Being from Central/Eastern Europe, many people here generalize and use the worst stereotypes picked from media and basically portray USA as a hellhole, yet they are daily surrounded by american things they enjoy. I’m not here to argue with anyone and am keen on hearing actual real life positives of living in the USA and why you wouldn’t
move elsewhere in the world.
Disclaimer – Never been stateside and actually spoken to handful of Americans at best.
Thanks !
26 comments
The general optimism of the people. If I tell someone I want to start a business or move to a far away place, most people here would be supportive.
Man, where to start lol
I think first and foremost I’d say the ‘wildness’ of it. Nature.
It’s a *big* country, and a whole lot of it is undeveloped and sparsely populated. You’re never far from being able to take in some breathtaking nature in relative solitude. Our national parks are second to none, shit even most state parks are beautiful.
Just going out for a drive in the countryside is one of my favorite things to do. In fact, it’s how my wife and I used to get our son to fall asleep lol
https://youtu.be/Ggz_gd–UO0
I have a video for that.
Also, public land like NPS, NFS, state parks, and wilderness areas.
That there is so much to see here, so much diversity in people and food.
Choices, so many many choices. Where to live, where to work, where to shop, where to visit.
Well, all of my family and friends are here along with a lifetime of memories and the opportunity to explore places from coast to coast. Also, Midwest summer sweet corn.
The size and the diversity of the land. You want cities, beaches, parks, mountains, desert, lakes, countryside? It’s all there. I love that I have access to all these things domestically. Also as someone who likes cars/driving, I appreciate the road network that helps you reach all those destinations.
As someone else mentioned already, we have fantastic natural beauty in the US. You can see just about everything from mountains, ocean, deserts, tundra, taiga, tropics and more without ever leaving the country.
As far as people and culture goes, I feel like we have a very “live and let live” attitude. I’m sure this attitude is not unique to the US, and it certainly doesn’t happen all the time, but in general we have a culture of self-reliance where we are taught that anything is possible if we are willing to work and try hard enough. This might be more difficult now than in the past, but I still believe it is true.
The amount of geographic diversity we have without needing a passport.
We can go to small Pacific islands, the edge of Alaska, and a few places in the Caribbean and it is all in the US.
I was in Los Angeles a couple weeks ago and was stunned by how much diverse, natural beauty there was even within the city. And this is the second biggest city in the US, and a sprawling metro region. That’s not even counting the major state and national parks that are in the area. My hike up to Griffith Observatory went through lush green areas where frogs and turtles were chilling in a stream, up through the hills that were so dry you’d think you were in the Southwest and not LA.
I’ve had a bit of a bug to go abroad again, which I haven’t done since 2019. But on this CA trip we took Amtrak on the way out and between what I saw on the train and what I experienced in LA and San Francisco, I’m really re-evaluating my travel plans to see more of the US. There’s so much to do here it is insane.
Here’s one thing for sure:
Our songbook
——
Imo, it shares a space with any of the other great art collections/movements throughout human history
(For clarity, I’m not necessarily talking about *The Great American Songbook* which is incredible on its own.. I’m talking about all of it.)
Well, first I would say that anyone who thinks the US is a hellhole has probably not travelled farther than the sofa in front of their TV. Of course there are people living in difficult circumstances in the US, but generally there is a very high quality of life. It’s usually not hard to find a job. Most people can afford to eat well and drive a car and go on vacations, etc. Generally I feel safe as a woman. I can make my own choices and wear what I want, which is not the case for women in many countries. I don’t feel oppressed by the government. I can speak freely.
I’m not one of those “I would never live anywhere else” Americans. I have lived abroad and continue to do so now, but I’ll probably return eventually. What would bring me back is good weather and high salary. But if I had an EU passport I’d probably stay in Europe because I love those old ass buildings.
Food variety is endless. I live in one of the most diverse states in the country and often contemplate about moving out of state but one thing my significant and other agreed on is that we will miss the diverse options of the food here. Korean, Chinese, Mexican, Filipino, Thai, Indian, Portuguese, Halal, Jamaican, etc. Even American BBQ is amazing. Wawa is my shit too.
EDIT: I forgot to mention the 24/7 diners !! After a night of just shenanigans with peeps, diners would be available at 3:00 a.m. Breakfast during that time hits differently I swear especially a meaty omelette and chocolate chip pancakes.
When I did criminal work as an attorney, I was proud to represent indigent defendants and to be their voice when the power of the government accused them.
I love this question, I’ve only left the U.S once when I was six and I couldn’t imagine ever living anywhere else. I love my country for many reasons, but I love that I can hop in a car and just drive for several days and where I go culture is so different. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and visited the south several times a year all throughout my childhood. The difference in just small every day things amazes me.
We live totally differently day to day and practice differing religions but we are United as Americans.
Not American but when I went to Florida to visit in laws I saw a guy at the DMV with a tattoo of the outline of florida, a gun and ‘gunshine state’ written under it. That is my favourite thing about America
The strongest free speech protections in the world.
There is nothing quite as strong as the first amendment anywhere else in the world.
The geography. Name a biome and the US probably has it. deserts in the southwest, swamps in the southeast, temperate forest in the northeast, rainforest in the northeast, taiga and tundra up in alaska, the geographic diversity is just absolutely astonishing.
1. It’s huge and has nearly every type of biome on the planet.
2. Cultural diversity
3. Amazing food- Every region has their specialty. I will admit that trying to get quality versions of said food can be difficult outside of those regions though.
4. Strong free speech protections
5. We are more accepting of taking chances and making mistakes, providing they learn from them.
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”-Thomas Edison
6. Our optimism- we are always trying to make things better. We just have different ideas on how to accomplish it.
I love that people chose to move here every year chasing a better quality of life than they had in their home country, they often find it. The basic quality of life in the US is much higher than in most countries I have visited.
You’ve basically stated one of the biggest reasons Americans don’t take the opinions of foreigners have about our country seriously. The GLEEFUL zeal with which people jump on believing the worst about us has not escaped our notice.
“The pursuit of happiness.” Being one of the core founding values. It created a real “live and let live attitude amongst the culture. As much as politics now kind of disrespects that you can have pm any crazy way of being and there is SOMEWHERE in America you can call home and some group that will take u in. The understanding of “different strokes, different folks” is getting kind of tested tho which is disappointing.
The economic opportunities for immigrants. My grandparents are immigrants from Argentina and I’m grateful to this country for giving them the economic opportunities to become incredibly successful.
Unlike the vast majority of other nations on the planet, we are not a nation of blood and soil (i.e. Poland is the nation of the Poles, Japan is the nation of the Japanese, etc) we are a nation of ideas, and while we argue over how we should implement those ideas, the ideas lay at the bottom of our psyche, identity, and way of life.
Chief among these is “we find these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights – among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Americans are pretty uninhibited and like to have fun, dignity be damned. I was at a baseball game last week with my son’s baseball team (not their game, we went as a team to see a minor league game as our end-of-season celebration). They have all kinds of silly games and competitions between innings for kids to play and entertain the crowd. His two coaches got into those “sumo suits” and made total asses of themselves. One of the coaches started working the crowd doing silly dances wearing his fat suit, and the crowd loved it and laughed and cheered him on.
His wife, who happens to be from Eastern/Central Europe (which is why I picked this particular story to share), looked both horrified by his total lack of dignity and decorum, and also reluctantly amused. I just thought it was a poetic moment, illustrating American culture through the eyes of someone who grew up elsewhere. She was embarrassed at her husband’s clownish antics, but at the same time, she’s been here long enough to “get it.” It was such a complicated emotional response you could see on her face. A good American dad will do anything to make children laugh. We don’t give a *fuck*. We look like fools, but we get results!
I love how there’s so much opportunity here. There’s legit so much to do and I feel so grateful for the things I’ve been able to participate in.
I also love the diversity and food! There’s so many options to choose from!
I also love how every state kind of has its own culture in a way. I went to Texas for the first time and had an amazing time there.
As a gay person, Eastern Europe sounds like a hellhole to me.