACKED.COM — Source

15

TWO PARTIES There are ten political parties represented in Israel's parliament, the Knesset. The Bundestag in Germany has six. Eleven in the Oireachtas in Ireland. Brazil's Chamber of Deputies has 28. New Zealand? Seven parties. South Africa's Parliament? Thirteen. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

CRACKED WORLDWIDE DRINKING AGES. 64% of the world's drinking age is 18 or under. Canada is split between 18 and 19, but America's age of 21 is only behind the Eastern African nation of Eritrea (25 years old) and, of course, the 11 countries where alcohol is banned altogether. — Source

13

You’re Not ‘American’

CRACKED YOU'RE FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Travelers saying they're American implies that only the U.S. should be considered America. From North to South, there are 38 American countries. — Source

12

CRACKED.COM Only the U.S. has widely adopted in-sink garbage disposals. insinkeraborg food waste disposer Because of how much water they use and the burden they put on sewage systems, in-sink garbage disposals are really unpopular outside the U.S. For example, nearly half of U.S. households have in-sink garbage disposals, but only 5% of U.K. ones do. They used to be banned in Japan and Australia, and still are in Austria, Portugal, and the Netherlands. — Source

11

GRAGKED.COM Drugs are more expensive in the US than other nations. A month's supply of diabetes medication Januvia costs $168.61 after discounts in the US. Canada pays the next highest price ($68.10), which is not discounted and still $100 less. — Source

10

In the US, the number of vacant houses are six times greater than the number of homeless people. USA Europe Homeless 3.5 million 4.1 million people Vacant 18.5 million 11 million houses The ratio in Europe is less than half that. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

Americans are extremely obsessed with their flag. The U.S. is pretty much the only country where flying a flag year-round is common. In France, the flag is associated with aggressive nationalism and the far right. In the UK, flying a flag outside your house would be kind of embarrassing-it's just not done. In Germany, the flags on the parliament building are almost the only ones flown, by anyone. CRACKED.COM — Source

8

The United States is the only nation that hasn't ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which means that American children may be treated by the criminal justice system as adults, including being arrested and serving life sentences. CRACKED.COM — Source

7

The United States, China and Japan US are the top three oil 20% consumers in the world. CHINA 11.7% Americans use more JAPAN oil than China and Japan 5.3% COMBINED. CRACKED.COM — Source

6

Unlike many other countries around the world, America doesn't officially embrace the tradition of napping. It's a cultural expectation in places like Italy, Spain, Greece, the Philippines, Nigeria & others, but viewed as slacking here. GRAGKED.COM — Source

5

The U.S. is 1 of only 4 countries in the world that does not require paid maternity leave. The U.S. ranks last among developed countries when it comes to paid parental leave. While many U.S. companies offer paid parental leave, the United States is the only advanced country without a federal law mandating it. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

Individually, Americans use more cocaine than any other country. The percentage of users in America is only a tenth of a percent higher than Brazil, but Americans use 36% of the world's cocaine, compared to Brazil's 18%. CRACKED.COM — Source

3

The United States is the only modern democracy to elect its president via Electoral College CRACKED COM — Source

2

THERE ARE MORE TIGERS PRIVATELY OWNED IN THE US THAN TIGERS IN THE WILD WORLDWIDE. ESTIMATED TALLY ESTIMATED TALLY г IN THE WILD IN US CAPTIVITY 3,890 5,000 And only 6% of the tigers in the United States are held in accredited facilities. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

CRACKED.COM American portion sizes are abnormally huge. Food servings are 40% to 80% larger in American cities than in European ones. op When adopting 35 an a typical American diet or moving to America, people from other cultures gain significant amounts of weight. — Source

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