really jarring coming back to the US after traveling to Asia for the last three weeks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And seeing how horrendous our infrastructure is. How does America have the largest GDP in the world, yet it seems like we.have given up on development of the country since the 70s? America's development post-WW2 seems to have stalled out a long time ago. As soon as I get back to the US, it took almost 75 miites to get through customs and to get our bags on a well outdated carousel at JFK. In Asia, they have the entire process already automated in many countries, where you are in and through customs in a matter of minutes. Bags are rapidly delivered to the carousel. As soon as we leave JFK via air tram, there were homeless people everywhere in the station, and the trains everywhere were late. Piles of trash were everywhere near the rail lines once we got on Amtrak, and there were shanty towns and boarded up buildings everywhere along the way going south from NY to DC. Contrast that to South Korea or Japan where trains are super clean, there are basically zero homeless people anywhere, and it truly feels like you're in a modern country with 21st century development and infrastructure. Hell, something as basic as cell phone service and wifi works anywhere you go on a train in South Korea and even if you're in a tunnel, because because of how well connected the country is. As soon as we left Penn Station, cell phone service stops working in multiple spots because of lack of reception in some tunnels. It is just super jarring to come back home and see just how horrendously behind we are with the rest of t developed world. America just seems to have given up on improving itself for a long time now. But at least we got a $1T fighter jet program I guess?

Possibly because we don't use mites in the US. If you like it so much, why don't you relocate.

Telling people to relocate is the worst possible response. I just think people who post this are wildly insecure and guided completely by hysterical emotion. You make me mad with your opinion, leave the country! How old are you? Grow up.

[Anonymous]

Here are some other points the haters forget to mention.

We welcome more immigrants than any other country and believe it or not and we do in fact make it easy for them to achieve freedom. All kinds of freedom.
We are not nearly as racist as some of those ‘perfect countries’ you all seem to love so much.
We spend more on military because we are defending the freaking world.
We put a man on the moon.

Yes, we are not perfect but it’s shameful for you to act like we are such losers when it’s this country that gives you the privilege to moan that you don’t have even more privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here are some other points the haters forget to mention.

We welcome more immigrants than any other country and believe it or not and we do in fact make it easy for them to achieve freedom. All kinds of freedom.
We are not nearly as racist as some of those ‘perfect countries’ you all seem to love so much.
We spend more on military because we are defending the freaking world.
We put a man on the moon.

Yes, we are not perfect but it’s shameful for you to act like we are such losers when it’s this country that gives you the privilege to moan that you don’t have even more privilege.

Wow, we’re not AS racist. Impressive defense. Even your premier example of American hegemony, putting a man on the moon, is over FIFTY YEARS OLD.

Is the US now like that guy from your high school whose best memory is the football game he won? Time to step it up, no?

[Anonymous]

I completely agree with you OP. I visited Costa Rica for a summer to visit relatives when I was 16 in 1988. I remember thinking - "wow, there is so much poverty, people begging, chanty houses, properties have to bars on the windows and have razor wire or broken bottles on walls to guard against petty crime, etc." I thought the US was such a fantastic place to live.

I took my two teenagers this summer to visit relatives and they kept asking why is the US so run down compared to so many places in Costa Rica.? We went to a middle class mall and it was so nice. The food court didn't have homeless people hanging out or sketchy people. There were fun activities to do inside the mall. We drove around with relatives and yes there was poverty but my kids thought people were poorer and had more addictions/mental health issues in the US than in Costa Rica.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, search Youtube for Japan school lunches kids. You’re jaw will drop when you see the daily fresh food cooked in the cafeteria compared to U.S. school lunches.

Regarding the military spending, it is a big factor. The majority of the discretionary budget in this country is for the military. Nondiscretionary is for SS and medicare, etc.

[Anonymous]

The terrible state of US infrastructure is widely known. Why are posters getting so offended by OP’s post? The average age of bridges in the US is 44 years but most were designed for a 50 year service life. Over 43,000 bridges are classified as structurally deficient and in poor condition. Why have they been neglected?

Well, 33 OECD countries collect more tax as a % of GDP than the US. Nobody wants to pay tax.

[Anonymous]

Well, this is a Japanese day care. No issues with gun violence. What is your day care like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The terrible state of US infrastructure is widely known. Why are posters getting so offended by OP’s post? The average age of bridges in the US is 44 years but most were designed for a 50 year service life. Over 43,000 bridges are classified as structurally deficient and in poor condition. Why have they been neglected?

Well, 33 OECD countries collect more tax as a % of GDP than the US. Nobody wants to pay tax.

I’m not offended I just think it’s stupid. As you say, it’s widely known, but OP is treating it like breaking news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean Japan can afford all that because they aren’t really funding a military are they? We are their defense. Did they have that great infrastructure before the war? We didn’t destroy the entire country.

The US is by no means the perfect place but it really bothers me when people visit abroad and suddenly think they are so worldly to come home and trash their home country because they spent two weeks visiting tourist traps. The world is a bit more complicated than that and if you truly were well-traveled you would know this.

So isn’t it a reasonable conclusion based on what you wrote to say, “hey, maybe we should be spending less money on military jets that are so poorly designed that they crash immediately after takeoff, and more money on our citizens and infrastructure?”

Yes, I never said it wasn’t. I simply explained why it’s likely the Japanese can afford those projects. It’s also a bad look to negatively compare the hand that feeds you after a mere snapshot of the greener grass. As a tourist, you have zero understanding of the challenges of living in another country but your own. I’ve lived abroad in many different countries and once you pull back the curtain you understand every place is less than ideal.

Why do you assume the OP works for an American company simply because they live in the US?I don’t. I know lots of people who don’t. The world is a bit more complicated, didn’t you know? I read that recently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP is correct. We lived 15 years in 5 countries and feel the exact same. We have fallen way behind. Just as an example, we pay a lot for poor internet in the U.S., because of de facto ISP monopolies/collusion. Our government represents corporate interests, not the people's. We trail in education, infant and maternal mortality, suicide, and many other metrics.

Re: airports, visiting Incheon Airport near Seoul is like visiting the future.

Seriously! They have a garden in the airport. Why can’t we have nice things like that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you never heard of the coffin homes in Hong Kong or Guryong Village in S Korea? You were a tourist in a series of small countries and now you think you are worldly enough to criticize the place that gave you the opportunities and privilege to visit those countries to begin with?

Have you ever heard of Jackson, Mississippi or Flint, Michigan? Hell, many parts of the US look like Cambia, Laos, or the poorer parts of Thailand.

I'm an immigrant from an Asian third world country and this statement is laughable and shows your ignorance. Please stop pretending like you're informed and well-traveled.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I completely agree with you OP. I visited Costa Rica for a summer to visit relatives when I was 16 in 1988. I remember thinking - "wow, there is so much poverty, people begging, chanty houses, properties have to bars on the windows and have razor wire or broken bottles on walls to guard against petty crime, etc." I thought the US was such a fantastic place to live.

I took my two teenagers this summer to visit relatives and they kept asking why is the US so run down compared to so many places in Costa Rica.? We went to a middle class mall and it was so nice. The food court didn't have homeless people hanging out or sketchy people. There were fun activities to do inside the mall. We drove around with relatives and yes there was poverty but my kids thought people were poorer and had more addictions/mental health issues in the US than in Costa Rica.

Lol. You were able to gain those "insights" after one summer vacation in Costa Rica?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you never heard of the coffin homes in Hong Kong or Guryong Village in S Korea? You were a tourist in a series of small countries and now you think you are worldly enough to criticize the place that gave you the opportunities and privilege to visit those countries to begin with?

Pffff....all I gotta do is drive 45 minutes up to Baltimore. Moot point.

Because the US has soooo much freedom that we don't even have the right to live free from gun violence in schools because of the gun lobby, nor do we have any rights to affordable healthcare because of the insurance/pharmaceutical lobbies. Americans think they have so much freedom when all they are are slaves to corporate interests.

No one thinks any of the aforementioned countries are perfect. But their infrastructure sure as hell blows the US' out of the water. We stopped trying to develop the country many decades ago and are closer looking to Russia than other high tech 1st world countries.

[Anonymous]

We need another Eisenhower.

[Anonymous]

OP, echoing that experience. I hadn't traveled since COVID, and going to places and just noticing that ... they had nice stuff, and it works.

Everything here just feels so broken. The metro is broken and we can't fix it. The postal system is broken. Schools are starved for what they need.

I can't figure out if we aren't funding it properly, or maybe we are just poor and don't know it.