In what ways is the US more liberal/progressive than Europe?

28 comments

1. More accepting of people no matter what soccer team they support.

2. We have free refills and universal free toilets, which is very liberating compared to Europe where they nickle and dime you on drinks and using the toilets.

3. Gay and equality marriage. All EU countries have to recognize same-sex marriages for purposes of immigration whether it’s legal in that EU country or not though.

   [https://www.hrc.org/resources/marriage-equality-around-the-world](https://www.hrc.org/resources/marriage-equality-around-the-world)

   In the EU, only 13 of the 27 members allow same-sex marriage.

   [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_by_country_or_territory#Europe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_by_country_or_territory#Europe)

   Only 17 European countries allow same-sex marriage legally (out of 44 countries).

   [https://www.statista.com/statistics/1229293/number-of-countries-that-permit-same-sex-marriage-by-continent/](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1229293/number-of-countries-that-permit-same-sex-marriage-by-continent/)

   As we all know, gay marriage is legal in all 50 American states.

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States

4. From what I’ve seen, accepting people of different backgrounds and trying to reach some form of racial equality. It’s a problem in the US, it’s worse in Europe.

5. In some states at least, legal recreational weed. But that’s certainly not universal and it’s bizarre how you can cross from total legality to full on felony fairly quickly. I do think within the next five years or so it will become federally legal but who knows.

6. Abortion rights. (I’m being serious)

7. Roe v. Wade wouldn’t be an issue in Malta because Catholicism is the state religion and abortion is already illegal in all cases.

8. U.S. is often more socially liberal in many ways due in large part to being an immigrant culture. Many countries in Europe are more homogenous and haven’t really had to confront casual racism in a meaningful way.

9. Well we accept more immigrants than any other country, so in that respect we’re pretty liberal as far as letting others become American if they so choose.

10. IIRC the US has much more robust free speech protections than some countries in Europe. For better or worse, the US government can’t issue gag orders to the press, ban words or symbols, etc.

11. Stores are open on Sundays in the US. Our cities are not centered around churches, nor are we forced to pay church taxes. In much of Europe, you must prove you’re not a member of a church, and have never been, to stop paying church taxes. In Germany, for example, they’ve been known to call churches in an immigrant’s hometown in another country to see if they’ve ever been baptized or at least a member of a church in that area. If so, and they claimed they’re not religious, that immigrant must pay a hefty fine and back taxes.

    We discuss our problems openly, especially racism, instead of trying to convince ourselves they’re nonexistent.

    European freedom of speech looks similar to that of the US’. However, in the US, it’s recognized as an inherent human trait or right rather than something than can be granted to its citizens by a government.

12. Freedom of Speech and Expression. It’s not that y’all don’t have it, it’s just that we REALLY take it seriously.

13. On an individual level, maybe accepting immigrants. It’s much less socially acceptable to be racist/xenophobic in public than some countries in Europe

    Weed laws too, in a lot of states

14. Cannabis, Gun rights, Freedom of speech, etc.

    And areas where we’re arguably better than MOST of Europe: Same-sex marriage, racial discourse, even abortion (though that’s now state dependent).

15. Our ADA requirements have made the US one of the most accomodating countries in the world for people with disabilities.

16. The biggest sports: American football vs football.

    American football has a salary cap (max amount you can pay players in aggregate). The draft is how most new players enter the league and the draft order goes from worst team to best team. These two things combined make the league very competitive — teams can go from bad to champion in a couple years.

    Football: money buys championships

17. I know this is controversial at the moment, and I don’t know if I can talk about it, but depending on the state, abortions are a lot less strict. A lot of European countries have really strict abortion limits, under the 20 weeks put in place by Roe v Wade.

18. I don’t know about other Western European countries, but I’ve been to France (Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Annecy) 7 times, and have found that in Chicago, we are more accepting of immigrants and other cultures. Once again, I’m speaking about Chicago which is a more liberal US city.

    Also, the US is a bit more sensitive to disabilities. One time when I went to Paris I fucked up my foot because I was dumb and didn’t properly wear in shoes before traveling (rookie mistake). I was in a situation where I was kind of hobbling along by the end of the night and you would not believe the amount of people who made fun of me to my face for it. It was so odd to me, because that would never happen in the US.

19. I know a lot of people knock on American urban planning. (Canada and many other countries have very similar systems.).

    Three words, invented in the USA about 30 years ago, and embraced by a growing number of cities and towns – **form based zoning**. Now the UK is considering planning reform (again), but using American-style form-based zoning as the basis for land use control and management for the whole country. However, none of the reports and white papers related to planning reform in the UK mention the American origins of form-based zoning. They all point to the Netherlands, Germany, etc, but the model codes are essentially copy-and-paste jobs from American FBCs.

20. I don’t know about other countries, but I do know that social class is much less important in the US than in the UK. By that I don’t mean that someone of a lower social class is better off in the US than in the UK — by most measures they’re not — or even that there’s more socioeconomic mobility. What I mean is that in the UK, if you grow up in a working-class family, you’re always going to be considered working class no matter how much money you make, and people will have the same stereotypes and expectations of you that they’d have of anyone of the same class background.

    In the US, I think this is a largely foreign concept to the extent that most Americans would even consider it kind of weird. If you get rich in the US, nobody cares where or how you grew up, you’re a rich person and people think of you exactly like they think of people who have family fortunes going back many generations. If anything, you’ll be thought of more positively for being self-made; in the UK, you’re going to be stigmatized.

21. First amendment rights, ADA, birthright citizenship under the 14th amendment.

22. Our entire stadiums don’t yell racial slurs at the non white players

23. I could be wrong, but I’ve heard our national park system is miles ahead of the ones in many of our European counterparts. Visiting these parks and enjoying the wonderful land the US has to offer is one of my favorite things about being an American.

24. Many places in the US do not have a voter ID requirement. Requiring ID to vote is the norm in the rest of the world.

25. Whether people want to admit or not, race relations in the United States are much more equal for POC than anywhere in Europe.

26. General diversity. Ethnically and culturally. I don’t think Europeans realize just how diverse Americans really are. Especially when compared to Europe.

27. Free speech protections.

    Access to defensive tools and weapons; not just firearms but mace, and knives.

    Protections from unreasonable search and seizures.

    Separation of church and state.

    Really, the main ways European countries are more progressive than the states is socialized medicine.

28. Not sure if it’s “progressive” but America smokes a lot less than Europe.