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30 Trivia Tidbits About America’s Worst Habits and Policies

Land of the free. Home of the brave. Site of the regrets

30 Trivia Tidbits About America’s Worst Habits and Policies

August 31, 2024

Before you start throwing corn dogs at us, we’d like to acknowledge that America has plenty of great attributes as well. It wouldn’t be up there as a world power if it didn’t. But because we can be negative nellies sometimes, we wanted to throw some shade at Uncle Sam for a moment. I’m sure we can all agree that student loans and the lack of parental leave are massive issues. And don’t get us started on the…

Okay, maybe we are about to tear the U.S a new one. Let the corn dogs fly!

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30

dd-mm-yyyy dd-mm-yyyy and yyyy-mm-dd dd-mm-yyyy. mm-dd-yyyy. and yyyy-mm-dd yyyy-mm-dd mm-dd-yyyy mm-dd-yyyy and dd-mm-yyyy America is the only country in the world that relies solely on the MM-DD-YY date format, and only a few others consider it to be an option. CRACKED.COM — Source

29

CRACKED COM In the US, it's normal to go to college for four years. BIOLOGY HISTORY ENGLISH sociology POLITIC GEOMETR MATHEMATICS - ELIGION ECONOMY PHYSICS TUC ARTS OLOGY EDUCATION MISTRY In Europe, it's usually just three years, as lots of the general education that US students take is taken care of in high school. — Source

28

CRACKED THE U.S WORKS WAY TOO MUCH. INSURICARE A adidas | I SERVICE Americans work almost 25% more hours than Europeans, 137 more hours per year than the Japanese, and 499 more hours per year than the French. Americans retire later, and take fewer vacations than most other countries. — Source

27

CRACKED WORLDWIDE DRINKING AGES. 64% of the world's drinking age is 18 or under. Canada is split between 18 and 19, but America's age of 21 is only behind the Eastern African nation of Eritrea (25 years old) and, of course, the 11 countries where alcohol is banned altogether. — Source

26

CRACKED.COM American portion sizes are abnormally huge. Food servings are 40% to 80% larger in American cities than in European ones. op 20 When adopting an a typical American diet or moving to America, people from other cultures gain significant amounts of weight. — Source

25

The United States is the only modern democracy to elect its president via Electoral College CRACKED COM — Source

24

Most of the world uses the A series of paper sizes; doubling in size but maintaining the same aspect ratio throughout. Neat. 841 B41 A1 594 594 x 841 AO cametime. 1189 841x1189 A3 297 . 420 A2 420 x 594 A5 - A4 297 -210 AT AS Meanwhile, the US only uses two sizes of paper: Letter, and Legal, which is slightly longer than letter-sized. GRACKED.COM — Source

23

Individually, Americans use more cocaine than any other country. The percentage of users in America is only a tenth of a percent higher than Brazil, but Americans use 36% of the world's cocaine, compared to Brazil's 18%. CRACKED.COM — Source

22

37% of Americans skip going to the doctor or refilling prescriptions because of the cost. In Great Britain and Sweden, that number is 4-6%. $ A hip replacement costs $80,000 in the U.S. and less than $14,000 in Europe. Nexium costs $215 in the U.S. and $20-60 in Europe. http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2014/ CRACKED.COM 05/30/no-the-us-doesnt-have-the-best-health-care-system-in-the-world — Source

21

America incarcerates more of its citizens than Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Switzerland combined. x 2. The U.S. incarceration rate is 698 per 100,000 people. In Finland, it's 55 per 100,000. Sweden: 57 per 100,000. Denmark: 67 per 100,000. Norway: 75 per 100,000. Switzerland: 84 per 100,000. http://www.prisonstudies.org/highest-fo-lowest/ CRACKED.COM prison_population_rate?field_region_taxonomy_tid=All — Source

20

The U.S. is 1 of only 4 countries in the world that does not require paid maternity leave. The U.S. ranks last among developed countries when it comes to paid parental leave. While many U.S. companies offer paid parental leave, the United States is the only advanced country without a federal law mandating it. CRACKED.COM — Source

19

Unlike many other countries around the world, America doesn't officially embrace the tradition of napping. It's a cultural expectation in places like Italy, Spain, Greece, the Philippines, Nigeria & others, but viewed as slacking here. GRAGKED.COM — Source

18

The United States is the only nation that hasn't ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which means that American children may be treated by the criminal justice system as adults, including being arrested and serving life sentences. CRACKED.COM — Source

17

In the US, the number of vacant houses are six times greater than the number of homeless people. USA Europe Homeless 3.5 million 4.1 million people Vacant 18.5 million 11 million houses The ratio in Europe is less than half that. CRACKED.COM — Source

16

GRAGKED.COM Drugs are more expensive in the US than other nations. A month's supply of diabetes medication Januvia costs $168.61 after discounts in the US. Canada pays the next highest price ($68.10), which is not discounted and still $100 less. — Source

15

There are almost as many cars in the U.S. as there are people. The average for all 50 states is 910 cars per 1,000 citizens. The numbers for the European Union countries are much lower-587 cars per 1,000 citizens. CRACKED.COM — Source

14

CRACKED.COM Only the U.S. has widely adopted in-sink garbage disposals. insinkeraborg food waste dispose Because of how much water they use and the burden they put on sewage systems, in-sink garbage disposals are really unpopular outside the U.S. For example, nearly half of U.S. households have in-sink garbage disposals, but only 5% of U.K. ones do. They used to be banned in Japan and Australia, and still are in Austria, Portugal, and the Netherlands. — Source

13

Riding in the back of a taxi is inherently American. L DI In Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Scotland, taxi drivers will consider you rude if you don't sit in the front seat. CRACKED.COM — Source

12

On workdays, 53% of Americans get fewer than seven hours of sleep. Those numbers are considerably lower in other Western countries - 39% in the UK, 36% in Germany, 30% in Canada, and 29% in Mexico. CRACKED.COM — Source

11

Almost 80% of American boys are circumcised. In Europe and South America, however, this number averages below 20%. GRACKED.COM — Source

10

FOR TRIPS OF LESS THAN ONE MILE... 70% OF AMERICANS WILL DRIVE. 70% OF EUROPEANS WILL WALK, BIKE, OR USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT. CRACKED.COM — Source

9

CRACKED ASKING WHAT DO YOU DO? Asking about someone's profession is a common American icebreaker, but is considered insulting or possibly classist in countries like The Netherlands. If the dinner party guest says lawyer or janitor are you going to treat them differently? — Source

8

CRACKED ATHLEISURE ISN'T COOL EVERYWHERE ELSE. TRADESDRED Sure, stylish sportswear outside of the gym is trendy, but in Japan, most of Europe, and elsewhere, wearing sweatpants, leggings, flip flops, and even baseball caps in public is disrespectful. — Source

7

CRACKED YOU'RE FROM THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Travelers saying they're American implies that only the U.S. should be considered America. From North to South, there are 38 American countries. — Source

6

TWO PARTIES There are ten political parties represented in Israel's parliament, the Knesset. The Bundestag in Germany has six. Eleven in the Oireachtas in Ireland. Brazil's Chamber of Deputies has 28. New Zealand? Seven parties. South Africa's Parliament? Thirteen. CRACKED.COM — Source

5

COLLEGE LOANS xx STOP R.I.P. T the Price OUR of our DR FUTURE Even keeping to where student loans are necessary, there's a big difference in how the U.S. and other countries handle them. In America, you'll be hounded to pay back loans even after declaring bankruptcy. In the UK, your student debt is completely written off if you have not repaid it in 25-35 years. CRACKED.COM — Source

4

BREAD To visitors from other countries, American bread tastes like cake. That's because manufacturers add a ton of high-fructose corn syrup-the stuff is so cheap there, thanks to corn subsidies. Some people think American bread tastes better. Others think the sweetness makes it incompatible with any kind of topping. GRACKED.COM — Source

3

ELECTIONS Text UNITED to 30330 BID N In the U.S., races often start more than a year before the actual vote. In most other countries, campaigns last only a couple of weeks. The longest election campaign in Canadian history lasted 78 days. In the UK, a political party can't spend above a set amount in the year before an election. CRACKED.COM — Source

2

INDOOR SHOES You might be confused by the custom people in some countries have of taking off their shoes as soon as they enter a house. Those people find the absence of that custom even weirder. American floors must be filthy, they assume. Either that or American streets must be squeaky clean. CRACKED.COM — Source

1

INEQUALITY When it comes to income, the U.S. is one of the most unequal countries in the world. In 2014, for example, it ranked #1 (China has since overtaken the US). Some part is due to how America has the most wealth in total. That same year, the US had 41.6 percent of all the wealth in the world, making it the richest country. CRACKED.COM — Source

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