this post was submitted on 28 Oct 2024
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Asklemmy

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[โ€“] [email protected] 9 points 12 hours ago

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€“] [email protected] 19 points 1 day ago (2 children)
[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 13 hours ago

nah we knew that already

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

Oh man! Yes!

[โ€“] [email protected] 25 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day 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€“] [email protected] 2 points 15 hours ago

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

[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

America: deep fried Oreos.

[โ€“] [email protected] 6 points 19 hours 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€“] [email protected] 2 points 18 hours 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€“] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours 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€“] [email protected] 5 points 21 hours ago* (last edited 16 hours 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€“] [email protected] 32 points 1 day ago (2 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€“] [email protected] 7 points 14 hours 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€“] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago

And the democracy sausage!

[โ€“] [email protected] 28 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day 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€“] [email protected] 3 points 15 hours 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€“] [email protected] 3 points 21 hours 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€“] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours ago

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

[โ€“] [email protected] 7 points 1 day 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.

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[โ€“] [email protected] 12 points 1 day ago (1 children)

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

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

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

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 12 hours ago

Shh, don't brag about it

[โ€“] [email protected] 27 points 1 day ago (6 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€“] [email protected] 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€“] [email protected] 5 points 1 day 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.

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

We donโ€™t discriminate, we hate everyone /s

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[โ€“] [email protected] 9 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 14 hours ago

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

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