4 ms·

Natural parks. Tasty drinkable water from the tap in nearly the entire country. Being able to flush toilet paper. Free toilets almost everywhere. Being a coun

Natural parks. Tasty drinkable water from the tap in nearly the entire country. Being able to flush toilet paper. Free toilets almost everywhere. Being a country for 250 years is also quite an achievement. I’m European and have witnessed many wars on my continent in my lifetime. A childhood friend was shot down with a Russian surface to air missile.

2muchtime 3mo ago
The water is drinkable but in many places not what I would call tasty.
- artisinal 3mo ago
  Water tastes pretty gross in coastal Spain. In countries like Albania I wouldn’t even drink it at all. On Greek islands it is safe but everyone buys water from the stores. Due to the age of many places in Europe there is also still a lot of copper pipe used for tap water. Not deadly but also not very healthy. In Amsterdam over 20 percent of homes have copper pipes.
  - jandrewrogers 3mo ago
    A few places in the US have tap water that tastes famously bad, largely due to where they get the water from. San Diego is a famous example. The water is safe and clean but discolored and the flavor is pretty awful. Much of the US has great tasting tap water.
  - dnemmers 3mo ago
    I'm confused, you're saying that copper piping is not healthy for water lines? Any info you could help link to?
    - artisinal 3mo ago
      Apologies, I meant lead pipes. Plenty of pre-war homes have lead pipes.
      - dnemmers 3mo ago
        Thanks for the reply. I'm sure there are plenty of elements that could cause issues (acid flux, leaded solder, bursting, etc), I just hadn't hear the same things as galvanized or, like you said, lead piping.
axpy906 3mo ago
I don’t know. There are other countries that have those properties. I am envious of Western Europe’s healthcare, social safety net, healthier food and holidays that you don’t work on. The comment came about from the last charts show religion, patriotism, etc down while money rose. It clicked.
- fluidcruft 3mo ago
  What food does Europe have that the US does not?
  - axpy906 3mo ago
    Its what’s not in the food like additives, preservatives, pesticides, gmos and growth hormone. EU has stricter regulations.
    - fluidcruft 3mo ago
      You can buy the same food here.
    - retired 3mo ago
      > EU has stricter regulations. Different, not stricter perse. In the EU it is allowed to sell food with non-edible parts inside or cheese with maggots.
      - shawn_w 3mo ago
        If you're talking about casu martzu cheese, Wikipedia says >Due to these risks, Italian authorities have banned the sale of this cheese, deeming it dangerous. Consequently, it is also prohibited across the European Union, as EU food safety regulations mandate that only food safe for consumption can be sold.
    - jandrewrogers 3mo ago
      Not stricter, just different emphasis. For example, the US famously has stricter controls on bacterial contamination than much of Europe.
holgerschurig 3mo ago
I give you the nature parks. That being out of the way: drinkable water isn't really an achievement, we have it in all of western europe. Maybe even in all of europe. However, in the USA you have these places there the water is heavily poluted due to fracking. That is bad in itself. But even worse is that the political / judicial system in the USA is unable to fix this. Being a country for 250 years is ... neither good nor bad in itself. And if you look at ancient egypt that had 4 digits here, then it is pathetic to bring this up. But also in the western world 250 years aren't that much. Many wars ... yeah, the USA started and/or participated in many wars. More than european countries did during your lifetime. Out of my mind: Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, Panama, Grenada, Bosnia+Herzegovina, Irak, Irak, Afghanistan, Iran, Libya. And don't forget undeclared wars like lots of "Wedding seeking hellfire missiles" in Yemen or Somalia. Oh, and that was just a selection. Look up Wikipedia on the full list of US wars and incidents. You'll be mind-blown how militaristic / violent they are. And then don't forget all the coups it did in south america, I think more than 20 incidents. Or the awful Nicaraguan Contra thingy, where the USA paid death squadrons to terrorize just normal people, not just communists. Depending on how old are you, all of the above happened during your lifetime. Ah, and did we forget in these 250 years not about their civil war, about the enslavement of millions of people? Or of the genocide on natives? Never heard of the trail of tears perhaps? No way the USA has a even a tiny bit more of morality on their side as other countries.
- artisinal 3mo ago
  > drinkable water isn't really an achievement, we have it in all of western europe. Maybe even in all of europe Absolutely not. Water tastes bad in plenty of parts in Europe and isn’t even drinkable in plenty of parts. > But also in the western world 250 years aren't that much. I would like to know which countries you are talking about. > yeah, the USA started and/or participated in many wars I was talking about wars on their own continent, impacting their own people. Europe has seen plenty of that. I am currently less than 1000 kilometers away from an active battle zone. How many Americans can say that.
  - holgerschurig 3mo ago
    Yea, like the water in San Diego. Water tastes bad in plenty of USA. Not only due to clornination. In in the fracking counties it isn't even drinkable. Also note that I actually used the term "western europe" in my post. I was in UK, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Czech, Romania, Hungary, Poland ... and everywhere was tap water totally drinkable. In Mallorca (Spain) it didn't taste that nice, but it was drinkable. Germans travel a lot, and when you book a travel, you get some information about your host country. And never ever did I read "don't trink the tap water". So of all places I've been, "tastes bad" only was once true. "Can't drink" was never true. Your "plenty if parts" is definitely hallucinated. However, I've not been in many places in south-east and east europe, like not in Albania, Moldavia, Slowenia, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina, the Baltics, Belarussia, Slowakia, Ukraina, Russia etc etc etc. So I have no idea on how their water is.

2muchtime 3mo ago

The water is drinkable but in many places not what I would call tasty.

artisinal 3mo ago
Water tastes pretty gross in coastal Spain. In countries like Albania I wouldn’t even drink it at all. On Greek islands it is safe but everyone buys water from the stores. Due to the age of many places in Europe there is also still a lot of copper pipe used for tap water. Not deadly but also not very healthy. In Amsterdam over 20 percent of homes have copper pipes.
- jandrewrogers 3mo ago
  A few places in the US have tap water that tastes famously bad, largely due to where they get the water from. San Diego is a famous example. The water is safe and clean but discolored and the flavor is pretty awful. Much of the US has great tasting tap water.
- dnemmers 3mo ago
  I'm confused, you're saying that copper piping is not healthy for water lines? Any info you could help link to?
  - artisinal 3mo ago
    Apologies, I meant lead pipes. Plenty of pre-war homes have lead pipes.
    - dnemmers 3mo ago
      Thanks for the reply. I'm sure there are plenty of elements that could cause issues (acid flux, leaded solder, bursting, etc), I just hadn't hear the same things as galvanized or, like you said, lead piping.

axpy906 3mo ago

I don’t know. There are other countries that have those properties. I am envious of Western Europe’s healthcare, social safety net, healthier food and holidays that you don’t work on. The comment came about from the last charts show religion, patriotism, etc down while money rose. It clicked.

fluidcruft 3mo ago
What food does Europe have that the US does not?
- axpy906 3mo ago
  Its what’s not in the food like additives, preservatives, pesticides, gmos and growth hormone. EU has stricter regulations.
  - fluidcruft 3mo ago
    You can buy the same food here.
  - retired 3mo ago
    > EU has stricter regulations. Different, not stricter perse. In the EU it is allowed to sell food with non-edible parts inside or cheese with maggots.
    - shawn_w 3mo ago
      If you're talking about casu martzu cheese, Wikipedia says >Due to these risks, Italian authorities have banned the sale of this cheese, deeming it dangerous. Consequently, it is also prohibited across the European Union, as EU food safety regulations mandate that only food safe for consumption can be sold.
  - jandrewrogers 3mo ago
    Not stricter, just different emphasis. For example, the US famously has stricter controls on bacterial contamination than much of Europe.

holgerschurig 3mo ago

I give you the nature parks. That being out of the way: drinkable water isn't really an achievement, we have it in all of western europe. Maybe even in all of europe. However, in the USA you have these places there the water is heavily poluted due to fracking. That is bad in itself. But even worse is that the political / judicial system in the USA is unable to fix this. Being a country for 250 years is ... neither good nor bad in itself. And if you look at ancient egypt that had 4 digits here, then it is pathetic to bring this up. But also in the western world 250 years aren't that much. Many wars ... yeah, the USA started and/or participated in many wars. More than european countries did during your lifetime. Out of my mind: Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, Panama, Grenada, Bosnia+Herzegovina, Irak, Irak, Afghanistan, Iran, Libya. And don't forget undeclared wars like lots of "Wedding seeking hellfire missiles" in Yemen or Somalia. Oh, and that was just a selection. Look up Wikipedia on the full list of US wars and incidents. You'll be mind-blown how militaristic / violent they are. And then don't forget all the coups it did in south america, I think more than 20 incidents. Or the awful Nicaraguan Contra thingy, where the USA paid death squadrons to terrorize just normal people, not just communists. Depending on how old are you, all of the above happened during your lifetime. Ah, and did we forget in these 250 years not about their civil war, about the enslavement of millions of people? Or of the genocide on natives? Never heard of the trail of tears perhaps? No way the USA has a even a tiny bit more of morality on their side as other countries.

artisinal 3mo ago
> drinkable water isn't really an achievement, we have it in all of western europe. Maybe even in all of europe Absolutely not. Water tastes bad in plenty of parts in Europe and isn’t even drinkable in plenty of parts. > But also in the western world 250 years aren't that much. I would like to know which countries you are talking about. > yeah, the USA started and/or participated in many wars I was talking about wars on their own continent, impacting their own people. Europe has seen plenty of that. I am currently less than 1000 kilometers away from an active battle zone. How many Americans can say that.
- holgerschurig 3mo ago
  Yea, like the water in San Diego. Water tastes bad in plenty of USA. Not only due to clornination. In in the fracking counties it isn't even drinkable. Also note that I actually used the term "western europe" in my post. I was in UK, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Czech, Romania, Hungary, Poland ... and everywhere was tap water totally drinkable. In Mallorca (Spain) it didn't taste that nice, but it was drinkable. Germans travel a lot, and when you book a travel, you get some information about your host country. And never ever did I read "don't trink the tap water". So of all places I've been, "tastes bad" only was once true. "Can't drink" was never true. Your "plenty if parts" is definitely hallucinated. However, I've not been in many places in south-east and east europe, like not in Albania, Moldavia, Slowenia, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Herzegovina, the Baltics, Belarussia, Slowakia, Ukraina, Russia etc etc etc. So I have no idea on how their water is.