What is one relatively unknown thing that your country does much better than elsewhere, but that most people don't know about?
I will start. I'm in the United States.
Credit unions! Nearly half of all Americans are credit union members. They don't seem to be popular in Europe and Asia. A credit union is a not-for-profit co-operative financial institution that essentially provides all the same services as a bank, except it's run as a democratic institution with directors elected by the customers instead of as a profit maximisation machine for shareholders.
They're common in Canada as well. In my experience, they're much better than larger banks for things like fees and interest rates.
Historically the main advantage of a larger bank was having banks and ATMs everywhere, but lots of CUs have formed mutual agreements for ATM access, and internet banking being ubiquitous has rendered any advantage the big banks have had moot (in my opinion, at least).
The biggest problem I've had with My credit union is there an ability to fix problems, and they're absolutely antiquated systems.
I went to Florida on vacation instantly tripped fraud. I had contacted them prior They put a note in my account because they had no other way to do anything. I tripped fraud on a Friday night and they were not able to answer a call from me until Monday morning.
A couple of years later I spent a few days in Niagara. The very first day I got up there I tripped fraud. I had already called them went through three different people to make sure there was nothing else I could do. I made sure that I didn't arrive on a Friday this time. My big problem now was that I was looking at an hour-long phone call and I was roaming. I drove up to one of the higher points in town and managed to get a US Tower. I got them to unlock me which worked for approximately one day.
Their web portal the last time I used it required me to have a 7 to 10 character password uppercase lowercase only. Tell me you're storing my data and securely without telling me your storing my data in securely.
You don't always end up with the best management by having the clientele pick the management. And sometimes those really low rates end up making you suffer on the security side of things.
Still the best interest rate I've ever gotten on a car loan and the entire staff was absolutely sweet, They were just entirely incapable of keeping my card working whenever I left the state.
I ended up going back to a larger bank. 24-hour fraud unlock hotline, also capable of unlocking me via a link in email as soon as it's tripped.
Apparently years later I find out that I possibly could have gotten by some of the fraud issues with the credit union if I would have used the card in debit mode. They apparently assume that a debit transaction is inherently secure. I have no idea if this actually works but if you're having trouble it's not a bad idea to try it. Just do at least one pin transaction every time you go to a different location.
The UK has building societies which sound like what you're describing
*had. They've been swallowed whole by the larger banks
Not from the US but currently living here. I would say the Disability Act is the gold standard worldwide. The amount of consideration for people with a variety of disabilities that almost universally applies is exceptionally amazing. It's kind of shocking to see the dedication to adhering to that law while otherwise abandoning that portion of the population (e.g. Healthcare, SSDI, etc.).
Incidentally it's a lot easier to take legal action against a business that violates the ADA than to take action against a government that insists on defunding programs like that.
Right, there are people and lawfirms that make all their money going around measuring doorway widths and bathroom counter heights and stuff, because the person who raises the complaint gets a reward.. Sort of like bounty hunters?
I’ve lived in America all my life. Thank you for this interesting outside perspective. I never would have guessed that the ADA is held in such high regard!
The ada is amazing. My husband grew up just as it was being put into place and remembers the protests (to get it, not against it). Without it, things are much more difficult. I know there will be handicapped parking, and cutins on sidewalks and bathrooms and stuff wherever we go without having to look it up.
Yeah it was surprisingly jarring going to Europe and seeing places that were completely inaccessible by wheel chair. I have never used a wheel chair in my life but I know there's bars in my area that have mini elevators for peole on wheel chairs to access the lower level that's only like 4 steps down.
Hold on, I'll phone the Romans and ask them why they didn't make the pont du Gard wheelchair accessible
Australia: Consumer protection laws are better than most other countries, even European countries. For example:
This applies for digital goods, too. As far as I know, Australia is the only country where you can get a refund from Steam for a major bug in a game regardless of how long you've owned the game for or how many hours you've played. Valve tried to avoid doing this and was fined $3 million: https://www.cnet.com/culture/entertainment/valve-to-pay-3-million-fine-for-misleading-australian-gamers/
Another thing I learned from Australia is to use www.airbnb.com.au to check prices. If I got it correct in Australia is forbidden to have hidden charges, so, what you see is what you pay.
Agreed except for the archaic rating system for video games. Gonna tell full adults they can't handle seeing a drug in a game that's called by its real name? That's pretty ridiculous.
Yeah, video game ratings in Australia aren't great. Australia didn't even have an adult (R18+) rating for video games until 2013. Before then, all games rated higher than MA were illegal in Australia. Some games were banned, while others were modified to reduce violence, remove sexual themes, remove drug use, etc.
US here. I don't think we get enough credit for our anti-smoking culture, and given that Hollywood is a major culture driver...
Even in my poor little town, where the broke and uneducated smoke more, it's getting to be where I'm a little taken aback when I see someone smoking in public.
All this coming from a guy that smoked for 20+ years. The culture shift has been dramatic and I hope we're exporting it.
I’m a smoker in the US. It seems like a hell of a lot less than 6% of people here smoke. I don’t think I have a single family member or friend who still smokes. Feels like it’s just me.
For what it's worth, I've also noticed the same thing where I live in Tennessee. Smoked for 21 years (from 11 to 32), and while there are still a ton of smokers in my little hick town, it's much less than before.
When does it started ? Do you have law prohibiting smoking in public place like restaurant, transports, nigth club, office, etc ?
Because, while it’s true we see less smokers in movies, it’s the first time i hear US having a anti-smoking culture... Note that I include drugs like weed in the smoking culture and we heard a lot from it recently. And only from US.
On my country, since the 90’, it’s forbiden to smoke in public place, in the office, etc. They also increased a lot it’s price bia taxes, put labels on the packaging and the amount of smokers reduced a lot since. But hollywood still represent us as smoker ^^
When does it started ? Do you have law prohibiting smoking in public place like restaurant, transports, nigth club, office, etc ?
Pretty much this. From the late 80's more and more smoking bans were put into place. Public buildings, any private business, public transport, etc.
It's at the point now that the only places you can smoke are your own house (even the apartment buildings I've been to have no smoking rules. Like, even in your own apartment) or outside (as long as it's x feet/meters away from a building's entrance).
The UK has seen a stratospheric drop too. Banned from all non-private indoor spaces, taxed through the roof. At least in the South, it's rare to see or even smell someone smoking now, even on TV. Although in some cities it's just as likely to smell cannabis as tobacco.
I don't think you're "exporting it" though - it's not an American initiative. This was a pretty universal shift of "why the fuck do we do this stupid shit?"
Really? I'm in my 20s, and pretty much everyone I know smokes. I think it's just less acceptable to smoke alone or in public.
Also US, we're definitely not exhibiting an "anti smoking" culture. I think you're confusing what you're exposed to to what is really going on in the world. It's important to recognize the limitations of your perspective, and not confuse them for a national trend
Germany: We moved our power creation from 60% coal and atom-driven to 60% wind and solar-driven in the last 6 years. This change is fundamental and can’t be reversed. We stopped our atom plants and have a plan out of coal. Even though our geography isn’t in favor for renewables, our country is dedicated in becoming carbon neutral. This is supported by most of the population and industry. (Yes renewables are cheaper than coal, gas, and atom)
Still open is the transition of heat and cars to electricity. Rather an emotional debate - Germans are car-crazy. The car discussion is similar to the gun debate in the US.
By atom, do you mean nuclear energy? Why did you stop the nuclear plant?, assuming that's what you're referring to.
How does this relate to Germany relying using natural gas from Russia, before their invasion of Ukraine? My understanding was that Germany had energy issues at the offset, which I wouldn't expect considering how much renewavles you use
Sudden culture shock from a Norwegian:
Still open is the transition of heat and cars to electricity..
Almost all electricity used by Norwegian homes goes towards heating (including cooking and hot water), and charging cars. So counting heating separate from electricity suddenly makes the electric transition sound less impressive. (And the transition away from nuclear more baffling). It's still impressive to see Germany really follow through on renewables though. 60% renewable electricity is still a lot
Is there a plan to transition away from burning fossil fuels for heating?
There are plans yes, but also corrupt politicians and unethical media who straight up lie to the public and keep this plan from going forward.
German homes are relatively okay insulated. Very remote: burn wood or some sort of wood pellet stuff. Not clean, but it is local and renewable. Less remote: heat pumps, runs on electricity. Cities: many are planning/extending heat nets, those can be partially powered by left over heat from industry. And import nuclear electricity from France in winter I guess!
Why lump atom in with coal? Atom is great, coal stinks. You're confusing the stats.
Try to dismantle a nuclear plant. It costs tons of money and time. Ask the people at Nagasaki or Tschernobyl.
Dismantle a coal power plant takes time, but one can reuse the iron and such. All the open mining fields and mining tunnels are the problem. In Western Germany, there are areas where house crack or cars fall down sudden openings caused by old mining tunnels.
Try to dismantle at wind mill or solar fields. It’s a quest of days and some bucks.
I prefer the easy way of living. So, my favorite are renewables.
Then you will love this documentary. It even mentions Germany a couple of times.
Germany. Bicycle parts.
Sure, the market leaders for drivetrain components are Shimano from Japan and Sram from the US.
But look into the higher-priced niches and there's:
Plus the general accessibility to free bike workshops that seem to be run by various nonprofits.
I’m still using a (Son) dynamo Busch and Müller light from a decade ago on my touring bike. It’s so reliable and the beam pattern is better than on my car. I also have schwalbe marathons and ortlieb panniers on that bike. Such a good setup for a bike built like a tank. It might be fully German if it wasn’t a Fuji with a Shimano groupset and Brooks saddle.
A year ago I was surprised how large the Portuguese bicycle industry is, as I thought we had none. I assumed we wouldn't be able to compete with you guys, but turns out the Dutch are that Big an importer
Why do e bikes even have fenders? I'm not going off-road with the thing, and I cannot imagine trying to ride one where it actually rains, rather than pretends to rain.
Of course you want to be able to ride it in the rain, what are you even talking about?
Even if you'ld wait until rain stops and even if you don't go off road: there's puddles on bike paths after it has rained!
India: what India does wayyy better than others is digital payments. we have what is called UPI this is a open payments interface made by government (rbi) but their APIs can be used by any bank's and any verified third party apps, and all you need to use UPI is just a bank account that's it, and with this we can send money to any bank account through any other bank account with just phone number or QR code, the reciver and sender don't even have to use same app because the backend is same for all, i just have to search for their number and send money, or i just have to scan QR code and send money, and it happens instantly with no minimum limit, this is so widely used that pretty much any shopkeeper keeps a UPI qr code even the ones in smallest and remote villages. infact i dony think I used single rupee in cash since like last 3 years, i don't carry cash anywhere either, this is integrated with popular apps too like uber online food ordering apps , Netflix and basically any app that needs payment. upi is pretty much only reason why India has the most digital transaction in world even more than China and it's not even close.
also public digital infrastructure, pretty much anything government related is done digitally, like our id cards, driving licence, income certificate, and even high school and degree certificate is digitised, infact even our college credits is digitised, like my college credits will be automatically added so it will be seamless to change college in between my degree, and ofc all this is verified cryptographically with an app, so it's not just one pdf which can be forged or something. and recently a law was passed which made the cryptographically verified digital documents legally same thing as physical one's, so now if you have a phone with the app installed ( government made app that store's and verifies documents) and if you have all your documents in that app you are good to go anywhere. this is more than just concinence of not having to carry physical documents because now we can make bank accounts completely online because verification can be done through their APIs and cryptographically. and yeah it was super useful in covid times because we could do appointment for vaccination online in the app and we could get covid certificate digitally.
the difference is this is unified and government maintained, alipay or any payment vendor's you have to use their apps, and you can only send money to people who have accounts in their apps, here it's maintained by government no need to make any account anywhere, just direct bank to bank transfer with just phone number and QR code. and more importantly no transaction fees
Can you expand on why UPI is horrible when it comes to privacy when compared to the other options you have mentioned?
I would not be doing any sort of digital transactions if I am worried about privacy as I don’t think one is better than the other in this matter. It would be naive to think so otherwise.
I'm curious, how does that work for people from remote villages? India still have a pretty large population who live traditional lifestyles with limited access to the Internet, don't y'all? Do they have the option of more traditional paper documents, or do they have to find a computer somewhere to use for certain things?
even people from less developed places use digital stuff, you don't need computer you only need a phone to use everything, mobile data is super cheap in india (3usd per month for 2gb per day), and smartphones are super cheap too, even people who don't have access to electricity use digital payments. infact this was possible only because of cheap internet and many indians are comfortable with tech somehow. and connectivity is really good pretty much 100% of country get's fast 4g and nearly 80% has 5g
Wow that's really impressive! I'm used to having a great online platform to transfer money, but having government issued documents be digitized is a step beyond what we have here!
We use qr-based payments where I live too. I been the qr-codes have to work on all payment platforms which is super convenient.
The only minor gripe is that they charge a small transfer fee if going between banks. Do you have that fee?
there is no fee, the servers and bandwidth cost taken from taxpayers money basically
India has the BRO too.
Watching a guy called Joe Ryan on Youtube at the mo, who's riding a motorbike around the Himalayas. The BRO are building roads there at an incredible rate in the most impossible landscape. I'm genuinely amazed at the scale and adaptability of them and how much they're doing right now.
This is literally changing the lives of those who live in the area, although I do wonder how much this will trigger tourism and change everything as it has elsewhere. But still, those guys can build roads.
I'm currently living in the Netherlands and I found some awesome, (for me) novel things, like ATMs all being from one company that all the banks in NL share ownership in. That means no matter your bank you dont pay for getting cash. Which is ironic cos I dont need cash as much anymore since non-cash payments are so much more prevalent here compared to Germany, for example.
It's also fun that we can go to Germany and still get cash out for free whereas Germans have to pay a fee for using their own ATMs.
For other banks.
Sparkassen customers dont need to pay at other sparkassen belonging to the same group (I think it depends on how the different regions organized themselves)
They can also do coorperations between other banks like for ing-diba and other institutes.
I was just on the Turkish coast and to my surprise, I found an ING atm. "Sweet, its my bank so I shouldn't have any fees!" I said to my boat driver (who only speaks Turkish).
They charged me like 3%.
ING Turkey ≠ ING Netherlands ≠ ING anywhere else
Oh he spoke other languages, it's just easier to pretend not to
Portugal has exactly the same system (I've lived in both countries) which has actually even more features (such as letting you pay yours bills at any ATM) than the Dutch one.
I think that at least in Europe the countries were ATMs rely on VISA or Mastercard for inter-bank withdrawals like in the UK and US are the exception rather than the rule.
Australia: carrying out elections.
Voting is compulsory and you will be fined if you don’t vote without an acceptable reason.
But because voting is compulsory, it’s extremely easy and accessible. Waiting in line for more than 15 minutes is a long wait. Even in the suburbs you’re not usually more than a five minute drive from a polling place.
If you think you’ll have trouble getting to a polling place on election day (a Saturday), you can request a postal ballot or vote early at a different polling place.
We have an independent electoral commission federally and in each state/territory to organise elections (depending on which level of government you’re voting for). They also handle district boundaries to remove gerrymandering.
All ballots are marked and counted by hand. The counting process is open and transparent: any candidate can send people to inspect the counting process and ensure there are no irregularities.
And the democracy sausage!
You don't have to vote. As long as you show up and have your name marked off, you can leave the ballot paper blank.
This is all true, but there's more:
Turkiye: E-Devlet.
We have this E-Government system that centralizes almost all relations with the State, I really don’t remember when was the last time I saw an official document in paper. With all 1000+ official agencies involved, you can access and manage over 8000+ services like GDPR permissions, analogue tv frequency infos, paying traffic tickets, state-backed escrowing, fraud checks, my kids grades, my medical records etc within an handsome mobile/web app.
It was shocking to see even my German friends still need to use their physical mailboxes to handle official stuff. I can imagine it’s even worse at the rest of the western world.
Much of the UK's regular government stuff is online and very simple too - their website is actually very good. It doesn't integrate everything though. The health service is particularly fragmented and communication is often by post and not that good.
Same in Spain.
Everything is digitalized and you have the right to do everything digitally. I've never mailed anything to the government.
Not sure why you would think Germany is the best in this respect as I've often heard the opposite in my travels there. They are very anti-tech in government, privacy/cybersecurity reasons are what's usually cited.
Same in Lithuania.
In fact it's so good, that if you owe the state money, they'll just take it directly out of your bank account...
That‘s nice. We have this forepayment discount with all our taxes and tickets instead :D
France - treating people the same no matter what they do for a living.
It's really nice to be respected even if you're a cleaner or a bin man, and very much deserved
I've only spent a couple months in France, but I agree from my experience. I think that foreigners that complain about the French being rude were just expecting special treatment, didn't put in any effort themselves to be friendly, then shocked that the storekeeper/waiter wasn't kissing their ass, even though they didn't even manage to say 'bonjour'.
I respect the guys that drive garbage trucks, buses and mbulances tremendously. Also those that clean public spaces, make sure the sewers work and my lights turn on at night. The investment banker that makes tons of cash? Not so much.
Japan is like this too, and I loved to see that when I was living there.
The bus drivers often wear nice uniforms and white gloves, and clearly take a lot of care in their appearance and work. And people give them respect.
I wish it was like that everywhere, because being able to have pride in what you do and be respected for it is such an important thing that everyone deserves to have - regardless of what your job is.
We don’t discriminate, we hate everyone /s
Dutch traffic infrastructure. It's incredibly safe, promotes walking, bicycling and public transport, well maintained and easy to understand. There's a reason the largest Youtube channel on urban planning center around the Netherlands experience (and how other places could learn): https://youtube.com/@notjustbikes
You may shit and piss all over the NS, but once you've been abroad, you'll accept those delays with grace.
Recycling. In Sweden we recycle so much that we have to buy trash from other countries!
In Denmark our district heating is so great that we have to import trash to burn at our Combined Heat and Power plants. Bit ironic given that we're also a market leader on windmills that are supposed to replace plants.
UK: Crumpets. Crumpets lightly toasted with butter soaking into its pores, and then lightly toasted once more with a slather of Marmite.
These are nothing like pancakes. You bite into the crispy surface and are met with a butter/Marmite infusion that explodes into the back of your mouth, and whilst you're dealing with that sensual assault, your teeth sink into the soft almost creamy texture of the crumpet itself.
They are divine, and are the sole reason I stay in this cold dreary backwater of a country.
Ah, yes. Trypophobia pancakes.
I feel trypophobia quite strongly with some triggers, even things like budding plants pushing through the ground can make my akin crawl. But for some reason crumpets are okay.
I guess my brain just sees the crumpet texture as being like a macro bread texture, which is okay because it's kinda bready.
the sole reason I stay in this cold dreary backwater of a country.
You do know you can get crumpets in any supermarket in sunny Queensland, yeah? You can even get Marmite (but why would you when Vegemite is superior).
Yes, yes, there there, now...
smothers face with a pillow whilst making shushing noises
Australian Marmite is from New Zealand and is not quite the same as British.
Vegemite doesn't spread properly and tastes like charcoal.
Change my mind.
Vegemite is superior to marmite, but crumpets are best with butter & honey/golden syrup.
Marmite crumpets are the best
Falconry is set up really well in the US and several foreign countries clubs are petitioning their government to emulate us.
It's difficult to get into on purpose.
Had to read this a few times until it clicked that it doesn't mean as opposed to getting into accidentally.
"Hi honey, how was your day?"
"Terrible. I accidentally became a falconer and you know how hard I've been trying to avoid falconry recently. I thought I was safe."
Can you actually buy raptors? I was under the impression they were all caught wild, and then had to be released after a certain time period.
I did see though when I looked up "wild take" that means removing pre-fledged birds from the nest. They can't be sold though.
The state regulations I pulled up said out of state birds could be brought in, but not released. Do people just import birds from other countries with poor rules?
Wild take is mostly only for juvenile raptors (only exceptions are Kestrels and Great Horned Owls as they are almost impossible to determine their age by plumage). There is a fledgling season where a chick can be taken from a nest, and a normal season where the bird is trapped while it's on its own.
A fledgling will be imprinted onto humans and cannot be released back into the wild ever. It is way too accustomed to people and can be a nuisance at best and a danger at worst to the public if released.
A wild trapped juvenile is a normal bird that is trained to hunt cooperatively. They can be released at any time or kept their entire 20+ year life.
Wild birds can not be sold, but they can be transferred to other licensed individuals. Any tit for tat stuff can lead to trouble with this.
If wild raptors are kept for a certain number of years, they can be bred and their offspring sold to other falconers or licensed individuals. These captive bred birds cannot be released into the wild but they in turn can be bred too. They have a seamless band put on their legs when they are chicks to differentiate them from wild birds.
Importing birds from other countries is extremely expensive because as far as I know they need to stay in government quarantine for 30 days or so.
My 3 Harris Hawks, all captive bred. Their native range is the American Southwest and Mexico but mine are from Seattle, Los Vegas, and Baton Rouge: https://falconry.party/post/13676
Germany: bread
Was learning about the requirements it be a baker in Germany - something like 3 years of school to work at a bakery, 6 years to own one. Crazy.
Oh man! Yes!
nah we knew that already
Say what you will about the chaebols running the country and the rampant corruption, Korean roadworkers are incredibly fast and efficient. There's never some guy standing around doing nothing.
Canada: we're the best at being annoyingly modest while simultaneously feeling smugly superior.
Also Canada is the number 1 producer of potassium in the world, massive potash mines up in Saskatchewan
Shh, don't brag about it
Billiard balls and playing cards. Belgium is world leader in both.
Edit: forgot to add pigeons. Belgian competition pigeons are the most expensive in the world.
Edit 2: Belfries. Clock-O-Matic is a Belgian company and world leader in the automation of Belfries. It's not that hard because most Belfries are located in Belgium and France, if not all of them.
Edit 3: It never ends. Roller coaster wheels. Let that sink in. No their country produces more roller coaster wheels nor is as good as we arr at it.
Man, it feels weird to think of USPCC as a Cartamundi subsidiary, but I guess you're right — since 2019 (had to look that up) Belgium really has been the playing-card hub of the world! (A little American patriotism just died in me...)
USPCC only makes for a fourth of Cartamundi's revenue. And to make it even more Belgian, Cartamundi is still run by the same two families that founded the company 6 generations ago Each family owns 50% of the shares.
Damn. This actually makes me want to live in Belgium. If not for the billiards,then for the church bells. If not for those, then for the competitive pigeons... Then the cards. (In that order)
slaps on the pigeon shed
Fastest pigeons in the world baby.
But seriously. 1.252.000 euro for a pigeon
America: our mail system is. USPS processes 23.5 million packages per day, and processes and delivers 318 million pieces of mail every day, to every single household in America, 6 days per week (7 days per week for packages).
They will throw mail sacks onto the backs of donkeys and trek them down into the Grand Canyon to deliver to tribes down there. They will deliver by bike, plane, boat, truck, car, etc. Hell, name any other organization where you could hand someone a letter and $0.62 and ask them to take it to Alaska for you, and they'd say no problem.
"Post" roads in the U.S. are named as such because they were roads built specifically for the movement of "post" across the country, and people have even argued that USPS (then the Postal Service) created the layout of the country as we know it.
And despite what many may think or know, USPS is incredibly efficient when it comes to mail and delivery compared to other countries. I remember them telling us during our orientation (I used to be a mail carrier) that back around 2013, representatives from USPS were actually flown to Germany to teach and help them start delivering 6-days per week. USPS taught Germany how to be more efficient at something 😂
Poland: Blik.
Some would probably also say Paczkomaty and Żabka, but neither automatic parcel lockers nor breaking labour laws are strictly Polish inventions, so I wouldn't count them
Denmark: Hygge, apparently. But a lot of writers are working hard to make money off of getting a lot of people to know about it.
What is Hygge?
Wikipedia says: "Hygge is a word in Danish and Norwegian that describes a cozy, contented mood evoked by comfort and conviviality."
Slovakia: corruption
Isn't the party in power pro Russian? Would make sense then.
I live in a 10 million people European country which is the leading cork producer in the World
Also the first European country to explicitly decriminalise drug consumption.
Those two things are unrelated.
America: deep fried Oreos.
Austria 🇦🇹
You know those little CO2 cartridges? Most likely made by iSi
Ooooooh, that explains why the whippets weren’t kicking in.
Austria is good at producing CO2, got it.
Seems like a weird thing to brag about nowadays.
Playing football in Australia. The Australian version AFL we are the best at it