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.
They’re common in Canada as well. In my experience, they’re much better than larger banks for things like fees and interest rates.
Historically the main advantage of a larger bank was having banks and ATMs everywhere, but lots of CUs have formed mutual agreements for ATM access, and internet banking being ubiquitous has rendered any advantage the big banks have had moot (in my opinion, at least).
The biggest problem I’ve had with My credit union is there an ability to fix problems, and they’re absolutely antiquated systems.
I went to Florida on vacation instantly tripped fraud. I had contacted them prior They put a note in my account because they had no other way to do anything. I tripped fraud on a Friday night and they were not able to answer a call from me until Monday morning.
A couple of years later I spent a few days in Niagara. The very first day I got up there I tripped fraud. I had already called them went through three different people to make sure there was nothing else I could do. I made sure that I didn’t arrive on a Friday this time. My big problem now was that I was looking at an hour-long phone call and I was roaming. I drove up to one of the higher points in town and managed to get a US Tower. I got them to unlock me which worked for approximately one day.
Their web portal the last time I used it required me to have a 7 to 10 character password uppercase lowercase only. Tell me you’re storing my data and securely without telling me your storing my data in securely.
You don’t always end up with the best management by having the clientele pick the management. And sometimes those really low rates end up making you suffer on the security side of things.
Still the best interest rate I’ve ever gotten on a car loan and the entire staff was absolutely sweet, They were just entirely incapable of keeping my card working whenever I left the state.
I ended up going back to a larger bank. 24-hour fraud unlock hotline, also capable of unlocking me via a link in email as soon as it’s tripped.
Apparently years later I find out that I possibly could have gotten by some of the fraud issues with the credit union if I would have used the card in debit mode. They apparently assume that a debit transaction is inherently secure. I have no idea if this actually works but if you’re having trouble it’s not a bad idea to try it. Just do at least one pin transaction every time you go to a different location.
Ah, that would definitely make a difference. A debit transaction uses some form of “password” like a PIN or the data embedded in a card chip. A credit transaction technically only relies on easily available data and sometimes a signature, much more common for fraud (it’s pretty easy to read and replicate the data from a magnetic strip–one of my classmates did a project to read magnetic strips, and they had to stop letting people swipe their own cards on it because it popped up tons of confidential data).
My CU’s website definitely looks like it’s from the early naughts, but they at least kept things up to date and security practices seemed legit, and I don’t think I ever tripped the fraud detector. I guess everyone’s mileage will vary a bit.
Yeah, I just got the impression that everything they were using was a canned service. And whatever service they bought for fraud protection was either poorly serviced or they weren’t properly trained on it.
The UK has building societies which sound like what you’re describing
Yes, they’re similar, but from what I’ve heard, most UK building societies are basically the same as or worse than banks in terms of fees, rates, and service quality. In the US, most credit unions will absolutely spank the big banks on at least two of those, if not all three.
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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.).
Incidentally it’s a lot easier to take legal action against a business that violates the ADA than to take action against a government that insists on defunding programs like that.
I’ve lived in America all my life. Thank you for this interesting outside perspective. I never would have guessed that the ADA is held in such high regard!
The ada is amazing. My husband grew up just as it was being put into place and remembers the protests (to get it, not against it). Without it, things are much more difficult. I know there will be handicapped parking, and cutins on sidewalks and bathrooms and stuff wherever we go without having to look it up.
Yeah it was surprisingly jarring going to Europe and seeing places that were completely inaccessible by wheel chair. I have never used a wheel chair in my life but I know there’s bars in my area that have mini elevators for peole on wheel chairs to access the lower level that’s only like 4 steps down.
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They currently live in the US. So, whether they properly answered your prompt seems to depend on your definition of “your country”.
Oops, I didn’t see that. My bad. Guess I made a fool of myself here.
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.
There are plenty of countries doing better in smoking in terms of relative change, like Peru, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Norway, etc - there’s a whole lot of them. The net drop in smoking is about 32% in the US, compared to these countries, which have a much higher drop - indicating the effectiveness of their anti-smoking campaign.
In fact, countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Panama, Ethiopia and Turkmenistan are doing really well, with less than 6% of the population smoking.
I’m a smoker in the US. It seems like a hell of a lot less than 6% of people here smoke. I don’t think I have a single family member or friend who still smokes. Feels like it’s just me.
For what it’s worth, I’ve also noticed the same thing where I live in Tennessee. Smoked for 21 years (from 11 to 32), and while there are still a ton of smokers in my little hick town, it’s much less than before.
When does it started ? Do you have law prohibiting smoking in public place like restaurant, transports, nigth club, office, etc ?
Because, while it’s true we see less smokers in movies, it’s the first time i hear US having a anti-smoking culture… Note that I include drugs like weed in the smoking culture and we heard a lot from it recently. And only from US.
On my country, since the 90’, it’s forbiden to smoke in public place, in the office, etc. They also increased a lot it’s price bia taxes, put labels on the packaging and the amount of smokers reduced a lot since. But hollywood still represent us as smoker ^^
When does it started ? Do you have law prohibiting smoking in public place like restaurant, transports, nigth club, office, etc ?
Pretty much this. From the late 80’s more and more smoking bans were put into place. Public buildings, any private business, public transport, etc.
It’s at the point now that the only places you can smoke are your own house (even the apartment buildings I’ve been to have no smoking rules. Like, even in your own apartment) or outside (as long as it’s x feet/meters away from a building’s entrance).
Also US, we’re definitely not exhibiting an “anti smoking” culture. I think you’re confusing what you’re exposed to to what is really going on in the world. It’s important to recognize the limitations of your perspective, and not confuse them for a national trend
I think I’d be more happy with my compatriots abusing cigarettes and not drugs. US has massive narcotic consumption problem and cigarettes I’d call the mildest of this subgroup.
It’s week and other tame drugs < cigarettes < alcohol and other strong shit I’d say.
Wait, you mean to say that strong drugs are less harmful than cigs and tame drugs?
And that alcohol is in the same category as cocaine or meth?
The other way around and yes, pretty much. I mean it’s probably a bit below cocaine but like yeah, that shit is bad.
First thing - you really confused the signs
Second thing - you really have no idea what you’re talking about.
Alcohol is definitely a menace to society, but the strongest alcohol a man can drink (like absinth, not methanol) will be much less devastating than cocaine or meth after one dose. Not to mention some other vile drugs like the russian krokodil.
I mean does the harm per dose really matter? They’re both extremely addictive hard drugs that can literally kill you if you use them irresponsibly. Again, I know cocaine is worse, but not to an extent that warrants different treatment. Cocaine would also likely be safer (though probably still more dangerous as alcohol, I admittedly don’t know enough to say much here) if it was socially accepted like alcohol.
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 can’t be reversed. We stopped our atom plants and have a plan out of coal. Even though our geography isn’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.
By atom, do you mean nuclear energy? Why did you stop the nuclear plant?, assuming that’s what you’re referring to.
How does this relate to Germany relying using natural gas from Russia, before their invasion of Ukraine? My understanding was that Germany had energy issues at the offset, which I wouldn’t expect considering how much renewavles you use
Honestly, despite all of nuclears many benefits, there’s still no good action plan for the significant amounts of substantially dangerous waste it leaves around. Hard to figure out a storage plan for an invisible poison seeping from a rock for the next 50,000 years.
Does it actually seep? my understanding of chemical waste is: that it doesn’t generate a lot (the US has about a foot ball fields worth from all of our nuclear power plants in our total history, so nearly 70 years), and that they placed is secure, not leaking containers. You’re right that it will eventually be a problem, but probably a problem that we will have to deal with later than our current climate crisis. An argument could be made that maybe new nuclear plants shouldn’t be made, but if we have some up and running, that’s cheap energy that generates little carbon.
but if we have some up and running, that’s cheap energy that generates little carbon.
That is the great misunderstanding of nuclear. It isn’t cheap. It’s supported massively by tax money. In France with all its big nuclear plants for example, the power company went bankrupt. Nuclear is too expensive to run. The government took over the operations.
In Germany, the power companies refused to prolong the operations of nuclear at the beginning of Russian invasion. It was too expensive for them.
The only advantage that nuclear has, is that it’s independent of weather and doesn’t emit carbon. The drawback is the costs, inflexibility (always on), and reliance on cool water (which was an issue in France). That’s why MS, Amazon and all put there eggs into this basket for AI power - they shit money.
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Amazing. Every single word you just said was wrong.
Deleted my comment because I was wrong, AfD does not lobby against nuclear plants.
However it does not change the fact that they are neonazi Putin enthusiasts
But they aren’t conservative, either.
And the conservatives weren’t the ones lobbying against nuclear. That was Merkel, who was a centrist.
Sudden culture shock from a Norwegian:
Still open is the transition of heat and cars to electricity…
Almost all electricity used by Norwegian homes goes towards heating (including cooking and hot water), and charging cars. So counting heating separate from electricity suddenly makes the electric transition sound less impressive. (And the transition away from nuclear more baffling). It’s still impressive to see Germany really follow through on renewables though. 60% renewable electricity is still a lot
Is there a plan to transition away from burning fossil fuels for heating?
There are plans yes, but also corrupt politicians and unethical media who straight up lie to the public and keep this plan from going forward.
Why lump atom in with coal? Atom is great, coal stinks. You’re confusing the stats.
Try to dismantle a nuclear plant. It costs tons of money and time. Ask the people at Nagasaki or Tschernobyl.
Dismantle a coal power plant takes time, but one can reuse the iron and such. All the open mining fields and mining tunnels are the problem. In Western Germany, there are areas where house crack or cars fall down sudden openings caused by old mining tunnels.
Try to dismantle at wind mill or solar fields. It’s a quest of days and some bucks.
I prefer the easy way of living. So, my favorite are renewables.
You dismantled your plants because dismantling your plants is hard? 🤔 That seems backwards. Why not upgrade? Then you never have to dismantle. Keep it alive forever.
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/
Recycling. In Sweden we recycle so much that we have to buy trash from other countries!
In Denmark our district heating is so great that we have to import trash to burn at our Combined Heat and Power plants. Bit ironic given that we’re also a market leader on windmills that are supposed to replace plants.
India: what India does wayyy better than others is digital payments. we have what is called UPI this is a open payments interface made by government (rbi) but their APIs can be used by any bank’s and any verified third party apps, and all you need to use UPI is just a bank account that’s it, and with this we can send money to any bank account through any other bank account with just phone number or QR code, the reciver and sender don’t even have to use same app because the backend is same for all, i just have to search for their number and send money, or i just have to scan QR code and send money, and it happens instantly with no minimum limit, this is so widely used that pretty much any shopkeeper keeps a UPI qr code even the ones in smallest and remote villages. infact i dony think I used single rupee in cash since like last 3 years, i don’t carry cash anywhere either, this is integrated with popular apps too like uber online food ordering apps , Netflix and basically any app that needs payment. upi is pretty much only reason why India has the most digital transaction in world even more than China and it’s not even close.
also public digital infrastructure, pretty much anything government related is done digitally, like our id cards, driving licence, income certificate, and even high school and degree certificate is digitised, infact even our college credits is digitised, like my college credits will be automatically added so it will be seamless to change college in between my degree, and ofc all this is verified cryptographically with an app, so it’s not just one pdf which can be forged or something. and recently a law was passed which made the cryptographically verified digital documents legally same thing as physical one’s, so now if you have a phone with the app installed ( government made app that store’s and verifies documents) and if you have all your documents in that app you are good to go anywhere. this is more than just concinence of not having to carry physical documents because now we can make bank accounts completely online because verification can be done through their APIs and cryptographically. and yeah it was super useful in covid times because we could do appointment for vaccination online in the app and we could get covid certificate digitally.
I’m curious, how does that work for people from remote villages? India still have a pretty large population who live traditional lifestyles with limited access to the Internet, don’t y’all? Do they have the option of more traditional paper documents, or do they have to find a computer somewhere to use for certain things?
UPI also works with USSD, so it is actually not limited by just internet.
even people from less developed places use digital stuff, you don’t need computer you only need a phone to use everything, mobile data is super cheap in india (3usd per month for 2gb per day), and smartphones are super cheap too, even people who don’t have access to electricity use digital payments. infact this was possible only because of cheap internet and many indians are comfortable with tech somehow. and connectivity is really good pretty much 100% of country get’s fast 4g and nearly 80% has 5g
Doesn’t “digital” imply “electricity”?
well that i meant 24/7 electricity
I think you should also highlight how it is different from China’s Alipay or similar payment vendor system in Europe and the US - it is a unified payment system, there is little to no fee for transaction, and you’re not locked to a eco-system, like Apple, or PayPal. But it is absolutely horrible when it comes to privacy.
But it is absolutely horrible when it comes to privacy.
Reading OPs description, I did wonder.
the difference is this is unified and government maintained, alipay or any payment vendor’s you have to use their apps, and you can only send money to people who have accounts in their apps, here it’s maintained by government no need to make any account anywhere, just direct bank to bank transfer with just phone number and QR code. and more importantly no transaction fees
Wow that’s really impressive! I’m used to having a great online platform to transfer money, but having government issued documents be digitized is a step beyond what we have here!
We have QR code based payments in the Netherlands via iDeal. Makes payment super easy.
is it as simple as " download an app and sign in through phone number and bank account is automatically detected and you are good to go" ans also there is no transaction fees
That’s way more convoluted than here.
Our banking apps have a QR scanner in them so no need for new apps or new accounts.
banking apps have upi too, even in banking apps you have to sign in with id and password and such with upi specific apps you don’t even have to do that, it’s just that you have more freedom here, the thing is any app can have it
We use qr-based payments where I live too. I been the qr-codes have to work on all payment platforms which is super convenient.
The only minor gripe is that they charge a small transfer fee if going between banks. Do you have that fee?
there is no fee, the servers and bandwidth cost taken from taxpayers money basically
Germany. Bicycle parts.
Sure, the market leaders are Shimano from Japan and Sram from the US.
But look into the high-priced niches and there’s:- Bosch, market leader for e-bike motors
- Schwalbe, market leader for bicycle tires
- 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 & Müller, makes the best bicycle lights in the world
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.
It’s also fun that we can go to Germany and still get cash out for free whereas Germans have to pay a fee for using their own ATMs.
For other banks.
Sparkassen customers dont need to pay at other sparkassen belonging to the same group (I think it depends on how the different regions organized themselves)
They can also do coorperations between other banks like for ing-diba and other institutes.
Falconry is set up really well in the US and several foreign countries clubs are petitioning their government to emulate us.
- It’s difficult to get into on purpose. This reduces impulse buys of raptors by completely inexperienced people which reduces raptor harm.
- Self regulated for the most part through an apprentice / sponsor system.
- Clearly defined as a hunting sport with “pet keepers” kept to a minimum as they can lose their license for not hunting. Raptors make shit pets and need to fly and hunt for their mental well being.
- Wild take of raptors. This is a huge one, pretty much no other country that actually has wildlife protections allows this. Falconry in the US is basically built off of wild take as an exclusion to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
- Very difficult to monetize. A falconer cannot use their license to make money. Educational programs can be done but they can’t be paid more than gas money and if they are doing more programs than hunting they can lose their license. Doing abatement (using a raptor to chase off pests at an airport for example) is a separate license which requires 7 years as a falconer minimum.
- Each state has their own club that works with their state government and then there is a national club that works with the feds and other countries.
It’s difficult to get into on purpose.
Had to read this a few times until it clicked that it doesn’t mean as opposed to getting into accidentally.
Poland: Blik.
Some would probably also say Paczkomaty and Żabka, but neither automatic parcel lockers or breaking labour laws are strictly Polish inventions, so I wouldn’t count then
Denmark: Hygge, apparently. But a lot of writers are working hard to make money off of getting a lot of people to know about it.
What is Hygge?
Wikipedia says: “Hygge is a word in Danish and Norwegian that describes a cozy, contented mood evoked by comfort and conviviality.”
Austria 🇦🇹
You know those little CO2 cartridges? Most likely made by iSi
Austria is good at producing CO2, got it.
Seems like a weird thing to brag about nowadays.Ooooooh, that explains why the whippets weren’t kicking in.
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.
Say what you will about the chaebols running the country and the rampant corruption, Korean roadworkers are incredibly fast and efficient. There’s never some guy standing around doing nothing.
