What is one relatively unknown thing that your country does much better than elsewhere, but that most people don't know about?
What is one relatively unknown thing that your country does much better than elsewhere, but that most people don't know about?
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.
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.).
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/
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.
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.
Germany. Bicycle parts.
Sure, the market leaders for drivetrain components are Shimano from Japan and Sram from the US.
But look into the higher-priced niches and there's:- Bosch, market leader for e-bike motors
- Schwalbe and Continental, market leaders for bicycle tires
- SKS, market leader for bike accessories like fenders
- Ortlieb and Vaude, market leaders for bike bags
- 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.
Australia: carrying out elections.
Voting is compulsory and you will be fined if you don’t vote without an acceptable reason.
But because voting is compulsory, it’s extremely easy and accessible. Waiting in line for more than 15 minutes is a long wait. Even in the suburbs you’re not usually more than a five minute drive from a polling place.
If you think you’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 you’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.
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.
Turkiye: E-Devlet.
We have this E-Government system that centralizes almost all relations with the State, I really don’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 it’s even worse at the rest of the western world.
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
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.
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.
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 😂
Poland: Blik.
Some would probably also say Paczkomaty and Żabka, but neither automatic parcel lockers nor breaking labour laws are strictly Polish inventions, so I wouldn't count them
Billiard balls and playing cards. Belgium is world leader in both.
Edit: forgot to add pigeons. Belgian competition pigeons are the most expensive in the world.
Edit 2: Belfries. Clock-O-Matic is a Belgian company and world leader in the automation of Belfries. It's not that hard because most Belfries are located in Belgium and France, if not all of them.
Edit 3: It never ends. Roller coaster wheels. Let that sink in. No their country produces more roller coaster wheels nor is as good as we arr at it.
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.
Playing football in Australia. The Australian version AFL we are the best at it