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> Everything is super different and weird and kinda bad, and nobody seems to notice. I have this a bit uneasy impression[1] that a really significant chunk of

> Everything is super different and weird and kinda bad, and nobody seems to notice. I have this a bit uneasy impression[1] that a really significant chunk of US is basically a developing country with bigger cars. [1] Based only on visiting a few developing countries as well as a few states of US. Not on any statistics or data whatsoever.

jiggawatts 7y ago
The United States is the World's richest third-world country. You have crazy levels of gun violence, high inequality, tribal politics, high levels of corruption that have been legalized via Super-PACs, effectively state-run media (Fox News), highest per-capita incarceration, a failing medical system, failing infrastructure, etc, etc... The best example I can think of to show how far the US has fallen behind the rest of the world is that it's one of only a handful of countries that hasn't adopted the Metric system!
- freeflight 7y ago
  Funny story about that, the US is actually metric [0] Still doesn't stop the nutters from opposing it because it's supposedly a tool by the NWO to take over the world, with the US remaining as sole resistance [1] [0] https://youtu.be/SmSJXC6_qQ8 https://youtu.be/SmSJXC6_qQ8 [1] https://youtu.be/8jl5epgqHac https://youtu.be/8jl5epgqHac
  - thedaemon 7y ago
    Funny story? Not a funny story. We are not metric. We would be metric if you bought items in metric. We do not. Doesn't matter what the scientist use. It matters what milk and bread is sold in. We buy drinks in liters and gallons. Those are not metric.
    - robin_reala 7y ago
      Litres are metric?
      - SahAssar 7y ago
        Yep, one litre is equal to 1 dm3 or 1 kg of water.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    - kube-system 7y ago
      >It matters what milk and bread is sold in. The FPLA requires metric units to be included on labeling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Packaging_and_Labeling_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Packaging_and_Labeling_Ac... https://www.nist.gov/standardsgov/compliance-faqs-packaging-and-labeling-us https://www.nist.gov/standardsgov/compliance-faqs-packaging-...
      - thedaemon 7y ago
        Yeah, we all see metric on the items we buy. None of us understand what that means. We understand 1 Gallon, not 3.785411784 L. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_customary_units https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_customary_units
        kube-system 7y ago
        To the contrary, I've seen 3.8L or 3.78L written on every gallon jug for my entire lifetime. I know that conversion off the top of my head... even before I had mandatory science classes where I formally learned the same. But even if you haven't read any of the text on a milk jug over the past half-century, surely you've seen one of these before?: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71x5rVYbJUL._SX522_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71x5rVYbJUL...
        mattlondon 7y ago
        They said the same thing here in the UK years ago (the 90s I think) when they started forcing labels on food to have metric. "I want a pound of sugar, not 453g!" Turns out the world didn't actually burn down. The containers mostly stayed the same size, but I think they slowly gravitated towards logical sizes (so e.g. that 453g package became 500g or 400g at some point)
- P_I_Staker 7y ago
  I don't think I can get behind that sentiment. The USA is in another league from third world countries in most of those categories (except maybe gun violence and incarceration). Ignoring Super-PACs for a second, we don't need to grease some palms to get things done in this country. USA does not rank that high in corruption. It's not that big a part of day to day government compared to countries that have a serious problem. We have effective government institutaions. Fox news is not state run, it panders to one political party that happens to be in power. The metric system is not the best example or even a good one. I'm not going to defend the decision, but it's simply a tough thing to handle politically. Depite the issues that it causes, it's not a good indicator of living conditions in a country. It's a costly nuisance more than anything. I can definitely agree we have our issues. Specifically, high incarceration rates, medicare, and infrastructure. These are issues I'm very upset about. That doesn't make us a third world country though. Just below average (amoung developed countries). You have to be delutional or out of touch if you think living in the USA is like living in a third world country.
refurb 7y ago
Comparing the US to third world countries makes me think you never really visited a developing country. Maybe just flew through the airport?
- beefield 7y ago
  To be honest, I have spent way more time in developing countries[1] than in US. Even some time in the least developed counties to understand that the developing/least developed countries are a really diverse group. As is US in my humble and limited opinion. Wealthier areas of developing countries and not so wealthy areas of US are easily comparable in many measures in my opinion. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developing_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developing_country

jiggawatts 7y ago

The United States is the World's richest third-world country. You have crazy levels of gun violence, high inequality, tribal politics, high levels of corruption that have been legalized via Super-PACs, effectively state-run media (Fox News), highest per-capita incarceration, a failing medical system, failing infrastructure, etc, etc... The best example I can think of to show how far the US has fallen behind the rest of the world is that it's one of only a handful of countries that hasn't adopted the Metric system!

freeflight 7y ago
Funny story about that, the US is actually metric [0] Still doesn't stop the nutters from opposing it because it's supposedly a tool by the NWO to take over the world, with the US remaining as sole resistance [1] [0] https://youtu.be/SmSJXC6_qQ8 https://youtu.be/SmSJXC6_qQ8 [1] https://youtu.be/8jl5epgqHac https://youtu.be/8jl5epgqHac
- thedaemon 7y ago
  Funny story? Not a funny story. We are not metric. We would be metric if you bought items in metric. We do not. Doesn't matter what the scientist use. It matters what milk and bread is sold in. We buy drinks in liters and gallons. Those are not metric.
  - robin_reala 7y ago
    Litres are metric?
    - SahAssar 7y ago
      Yep, one litre is equal to 1 dm3 or 1 kg of water.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - kube-system 7y ago
    >It matters what milk and bread is sold in. The FPLA requires metric units to be included on labeling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Packaging_and_Labeling_Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Packaging_and_Labeling_Ac... https://www.nist.gov/standardsgov/compliance-faqs-packaging-and-labeling-us https://www.nist.gov/standardsgov/compliance-faqs-packaging-...
    - thedaemon 7y ago
      Yeah, we all see metric on the items we buy. None of us understand what that means. We understand 1 Gallon, not 3.785411784 L. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_customary_units https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_customary_units
      - kube-system 7y ago
        To the contrary, I've seen 3.8L or 3.78L written on every gallon jug for my entire lifetime. I know that conversion off the top of my head... even before I had mandatory science classes where I formally learned the same. But even if you haven't read any of the text on a milk jug over the past half-century, surely you've seen one of these before?: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71x5rVYbJUL._SX522_.jpg https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71x5rVYbJUL...
      - mattlondon 7y ago
        They said the same thing here in the UK years ago (the 90s I think) when they started forcing labels on food to have metric. "I want a pound of sugar, not 453g!" Turns out the world didn't actually burn down. The containers mostly stayed the same size, but I think they slowly gravitated towards logical sizes (so e.g. that 453g package became 500g or 400g at some point)
P_I_Staker 7y ago
I don't think I can get behind that sentiment. The USA is in another league from third world countries in most of those categories (except maybe gun violence and incarceration). Ignoring Super-PACs for a second, we don't need to grease some palms to get things done in this country. USA does not rank that high in corruption. It's not that big a part of day to day government compared to countries that have a serious problem. We have effective government institutaions. Fox news is not state run, it panders to one political party that happens to be in power. The metric system is not the best example or even a good one. I'm not going to defend the decision, but it's simply a tough thing to handle politically. Depite the issues that it causes, it's not a good indicator of living conditions in a country. It's a costly nuisance more than anything. I can definitely agree we have our issues. Specifically, high incarceration rates, medicare, and infrastructure. These are issues I'm very upset about. That doesn't make us a third world country though. Just below average (amoung developed countries). You have to be delutional or out of touch if you think living in the USA is like living in a third world country.

refurb 7y ago

Comparing the US to third world countries makes me think you never really visited a developing country. Maybe just flew through the airport?

beefield 7y ago
To be honest, I have spent way more time in developing countries[1] than in US. Even some time in the least developed counties to understand that the developing/least developed countries are a really diverse group. As is US in my humble and limited opinion. Wealthier areas of developing countries and not so wealthy areas of US are easily comparable in many measures in my opinion. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developing_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developing_country