America Is Not Europe

I can be wrong, and I will be wrong.
Please check out IntoEurope. It's a great channel that is extremely bingeable and produces European content (if the name didn't give it away already):
/ intoeurope
Sources:
The source document will always be posted on the website:
www.romuluseurope.eu/youtube/...
About this video:
This is the most American-centric video I think I will make a in long time.
I am not trying to claim that these differences between the United States and Europe are the most relevant (consumption tax and inequality overall, education financing, coddling of Americans, and the political system generally), or that these are the only differences that exist.
I made this video mainly because I've always felt that Americans and Europeans both engage in just looking at each other and thinking there are these simple differences that could be tweaked easily, and I just think that's far from the case. There are a lot of large and relevant differences between the two regions.
Also, this video engages in a bunch of generalizations, and there are enough relevant differences between 'East' and 'Western' Europe already not even including the differences with the US. That being said, I wouldn't be making this channel if I didn't think there were more similarities between Europeans that we would care to admit.
Assets:
Images:
[Figure of Cultural Groups in Europe] American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America
www.abebooks.com/American-Nat...
[Figure of European Language Groups] Distribution of Major Language Groups in Europe en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_...
[Mark Zuckerberg Image] added black and white filter and mosaic modifier
Author: JD Lasica from Pleasanton, CA, US
Link: commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Mark_Zuckerberg_(7985186041).jpg
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
Elon Musk Image
Author: Duncan Hull
Link: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Bill Gates Image
Author: Kuhlmann /MSC
Link: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Germany
Plenaire zaal Tweede Kamer Image
Author: Husky
Link: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Inside Parliament of Sweden
Author: Suyash Dwivedi
Link: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Deutscher Bundestag Plenarsaal Seitenansicht
Author: Times
Link: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
Footage:
[Senator Ted Cruz][59:36] Sen. Cruz and Sen. Sanders Debate Tax Reform on CNN - October 18, 2017
link: • Sen. Cruz and Sen...
[France 24] Emmanuel Macron Video. Can’t find the link anymore but the title was ‘France - Emmanuel Macron réunit le parlement pour tenter de se relancer.’ Video was also used as an image.
[NBC News] 1988 Flashback: George H.W. Bush Says, ‘Read My lips: No New Taxes’ | NBC News
link: • 1988 Flashback: G...
[Bloomberg Quicktake Now | CSPAN] Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema Votes Against $15 Minimum Wage Effort
link: • Arizona Senator K...
[Bill Gates] The wicked problem of school funding
link: • The wicked proble...
[Big Think] How overparenting backfired on Americans | Jonathan Haidt | Big Think
link: • How overparenting...
[CPSAN] Constitutional Role of Judges
link: www.c-span.org/video/?301909-...
Music:
Expand by Hazy
soundcloud.com/hazy_music
Music provided by www.plugnplaymusic.net
Wonder by Hazy
soundcloud.com/hazy_music
Music provided by www.plugnplaymusic.net
Title: Blue Wednesday, tender spring - Exhale
Artist: Blue Wednesday
Link: chillhop.bandcamp.com/track/e...
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:00 - Taxation
02:26 - Federal Responsibility
03:05 - Education
04:58 - Coddling of the American Mind
06:19 - Scalia Rant
08:01 - Conclusion

[Hoog]

!! BIG ERROR: SWITCH RED AND BLUE AT 1:35: Blue should be top 1% and red should be bottom 50%. !! I was not expecting this video to do as well as it did, and it is really not as polished as I would like it. There are mistakes, and please take this video with a grain of salt. I may delete it in the future. Some housekeeping: 1. Sources and script can be found here: www.romuluseurope.eu/youtube/america-is-not-europe/ The comment section helps nuance the video, and if I see comments that add important corrections or more nuance, I will put them in that document. 2. I would highly recommend checking out the channel IntoEurope, which produces great European content: kzbin.info 3. I would highly recommend reading this paper on "Why Europe is more equal than the United States: wid.world/document/why-is-europe-more-equal-than-the-united-states-world-inequality-lab-wp-2020-19/. It's a fascinating read, and it was written by some very smart Europeans. 4. This is the most American-centric video I will make in a while, so apologies in advance if you expect more content on America like this in the immediate future. 5. I was trying to be less attention grabbing with this video, slower, and less focused on the timing of certain clips. I don't think that will help the analytics, but, either way, I enjoyed making the animations, and I hope you guys enjoy the slower paced video.

[Hoog]

Comment by Pangeid correcting Antonin Scalia :) - 6:52 Italy actually is an example of perfect bicameralism, where both chambers have the same powers

[Hoog]

Comment by Aloys - but you don't pay VAT on every single step of production, you can deduct VAT paid for materials/ingredients/tools/fuel even your business trips or phone or pc, and then the VAT is only counted once, based on final product's price

[Hoog]

Comment by Mariano Mancone - 6:51 actually in Italy the Senate, the other parliamentary branch is not honorific, and the italian parliamentarism system is actually called "perfect bicameralism", and while up to 4 senators can be appointed honorifically each 7 years by the italian head of state it is fully elected with a pretty similar electoral law to the lower chamber, the only notable difference is that it requires 21 years instead of 18 to vote for that chamber. But in the end it's just an insignificant remark that doesn't impact the rest of the vid and the analysis. Really great job

[Hoog]

Comment by Omit who is an accountant I trust - I'd just like to point out a falsehood here. While it is true that everybody pays for VAT in Europe, a lot of goods purchases by companies are VAT-free and even if they pay VAT, they can write it off in their corporate taxes. The whole idea of VAT is that the final "user" pays for it. Trust me. I'm an accountant.

[Marc o]

@Hoog Great video! just a note, the age to vote in senate elections in Italy was recently lowered to 18

[Nichijao]

"America Is Not Europe" me: *looks at map* Seems correct

[JorgeCheddar]

Source?

[Nichijao]

@JorgeCheddar my source is that I made it the f##k up!

[tishaak]

@Nichijao isnt your map technically the source?

[Nichijao]

@tishaak yes

[Wayne Rodriquez]

As someone who lives in Bridgeport, CT, it’s ridiculous how inequitable education is here. 10 miles separates the best and worst high schools in the nation. Your zip code truly defines a child’s future.

[T D.]

As an german, may I ask what the zip code is?

[theEXalius]

@T D. A zip code is a string of numbers assigned to a certain area in a city. They're used to split cities up into districts.

[TieMan]

@T D. postal code

[T D.]

@TieMan ahh I now understand thanks (to "theEXalius" too)

[Jolly Blond Giant]

@TieMan Seems very odd to me that they're still called ZIP codes. ZIP stands for "Zoning Improvement Plan". The plan was implemented almost 60 years ago, so it's fair to say any improvements that were to be made have long since been made, that it's no longer a plan, but a system, and we should call them post codes like the rest of the world.

[bree]

as a so-called "european", the word "europe" is doing a lot of heavy lifting here, there is vast differences in economic policy from the uk to germany to sweden to hungary to russia

[Evan Flynn]

Are you British? I only ask because of your disdain for the word "European." Lmao

[Wombat45]

@Evan Flynn I think it's more ironic how the person who created the video wanted to explain why comparisons aren't all equal between countries while completely ignoring the differences that occur within individual European countries as if they're a monolith. Sure, trying to adopt things that aren't perfectly aligned with a system is naive and a simplification, but to outright reject ideas based on that same premise is just as naive.

[King Muddy]

Compared to the differences between Europe and the US the difference between the western European nations is negligible and not even discussed. So your point is kind of irrelevant

[Wombat45]

@King Muddy And that shows your ignorance to the social, economic, and political differences

[Tahir Rizwan]

I remember as a kid in Holland just walking and biking to do groceries for my mom or hanging out, staying outside till 11 pm, taking the subway, streetcar, and bus to go to other cities. All the other houses had families and we regularly played with other neighborhood kids and everyone knew each other. When I moved to the US, I noticed this didn’t happen. The infrastructure isn’t made for it. 5 min by car is an hour walk in California and everything is so car-centric and stretched out. It was very rare to see playgrounds while small towns in Holland have parks and playgrounds everywhere + homes are closer to schools as well. I now live in Toronto and I see some European urban planning back in the city, but with a heavy emphasis of that North American inaccesibility bc of that grid design. Toronto is walkable by North American standards, but an absolute hell for Europeans. Public transport is solid though I must say in Toronto. Edit: I just wanted to reiterate that I don’t hate grid designs. It’s great for navigation and easy to move through. My gripes are with the size of some blocks which really call for solid public transportation to make it work for the ppl that have no cars 😅

[Brrrrrrrr]

The car-centric of the US also leads to a social divide. If someone can’t afford a car they are basically fucked.

[Karl K.]

i don't understand you guys that prefer walkable cities to spacious spread out cities. Space is a luxury. I'm atlethic and could walk 15 miles per day but the comfort of parking my car in front of the store i have to go is more important. you can't do that in european crowded streets, almost never

[Tahir Rizwan]

@Karl K. See that’s the issue, it’s built for cars not humans. Cars need maintenance, gas, stickers, insurance etc. Roads are stretched out for really no good reason. I’m lucky to live in Toronto without a car, but outside of it I’m reliant on a faulty bus system. Walkable cities imo offer more freedom, shops and amenities are closer which in turn makes everything more pleasant. In the US/Canada it feels like a trek getting to the store by crossing the parking lot. If most cities had a public transport system to match it, it wouldn’t be too bad, but this is rare. It’s really frustrating :/ My mom used to say Being without a car in California is being without legs.

[Brrrrrrrr]

@Karl K. Because there is no need for it. You can park your car at one point in the city and than enjoy the city itself

[Karl K.]

@Brrrrrrrr mmm...what if you need to transport the elders? or move stuff around? or there is really bad weather? I think your perspective works great if you're a tourist, reason why european city center is great for vacations. Way less for everyday, challenging, life.

[nothankyouiwouldprefernot]

Just stumbled onto your channel and this is awesome! I'm an American from rural Arizona who spent a good amount of time living and studying in the UK and living in a variety of countries in Europe and Asia. I've always had the hardest time explaining why I get frustrated when people make these facile arguments that "Finland does X, if we did X it would solve this massive problem." It's not that we should ignore successful policies in other countries, it's about accepting that those policies exist in an entirely different ecosystem - that we can't just copy and paste and assume it will work automatically.

[~m00nS74r~]

That happened in Venezuela, the idea of copying other systems just created a massive collapse of the political infrastructure, one time we were Nationalist, other time communist, and now no one knows who we are exactly

[Chickenmonger]

@~m00nS74r~I gotta say that is the most dangerous place to be. To not know what the system is, why it is that way, and who you are in it. Because someone is always willing to define it for you. Not very charitably usually. If it seems charitable, check the cup for poison.

[K S]

@~m00nS74r~ Venezuela was economically boycotted by the entire western world. If you make a living selling oil and no one else buys your oil it is obvious that your economy will melt. Add to this the fact that the dollar is the global currency, if you stop receiving dollars you no longer have economic backing and your currency will completely lose its value. this is a catastrophe

[MJ46]

man the work it takes just to make the animations you make has to be immense, yet it's so impressive, and it deserves all the support it can get, thank you for the great content

[WJ ZAV]

As a European, I have to admit that we often discuss America with our own cultural and political lens. I had to learn a few years ago that Americans, while they do seem very similar to us on a surface level, DO have quite different values and different political views across the entire spectrum.

[Enthused Norseman]

But... that also applies to Europe? Europe is not similar to itself, even.

[WJ ZAV]

@Enthused Norseman true, but more similar to each other than to America

[bg anonimouse]

@WJ ZAV Really? Germany and Greece, Italy and Sweden have more similarities than US states? I'd say California and Texas have more in common that Germany and Greece.

[WJ ZAV]

@bg anonimouse No, what I meant is that Germany and Greece have more in common than Germany and the US

[Schellshocked]

@WJ ZAV Germany and Greece is definitely way less similar than Germany and the US.

[Pretending to be a human]

I’m an American who was raised in England during my early childhood. The culture shock of moving to the US was pretty intense, even though the language was shared. To this day, my own ideologies and perspective tends to be much more European than American, and I can attest it is VERY different. Despite being born here and living here most of my life, I still feel like an outsider because my fundamental outlook doesn’t match up with the American optimism and patriotism. Culture varies pretty wildly between states, too. I lived in New Jersey for almost 20 years, and it is VERY different from where I now live in New York, even though the states are right next to each other.

[Karl K.]

I guess it happens when you live a couple of years on the other side of the atlantic. For me it's a bit the opposite, but between Texas and Italy in my case.

[bdot]

@Karl K. surprisingly i’d say italy and texas have more in common than new york and jersey lmao

[wifi961]

Yes States have their own cultures.

[Strandkorb ST]

@bdot no way, Italy is completely different from New York

[Frosty_Puffz]

The interesting thing about comparing and contrasting these two entities is that people have to realize the very foundations of them are built differently, and we observe them through those lenses. It's easy for someone from the U.S. to operate under assumptions of what is normal to them, and vice versa with someone from Europe - only to realize that there are faults and positives to both, and that navigating the thin line of what is best for each while also adhering to the unique qualities of each is very, very difficult to do.

[Ilmari]

The interesting difference is that the US was founded by rich slave owners, and democratic forces are usually militantly suppressed, e.g. Abraham Lincoln. Many European countries have been if not founded, mostly affected by the interests of the working class. Another interesting thing is that the rich are becoming more powerful everywhere. 90 % of Americans seem to have no political power (Gilens and Page, 2014). At the same time, interestingly as well, relative poverty has increased.

[Frosty_Puffz]

@Ilmari I mean the definition of political power is interesting, and it's definitely not related to the country being founded by rich slave owners. Europe was comprised of Kings and Queens with complete authority for the longest time. Subjects had no power, and so while stronger government seems like a progressive ideas to Americans, it actually is more idealistic of much older European theories. At the same time, voting in the US is 1 person to each vote, so any perceived addition or subtraction in political power is simply that- perceived. It's a cultural thing. With all of that in mind, you have to remember that Britain was a colonization and enslavement powerhouse for the longest time. That's why Africa was in turmoil under the for years, and their occupation allowed for slave owners in Africa to trade other African individuals to America colonists. If anything to get from this, I mean to say that the US was founded guns blazing and with the idea that everyone needs to fend for themselves and carve their own way, while Europe has always been a continent with pretty simple leadership roles. Neither is better, neither is worse, but the whole world has a lot to improve on.

[Ilmari]

@Frosty_Puffz good points though a bit irrelevant maybe IMHO. Most of the European countries' constitutions have been written by mostly working class interests, and the role of kings and the like has not really affected them. But now we are approaching an interesting topic: some people seem to consider gov't strangely unnecessary. To me that sounds odd: how could the United States ever have shaped to what it is now without governmental action. Stealing land from Indians and other colonies and so on I mean.

[Ilmari]

And what do you think about the statistic mentioned, that comparing laws to interests the bottom 90 % don't have political power? Because this is pretty recent regress, in the 1930s America was one of the most democratic countries ever.

[N8zog]

@Ilmari do you know the American government killed about 20% of the native population on the high end of estimates? They killed what was left after the Spanish, British, French and disease ended the vast majority of the native population. Colonial powers toppeled both the Aztec and Incan empire. What is your European colonialism worth now? Gold? This does not excuse what America did. The American government was well into a phase where it should have known what was right. But instead it finished the job that European colonialism had started Not to mention, most of America's founding fathers did not begin life in America owning slaves. And I would add they procured them through European power. Right now we are both defending the indefensible, so please stop. We should figure out how the situation can be helped instead of just spewing what we think we know about history.

[Elijah Weber]

I think the whole lack of child independence thing is only a problem in large cities or suburbs of those cities. I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma, the kind of place where you know almost everyone. While waiting for my grandma to drive me home after school (we lived wayy out in the country surrounded by trees and farms definitely not walkable), I would walk around town maybe go get a coke from the vending machine, chill at the old train station, play with friends. I was born in 2001 so wayy after the whole 80's fiasco of child abductions. That how it is for most people in small towns. I mean yeah occasionally you'll see one or two paranoid families that don't let their children out as often but for the most part the rural lifestyle offers a lot more independence in the US.

[Joe Mama]

I also feel like less child freedom is more of an issue today then it was back then where everyone wasn't nearly as paranoid.

[YOitsReddz]

I’m at that age now and I live in a rural small town in KY. Before I got my license, walking was impossible unless you were in downtown, the rest is just roads and more roads. I always have to drive to go anywhere here. I guess it just depends on if you get lucky on what small town you live in lol.

[His Majesty]

As a child I wasn’t aware of just how important separation of powers and checks and balances are. Now that I’ve learned about how some parliamentary governments run (especially Canada), I realize just how impactful it is.

[littlemissmello]

can you elaborate a little? What's wrong with parliamentary systems?

[Last Wymsi]

​​@littlemissmello Its easier to push legislation through. Thats what the clip about the bicameral system and honorific positions was talking about. The US govt. systems, even at the state level, were made specifically to make it hard for politicians to enact stuff. This is in order to prevent abusive laws, powergrabs, etc. from getting pushed through by a stacked government (when a large part of the govt. is controlled by one group or party.) Your bill basically has to appease EVERYONE to be able to pass through the system, which is why most bills get altered endlessly untill they finally appease everyone. For the most part (as an American) to me it is good, because the intended innefficientcy prevents sudden power grabs, explotations, and regime changes purposely OR under the guise of dling something positive. However the side effect is that sometimes it can take multiple decades to have any substancial changes be made even when they are actually needed AND sometimes the biases of our aged representatives (term length limits are varied accross different positions) get in the way of progressing things to a better place. Edit: This is a quick n dirty description, I'm a muscian and programmer so Im not really able to present a hyper detailed recolection of our whole system that would actually be understandable to someone who wasnt raised learning about this system in school.

[littlemissmello]

@Last Wymsi I don't really understand, how easy do you think it is to get a fascist govenment in power in a parliamentary system? There's always a million other parties that also have a vote, regular elections that are well organized so as many people can vote as possible, a system that can only ever work on compromise. A party is easier to start and to bring to a national stage but at that point they will have to appeal nationally as well and that is it's own challenge. The system in America however is not at all immune to abusive laws and power grabs, as the QAnon president has showed us. Presidents elect supreme court judges AND they stay for life!? A two party system is at times barely democratic if you don't mind me saying. To a point it's what we're used to that we prefer, but it's hard to look across the ocean and not frown at the flawed system that's presented so proudly as The Best In The WorldTM

[Depreus]

@littlemissmello They have two parties that get most of the votes, we in Norway for example have like 5-7 at the lowest where they can group together to get the 50% neccessary. powergrabs are easy in the US because of the two party "system" they have. in Germany there were three major parties when the NSDAP came in power. take what I say with a pinch of salt because I am writing this just from memory

[Nojatha]

I like how you addressed the issue of kids not having enough freedom. Parents use to give rules to children and then let them have their own adventures. It would build character.

[TheRealSimone]

As a European, i'll admit i'm not American

[Albert Alu]

Source?

[alisuhail-amanu2]

@Albert Alu trust me bro

[Big Boss]

@Mr Trolly lol

[Asura1951]

Why do Europeans seem to think that America is just (or should be) just like Europe? When It is not.

[maxsimes]

@Asura1951 i dont think many europeans think that it should be.

[sarah shaw]

My favourite part of living in Europe is that I’m not in America

[r0ch3113]

in UK, I’ll take anywhere that’s not here 🤣

[morshu]

same

[sarah shaw]

@r0ch3113 … so would I ):

[Wall-E Wapter]

totally agree. i feel blessed being born in NL and not in the US.

[G S]

goes both ways... my favorite part of being in the US is that i'm no where near europe

[Daniel Taylor]

One thing I always find interesting in these discussions is that it has always seemed to me that there is an element of this Europe compared to the US thing that I never see discussed. Much of the US culture is melded from a number of different waves of people immigrating from various places around the world at different times and for much of the US's history it was largely various places in Europe so it stands to reason people might be tempted to compare the regions culturally. One thing I often see overlooked in this is that there is a self-selection bias in the desire to uproot your life from wherever you currently are and settle in a place halfway around the world to a region that would have generally been thought of as a frontier to some extent. The sorts of people who would make such a choice are likely going to be people who are disproportionately fiercely independent and often likely people who are going to tend to push back against whatever cultural norm they perceive themselves from leaving (otherwise you presumably would not have chosen to go in the first place). I would argue that the American culture as a "frontier" settled by people who to some extent self-selected for this endeavor likely played a pretty big role in establishing the independent and decentralized mindset of much of the US culture and then as that culture developed and became a known commodity presumably the people choosing to immigrate there afterward were likely disproportionately people who found themselves attracted to that sort of mindset and ethic. I don't see it as particularly odd that a mishmash of people actively choosing to leave Europe (and of course other places around the world at points) for what from their perspective is either a frontier or an established country with a reputation for fierce individualist mindsets would end up with a fairly different overall world view (despite having a lot of shared cultural heritage) and culture than the places they left given that you could frame it to some extent as being filled with people that pretty much by definition did not make that same choice. It pretty much fits the concept of a self-selection bias from a cultural development standpoint exactly from my point of view

[Conner Broeker]

Finally, a European who actually understands.

[Richard Hall]

Hi Daniel Have you considered this issue in terms of the countries culture's shadows (in the Jungian sense)? The frontier model you allude to seems to me to be a useful myth- based on the idea that there was basically nothing there when the settlers arrived. Recently it occured to me that the USA and Canada are built on violence - the violence that the settlers carried out on the people that were already there and the landscape and their natural resources. This includes the violence of slavery and the consequential racism. Many of the people that left Europe for Canada and the USA did not do so by choice ( for example Jews fleeing Europe before and during World War 2) and consequently arrived traumatised. Perhaps this is why America has a fear based culture and fear based foreign policies. You can achieve a lot in terms of making money and accumulating property when your motivation is trying to avoid the hell your ancestors experioenced. I live in Europe and feel an ancient connection to the land. This connection is grounding and nurturing. It seems to me that the same ancient connection is only available to the native /aboriginal / first nation people in North America. I apologise in advance if this is a half baked over simplified version of an existing well founded academic argument. I'm not an academic. I drive a delivery van and practice yoga and meditation. I'm not anti American. I came to this perspective through trying to understand certain perspectives presented by North American Jewish Budhist teachers. Try this as a litmus test - how does your frontier model explain the seemingly endless number of school shootings? Is it a product of fierce independence?

[Daniel Taylor]

@Richard Hall Well my point wasn't so much that it was a frontier but rather that it was seen as a frontier in the eyes of many of the people choosing to go there. IT isn't intended as some sort of grand overarching explanation for every element of a culture but rather a potential root for a very specific element of the culture that I think is often overlooked.

[Daniel Taylor]

@Richard Hall Any narrative attempting to explain the entirety of a culture is almost certainly laughably oversimplified at best

[Daniel Taylor]

@Richard Hall Although I certainly agree that North America was settled/conquered/however we are referring to it in an extremely violent way and that that is certainly a common narrative of events likely because it is largely true but I'm also not entirely sure that there are many areas of human habitation in the world that one group of people didn't come in and do much the same if you go far enough back. Admittedly much of that is far further back in history and I suppose could very well be argued would therefore have far less impact on the modern culture than these examples. As far as connection to land goes that is an interesting point though I'm a little unclear exactly why we are making the assumption that a person's ability to feel attached to the land of their birth is in some way intrinsically tied to historical events that none of the people in question in the Americas or Europe ever experienced. I suppose I can see a cultural element to the point to an extent but it seems a little bit of a stretch to me.

[Robert Pickett]

I love how you have demonstrated the complexity of the issue in the United States and still showed good examples of those complexities and also how the United States is less centralized.

[ZombieOfun]

A small note on walking to school in the US: many of us simply can't. The cities and schools are too spread apart. As a child, I couldn't get to school without being driven and now I can't get there as a student teacher without driving.

[Nine]

It’s always crazy to talk to Euros who don’t understand this. Like bro… my state is the size of multiple of your countries. And we have the same population.

[Edigarious Roman-Autumn]

For grade 8-10 I walked 2 hours to get to school and 2 hours to get back (couldn’t be on the bus because I kept getting punched by the bullies lmao) in the winter, the big fancy houses would never shovel the snow off the sidewalks which since I live up north, could go higher than my knees. I had to walk in the road alongside cars and 16 wheelers. It was like, a half stroad or something. It led to an interstate. When I went into 11th grade, I transferred to a different school that was a five minute walk from my house. Crazy shit.

[Mega Brick]

​@NineA point that's always fascinated me is, were it not for roads, parking lots, etc, things would actually be quite-a-bit closer together. One extra thing is the US puts more emphasis on lawns and backyards, and while I prefer them, many people seem to feel that sacrificing those for the sake of closer amenities is a trade worth considering.

[Nine]

@Mega Brick I ain’t sure how me not having a backyard is gonna shorten the 80 miles worth of forests and farmland between my town and our state capital. The US is just bigger, and has less colonized land. You’re explaining why cities and suburbs may be larger, but missing the fact that rural America is where most of the distance comes into play

[Joesolo13]

@Nine The state size isn't the problem, it's city and town design. Free parking and subsidized roads mean people living in the boondocks get a bunch of services and infrastructure that they don't really justify

[David Rapp]

Love these videos... love the visual style and cogent content. Good for you man, I hope you end up making a great living doing this.

[McRoma]

That point about allowing children independence is also affected by american infrastructure. In europe, you could walk or bike almost anywhere you needed to go, and most schools were extremely close to the houses that they taught. In the US, thanks to suburban developement, this almost never happens, and to go almost anywhere you need a car, which you only get when your 16 at the very youngest

[w8stral]

Yup: Exclusinve a big city US problem with their idiotic zoning laws. Small cities(not suburbs of metros) this is not true at all.

[Could'veBeenBetterProductions]

ムクᴹᵘᵏᵘ⁴² 🏳️‍⚧️ ebikes are effectively useless with some of the distances you regularly have to travel.

[Chris D]

ムクᴹᵘᵏᵘ⁴² 🏳️‍⚧️ If you see someone on a ebike, they're stopping because something got jostled off the bike and it won't move anymore. Or they've been hit.

[tyson mcduggan]

@Why not? What country are you from

[allisafu]

It's as easy as Europe cities are mostly made for people, USA cities are made for cars.

[Sam S]

As somebody who has been around government employees, at the end of every fiscal year one objective is to spend all of the remaining funds on unnecessary things so that their program's funding does not get cut the next year. I don't have a problem with paying more taxes, I don't have a problem with taxing Billionaires. My problem is that the government does such a shitty job with providing services and incentives are not aligned to push people to work. Honestly I think UBI alone is the best solution out of all government programs.

[Brett Snyder]

yes, this!! exactly what i tell my liberal friends. i work in the government and its disgusting to see how poorly our american tax dollars are spent.

[Ilmari]

In Scandinavia, tax dollars are spent multiple times more efficiently than in the US; the issue in the background is of course that the rich in the US have all the political power on this too (Gilens and Page, 2014). As a Finn, it looks absolutely horrible, catastrophic and infernal how poor and unhappy most of Americans ultimately are. When the rich decide how the money is spent, it usually goes in the pockets of the rich.

[Brett Snyder]

@Ilmari why are you guys so much more efficient with your tax dollars?

[Sam S]

@Ilmari As an American who has been to East Asia and most of Europe. It’s only bad if you’re poor and have no future. It’s still the place to be if you’re trying to succeed or have money, I personally much rather live here. It’s a volatile place but it’s the land of opportunity.

[Ilmari]

@Sam S Good to hear at least you are optimistic about it. I just have read some articles about people who have done everything right but still their debt is astronomical. And there's of course the poorer segment of the society that have pretty minuscule chances of making it. I personally prefer social safety nets, and when comparing economic growths per capita, it's not bad here either.

[snakedoctor]

I think also your statement about the change to how we raised kids in the 90's is spot on though. As a child of the 80's I can tell you I saw the difference. My generation was the last one that was allowed to do pretty much whatever. The younger kids about a decade later suddenly were coddled.

[ForzaMonkey]

this comment sounds about right, coming from an '06 kid. We can't do shit on our own. I'd also like to point out really quickly that Florida's education, no matter what statistics say about how good we are, SUCKS. I've "learned" the same crap in English for the past 5 years, and my grades are only getting worse because of that. Teach me something NEW, Florida.

[Le Bullee]

@ForzaMonkey I think it really just depends on how old your parents are really. I was born in '01 and my mother was in her 30s when she had me so she wasn't a product of the 80s and 90s babies being coddled so much and she raised us the was she was raised because she was born in the early 70s so by the time she was a teenager she could see that kids were no longer having as much freedom and she didn't want that for us she said. If your parents were born in the 80s or early 90s then its possible that they're raising yall how they were raised.

[Marduk]

@ForzaMonkey As somebody who has lived in multiple different states while going to school, that's what the entire country is like. You could finish general US education by about 6th grade and move on to training, trade education, or specialized higher learning.

[vall 77]

That comment about children's autonomy really struck a chord with me. I didn't have autonomy until I was 16 and when I first started navigating the streets I had no idea what to do when I got lost I quickly learned how to right after that but it's very interesting that European children are more independent alone.

[NI Media Presentations]

Realize this has only been the status quo since the nineties. 5:30

[littlemissmello]

you remember all the great kids movies from the 80's when kids were still allowed to roam? I don't know any recent media that has that. Just Stranger Things I guess, but that takes place in the 80's so that doesn't count

[Dravendubz]

Great video, keep up the great work and research; these types of complicated topics are great to get people involved in understanding the social structures around us

[The Green Grotto]

i really appreciate you having subtitles as i'm hard of hearing and it makes watching videos much more engaging and comfortable

[MAC]

I love that affordable cheese was on top of the list. I'm a Finn and we are the biggest dairy consumers in the world, couldn't imagine life without affordable cheese.

[Jurjen Bos]

Greeting from the Netherlands, also big cheese eater!

[theaceofgame1]

Greeting from France, biggest cheese lovers x)

[Christian Steneram Bibby]

Greetings from Sweden... meatballs anyone?

[Gord22]

@Christian Steneram Bibby Yes please...

[KindredBrujah]

Scotland, also many of the cheese please, yes.

[Biohazard]

I love this video, it takes a neutral view at the differences and how they are incomparable. I do envy Europe in a lot of ways but Im always going to be an American at heart.

[James Rogers]

I think Americans need to focus on solving problems with solutions that fit America, instead of what fits the rest of the world. Our country began by rebeling against the Old World. We gotta make a lot of change.

[Joe Mama]

@James Rogers Exactly. We shouldn't try copying everything Europe does because it probably just won't work as well for us at it will for them. For example our police have to be more armed because of the 2nd Amendment here while guns are tightly regulated and as such European cops don't need to carry as many weapons, it's just a different area. We need to stop comparing ourselves to Europe and we need to find solutions that fit US!

[Kay 12]

The sad thing is that America can find unique and effective solutions that hit the sweet spot like europe or even more, but we just dont care

[Hal]

I loved growing up in the US. My friends and I had complete independence as long as we completed our homework and told our parents where we were going. Too many folks seem to think that every American lives in a big city when only 39% of the US population lives in the bigger cities.

[tucks]

Huh. Your parents must be nice. I don’t get to leave anywhere because the closest place is an hour-odd bike away.

[TieMan]

Independence is even worse in suburbs. Cant get anywhere without a car. Even if you think you were independent, it was nothing like european countries. especially something like the netherlands

[Adrián McMahon]

@TieMan Really? Suburbs probably allow for the most independence in the US! They are small enough to the point where it's possible to walk across towns easily, and there are always sidewalks everywhere. Take my word for it, because I grew up in suburban US and completely disagree that you "cant get anywhere without a car"

[Pablo Aguilar]

@Adrián McMahon I'm not sure which suburb you grew up in but I think the commenter is referring to sprawl. I grew up in a suburb (I'm in my early 20s so this is recent) and the only place I could get to by walking or biking was a strip mall with a grocery store and a hair salon. Two freeways essentially acted as moats that meant I couldn't get to any other parts of the sprawl until I got my license at 17. I'm sure there are new developments in rural Texas that you can walk across the entirety of and I'm sure a few decades ago sprawl wasn't so bad that many suburbs were midly walkable, but (and I don't mean this to sound ill-willed) it just seems laughable to me or many people my age that subrubs allow for the most independence.

[TieMan]

@Adrián McMahon dont have to live in the US to know independence is worse in suburban sprawl than in a city or country side

[Yahty Scids]

Thank you for this, I hope other creators see this and will try to make quality content like you do.

[79treefrog]

Very fascinating video. I am 20 years old and I am from Kentucky. For the first ten years of my life, I lived on a private horse farm where my dad worked. He did not make a lot of money, but the house was part of the job, so no rent, mortgage, the electric bill, water bill, etc. We had a big back and front yard and the farm itself is very large with a few other houses spread within it, some 2-3 miles apart. From the age of probably 6+, I was allowed to roam the farm and go to the pond or to my grandmother's house (a mile to a mile and a half away) or to just hang out with my friend on our bikes. It was a very unique period of my life because, after that, we moved to the city. The city is fairly poor but not impoverished. There is little crime and fear of crime so I was allowed to go out by myself and walk around, but besides going to the park, there was not a lot to do and I did not have a lot of nearby friends. By high school, I would sometimes walk to school and in Senior year, I would lie about having work so I could take work block, which meant I got to leave halfway through the day for work. Not having a car, I would simply walk home. I know about the differences between my state and childhood compared to others, but it's insane to realize that there are millions of Americans that... Can't walk home from school. Or go out to the park. Driving is a necessity in so many American cities because of its awful design. The fear of crime is also extremely prevalent throughout the US, and even in some places of Kentucky, but fortunately not where I'm from. I'm not sure what the point of my comment was, but it felt interesting to share my experiences and see how it's different from others within the same nation. Thank you for the great video.

[littlemissmello]

Excuse me, what the hell is work block? I'm one of these alleged "Europeans", I have no idea what it means haha

[Nuclear Mask]

I remember back in the day. My first day in 5th class I was allowed to go to school alone. I was so excited. "Coincidentally" my mom was out with the bike and "shopping". I saw her a few times and that's what she told me as a kid. With 17 or so I asked why she followed me and she just told me that she wanted to make sure that I find the way and stay on track. God I love my parents.

[2 eyes]

It’s easy to blame “Washington” than your own state legislatures

[Seth]

I mean the issue is with both

[Blanca Velasquez]

@astatalan that’s because most sane residents of a state should only care about their own state politics and the federal level type politics, that’s about it.

[Cake is yummy]

Blaming the "Brussels Beauraucracy" is far easier than Blaming your fellow Voters.

[TurquoiseGamez]

@Cake is yummy ^^^

[Dashiell Gillingham]

Interesting, a variety of facts, supporting exclusively valid opinions. More people should learn to communicate this way. It is better than the internet usually is.

[Haïdouk]

The differences between USA and the various countries of Europe is like something that feels familiar and misleads you into a false sense of similarity, only to realize after that it's much more different than it seemed.

[paddy]

yeee ^^

[Simpo28]

This is incredibly helpful at giving europeans context as to WHY America is different, and makes me feel somewhat ignorant for my adolescent political development in the form of "wtf u doin, america?" Great video essay.

[G&S Gaming]

Thank you for making a concise video I can show my fellow Americans when I try to explain to them that politics is important and complicated and maybe we should change some of that and try to get less corruption overall? That would be nice.

[painpega]

"Raise the taxes on the rich" *england has left the chat*

[CrazyDinosaur]

naa new prime minister Rishi Sunak really hit me as a man of the people. he's gonna tax the rich, help the poor. he can do it! ahh who am i kidding he's an investment banker and hedge fund manager turned politician... RIP the UK

[Not_Nixon]

@CrazyDinosaurI read you first paragraph and was so confused how you were so wrong, then I saw your second paragraph. At least we have a general election next year so hopefully we don’t have to put up with him for long

[Bhagwant Rai]

"England" has left the chat? This doesn't make sense. England doesn't have its own governing body that can do that, the territory of England is directly administered by the UK. Even other parts of Britain that do have their own devolved administrations (Scotland, Wales, NI) don't have the majority of taxation powers handed to them, which remain with the British Government.

[Epic gamer channel]

@Bhagwant Rai actually, as a scottish person, our devolved government has some tax powers. They have scottish income tax, which isn't necessarily a separate tax or a devolved tax, but more of an authority to set their own tax bracket. Also, Scotland is also a left leaning country. England is a right leaning one. So England is far less likely to want to tax the rich than Scotland, who are actually looking to create a wealth tax. And given that, in the UK Parliament, its almost always the case that what England wants, the UK gets (due to England's large population), its not an unreasonable statement to say that england doesn't want to tax the rich rather than britain doesn't want to.

[Joseph's Shitpost Emporium]

An important thing to keep in mind, that explains a lot of the weird power structures in the US, is that it was intended to be a collection of smaller nations/countries under a central government.

[Ryan Croy]

Yeah. And people used to identify with their states before they identified with their country. People would be Virginian first, and an American second. Now it is flipped. It was a pain to get the country formed, because you had to get almost full approval from every state.

[6Glitch]

When it was a confederation sure, but not after we ratified the constitution

[Random name]

So kinda like the EU

[Joseph's Shitpost Emporium]

@Random name Yeah.

[Robert Ortiz-Wilson]

@Random name no, the EU is a joke.

[Magnus Ludvigsen]

Great video, which I think is useful for both sides of the pond. I've been guilty of thinking "The USA would be better if they just did things like in Norway" Failing of course to realize that Norway isn't even the size of a small state in the USA. The main thing I think the US could learn from Norway is proportional representation, rather than first-pass-to-post elections. It would give your legislators a much needed diversity of thoughts and probably lower the tensions brought on by a two party system. I do on the other hand like that the US has a much greater divide between the legislator and the executive branches. Here in Norway people often argue that it's better to do it our way to "get things done." I don't really know if I agree. Governments probably work best if it's difficult to get things done, rather than easy. It means you need to work through things more.

[Ethan]

Are you thinking about the Netherlands? Norway is a rather large country.

[Magnus Ludvigsen]

@Ethan Yes. I'm totally talking about a country I don't know, and not the nation I love in. Norway is geographically big yes, but population? Not so much. Barely 5 million.

[Captain America]

The State of North Carolina is richer than the entire country of Norway and it has 11 million ppl the winters are mild the fall and spring are comfortable and beautiful we have the Appalachian mountains in the West and beautiful beaches on the East Coast the Summer days can be hot but the morning and evenings are nice America is so big and diverse it can't be compared to a tiny European country there is 330 people in America

[Captain América]

@Captain America America is a HUGE continent. There are 1+ billion Americans on the Continent of America, not 330 million 🤦🏽‍♂️

[FAB1150]

I'm European, I would bike to school every day as a kid, play with other kids alone, go get an icecream or to the store buying something for my mum. I couldn't imagine having to go with my parents everywhere

[NI Media Presentations]

This only started happening in the 70s, 80s, and 90s due to high crime rates. It is easing now, even here in New York City.

[Xymos]

An interesting video. I think you've done quite a remarkable job at highlighting the differences without it being political. As for education, I have made the argument for quite sometime that we should look to how Japan views compulsory grade school(K through 8) with Highschool being voluntary and viewed as a gateway for College/University. That's the surface level argument I'm making. It would require a drastic cultural shift and would have to be implemented at the state level with some rather bold backtracking by the federal government regulation/policy wise.

[Ernest]

Found your channel 9 minutes and 25 seconds ago. I'd love to learn more about all of this stuff in depth, particularly reliable sources that can explain these 'wicked' problems well.

[Owen Klijnsma]

This channel has consistently provided detailed, clear, useful information on interesting topics and I always eagerly wait for the next upload. Quality channel, keep it up ❤️

[Orion Nauman]

Every time I feel lucky for the freedom I had as a kid. Living in a small town in Iowa, I could go quite a bit of places. I even would pedal the three miles to the next town for little league baseball practice. It was a great childhood.

[sillyrosster]

Jimmy Lowhoes But your experience is anecdotal and not the majority. It's also getting worse and worse in big cities. It's not safe for kids to go to their friends houses across town because of dangerous roads, lack of safe pedestrian/bike infrastructure, and down right terrible public transit. You don't have "real" freedom until you can drive. Again, this isn't to say it's bad everywhere in the US. Them walking to school was an example, but you seem to understate how much freedom that gives to a kid (and time freed up for the parent). They don't just walk to school, but to the store, their friends, arcades, etc.. They don't have to wait to turn 16 to leave the one mile radius around their house without their parents.

[Caleb Eubank]

@sillyrosster perhaps that is why he said "I feel luck for the freedom I has as a kid" the guys is just saying he is glad he had freedom, not that everyone does, so ur comment is literally pointless

[L]

@sillyrosster I live in a suburban area, I had the freedom to walk to school to the store and to friends houses, etc. Because they were close to me. Most Suburban and small town Americans do have the European “freedom” of not always using a car. In rural areas you do need a car because you are in the middle of nowhere. In cities you don’t have as much freedom because cities are full of crime in poorer areas.

[Hal]

@sillyrosster Not everybody lives in a big city and I can also say that your experience is anecdotal. 49% of Americans live in suburban and small metro counties, 34% live in the large cities, and 17% live in rural America. Myself, those I grew up with, and the millions that grew up in similar sized towns have a totally different view of growing up in the US than big city folk. We walked/biked to school, sports practice, theater, restaurants, grocery store, friends, girlfriends, etc. Your mindset is trapped in the big city bubble.

[Vanya C]

@L Well, I grew up in a suburb, and I couldn't even walk home from a place that was a 10 minute walk from my house until I was 12 years old. Because in California, if you let a kid be alone before age 12, Child Protective Services will come after you. So that's what my parents did, even though they thought it was bullshit. So I wouldn't necessarily say that suburban kids are freer than urban kids. In fact, it might actually be worse, seeing as you need a car to get around the suburbs. (though perhaps it's different in other states, especially Texas, Utah, or Oklahoma (which all recently passed free range kids laws)). Small towns though, I could definitely see kids being more independent there.

[Which philosipher]

Gonna share this video with my uncle he teaches this stuff I find a lot of foreigners at my college just do not have a full grasp of America and only know what the media tells them or hearsay

[Isabella Genova]

i’m shocked that kids are actually able to just walk to school at a primary/elementary school level. the only time i ever traveled on my own to school was high school 3 years by bike, one by my car

[Krzysztof Boroński]

Public areas in europe tend to have planty of pedestrians around, while it sounds like this isn't the case in USA. Hurting/abducting a kid on a street in a middle of a bright day is very unlikely to happen, unless you live in some kind of a ghetto I guess. Speeding through living areas is also very uncommon and I guess that drivers are just more accustomed to pedestrains. Overall, it's probably way safer for kids in Europe to walk alone to school, than in USA. Infrastructure is also different, probably due to zoning laws and schools are often closer to living areas or mixed within them.

[Conner Broeker]

Depends on how class you to live the school, and if you have to cross any major roads. I walked home from school and so did plenty of other kids that I knew

[MarmeladeMilch]

the situation in the US has quite a few downsides from a european‘s side of view, but they’re so much better in regard to talking to strangers / small talk… it makes my day whenever the trader joe‘s guys tell me about their life stories :D

[Karl K.]

europeans won't ever greet wen you enter the store lol

[TiredOfYou]

I really, really hate this. People just coming up to you and talking, and you being expected to be all smiling and happy about it. It's annoying and it makes me feel like I can't breathe. I hate this country's cultural obsession with never letting anyone mind their own business.

[wifi961]

@TiredOfYou No offense, but that is hypocrisy in a nutshell.

[Nebula Space Agency]

@TiredOfYou is there a problem with people how your day is going ??

[oogaboogabe]

As an american, it seems that the infrastructure problems in this country are so colossal that they seem borderline un fixable. It honestly makes me wonder why anybody immigrated here

[Captian Bubbles]

When I went to the UK something I noticed was that distance worked very differently. Here in the US, I live 20 minutes from my work, and I imagine most people in the UK live a similar distance. The difference? Most people in the UK walk or take public transportation, and even then, their work is probably less than five miles away. I live almost 18 miles from my work, but because American Infrastructure -- specifically the Rural US -- is built around cars, I can make it in 20 minutes. I could not tell you if this is a good or a bad thing. This is just my experience. For me, it's great, I like being able to travel vast distances in shorter periods of time, and I found it aggravating that it would take me an hour to travel three to five miles in the UK. But I also understand that people in Europe -- and to a lesser extent, cities in general -- have the luxury of being able to walk five minutes down the road to a grocery store. At the end of the day, it's two different worldviews clashing together, ones that fundamentally cannot mix because they are so different.

[Amadi605]

As a Polish kid. I started walking to school alone when I was 7. One day there was this small dog in my path that was barking at me. Since I was bitten by a dog as a young child, I became so afraid that I turned around and went home. When my mom came home she wrote I note justifying my absence saying that I was sick. But she told me that I have to get my shit together tomorrow. So for couple of weeks I took very long path around the location of that dog. Until one day I was walking to school with neighbor girl that was older than me. She said that there is a dog that she always feeds on her way to school. I didn't want to seem like a coward so I walked with her. I gave food to that dog with her. I wasn't afraid of dogs ever since.

[Juliusz Hebanowski]

Wzruszające, ale czy jest jakaś puenta?

[Amadi605]

@Juliusz Hebanowski Puenta wynika z filmiku

[William James Sidis]

@Juliusz Hebanowski 4:55 o to mu chodzi

[Puhoy]

That's a cool story

[Juliusz Hebanowski]

@William James Sidis ok sorry, nie zrozumiałem dokładnie kontekstu

[TKnightcrawler]

Good video. The US has room for improvement, but we get a lot right. As far as Europe... it's complicated, as you point out.

[CrazyDinosaur]

"we do it right here in europe" looks over at UK... "mostly right"

[Dragon Calloway]

Man I felt a glimpse of this living in a army base in Germany from middle of 4th to middle of 7th grade as an army brat and honestly I miss Europe a lot because my closest friends were made there because of the child independence there but at the same time living standards are just better here in the US but I have a lot less lifelong friends so I’m 50/50 on what system is better and that’s a lot for living in Europe for only 3 years

[littlemissmello]

what living standards are better?

[CrazyDinosaur]

@littlemissmello not the average lifespan that's for sure. maybe he means eastern part germany in 1992 idk

[Quel2324]

I'm doing an exchange program in the US coming from Spain, and although at first I thought the countries were culturally similar, I slowly realized they're two very different cultural groups. Yeah, we share the substrate religion and the language family, but that's basically it. I really see what you're saying about child independence, when you are forced to drive to meet your friends at a restaurant (that or walk 30min to the nearest one). I first associated this to a city vs village discrepancy, but even small villages in (at least Southern) Europe are much more compact, and the lifestyle is still different. We often underestimate how quickly culture and lifestyle evolve. Genes can change across hundreds of generations, languages can change in tens. Lifestyle can change twice or thrice in a single individual's life.

[NI Media Presentations]

And lifestyles can affect genes.

[static]

Let it be clear that kids were not safe in cities mostly. I was born in 1998 and had that independence since I was from a rural small town with many forests, rivers, and lakes. Myself and my neighboorhood friends would make giant forts in the woods. We eventually made forts in each of our properties. We roleplayed kingdoms and would even larp huge battles over ownership of locations around the neighborhood in the woods to build more forts. It was amazing, since we were all only 6-12 years of age doing all of these things. We would ride quads and spend hours outside with all of our homes unlocked with everyone coming through. Even the school bus dropped us off at the end of the street instead of our own front doors. Now that I have grown up and spent the early years of my adulthood in the city, there are certain things horribly different between those who lived in a city and those who lived rurally, and its a huge can of worms. I have also noticed that cityfolk are more rude and dont even look you in the eye when talking to you most of the time. They always seem so angry too.

[Joe Merino]

There is a very natural reason for that though. Large cities make people this way. The ancients believed cities should be capped at a certain population size. Even when large cities like London began to grow, they had extremely well-defined boroughs that were like towns within the city, and maintained basic community things like knowledge of who your neighbor was. Now you have no idea who the person walking by your front door is, or what their intentions are.

[Dion Wall]

Fifty years ago we lived in the suburbs, but we stayed out and did what we wanted "until the street lights came on." The constant watch of kids in the US is a recent phenomenon.

[Tyler Baer]

I love this video and hate when people equate Europe to the United States. One thing I might add tho, is that it’s also similarly hard to paint the US as one single country with one big brush. I mean that people can live such different lives within the borders of the nation it is like being in two different nations. Like your part on the raising of children, where a mother in the inner city of Chicago may not let her child go outside, a mother in Appalachia who homeschools may let her child go out with a pellet gun and hunt small game down by the river.

[Excursor]

I hate it when I "USA citizen" am told to leave the country to really explore the world. . . .as if my SEVEN THOUSAND mile road trip in the USA did not expose me to new culture beliefs vistas food. . . . . No all that I get in reply is "Oh but it is still ALL just USA" I am getting sick of it.

[hart]

@Excursor yeah but what they mean is that Europe, Africa and Asia are much different then seeing the difference between someone who lives in Texas and someone who lives in Wisconsin. It is definitely much more different than anything you’ll see in the US. Ik it can be expensive but if you have the money, I recommend to go to different places, see small towns, not just the big tourist attractions. It’s fun to see the vastly different cultures.

[Chris CeeOl]

@hart I agree. You really can't compare visiting multiple places in the US with travelling around the world. I was born in the US, and visitied multiple states there - and now I'm living in Germany. You can't compare that to visiting multiple countries in Europe, or travelling to Asia or Africa. But that's just a typical statement you always get to hear from people who have always been in the USA.

[Dally H.]

I loved exploring the "caves" (big rock overcroppings) up along the hills in our holler with my cat Kasper. Following streams to find their source. I don't think I'd ever wanna raise a kid in the city.

[Sora09]

You guys forget that in the end your cultural similarity is what keeps your giant country together. If you really were that culturally different you would have independence movements pretty quickly. You can see that all over the world. It‘s kind of ironic that you have experienced such a low amount of cultural diversity that you start to think the other things can’t be different and because of that keep on avoiding chances to experience other cultures.

[B4SJ]

What an incredibly nuanced video. Educational masterpiece.

[BOBI2111]

Love how the list in the end was way longer than I expected but every bullet point felt reasonable

[Raheem Morgan]

Can’t lie my child getting childnap is one of my biggest fears as a father

[Parker Stroh]

Oh man that section on education was the best I’ve ever seen. Been researching the topic for a couple years now and am quite impressed

[SkeleTony]

This is a great breakdown video. Now can you please do a video on why ranch dressing of any kind isn't in Europe. I've been looking for the last 2 years in 6 different countries.

[Kraut]

That list at the end... lol. I once thought about making a video explaining European food safety and quality regulations to our friends across the Atlantic, and realized it would turn into a cooking video about what makes all regional European foods unique. From the Backlava of Western Turkey, to the walnut pies of Southern France.

[TheJeanrenaud2]

Danke for sending me here Kraut, great video! And I have to agree that the lack of consumer protection when it comes to the US, which regards to food for instance, is astounding

[Benoit Bvg]

You mean 7 seasons and a movie?

[Alistair Lee]

Kraut, please make cooking videos.

[Alexander Philip]

I remember the one tiff they had about growth hormones in beef.

[Mawin 11]

Oh hey Kraut just watched one of your vids a day ago

[uri argaman]

As a kid who went to school alone since 1st grade, travelled between towns alone since the 3rd and outright left home in 10th grade, what you describe sounds utterly horrifying.

[Russ Mitchell: Author, Swordsman, Movement Expert]

The underlying problem for any basis of comparison: "What's Europe? The best performance Europe delivers, or its worst, or something in-between, and measured how?" America and Europe became fundamentally different civilizations during the Enlightenment -- the American Enlightenment is COMPLETELY different than the European one. And from that point, the divergences are immeasurable.

[Adrián McMahon]

Wasn't American Enlightenment highly influenced by European Enlightenment thinkers like Locke and Smith? Even to the point that Jefferson claimed that Locke had been influential in the making of the US Constitution?

[Tacito Zetticci]

@Adrián McMahon Well the Enlightenment was born in Europe, so of course that has to be the case. Nevertheless I agree with the original comment: it was very different when it crossed the Atlantic for some reason. It's an interesting take on why the two areas ended up diverging like we see today.

[Adrián McMahon]

@Tacito Zetticci Hmm, can you name any examples of changes between the two? I always thought they were very similar

[Tacito Zetticci]

​@Adrián McMahon Oh I'm just a sort of technician, not a historian, I'm not even a history enthusiast. But yeah I can say something about it if you want. I started noticing the differences by looking at the two masonries that came out from these parallel Enlightenments. So this may be an example: while it's true that both were known for their opposition to the Catholic Church, they did for different reasons. The European Masonry (it wasn't a thing as a whole, I know, so let's take the French one as the representative for Western Europe to simplify) was fighting Catholicism because they (the masons) were implementing their implicit* anti-religious values. On the other hand, in the US many were doing the same because they were supporting Protestantism instead. After all the American Masonry originated in the protestant England. It's cool how you can still see those influences in today's societies on the two sides of the Atlantic. It's also there when it comes to symbolism, for example you can still see the US President swearing on a bible before carrying out the mandate. Anyway I guess there are many other aspects which are even more important like how each interpreted the separation of powers etc. etc. but I don't know much about these so don't ask me lol. [*I said "implicit" because religion was a forbidden subject in these organisations. As masons they weren't supposed to move according to religious (or anti-religious) values. But yeah in the end, that was only in theory.]

[Adrián McMahon]

@Tacito Zetticci The American Enlightenment was _very_ similar to the Enlightenment in the UK. I know you mentioned the Bible Oath in the US, yet the UK has a similar one known as the Oath of Allegiance. There may have been religious differences between the American and French Enlightenments, but those differences would be comparable to the difference between the British and French Enlightenments. Both Enlightenments saw a development of the use of science and reason, the idea of natural right, and a large emphasis on education. They are very, very similar. Have you thought that maybe the differences between Europe and the US have more to do with geography and demographics than the Enlightenments?? After all, don't you notice how Canada and Australia, two other nations that are far less densely populated than Europe, have a lot in common with the US?

[Gwynn]

5:21 my parents didn't allow me to do anything alone outside of the house till I was almost 17 and it's had tons of negative impacts on me it took me awhile to learn basic skills and it made me a shy person

[SuperBsk2010]

Absolutely love this video! I live in Norway (originally from the UK). These countries tax the working class an ungodly amount of money and needless to say the governments are not as careful when it comes to using other people's money and if you are a hard working citizen you will never get back no where near as much back out the system as you have put in and will have no say in how that money is used. Plus the US fund alot of our technologies and defence (GPS, NATO to name two of the most expensive that Europe benefits from). I'm more than likely wrong but this narrative of America being stupid fat and inefficient that we have in Europe makes my blood boil (most of who are usually fat, stupid and inefficient in the career's)

[Captain America]

I work with Brits, French and Germans they get upset when I don't do my assignments the same way they do and say this is the way this or that has always been done even though Im more productive they refuse to change

[William 💎 Alb.]

My Father was British 🇬🇧🇳🇴🌹

[Your-Username-here]

""no where near as much back out the system as you have put in and will have no say in how that money is used."" Ahh yes, like in the SU where almost no one can afford to go to the Hospital.

[SuperBsk2010]

@Your-Username-here I don't understand what you are talking about? If you mean people can't afford to get medical help due to the country being poor then it doesn't matter if it's government funded or privatised, people will not be getting the help they need regardless but that is a separate issue.

[Ephemiel]

@SuperBsk2010 A fundamental - and to a degree, philosophical - difference is, that most European tax systems - from a municipal level all the way to the EU - are designed with egalitarian values in mind (think French revolution). They prioritise justice and social equality over efficiency. The ideal is, that nobody ever gets left behind. The US seem to not have this nearly as much.

[Anon]

Appreciate the high quality animations and no clickbait titles

[Christy Horgan]

This channel is so underrated, it's so useful to see content like this comparing Europe to America as not all European-American differences are obvious, particularly British-American differences

[Ubeogesh]

it's just new. I bet it will grow a lot if the author keeps it up

[Lachlan Clark]

Even the differences between America and Britain are massive and most Americans don’t understand that, they assume the rest of the western world is just like them with the exception that they speak another language. I’d live in the EU over Britain any day, but I’d live in Britain over America even more.

[Mika]

@Lachlan Clark You have described far too many Europeans I've had to deal with my guy. It very much goes both ways. All the time I see Europeans bashing the U.S. for its ways all over the internet and all they are ever proving in doing so is that they don't know shit about the U.S.

[Shigg McDigg]

@Lachlan Clark I've been living in the UK for 4 years now and I cannot wait to go back to the US. The US is a big place though; I'd certainly rather stay in the UK than live in places like Los Angeles or the deep south.

[Paul Mertens]

Great video; learned a lot of new things about Europe and the US.

[Michael Tsyrulnik]

From the perspective of Eastern Europe, it`s hard to differentiate between the US and Western Europe. States, which were under heavy influence of USSR in the past, may commit many mistakes by copying US practises. This video is important not only to Americans and Westerners, but to East as well, since it clears many nuances, that they may have never knew.

[None]

I try explaining this to my brother when he tells me we should just adopt what Japan does to solve all of our problems. Which is crazy, cause we're not Japan, we don't have a Japanese economy or a population of Japanese people and Japanese society. You can't copy-paste anyone else's solutions to fit your own.

[Helene Stromfors]

what does Japan even do anyway? produce anime?

[emmett stone]

I’m surprised you didn’t spend more time on demographics. Europe has something close to twice the population in a smaller area, & much more closely connect population areas

[Nutwatch]

Yes, and America's population is more diverse and with a vastly larger immigrant population. But that would have made too much sense.

[Musiccer]

@Nutwatch 😂 you’re kidding right? More diverse? Have you looked at Europe before? Do you realise that you can drive 3 ours and have crossed through 3 different language areas? You can’t be serious

[Nutwatch]

​@Musiccer Yes- and you can buy 200 different kinds of cheese. But here's what I mean by _diverse:_ in the United States, immigrants and their U.S.-born children number approximately 87.7 million people, or close to *27% of the entire U.S. population.* And it's been like that for 400 years. No European country is like that- no, not even Europe itself.

[Kapralas]

​@Nutwatch Diversity is not the same as population density. America is pretty low down on the list in terms of population density. Even so if there are 80+ million immigrants and their children in America, it's spread out by a lot. Consider the UK. It is 9 times more dense the U.S, and the immigrant population accounts to around 17%.

[Nutwatch]

@Kapralas Yes, and low population density is another challenge. It makes a lot of things less economical, such as public transit, police, transportation infrastructure and emergency services.

[no1reallycaresabout2]

I come from a more rural state. There are small towns that retain their own school districts instead of consolidating out of a sense of small-town identity. However, this ends up eating up more of the state budget.

[Omit Al-Ittna]

I'd just like to point out a falsehood here. While it is true that everybody pays for VAT in Europe, a lot of goods purchases by companies are VAT-free and even if they pay VAT, they can write it off in their corporate taxes. The whole idea of VAT is that the final "user" pays for it. Trust me. I'm an accountant.

[Tom]

Yes, thank you! VAT doesn't tax at multiple points during the supply chain, if you are a VAT registered business you can claim it back.

[Mister Gunsen]

Yup. Wanted to say this too. There are VAT prices in the supply chain that the company can get back from the finance bureau.

[Hoog]

Hey Omit, great comment and I’ll pin it to the top. Any chance you know where I can look to see the percentage of companies refunding the VAT or writing it off as a corporate tax? That way I can also put it in the article.

[RedBox]

@Hoog It's just intrinsic in the VAT system. If a company let's say buys something for 100 (+ 20 VAT; so called input VAT), processes it and sells it for 500 (+ 100 VAT; so called output VAT), they will only remit an amount of 80 (100 output VAT minus 20 input VAT) to the Tax Office in the first place. That way, at each stage exactly the added value is taxed (hence Value Added Tax). The economic effect should be broadly similar to a GST imposed on the final stage only, it's just a different way of administering it.

[DaTrubz]

To start I am American. I understand Europe is hard to generalize because it is an entire continent filled with many distinct peoples and nationalities. One major difference that I often see is that Americans have far less trust and confidence in their government as a whole than Europeans do. Being American can often be defined as living in a paradox of being very patriotic, but also distrusting authority and expecting all politicians to be selfish and corrupt, as well as government institutions to be inefficient and wasteful. From the very beginning rejecting authority is what our nation has been about. Europeans (generally) on the other hand tend to be at least fairly confident in their social institutions, and therefore don't mind paying extra in taxes for them. I think that difference in mentality is often the reason Americans and Europeans fail to understand each other. lmk if you agree or think I have no idea what I am talking about.

[Noé Chiron]

As a European, I definitely see what you are talking about. It's really easier to trust your government when you see firsthand the action of the government, by Healthcare and social benefits. I would definitely not like to live in a country ran like the US ':)

[Tefky]

Many countries in Europe don´t really like the government either,but yeah,its probably not so severe. It seems that one of problems is that US parties seem to support political rivarly against the opposite party to pretty high levels. European parties mostly try to propagate how much good they can do,US parties seem to mostly propagate how much bad have done the opposing party.

[Karl K.]

they won't admit it, but europe has a lot in common with russia, and that's not necessarily a bad thing

[Mika Laybourn]

When I began in school, at age 6, I cycled to school alone. When I was 16-17, I began taking the train 55 km (34 miles) into the capital of Denmark, for my "high school" (not really, but compared to the U.S. school system, it was a sort of high school), and 55 km back home again. I can't even believe kids in the U.S. does not have the same freedom. AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON THE CHEESE?! You don't have affordable cheese in the U.S?! The heck?!

[hwu9h9uh2]

My town is a suburb but most kids walk or bike even today. I remember cycling, and they do today. It's really based on the proximity of schools and walkability of towns.

[Roach Dogg JR]

There needs to be a huge cultural shift and systemic reconstruction of the American society, that's for sure. Not to be like Europe, just for the sake of solving our own internal problems

[Nine]

No. The system itself is fine, we’ve just infested it with career politicians. Once we burn the infestation to the core and make it legally impossible to serve any political office more than once, then we solve our problems.

[BoltStrike]

@Nine No, the economic and political systems are the cause of the infestation of career politicians. They're there because the wealthy pay them to enact policies that are beneficial for them and detrimental to the majority. We need to overhaul the political system to make it less corruptible and overhaul the economic system to be more meritocratic, rewarding the people who are actually contributing value to products and services, instead of being more nepotistic, rewarding the people that inherited wealth and ownership from their predecessors and only care about the short term growth of their personal assets.

[Labyrinth6000]

Nope, disagree, I love my life as it is. Now the politicians that’s the issue

[layabout]

No. Your definition of "internal problems" are how things are actually supposed to be run. If you don't like it move somewhere else.

[Joao Queiroz]

as a Brazilian I can guarantee, America is definitely not Europe

[aaronl19]

A far more fair comparison is the US and Canada, they have a lot of similarities, the culture, the taxing system, the problems, etc. But they also have a lot of differences, which people can debate on which one is better, but you never really see Canada be brought up, it’s always Europe.

[Hoog]

I mean it makes sense to talk more from a European perspective because there are lots of Europeans, but I’m not even sure if it’s remotely possible to measure the amount of comparisons made between America and Europe and America and Canada.

[Banana palm]

I don't see that many differences in Canada, I've met Canadians here in the United States and nobody would have ever known they were Canadians if they didn't say it themselves. Canadians don't have much of a culture that isn't different from the United States. When Canadian nationalists tell about their differences from the United States I laugh because their differences usually revolve around what cheap fast food place they have or the slight difference in spelling.

[cnlbenmc]

Canada is jokingly referred to as "America's Hat" for a reason, except perhaps Quebec.

[Frantic Ranter]

I agree, although I will say that as a Brit I think our children are probably given only a little less independence. I can't speak for the rest of Europe, and the UK was always gonna be a bit more similar than the rest of Europe (having a shared history and language and, to some extent, culture).

[TM26]

Love how you subtly mention cultural hegemony haha. Most important factor IMO.

[Scented candle 59]

I love that Robert Moses was considered a problem in his own right 😂

[Nathan Pitek]

Wow. Exactly. We don’t have such high taxes because we pick what to spend our money on, we aren’t forced to pay for things we might not need. Imagine you don’t have to pay NHS tax as a 20 year old cuz and it’s just not something you need, you can save your money and do that here. Not perfect for everyone but it gives you a choice.

[Mesa]

I also think it’s not right for someone that does not smoke, eats healthy and practices exercise to be paying healthcare for people who do not care about their health.

[Bas Buskens]

Actually interesting to call it "wicked problems", I was taught "messy problems" which is in fact the same.

[Corey Williams]

I remember going for lunch in NYC on a work trip. I was explaining to them how as a kid my mum would let me go off into other cities on the train for the whole day, as a teenager i'd travel to London (3ish hours) in the morning to watch rugby or other events with friends then come back at around midnight, the look on their s was as if i'd just admitted to mass genocide.

[Jason N]

I had this freedom growing up in the states (Texas). My mom would go on business trips and I'd just be left to take care of myself for a week. I walked to the grocery store, to the bus stop for school, and even tag along some of my mom's business trips and explore the city while she was working. There were plenty of instances where I was out late and she didn't really know exactly where I was but it was never a problem because I always came home and I never got into trouble.

[Sökölö]

@Patrick Bullshit. I live in one of the most criminal cities in germany and its still extremely safe. Children ride their bike to school, people go out clubbing alone. Europe is as safe as ever.

[Patrick]

@Sökölö Good to hear I guess but I've heard the opposite usually. I'm from the Balkans and I've never felt unsafe in my life.

[Harrison DuRant]

I grew up on a farm in South Carolina. I was riding ATVs at 6 years old and stayed outside until 10 PM almost daily during the summer months before I started working on the farm. Cities/Suburbs and the rest of America are almost like different counrties in the same country sometimes.

[jacksonspitsfax]

I have lived in some European countries but was born in the US (for my dad's work). I love the US and I was thinking about spending my earlier years in Germany and Scotland compared to now. I just miss the Maltesers but I really love all the countries I have lived in. By the way I was born in Baton Rouge so I have an American citizenship and I don't remember but I think I was a citizen in Germany and Scotland. Also my family believes that I should have more freedom so my mom lets me do what I want as long as it is not wrong or hurting others. For example my dad has given me 2 shotguns and a rifle. I only use it at firing ranges and hunting because a neighborhood is behind my garden.

[epic shorts]

balancing power dosent seem easy but how can so many countries not achieve it

[DKsider]

I love at the very end, there was a mention on differences between EU and USA and that VERY last one was 'affordability... of cheese'

[Cyber Punk #386]

I’d love if you could make videos about all these differences you listed at the end

[Moyn Debs]

a Nigerian I wish my country/continent(Africa) could have atleast a good working system like America or Europe. Until then wish us luck 🙏✊nice video

[Cameron Spence]

You guys will get there! Probably first need to eliminate boko haram and get the different peoples in nigeria to be less hostile to each other...and stay away from the chinese. They are actively and knowingly debt trapping countries that are trying to develop so that they will go bankrupt and be forced to sell parts of their country like ports, building projects, land, universities etc. back to china to pay for it. But things are improving and just dont give up trying to make your country better!

[Darth]

@Cameron Spence Most east African country’s are already trapped. Unfortunately China has started to debt trap outside of Africa. Currently they are getting the U.S. and Canada debt trapped to them.

[Dexorne]

@Darth China is actually developing Africa unlike US and EU nations.

[Darth]

@Dexorne Difference is the U.S. only provided FREE military development. They done nothing with social/architecture development. China on the other hand is as you said developing Africa but not in a good way. There development provides jobs ONLY to Chinese citizens and require said African country’s to agree on giving up farm land to China. It’s kinda like a new form of colonialism but instead of colonizing the Chinese are only taking land for resources.

[Gigachad]

Trust me you dont want to be like america. Its an absolute nightmare unless youre rich

[Cpt Nemo]

Yes! As a matter of fact a lot of scients claim that Europe and America are to two completly different, separate continents.

[Resared]

Here in Germany I find it very demotivating to make more money after a certain point due to the county taking taxes as high as 50% of your income.

[Amaury Chihuahua]

I think only your income after that point is taxed as high

[WombatOfDisaster]

You cannot make the amount of money that is taxed so high without depending or using your fellow countrymen, so the part you pay back should be proportionate.

[Labyrinth6000]

But you guys VOTED for it, you can’t complain about that!

[Alex Bubble]

I like that. IMO, the goal should NEVER be to make money. The goal should be to improve the world in whatever way you can, with the money only being there to ensure that extrinsically motivated people still work to improve society. If you're only doing your job to make enough money to live, then (again, IMO) that isn't the right job for you, and all that being encouraged to make more money does is support your complacency in a job that you don't want to do, which only ends up harming the product that that job provides, as someone much more passionate about that job could be filling that position instead. If you're not working purely to make money, then why does it even matter how much you're making, as long as you're making enough to reasonably live? I don't know about German taxes, so I don't know where the cutoff is for taxes increasing, but as long as the cutoff is below what you would need to be able to own a modest home while still taking care of yourself and accumulate some savings, why does it matter how much money you make? This may just be a level of ignorance on my part (I'm still in college, and I've never had a job, so I can completely understand if it's just something that I'll learn with age), but I just don't get why money matters so much to people who make enough to afford the above.

[CrazyDinosaur]

i dont think you can get taxesd 50% in Germany but if you get to the point where you get taxed 45% you need to make more than 279.000 euros pr year. and its only the moeny you make over 279.00(ish) euros that get taxes that much (it's called tax brackets). so if that is true, then you dont need more money! and people that get so much money, seem to have plenty motivation, thats why they get so rich in the first palce. so i dont relly feel sry for your demotivation you seem to be doing petty good... if its true

[TheInternetLawyer]

America: ”just tax everyone” *maths has left the chat*

[kanye gonna be kanye]

5:51 I feel this is a big misconception. Never would a public entity allow this anymore. While it may be legal, I find it hard to believe its still being done at a public school level. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen if it ever does.

[ToXeL]

Im so glad to live and grow up in europe. Its not perfect but I would rather be there than in middle east where my family is from or in usa wheere alot of my friends are its crazy how much more safer i feel here

[President Zeus]

5:50 the milk carton reference is insane. It was joked about in a movie I once watched, and had to ask my sister what was going on. And it is absolutely insane that "getting your face printed on a milk carton" is the American way of saying a child is missing.

[sleven]

We don't really do that anymore. It probably has something to do with most people getting plastic gallons of milk instead of cartons, though even cartons of milk don't have missing people on them anymore

[NitroNinja24]

Except it isn't. Maybe as a veiled threat or to be overly ominous, but only in fiction.

[cattysplat]

It's not just that, I've seen mentions in the US about these amber alert things that would go out on news channels and electronic highway road signs, even before mobile phones were a thing. That's a huge obsession over missing children, many of which I would assume were just rebellious and returned home later. Europe has and never will do such a thing, because it's so common and most children do return home, actual criminal kidnap of children is very low, but US media gives a false impression it is happening all the time.

[Lol Lol]

Closest Country in Europe to the USA is Germany ( or so i belive ) since Germany is also split up in 14 parts or more ( or less ) and has a system which is very functional and is basically a prime example of what was talked about in the video

[Helperbot 2000]

no the closest would be the uk which tries to be more and more like the us every year, best seen in their incredibly idiotic brexit, rapidly growing wealth gap, huge privatization, and the torries

[PHNX]

@Helperbot 2000 Are you saying this because you know alot about the other 40+ countries in europe or because you know more about the UK's comparisons to the US due to the english language?

[JerEditz]

I think the issue is what we were grown up on. Everyone used to talk back then, but now it's all paranoia. Highways were obstacles, but people still walked when they had to. it's different now.