well Mr Yep the word you are looking for is 'liberty' as in it is a civil liberty to do the aforementioned. It is a civil right to express your hatred (but is no longer a right if it is intended to cause harm or is said as a threat).
my mother is in a long distance marriage. she commutes 400 miles four times a month to be with the love of her life, or to return home. (fortunately hes retiring next year.)
TopTenz, I liked this video, would like to see videos similar to this about other countries too, like China, Canada, Japan, South Korea, India... pick any country? It'd be neat to have my own stereotypes of those countries analyzed! :)
I remember watching a video made by a young Scottish girl who didn't understand our "obsession" with our automobiles until she lived her for a few months and realized how far apart everything is and that some people will drive 40 minutes one way just to go to the store. When I lived with my brother we did that every 2 weeks just because even with the drive the gas was cheaper and food was massively cheaper, mainly because we lived in a tiny southern town were the biggest store was a Dollar General and everything was marked up.
Heck, I drove 75 miles to work and 75 miles back every day for over a year. With that distance, I can go to a different country in Europe. Having a car is freedom. The main thing that all Americans want.
@@scottm2649 This especially true in the midwest. I live in CO and if you don't live in Boulder, Denver or Colorado Springs there may not even be a valid bus route nearby and unlikely you'd find any decent jobs to walk to. I HATE driving but work was 40 miles from my home and that's a 2.5 hour bus ride. Quickly got a car...
I have no choice, I drive a 120 mile round trip once a week just to take a hot shower and check my mailbox, my car is my single biggest expense item, but life would simply not be possible for me otherwise
Wide open spaces, a large rural population, well-maintained interstate highways, and cheap gas are probably the biggest reasons so many Americans own cars. Plus the great road trip tradition we all love. I also don't think most Europeans understand just how big the US truly is. I live in Florida and I've had tourists ask me how long it takes to get to New York or New Orleans. They are shocked when I tell them, they seemed to think they could drive up, spend the day, and come back the next. Uh, no.
Once, when I was young and stupid I rented a Lincoln Town Car and drove from central Florida to northern Virginia in like eleven hours. The speedometer was seldom below 100 miles per hour and I thought I'd blown the engine when the governor cut the ignition at 106.
@@rogerscrogham3392 I thought the same thing when the governor kick in at 96 mph on I-20 in my Ranger a few years back. The sad thing is, people in sport and luxury cars were still passing me like I was standing still.
What I see in my daily life in our town is much different than how the internet and media depict Americans. I see a variety of people from multiple walks of life. All of them just do what they can to pay their bills and live their lives. Most of us want to get along with others and help those in our communities who've fallen on hard times. The news likes to senstionalise the bad things and bad people thus making Americans as a whole look bad to people in other countries.
Interesting little thing tangentially related to number 7, I got this from a book about nuclear war and how we would survive and rebuild as an example of how crazy things are about people coming together in crisis. In the hours and days after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, one issue was some areas were not very accessible to emergency vehicles. Several biker groups and gangs including the infamous Hells Angels showed up at emergency centers offering transport into stricken areas, made supply runs, and also brought lightly injured (transportable by bike) people out of the damaged areas. That blew my mind.
Pretty sure the real reason for all the air conditioning is mold control. I live in the south and you have to either run your heater or a/c year round or you get nasty mold.
The last one is hillarious 😂🙏 Also, please visit anywhere in the southeast US in August. Lol In Georgia, we put chilled water bottles in our mailboxes for the postman or pass a fresh water bottle out our car window to a stranded motorist/ runner.. because heat stroke & heat exhaustion are very real here in the deep south.
The cast of the walking dead, all not being Georgia natives, film in Georgia during the summer.. They all agree it's a unique kind of hell, and a type of heat that makes you feel claustrophobic.
Not to mention the, at times, 100% humidity despite living near the center of the state with the closest body of water being Lake Lanier 20-30+ miles away (that's 30-50km to you Non-Americans lol).
I feel like a lot of these only apply depending on where in the US you are. Like the "not being judgemental" one might apply in New York City, but doing something weird in like, Rural Utah, will definitely get you judged.
Some of the most judgemental experiences Ive had have been in large urban areas, such as NYC, whe the greatest acceptance Ive seen has been in smaller towns or rural areas.
Americans see so called "hate speech" or "harmful speech" as an unintended consequence of the right to speak your mind I mean we may not agree with what you say but it's paramount that free speech is upheld even if we don't agree with what you say you should have the right to say it
Micah Philson I thought he was the one who made it popular but I couldn't remember who he took the quote from so I just went with saying it was his quote
That makes sense. I believe it comes from a biography about him, and as with many quotes or stories, didn't actually happen, but was attributed to him by someone after his life.
Isn’t it due to the fact that a majority of your video views come from the USA? Fun Fact- those big box stores generally do NOT control their air settings. For example, if something goes wrong in a Target store in Florida, they have to call Minnesota for a resolution or repair call. Local heatwaves or sudden cold fronts can’t be quickly adjusted locally. (You needed yet another reason to stay home and shop online?)
Also a fun fact about America: every state can literally be its only custom in terms of customs, ways of life, and how they act, and down to their laws. And even some large cities have their own customs and unique actions. But it’s better to just be chill and not freak out too much about it, though.
same state but different cities can be night and day. east coast, west coast or third coast. . . well I haven't been out west but from near the capital D.C. seen frozen primordial swamps, woods so deep day turns to night, to out here in Texas with thirsty trees and and sun so hot it feels like a 10lbs Buddha resting on your head. The food, the places, and the way people talk, all so different yet still the same America. The only thing keeping us all together is the same belief in the law. A law beyond mankind that cannot be broken, then man made ones to rule ourselves and a common one to hold the states together.
@@jayeisenhardt1337 facts. I live in Washington state, and we're seen as this liberal hippie Utopia. But the majority of us "snowflakes" live in a few cities on the west side of the Cascades. Virtually everything that's not between Seattle and Olympia is unfortunately MAGA country.
@@adamgronvold8608 What I find interesting is that so many people attack California as a world of hippies and tree huggers and freeloaders, but it is full of the most workaholic people in the world and it generates more money than the rest of the country put together. You don't do that by hugging trees and going to pet aroma therapy.
I spent some time in Russia & worked some time with a native girl aboutg my own age for a college newspaper project. Being a business major in college, I kept pointing out retail business opportunities that I saw because the population was very under-served. The Russian student was like "wtf?" all the time, asking me how people could make a go of it and pointing out all the potential for failure. She came around after a while, but told me frequently that "life is hard" Felt real sorry for her.
Thank you Simon. It drives me insane with so many hateful comments towards Americans. I mean, I am a minority, yet I've never felt oppressed (I know it hasn't always been the case in history) and definitely feel hard work and wisdom can attain you the American dream. At the end of the day I wish all western nations were to get along and strengthen what they have, because our commonality is worth fighting for.
I agree with you. I'm also a minority (Tejana) and have always enjoyed the fruits of the American Dream. Hard work and wisdom do pay off here. We all should sing "yeah baby I'm worth it" bc USA made us what we are. I'm with you Jorge, we need to support trade with our neighbors North and South. GBA!
I wish the US would BUTT OUT of foreign politics and affairs. A US president even attempted to reprimand the Australian Prime Minister because he wasn't informed when Australia did a deal with China over a port. Last time I checked, Australia was not a star on your flag. America interferes with other countries to the point that locals suffer. Your government overthrows foreign governments to suit their own agenda. A bad trade deal with the US forced importation of US produce at a lower price to the point Australian produce was destroyed as it could not be sold.. Farmers lost their land and killed themselves because your government forced a bad deal. When we think of the US, we think of your military, bad trade deals, loudmouth Americans in the street yelling "USA USA USA!" and generally, all of the bad things your country does to our countries. Want to know where the negative sentiment is coming from? Blame your government, we sure as hell do. The best thing the US could do to encourage "getting along" is to butt out. Your government needs to stop acting like the world police and sticking their nose in where it is not welcome. This "America first" BS means going it alone, your government always wants the best deal for them, this is the cost of that.
Michael Gonzales unfortunately everyone is in it for themselves and America is at the forefront of that. America has made some trade decisions that are painful to watch as they are disrespectful to other western nations. I'm not saying America is the only one but they certainly do it a lot. For a recent example see the forestry dispute between America and Canada. Canada is the brother or cousin to the north always supportive. yet America feels the need to keep canada below them and not let canada have the upper had whatsoever. but yeah it'd be wonderful if everybody could just get along and do what's best for everyone not for few.
I keep mine set to 78. Fells fine to me but then I generally don't wear a shirt. BTW I live in coastal central Florida and have ran the heat and the AC on the same day.
When I lived in Paris, I was speaking with a waitress and told her I lived near New Orleans at the time. She then asked how often I went to Memphis or Chicago. I then had to explain to her just how big the US is. I explained that to go from Houston to El Paso was an entire days trip by car going 80 mph. She was shocked. I also told her that going to Vegas from Reno would be another days journey by car. She had never thought of how big the country is. LOL
Thanks for a much needed refreshing look at my country *TopTenz* 😍. I'm as critical of it's condition as anyone. Most of these we're expected or understandable.. However, I was legitimately surprised about number 9. I had no idea there was such a idealogical difference between American positivity and European realistic, stoic view. I must admit, it's hard to even imagine. Given I've lived here my whole life. I assumed most of the Western world was under the same idealistic framework. As usual, great job! 😃
Death By Cognitive Dissonance Yea #8 surprised me as well. Thats actually pretty dope, and only deepens my love for our values and our ever changing culture.
A little note on the last one: what you’re talking about with the air conditioning being on “full blast” that’s actually not the air conditioning but rather what is called an “air curtain” they are used to keep insects out and also act as a barrier between the outside air and inside air. You almost always will see this at doors that are open for long periods of time. It saves money due to the fact it blocks hot air from coming in.
We're an odd lot, we're by no means perfect. But I firmly standby what I'm about to say: The modern world would be a very different, and very likely less free place if not for American optimism, charity, drive to do what's right, and curiosity. I think optimism is a big one here. We don't give up, or at least we don't like giving up. I do worry for the political future of the US, but I don't worry as much as I think the rest of the world is worrying. And I think most Americans share that attitude. We're confident we can always strive to be better, to improve, and grow. And that's a beautiful thing. That fierce independence which might seem odd to foreigners is exactly how we grew from a loose confederacy of states to a global power. It's also how despite the constant encroachment of government, we're still the freest people in the world. I'm no chest thumping nationalist, but I do love my country. I am an American.
"We're still the freest people in the world." Man. You really should take time to visit, or at least read up on, us Scandinavian countries sometime. Or hell. Just look north at your neighbors.
Bill Connor if you mean corrupted by profit, I’d agree. I went to Portland recently, and from the news you’d think the city was in flames. In reality it was only a few city blocks, 99% of the city was quite normal... Well, normal for Portland. :-)
Automobiles? Yes, of course most of us own at least one vehicle. I live on a farm and own 4 pickups, 4 flatbed trailers, two ATV's and 700 motorcycles. NONE are newer than 2001.
@@Sunset553 LOL, a salvage yard needs inventory. As far as "Wow, cool", I get that and "you have a gold mine here" often. It can be however, a headache. I would feel lost without them, though. I'd hate to go back to raising pigs.
I know this video is a little older, but i appreciate this video. I know i am not a very world-wise person, and i am proud to be an American, i do find most other cultures extremely fascinating. Thank you Simon and team. :)
I used to work with a British dude that would literally break down damn near into tears any time a person came in with a handgun on his hip. (I worked at a very popular electronics store here in the states that also just happens to be one of more conservative/rural states where guns are pretty common) and it was always insane to me. Personally I always felt a little safer seeing a dude carrying a gun because if he’s openly carrying it he’s most likely not somebody who’s gonna rob the place or shoot it up. Usually people who do that hide the weapon until they’re shooting. Him being from London though and after becoming pretty good friends with him and him explaining his fear I understood it, but the only thing that’ll stop a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun.
@@allenjohnson7686 why? Criminals don't carrying guns openly for people to see. If a gun in a holster scares you maybe you should seek help or never leave the house
Im from the UK no one has a gun so 99.99% of people in a store would feel the same if any random came in carrying a gun. There would be more calls to the police and a swat team would be there asap. So maybe the people who love guns and carry them need to seek help.
@@allenjohnson7686 You would have a Swat team show up over a man carrying an inanimate object but gun owners are the ones that need to seek help?..... this is why people from the UK have a "sheeple" stereotype. In the US part of being a father, son, husband is protecting your family and the ones you love. I live in the state of Virginia, we have legal open carry and permits for concealed carry. Meaning anyone over 18 with a clean criminal record can openly carry and handgun in public and anyone that takes a firearms class, has a background check done and gets a permit can walk around with a handgun concealed on theyre person in public. It is very common place to see multiple people walking around the grocery store or super market openly carrying guns. No one panicks. No one gets shot. No one thinks anything of it. Heck if police see you carrying they usually give you a nod of approval/admiration for being a responsible gun owner. The only places in the US that have problems with gun Violence are places guns are prohibited or banned. Mostly large liberal citys and "gun free zones" such as schools and clubs. My county has nearly 80% gun ownership and has only had 4 homicides in the last 10 years, 3 were gang related shootings that only resulted in dead gang members and the latest one was a stabbing over stolen drugs.
@@PracticalTacticalSheepDog speaking of sheeple are these the same americans that think the whole world is a war zone out to get them? Your news spouts pure lies and you idiots believe them. Ps you may need to get your stats right, you have more gun related deaths in one day than we have in a whole year.
The people in the Southern states are exceptionally friendly with outgoing personalities, also standing out for me are the fantastic universities. From a non-US person.
As an american woman, I can say that owning a gun makes me feel a lot safer when I'm home alone or walking at night. I would be messed up for life if I ever had to use it, but it's nice to feel that if someone tried to take my life I could defend myself. I'm often surprised by forgeiners' fear of guns! I grew up around them and they make me feel safe. It's an interesting cultural difference!
Being "least racist" is not the same as "not being racist". And it's not like there was any sort of index score to articulate level of racism. Besides, a RU-vid channel isn't a source of information to set a nation's domestic policy.
Olson185 I love how the far left has to see the bad always. No society is without fault, yet the far left/woke want to destroy America and make it a socialist nation. They hate America and all of its success. They see its success as the fruit of oppression and not the results of hard work. In America, if you work hard enough and ignore those that tell you you are too oppressed, you can achieve what you want and leave the woke behind... to remain asleep.
I'm a hospice nurse in southern Missouri. I drive an hour to and from to my office then a hundred miles or more daily to see my patients in their homes. The area is huge, very rural and the most beautiful place I've ever lived. The word natural doesn't adequately describe.
Re: the car thing another factor Europeans don't consider is that America is a big freaking country. Really big. You guys drive for an hour in any direction and you end up in another country. We drove for an hour in any direction and still end up in the same state we started in. I used to live an hour drive away from the nearest hospital, grocery store, or movie theater (and there was no public transport but that's besides the point in making). We have to own cars. The country is to sprawled out for us not to.
You should add in with the car ownership part to include how VAST America is. You'd be surprised how many visitors to the US, especially from Europe, will come into New York, thinking they can rent a car, drive to Miami for a quick sunbathe, wander over to Las Vegas for a little gambling, and head on home in a few days time. Like no, New York to Miami is 2,000 kilometers, and Miami to Las Vegas is another 4,000 kilometers. That's 6,000 kilometers, and we haven't even gotten to the west coast or rocky mountains yet. You can't just hop in a car and go those distances in a few hours...
There is no better defense against the doctrines of hate and racism that an free and open discourse that is liberated from the concepts of censorship. The only way someone is going to grow intellectually and emotionally is by encountering things they do not find agreeable, which allows them to research, engage and debate.
The reason we kept the A/C so frigid in my restaurant was the high degree of door opening during the busy lunch rush. We would lose about 15 degrees F in 2 hours so in order to be cool at all by 1:30 p.m. we had to start going to the lowest it would go about 10:00 a.m. This also helps with lengthening the shelf life and preserving the freshness of food.
Two over-generalizations: 1. Cars: There are some of us that are very glad to be living in an urban environment, no matter how expensive, where we don't rely on driving. 2. Air-conditioning: Out here in the northwest and north-central Pacific coast, it's not needed / not used / not installed. Overall, GREAT VIDEO, Simon! 🐱👍
Hey a random USA citizen coming at you. In such a decisive time in our country I want to thank you for your kind words. I am a republican/libertarian, gun toting, car owning American but most of all I want all those in this country regardless what faction they belong to, to find happiness and personal joy in this amazing country of ours. Most of us are really strong in the ideal that America is inclusive and accommodating to all and I believe your video has done a splendid job of portraying this.
The AC thing is because it gets so hot here, even in northern states. When summers are 90-100+ (above 30c), places like grocery stores need to have air conditioning because food would spoil quickly.
Blasting the AC doesn't encourage lingering, it does the opposite. As you described, it is bracing after the summer heat and humidity, but quickly gets oppressive. So it feels nice to enter the store (building loyalty through environmental engineering) it then encourages you to get your items and get out.
It is refreshing to hear your perspective on the United States. I really enjoy the way European and Asian RU-vidrs view us. I am from the southeastern United States, so I am especially interested on view of my region. One side of my family has been here since before our independence from British Rule.
It would be an ~18 mile hike (with a roughly 1000 foot change in altitude) just to get basic groceries without a car or tractor up here... But I do have a liqueur store less than a mile away. ;-D
I would NEVER go into a store with out air conditioning lol not at all, I might prepare to go to a store by bringing a jacket even on a hot day, but I would never go into a warm or hot building. You would assume the food would spoil faster, and that there are other things the store is skimping on like quality and cleaning. -an American 😁
Maddison Elliott exactly. AC was down at a grocery store years ago and the place smelled like food left out and anything with sugar or chocolate melted into a mess.
Sally Ferguson The unbelievable natural wonders!! The green flash over the Pacific Ocean at sunset, the towering Seqouias in those hushed forests, Carmel, CA. With its art galleries, shops with fireplaces and easy chairs, San Francisco with the afternoon fog curling around the golden gate bridge. Boston, mass. with its common, old north church, bay and old ships. The Atlantic and the houses with the widows walks and Salem with its witches, past and present. The civil war battlefields with their sad ghostly voices at twilight, the murmuring of the birds where so many men were cut down and still lay. Texas with its long horns, big men, hats and boots. The Alamo, where 180 men were slaughtered for their cause and slaughtered others for theirs. The riverbank, winding for miles towards the hill country, where Indian tribes raced over the rolling grasslands and left behind their arrows and their sorrows... Where thunderstorms fill the entire horizon and twisting ribbons of wind creep across the plains in a ghostly dance. And that's not counting the museum's, towns, the communities, the ways immigrants made this the most wonderful place in the world.
I am very curious to learn about other cultures and countries. I am somewhat shy but will still try to strike up a conversation with others. I am lucky to live in a multicultural apartment complex so I can learn.
In the southern states, it gets brutally hot through autumn, and though high temperatures aren't exclusive to the US, in warm weather European locations like the Mediterranean, they build their establishments with a lot of tile and work with the architecture to provide relief during the hottest months. Not so in the US. I'd be shocked if you could find a window to open in a big box store. But for real, I feel like I can only exist outside here for about 10 minutes through most of the summer, day or night.
The air conditioning was the most surprising thing on the list. My parents lived in Germany for many years and so I had the opportunity to visit on a regular basis. Though their house didn't have air-conditioning all the stores I went to had plenty of it.
I am part of a group of Americans that are the exception that may prove the rule. I live in Philadelphia which is a city that is closer to character to European cities than most other American cities (with the exception of New York and Boston). We have an extensive public transportation system. We also have a city center that contains many residents as opposed to just office blocks. I do not own a car and a number of friends of mine do not either. If I lived out of the city that may be a different story. However I am a American that does not own a car nor really wants to.
I’m from the US but live in Madrid now and they run the a/c colder here than anyplace I’d ever experienced in the US (besides Vegas). In Madrid, I’ve even passed scope with the a/c blasting and their door open.
All great points; one thing I always stress when visiting other countries is that the USA is BIG. It's hard to talk about what Americans are like until you understand that
Pretty spot on, except the go in sweating come out shivering. Even then, it’s based on overall sales. If it’s raging hot outside, a person will spend more time in the cooler environment and usually spend more money.
Lifelong American here, almost entirely lived in urban areas...I have never seen a gun in real life that was not carried by a cop or soldier or security guard. Not once. I've never seen an actual gunfight. Gunshots can be heard rarely in some of the bad areas of town, but even that is really uncommon. I've never been mugged either. It's something that happens, but only in very specific areas.
For cars: not only independence and because there truly are great distances to cover but also because way back the automobile industry managed to suppress notions for public transportation and have cities be built for cars - not public transportation.
If you think American businesses blast their air conditioning, you should check out Singapore. I was just walking down the street there in 1994 and businesses were air conditioning their entryways and foyers. At 100+ degrees in the shade, on the street, it certainly made me think that there must be something that I could buy in the store in order to beat the heat.
Anyone thinking we're relentlessly upbeat hasn't looked at us in 3 years. "We started talking politics at the 'thanksgiving' table and realized that we actually hate each other."
Wow man, I have never heard someone get my country so right. Esp. With the curiosity about other cultures. Accents are the BIG thing right now. (Btw, you have a great accent!)
Ya know i really appreciate the compliments....as an American, I've been really almost ashamed of how the world must look at us because of the obvious dolts that are always on tv &/or the news.....Thanks you've recalibrated my perception
Talk about hitting the nail on the head. I am an American Jew, and I concur with Simon. Everybody I have met who hates or dislikes "the Jews" has generally never met a Jew. Almost everybody who hates has never met the people they hate, whether they are Jew, Muslim, Gay, Trump supporter or whatever. When they actually meet someone different, they are generally polite and receptive. One of America's greatest writers, Mark Twain, once said (and I paraphrase) that meeting different and new people is the best cure for racism, because then you realize that they are not so different from you. Thank you for your time.
A/C in stores thing: Considering vast portions of the USA has a climate more like Spain (or hotter) than the UK or Germany, this is kinda understandable. In many Southwestern cities, daytime high temps can be silly numbers like 49C (120F).
As an American myself, I can definitely attest to the claim that curiosity does triumph over ignorance more often than not. Just one personal example: on a flight back from China, I struck up a conversation with a white lesbian couple who went there for a tour. We got into a conversation about education and language because I told them I was a language teacher, and I brought up how American English is enriched by its multitude of dialects. Upon mentioning African-American Vernacular English (aka Black English or Ebonics), the couple instantly showed a disgusting look and shook their head, proclaiming that blacks needed to learn to "speak better." It took just one minute to change that look of disgust into a look of realization when I explained the complexity and structure of Ebonics and how some schools were now using Ebonics to teach black children how to code-switch into Mainstream English instead of trying to force Ebonics out of them. The couple openly admitted that they'd never understood black English that way and was glad they ran into me, because they instantly saw it differently from that moment on.
As an American, I was surprised that not only was #1 true, but it seemed to be more true when I was on vacation in New Orleans, LA. There was a café there that had every door and window wide open, but the A/C blasting so hard that I got chilled just walking by!
