Lots of people say the United States are the best country in the world. While we could debate ‘the best’ endlessly, things don’t have to be so jingoistic.
The fact remains that, despite some flaws , the U.S. is a great country to live in. What makes it so? Let’s turn the floor over to the good people of r/AskReddit to answer the question, ” What’s a good thing about living in America? “
Diverse wildlife.
“Where I’ve lived for my whole life, having wildlife in my backyard. When my family moved out here, week 1 we received an email from a neighbor with a pic of 3 mountain lions just chillin in their backyard. Within 2 months, my mom had walked right by a giant bobcat at our front door.”
Generosity.
“Americans lead the world in charitable donations and general aid to other countries. When a disaster occurs; the US are the first to help out and give supplies.”
The sameness.
“People like to complain about the sameness of American culture, but it’s really comforting when you’re in an area you’re unfamiliar with and can still go to Target that has the same layout as the ones you know from back home.”
Individualism.
“I love that almost everyone here has a hobby or a passion. I haven’t seen anywhere else so many people from every spectrum of society play golf, ride horses, hunt, fish, ride motorcycles, skiing, hiking or rock climbing.”
The music.
“Isn’t Blues, which originated in the American South, the source of so much modern music we have today? Unfortunate that Blues came from slaves trying to overcome their hardships with soulful music, but Pop, Hip Hop, Jazz, RnB, and Rock and all their variants has Blues in its DNA.”
The melting pot of cultures.
“My favorite thing is the culture. The fact that there’s so many different cultures apart of our culture, and then also the fact that every American has a sense of rebellion in them, that’s unlike most other countries.”
Things are convenient.
“The general convenience of everything (online services, drive-thru banking, everything the YMCA offers, giant stores that sell everything, the public school system, etc). Every day I’m blown away by how easy it is to do everyday tasks.”
Job prospects.
“I’m a 43 year old mom who just went back to get a masters of science in data science for a career change and it looks like my job prospects are optimistic. That would not be a possibility at all in the Eastern European my family came from.”
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Freedom of expression.
“I can wear what I want. Sure I have strict parents at the age of about to be 21. But coming from the middle east. Most people don’t realize the blessing we have here to be able to wear shorts or jeans or tank tops.”
Diversity.
“I have never faced repercussions for criticizing our leaders or government. The diversity is pretty cool. I have lived my whole life in the northeast, and pretty much any given day I could meet someone from literally any country on the planet.”
Isolated from invasion.
“After watching what’s happening to Ukraine, it’s nice to know we’ll never be physically invaded. It would be nothing short of a suicide mission for anyone that tried.”
– u/berwak
Good food.
“I’m not American, but when I was there it was undoubtedly the food. At no given point was I more than a ten minute walk from good food. Contrary to what Reddit would have you believe, it’s not all fast food either(though Whataburger is insanely good). There’s alot of good little places to eat and you’re never far from one.”
Stuff is open late.
“Our grocery stores stay open really late. On the east coast, it’s until 11 or 12 at night. On the west, it’s 24 hours in some places.
This is, in all seriousness, the thing I love most about my country.”
Public restrooms.
“Free bathrooms! It seems so awful to me that in some places abroad you have to pay to use a public toilet or risk soiling yourself if you can’t cough up the cash.”
The accessibility and price of tech.
“How available it is. I have coworkers from other parts of the world who stock up like crazy when they’re in the US.”
Different biomes.
“I like the diversity of the landscape & natural world. I’ve been to mountains & deserts & mountains in deserts. Been to the ocean with a sandy beach, to lakes with sandy beaches, to lakes with rocky beaches. Been to the woods & to forests. I’ve seen so many different native plants, all kinds of animals, & bugs. It’s pretty damn cool.”
Accessible spaces.
“Wheelchair accessibility. As someone who uses a wheelchair for all ambulation, I can say the US has a leg up on that compared to the other countries that I have been to.”
Friendly people.
“Despite our stereotype for being xenophobic and racist, I think Americans are by and large an incredibly friendly people.
“Many of us would happily give the shirt off our back to help our neighbor (at least on a 1-1 level, not sure why that hadn’t translated to the national level).”
Plenty of room.
“The USA has so much open space that we’ve carved off enormous parts of the continent to permanently be just open space. The US National Park system is the crown gem of the nation.”
Standard of living.
“Running water, high construction safety standards, the poorest Americans are still better off than most of the world, being able to feel relatively safe, freedom of speech.”
