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Despite all their political shenanigans and problematic tendencies, every country has something beautiful to offer, be it cuisine, stunning architecture, nature, inspiring historical personalities, film and music industries, tech innovations, diners, or timeless novels like good old Harry Potter.

Now, it’s not a big secret that America is among those places that are often criticized both by its citizens and outsiders. The country is a victim of many sometimes cruel, sometimes not-so-cruel stereotypes, and its great quality of life and cultural characteristics are frequently disregarded, which is why, today, we’ll be focusing on great things and great things only.

Americans (USA), what is a good thing about your country?” – this netizen turned to one of Reddit’s most thought-provoking communities to ask its members to reflect on the good aspects of America. The post managed to garner over 16k upvotes as well as 13.2k comments and intriguing answers.

More info: Reddit

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    #2

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered I am a naturalized US citizen, have been living here for 12 years now and I am still in awe and disbelief on the how amazing public libraries are here

    TranslatorHealthy263 , Andrew E. Larsen Report

    #3

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered US has 63 national parks and thousands of state parks. They preserve some of America’s most beautiful places.

    SuvenPan , Don Graham Report

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    Tabitha Frost
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    They are truly gorgeous! I love America's biodiversity. :3

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    #4

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered The endless diversity of delicious food brought by immigrants from around the world.

    MathematicianOld1117 , Haydn Blackey Report

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    Phil Rubin
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Where I live we have Mexican (few different varieties) Filipino, Korean, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Ethiopian, Indian (South Asian), Greek, few different varietiesof Middle Eastern... all of it

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    #5

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered We are HUGE! You can go on pretty much any kind of a vacation you want without leaving the country: beach, mountains, desert, snow, high culture, big city, small rural town, sports, music. The only limit is your time and your budget!

    ScepticOfEverything , faungg's photos Report

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    Calane E. Vanya
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    it's nice to see here a post about positive things in the USA (criticism I saw a lot already). I'd still be afraid to visit, but so many national parks seems wonderful.

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    #6

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered The Smithsonian Institution. It's 20+ museums (and a zoo), all for free, in Washington DC/NYC/VA, run by the government. I just think it's neat.

    flag-nerd , Pom' Report

    #7

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered The Americans with disabilities act.

    I didn't realize how much reserved parking spots by the door, wide sidewalks that must be clean, handicap bathrooms, and having ramps at the entrance were important until my brother became wheelchair bound.

    StandardFront7922 , Paul Wilkinson Report

    #8

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered You go to a restaurant, and they just give you a gigantic glass of ice water for free.

    solinvicta , Inga Munsinger Cotton Report

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    Headless Roach
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Considering the famously dirty ice machines, I'd politely decline the ice addition.

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    #9

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered Yellowstone.

    Yellowstone is like being on an entirely different planet at times, with a ridiculous amount of flora and fauna that either want to eat you or build a nest in your car- not to mention the eldritch geysers and springs.

    It's absolutely essential viewing and God bless Teddy Roosevelt.

    Lola_PopBBae , Eric Vaughn Report

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    Andy Saputo
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I went there for work years ago. It's massive. The drive from the southern entrance to the northern entrance is something like 15 hours.

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    #10

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered For the most part, we are very friendly. You can have a friendly little chat or interaction with a stranger anywhere like you’re good friends. I just got back from a two week backpacking trip through the nordics and, no offense because I love and respect their culture, I felt completely invisible the entire time. No one is friendly there, partially because it’s considered weird to talk to strangers. But the coldness is palpable. Made me a little relieved to get back to the US where people actually smile or chat with you instead of just being as cold as possible.
    Also we tend not to hate tourists because of where they’re from the way that some (definitely not most, but some) people immediately made assumptions about Americans and were actively mean because of it. Like yes, there are some dirtbag American tourists. Unfortunately I’ve met them. But the vast majority of us are not like that and shouldn’t be treated like that immediately. Americans don’t really see tourists when they come here and actively try to be mean because of what country the tourist is visiting from, the way (some, but not all) Europeans do when they see Americans

    Beginning-Middle5646 , Sarah Stierch Report

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    kitten levels tokyo
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Thank you for this post. I also have noticed a lot of hatred for U.S. natives around the world. We get it that you hate Donald Trump. We get it that you hate the U.S. superiority complex. Just because we live here doesn’t mean we love and promote these things you hate.

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    #11

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered The fact that I can p**s and moan about and criticize the government and/or president and not fear (official) retribution

    kgold0 , badlyricpolice Report

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    alias D.
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I doubt we will have this freedom for long( not the government restricting it but rather Certain political fanatics )

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    #12

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered The natural aspects of it are quite beautiful. & there are very diverse natural aspects.

    ghosts-go-boo , Michael Hicks Report

    #13

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered In general, despite how the media might portray it or how much the US is criticized for racism, the US is by far the most culturally diverse country, most other countries dont have as big of an issue with racism because they are mostly homogenous and the outliers are typically well integrated.

    If you see a black man, an asian, a caucasian and an indian all hanging out in america nobody will bat an eye. But if you have that same group in France or Germany? In France everyone there was staring at us like we were little green aliens having a picnic.

    Horny_For_Monsters , art around Report

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    Robert B
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I’m the city I live in, which is rather small, I can go to 3 different ethnic grocery store all with in a 5 minute drive, plus 3 more if I want to travel a bit. Yes, we may let a bunch of horse turds in the spotlight way too often, and yes, past generations have left us with black eyes and baggage, but no matter how hard some fight it, the USA is going to stay a mixing pot for the foreseeable future.

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    #14

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered 30-year fixed-rate mortgages

    Legitimate_Affect375 , Images Money Report

    #15

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered According to my mom who grew up in China as the communist regime fell she thinks the freedom in America is pretty great (like you can pick your own job and the government doesn't pick it for you) and she kept reminding me of this growing up in America

    billyandteddy , George Bannister Report

    #16

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered As an immigant, I've always felt at home.

    ca_sun , Emily Allen Report

    #17

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered We make some of the worlds best hot-smoked meats, namely central-Texas brisket, Carolinas smoked pork, and everything in between.

    I’ve traveled around much of the world and eaten everywhere, our smoked brisket is in a league of its own.

    HideHideHidden , Ernesto Andrade Report

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    Headless Roach
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I visited McAllen a couple of times and I never tried brisket. I guess it is now my new lifetime regret?

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    #18

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered I can literally see every type of climate without leaving the country.

    Guilty_Assignment_25 , Massachusetts Office Of Travel & Tourism Report

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    Tabitha Frost
    Community Member
    2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is so true. Though, I don't recall North America having a rain forest. (Correct me if I'm wrong!) Edit: Thanks so much for all the replies! I totally forgot Hawaii was a part of America, oops.

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    #19

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered Access to public education for children with special needs is a right guaranteed by law, and those protections are stronger and the educational service for special needs children are better than in most of the rest of the world.

    The ADA is also pretty amazing, and the United States is a lot more accessible than most other countries. Some of that's because the buildings are newer, yes. But it's really nice to go on vacation and know that your hotel will be able to accommodate you, tour buses will be able to accommodate you, most tourist attractions will be able to accommodate you, etc.

    AliMcGraw , Metropolitan Transportation Authority Report

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    Beaver boi🦫🇺🇦
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I agree. My brother has Kabuki syndrome(you can look it up if you don't know what it is), and he was able to get lots of special accommodations in school and graduated with all A's, and I have lots of special privileges because of my severe ADHD. These have helped me and my brother both a ton, and it makes me feel lucky that I live where I do.

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    #20

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered Our bureaucracies.

    I know most people like to b***h about things like the DMV, and the IRS. But, the system of American bureaucracies are doing more to make the world a better place than they get credit for. The amount of money and manpower dedicated to data collection and deciphering is hard to fathom, and we’re the only ones doing it for the entire world.

    Agencies like the DOT do massive amounts of testing on everything from train tracks to seat belts. Testing that goes far above and beyond what nearly any manufacturers do. The increase in road and travel safety in the past 100 years is unbelievable. And we share all of our data with every nation.

    The NOAA collects weather data used by every news channel, every weather agency, every government and military force, etc. The data we collect, and the research we’ve done on meteorology have taken weather prediction times from 1 day to about 10 days in the past century. The impact on life saving, and crop saving, this has had has impacted billions of lives.

    The DOE studies and regulates every nuclear facility on the planet. Our inspectors monitor every plant, every weapons cache, every warship worldwide. Either directly, or through NATO.

    Military initiatives like DARPA have created things like GPS satellites. We made them. All of them. We maintain them. Everyone else just gets to use them. And, everyone does.

    We aren’t perfect. Far from it. But, our intense efforts to collect and interpret data in every field; from food and drugs, to technology, to medicine and hospitals, building codes, chemical classification, the list goes on and on and on; have been an unparalleled contribution to our species.

    Fecal_Enthusiest , Joel Bez Report

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    harpling
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I would add to this the bureaucrats who work for their salaries without expectation for bribery. Unlike many of the places I've lived, there is not the automatic expectation to hand over cash during every interaction with a civil servant. I might have to pay fees or fines, but I know that money is not going into the pocket of the person processing my forms. Of course there are exceptions, but bribery is not the rule.

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    #21

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered Come and actually meet us. I hear the same s**t time and again from people, mostly Germans, "you were not what I expected." And we're not. We inundate the world with so much of our pop culture, that you might be forgiven for thinking that's what Americans are like. We're actually very baffling and weird. You have to come here to get us.

    trebuchetfight , SoulRider.222 Report

    #22

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered A lot of people say there is no "American culture" but there is it's just so spread and diverse that you don't notice it you can can get culture shock from going a state or 2 over

    s1ghtless_boi , Paul Arps Report

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    alias D.
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yeah each state has its own culture it’s when you talk about all 50 states is it hard to stereotype it

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    #24

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered free public restrooms

    oat53 , Jesse Steele Report

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    Firstname Lastname
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Considering that I already have to pay for supplies monthly for my *unwanted visitor* I am glad I don't have to pay for all my extra trips to check on said *visitor*.

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    #26

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered Honestly, there is a lot. I can go to my tap and have nice, fresh, clean drinking water (even people that don’t have running water due to poverty can go to any public place and get clean water from the tap). If I’m hot, I can walk to my thermostat and turn down the AC, same if I’m cold. Prices may be high, but food is readily available. I live in a really safe place and really don’t have to worry about someone coming into my home to harm me or my family, and if they do, I have plenty of weapons to hold them off. I have reliable power and internet as long as I pay my bills. I can drive 30 min south and enjoy the ocean, or 8 hours north and enjoy the mountains. I know there’s plenty of negative things about the USA, but there’s plenty of really good things too. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

    Athompson9866 , Joe Cheng Report

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    RoanTheMad
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    if you have to have weapons "just in case, to fend someone off" then you clearly do worry deep down that you're going to be harmed. It's not a good thing if you feel the need to own weapons for this reason.

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    #27

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered While this may not apply to any given American person or town, our culture is not rigid or uptight at all. There’s very little consequence in doing things drastically different from your neighbors, and there’s not much broad expectation to conform to “how things are done.” Someone might judge you but that’s just, like, their opinion, man. While I don’t think this is necessarily uniquely American, it’s definitely not universal.

    TerribleAttitude , R Boed Report

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    Bec
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    True, but the flip side is that you can't tell us what to do. Like any basic regulation or safety is met with cries about freedom

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    #28

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered Peanut butter.

    Vampilton , Mike Mozart Report

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    Sanchi
    Community Member
    2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Ok seeiously, people stop complaining against the post like “eww” or trying to deny america. Relax, you got you chance to ridicule america, now see the other side. Edit: surprised on the number of upvotes. Thought I would be downvoted into submission. Thanks y’all.

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    #29

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered We strive for improvement, each generation to the next. Some of us don't understand this, but it's a beautiful thing.

    Plesiadapiformes , WTF Colorado Report

    #30

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered Soooo many breakfast cereals to choose from

    DeepCompote , Mike Mozart Report

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    #31

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered We are very good at inviting criticism. The United States is the only country I know that hires people from other countries (Trevor Noah, Stuart Varney, John Oliver, Piers Morgan) and pays them very good money to publicly critique our way of life.

    Gorf_the_Magnificent , trevornoah Report

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    Chrissyfox
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I don't know how anyone can pay Piers Morgan for anything that comes out of his foul mouth.

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    #32

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered The first amendment of the constitution

    Darkskinblackie , Rajiv Patel (Rajiv's View) Report

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    Kise Miarse
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Perhaps. However, most people who tout this forget that "freedom of speech" is not "freedom from consequences." You have the right to express your opinion publicly . . . and everyone else has a right to react to it as they see fit. (Within the bounds of the law, obviously)

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    #33

    Someone Online Asked “Americans, What Is A Good Thing About Your Country?” And 30 Folks Delivered Innovation... Nearly every major invention of the past couple hundred years, and as much as we're made fun of for being dumb, we still have some of the smartest in the world as well

    Dapper-Pilot-9734 , Mark Ordonez Report

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    Andy
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is exactly why people get annoyed with America. By all means be proud of your countries achievements, list the great ones, but stop making unrealistic sweeping statements you clearly have no clue about

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