this post was submitted on 28 Oct 2024
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America: our mail system is. USPS processes 23.5 million packages per day, and processes and delivers 318 million pieces of mail every day, to every single household in America, 6 days per week (7 days per week for packages).

They will throw mail sacks onto the backs of donkeys and trek them down into the Grand Canyon to deliver to tribes down there. They will deliver by bike, plane, boat, truck, car, etc. Hell, name any other organization where you could hand someone a letter and $0.62 and ask them to take it to Alaska for you, and they'd say no problem.

"Post" roads in the U.S. are named as such because they were roads built specifically for the movement of "post" across the country, and people have even argued that USPS (then the Postal Service) created the layout of the country as we know it.

And despite what many may think or know, USPS is incredibly efficient when it comes to mail and delivery compared to other countries. I remember them telling us during our orientation (I used to be a mail carrier) that back around 2013, representatives from USPS were actually flown to Germany to teach and help them start delivering 6-days per week. USPS taught Germany how to be more efficient at something ๐Ÿ˜‚

[โ€“] qevlarr@lemmy.world 28 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Dutch traffic infrastructure. It's incredibly safe, promotes walking, bicycling and public transport, well maintained and easy to understand. There's a reason the largest Youtube channel on urban planning center around the Netherlands experience (and how other places could learn): https://youtube.com/@notjustbikes

[โ€“] Shou@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

You may shit and piss all over the NS, but once you've been abroad, you'll accept those delays with grace.

[โ€“] bremen15@feddit.org 20 points 2 days ago (2 children)
[โ€“] htrayl@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago

Was learning about the requirements it be a baker in Germany - something like 3 years of school to work at a bakery, 6 years to own one. Crazy.

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[โ€“] Railison@aussie.zone 33 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Australia: carrying out elections.

Voting is compulsory and you will be fined if you donโ€™t vote without an acceptable reason.

But because voting is compulsory, itโ€™s extremely easy and accessible. Waiting in line for more than 15 minutes is a long wait. Even in the suburbs youโ€™re not usually more than a five minute drive from a polling place.

If you think youโ€™ll have trouble getting to a polling place on election day (a Saturday), you can request a postal ballot or vote early at a different polling place.

We have an independent electoral commission federally and in each state/territory to organise elections (depending on which level of government youโ€™re voting for). They also handle district boundaries to remove gerrymandering.

All ballots are marked and counted by hand. The counting process is open and transparent: any candidate can send people to inspect the counting process and ensure there are no irregularities.

[โ€“] Nath@aussie.zone 5 points 18 hours ago

This is all true, but there's more:

  • Our election campaigns are six weeks by definition. No political ads filling the airwaves the rest of the time.
  • We have preferential voting. You don't have to choose only between the shit and shit-lite parties. You can vote for someone else, and still put shit-lite as your preferred option if the independent you voted first for didn't get in.
  • The electoral commission will help pay for your campaigning if you secured 5% of the vote. Evens the field a bit for not-rich people to run.
  • Political signs on houses are pretty rare. Maybe a couple of diehard fans.
  • Nobody gets real angry at you if you vote for someone different.
[โ€“] doofy77@aussie.zone 7 points 1 day ago

You don't have to vote. As long as you show up and have your name marked off, you can leave the ballot paper blank.

[โ€“] Ross_audio@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

And the democracy sausage!

[โ€“] Ugurcan@lemmy.world 29 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (4 children)

Turkiye: E-Devlet.

We have this E-Government system that centralizes almost all relations with the State, I really donโ€™t remember when was the last time I saw an official document in paper. With all 1000+ official agencies involved, you can access and manage over 8000+ services like GDPR permissions, analogue tv frequency infos, paying traffic tickets, state-backed escrowing, fraud checks, my kids grades, my medical records etc within an handsome mobile/web app.

It was shocking to see even my German friends still need to use their physical mailboxes to handle official stuff. I can imagine itโ€™s even worse at the rest of the western world.

[โ€“] meowMix2525@lemm.ee 4 points 1 day ago

Not sure why you would think Germany is the best in this respect as I've often heard the opposite in my travels there. They are very anti-tech in government, privacy/cybersecurity reasons are what's usually cited.

[โ€“] digdilem@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 days ago

Much of the UK's regular government stuff is online and very simple too - their website is actually very good. It doesn't integrate everything though. The health service is particularly fragmented and communication is often by post and not that good.

[โ€“] tetris11@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Same in Lithuania.

In fact it's so good, that if you owe the state money, they'll just take it directly out of your bank account...

[โ€“] Ugurcan@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Thatโ€˜s nice. We have this forepayment discount with all our taxes and tickets instead :D

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[โ€“] boaratio@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

America: deep fried Oreos.

[โ€“] HipsterTenZero@dormi.zone 6 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It was like a dark an unspeakable revelation out of a cosmic horror novel when I learned that some freaks in the states concocted deep fried butter.

[โ€“] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

IIRC somewhere over here someone offers Deep Fried Coke. I don't know how one deep fries soda, and at this point I don't want to ask.

[โ€“] Zron@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Itโ€™s just a ball of plane batter with coke mixed in.

Look up a recipe for fritters made with flour, replace some liquid with coke syrup. Easy.

[โ€“] Aceticon@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I live in a 10 million people European country which is the leading cork producer in the World

Also the first European country to explicitly decriminalise drug consumption.

Those two things are unrelated.

[โ€“] Hugh_Jeggs@lemm.ee 27 points 2 days ago (7 children)

France - treating people the same no matter what they do for a living.

It's really nice to be respected even if you're a cleaner or a bin man, and very much deserved

[โ€“] Schmuppes@lemmy.today 7 points 1 day ago

I respect the guys that drive garbage trucks, buses and mbulances tremendously. Also those that clean public spaces, make sure the sewers work and my lights turn on at night. The investment banker that makes tons of cash? Not so much.

[โ€“] tiramichu@lemm.ee 5 points 2 days ago

Japan is like this too, and I loved to see that when I was living there.

The bus drivers often wear nice uniforms and white gloves, and clearly take a lot of care in their appearance and work. And people give them respect.

I wish it was like that everywhere, because being able to have pride in what you do and be respected for it is such an important thing that everyone deserves to have - regardless of what your job is.

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[โ€“] ahal@lemmy.ca 13 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Canada: we're the best at being annoyingly modest while simultaneously feeling smugly superior.

[โ€“] whotookkarl@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Also Canada is the number 1 producer of potassium in the world, massive potash mines up in Saskatchewan

[โ€“] ahal@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 day ago

Shh, don't brag about it

[โ€“] dan@upvote.au 72 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (3 children)

Australia: Consumer protection laws are better than most other countries, even European countries. For example:

  • Products must last as long as a "reasonable consumer" would expect them to last, regardless of the warranty period. For example, at least 5-10 years for large appliances.
  • If there's a "major failure" any time during that period (a big problem with the product, if it stops working, if it differs from the description, is missing advertised features, or you wouldn't have bought it if you knew about the problem beforehand), the customer has a choice of whether they want to have the item repaired, replaced, or return it and get a refund. Customers can also ask for a partial refund based on loss of value.
  • The store you bought the item from must accept returns and warranty claims. They can't tell you to go to the manufacturer.
  • For repairs, returns and replacements of large items (like appliances), the company must pick it up and drop it off for free.
  • It's illegal for a store to not offer refunds (unless the items are second-hand).
  • Products must match descriptions in advertising, including what a sales person tells you. If a sales person tells you the product does something but it actually doesn't, you can get a refund.
  • Businesses get fined for breaking these rules. A chain of computer stores had to pay a $200,000 fine for showing an illegal "no refunds" sign and forcing people to go to the manufacturer for warranty claims, and were later fined $750,000 for doing it again: https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/msy-technology-ordered-to-pay-penalties-of-750000-for-consumer-guarantee-misrepresentations

This applies for digital goods, too. As far as I know, Australia is the only country where you can get a refund from Steam for a major bug in a game regardless of how long you've owned the game for or how many hours you've played. Valve tried to avoid doing this and was fined $3 million: https://www.cnet.com/culture/entertainment/valve-to-pay-3-million-fine-for-misleading-australian-gamers/

[โ€“] omxxi@feddit.org 5 points 2 days ago

Another thing I learned from Australia is to use www.airbnb.com.au to check prices. If I got it correct in Australia is forbidden to have hidden charges, so, what you see is what you pay.

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[โ€“] julia@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[โ€“] weeeeum@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

Isn't the party in power pro Russian? Would make sense then.

[โ€“] NateNate60@lemmy.world 90 points 3 days ago (11 children)

I will start. I'm in the United States.

Credit unions! Nearly half of all Americans are credit union members. They don't seem to be popular in Europe and Asia. A credit union is a not-for-profit co-operative financial institution that essentially provides all the same services as a bank, except it's run as a democratic institution with directors elected by the customers instead of as a profit maximisation machine for shareholders.

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[โ€“] aMockTie@lemmy.world 72 points 3 days ago (9 children)

Not from the US but currently living here. I would say the Disability Act is the gold standard worldwide. The amount of consideration for people with a variety of disabilities that almost universally applies is exceptionally amazing. It's kind of shocking to see the dedication to adhering to that law while otherwise abandoning that portion of the population (e.g. Healthcare, SSDI, etc.).

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[โ€“] DrunkenPirate@feddit.org 50 points 3 days ago (25 children)

Germany: We moved our power creation from 60% coal and atom-driven to 60% wind and solar-driven in the last 6 years. This change is fundamental and canโ€™t be reversed. We stopped our atom plants and have a plan out of coal. Even though our geography isnโ€™t in favor for renewables, our country is dedicated in becoming carbon neutral. This is supported by most of the population and industry. (Yes renewables are cheaper than coal, gas, and atom)

Still open is the transition of heat and cars to electricity. Rather an emotional debate - Germans are car-crazy. The car discussion is similar to the gun debate in the US.

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[โ€“] shalafi@lemmy.world 56 points 3 days ago (14 children)

US here. I don't think we get enough credit for our anti-smoking culture, and given that Hollywood is a major culture driver...

Even in my poor little town, where the broke and uneducated smoke more, it's getting to be where I'm a little taken aback when I see someone smoking in public.

All this coming from a guy that smoked for 20+ years. The culture shift has been dramatic and I hope we're exporting it.

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[โ€“] tetris11@lemmy.ml 21 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (12 children)

UK: Crumpets. Crumpets lightly toasted with butter soaking into its pores, and then lightly toasted once more with a slather of Marmite.

These are nothing like pancakes. You bite into the crispy surface and are met with a butter/Marmite infusion that explodes into the back of your mouth, and whilst you're dealing with that sensual assault, your teeth sink into the soft almost creamy texture of the crumpet itself.

They are divine, and are the sole reason I stay in this cold dreary backwater of a country.

[โ€“] Sweetpeaches69@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Ah, yes. Trypophobia pancakes.

[โ€“] tiramichu@lemm.ee 4 points 2 days ago

I feel trypophobia quite strongly with some triggers, even things like budding plants pushing through the ground can make my akin crawl. But for some reason crumpets are okay.

I guess my brain just sees the crumpet texture as being like a macro bread texture, which is okay because it's kinda bready.

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[โ€“] superkret@feddit.org 35 points 3 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (7 children)

Germany. Bicycle parts.
Sure, the market leaders for drivetrain components are Shimano from Japan and Sram from the US.
But look into the higher-priced niches and there's:

  • Bosch, market leader for e-bike motors
  • Schwalbe and Continental, market leaders for bicycle tires
  • SKS, market leader for bike accessories like fenders
  • Ortlieb and Vaude, market leaders for bike bags
  • Rohloff, makes the best gear hubs in the world
  • Pinion, makes the best bottom bracket gearbox in the world
  • SON, makes the best hub dynamos in the world
  • Busch & Mรผller, makes the best bicycle lights in the world
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[โ€“] Kiralani22@lemmy.world 30 points 3 days ago (6 children)

I'm currently living in the Netherlands and I found some awesome, (for me) novel things, like ATMs all being from one company that all the banks in NL share ownership in. That means no matter your bank you dont pay for getting cash. Which is ironic cos I dont need cash as much anymore since non-cash payments are so much more prevalent here compared to Germany, for example.

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