No country is perfect, but the United States often gets bad press. From gun control to healthcare and political division that seriously hampers positive change, there are a lot of issues the land of the brave is currently facing. But there are plenty of victories it can celebrate as well.
So let’s take a look at a recent Reddit post by user KyleB2131 that asked people: “What does America do better than most other countries?” More specifically, its 11,800 comments, where folks have been listing all the things they believe the US should be proud of.
#1
I love the Interstate Rest Areas on road trips. I’m a Canadian from the west coast, and was always VERY impressed with the 24/7 rest areas. Clean washrooms, nice grassy areas for dogs, picnic tables, and a lot of times people selling crafts, or offering free coffee!
I’ve only driven through the western states, (WA,OR,CA,NV,UT,AZ) but yeah, those rest areas were always reliable. Always well marked signs when the next one was coming up. Just made everything about travelling easier! Thanks neighbours!
Image source: Ubba-Ga, Steven Weeks
#2
National Parks
Image source: Big-Win6220, Jennifer Rogalla
#3
Chatting, I’m from an Asian country where most people will avoid talking to stranger. But you can literally talk to anyone you met in the street in the US and most of them are willing to talk
Image source: _formosa_, Alexis Brown
#4
Turning corn into things that are not corn.
Image source: rlemon, Wouter Supardi Salari
#5
So, here’s the truth. America is, and does, a *lot* of things.
We have the world’s greatest athletes and most obese population. We have the best healthcare in the world, and 90% of our population can’t afford it. We’re leaders in creating new wealth and dead end service jobs. We were founded on a revolutionary promise of liberty and justice, by men who owned slaves.
If you really want my top four wins, though, here they are:
**The national parks system and Bureau of Land Management.**
We have hundreds of thousands of square miles of wilderness that is preserved, leased for commercial purposes, available for recreation, or simply held in trust for the people of the United States. And if you haven’t seen for yourself, I assure you, [it’s f*****g gorgeous](https://www.ourescapeclause.com/best-national-parks-in-usa/). We have wild ancient forests, coral reefs, stunning mountains, tundra, grasslands, deserts, and some of the most impressive and beautiful natural features on this planet. Huge portions are preserved and maintained where literally everyone can enjoy them.
**NASA**
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration put a man on the moon, led the world in space exploration, and spurned developed literally [hundreds of incredible technologies we use every day](https://spinoff.nasa.gov/): Aside from the obvious aerospace advances, we have them to thank for GPS, memory foam mattresses, improved HVAC and insulation, LCD screens, LEDs, microcomputing, food preservation, water purification, solar panels, high capacity batteries, and dozens of different materials and processes. In addition, they’ve been the leading source of new information about our planet, climate change, and the universe.
**The Smithsonian Institution**
There are people who mistakenly think the Smithsonian is a museum. The Smithsonian is in fact a collection of over 20 museums, galleries, and zoo across three states, plus dozens of research and education centers, collections, affiliates around the globe. It is the single largest organization for science, culture, and history in the world, and it’s contributions to preserving history and to literally every scientific discipline are beyond measure. And to me, the greatest part is the heart of the organization in Washington DC: *THIS* is what we’ve chosen to surround the National Mall, the platonic ideal of our commons and center of our democracy- Dozens of living monuments to art, science, history, and culture. I’ve personally made at least 3 or 4 visits totaling more than two full weeks, and I’ve only made it halfway through.
**Music**
The United States is the birthplace of Blues, Jazz, Rock and Roll, Hip Hop, Punk, Bluegrass, Country-Western, Rap, and a half a dozen different forms of regional folk music. Nearly every culture in the world imitates our musical forms.
Image source: MikeTheBard, History in HD
#6
Holidays. My favorite time to be an American is October, I love how hype we get about Halloween here.
Image source: PerfumePoodle, David Menidrey
#7
Wilderness/land conservation. Hands down. It still isn’t enough and it’s largely a product of the fact that this continent was industrialized/colonized so late in the game + its sheer vastness, but we have some of the best land conservation schemes on the planet. It might be the only thing where I prefer the US over much of Europe, and it’s a huge thing.
Image source: SkittlesRobot
#8
Serious answer? Logistics. We’re quite a large country and we’ve gotten very good at moving things around.
Image source: weirdoldhobo1978, Marcin Jozwiak
#9
Jazz
Image source: PuzzleheadedReveal58, Felix Ramirez
#10
Handicap/wheelchair accessibility. Even in smaller towns, our family member in a wheelchair got in and out of restaurants and stores easily.
Image source: mbbzzz, Robert Ruggiero
#11
Honestly? Being friendly and welcoming to strangers. Saying this as a Canadian.
Image source: Reasonable-Mess-2732, Jed Villejo
#12
Air conditioner everywhere and free public restrooms. You have to pay to use the restrooms in Europe.
Image source: SnooDoughnuts231, Yena Kwon
#13
Friendliness.
I’m from London and have lived in the US for 15 years. People here overall are very open to talking to strangers
Image source: sleeptrain123, Priscilla Du Preez
#14
Geodiversity. We have nearly every biome on Earth available in the lower 48 alone. Adding Alaska and Hawaii just completes the set.
Question: Is there any biome that doesn’t exist in The US?
Image source: Ursa_Mid, Rui Silvestre
#15
Buffets. No buffet I’ve had can beat the one’s I had in the states.
Image source: sueRiot, Ulysse Pointcheval
#16
The ability of the American farmer to produce food. It is really staggering the amount of food that is grown here.
Image source: fat-dum-stoopid, Richard Bell
#17
Good ethnically diverse food.
There’s a lot that Europe does better about food (for instance, care about quality of ingredients and preparation even at “everyday” priced restaurants).
But in most of the non-US world, you can get very good food of the place you are in, and maybe some mediocre Asian food. (England and Indian food being an exception.) If you are in Rome, for instance, the Italian food will be excellent, but you won’t find a great Spanish tapas bar, Mexican taqueria, or some great pho.
The fact that in most major US cities you can get excellent food that represents a dozen or more different food cultures is unique and awesome.
Image source: nudave, Fernando Santos
#18
Women’s sports are really wells supported here – so are female athletes.
Despite many memes americans might say about it – if you go to other countries female athletics is really almost non-existent.
Image source: Juls7243, Jeffrey F Lin
#19
Theme Parks
Image source: Beginning-Bed9364, Ian Romie Ona
#20
While we have a LONG way to go, the USA is comparatively better than a lot of places regarding supporting people with disabilities.
Image source: kittenesque02, ThisisEngineering RAEng
#21
Convenience. In other countries I’ve lived in, many shops and businesses close relatively early and you can’t easily get food or groceries delivered to your door.
Image source: Eldergod74, Morgan Vander Hart
#22
Make sure there’s ice in your beverage
Image source: HegemonHarbinger, Kaffee Meister
#23
Cultural diversity. We have a place for everyone, despite what some people say
Image source: LateFig8010, RODNAE Productions
#24
A non-sarcastic answer: public parks
Image source: Shepard_Wrex14, Frank Eiffert
#25
Entertainment
Image source: AW_0730, Tijs van Leur
#26
Right turn on red light
Image source: CrundleMonster, PhotoMIX Company
#27
Sewage treatment. A lot of countries you’d consider modern and Western are only just now installing treatment plants so they aren’t just dumping their sewage directly into the ocean.
Image source: LarsAlereon, Patrick Federi
#28
Putting people on the moon & putting cheese like substances in spray cans. Nobody else comes close.
Image source: aecarol1, Dave Matos
#29
Many of our restaurants offer free bread, or chips and salsa at the Hispanic restaurants. Very few places I’ve been in the world offer a free food item to snack on while waiting for your food to arrive.
Image source: acg7, Markus Spiske
#30
General aviation. There are few countries in the world where you can hop into a light airplane and just go. No flight plan required, no extra taxes and fees, just freedom. There are over 5000 public use airports in the US and more than 10000 private use. I’m not talking about millionaires and billionaires flying their gulfstreams around, but the middle class American putzing around in a Cessna on a weekend. Yes, it is an expensive hobby but can be much more attainable than a lot of people think.
Image source: zuk280, Bao Menglong
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