If you don’t know less than 50% of Americans have a passport. The ones who don’t, I really see the limitation in their thinking. They never saw that most of the world is in fact freer than them, has a better system in place for their people, and doesn’t have some of the major problems that America has. I’m currently in a country where over 90% of items are made in that country. America (made in China) can’t comprehend this efficiency. P.S. I’m American
The thing that gets me though is how dangerous many Americans say other parts of the world is without having ever been there lol. I travel and I’ll tell you America is the MOST dangerous country outside of warzones. Yes even more dangerous that Arab countries for women. Lol I know that propaganda is in a lot of Americans minds.
OK so who’s actually been outside the country and can talk geopolitics and actually know from experience what they are talking about?
Italy, Germany, the UK, Mexico, Iceland, Morocco, the US, Belgium, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Senegal, Switzerland, Denmark, Greece, Russia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands.
What was your favorite country out of all of them and what was your least favorite?
The only traveling I’ve done outside of the US was to Canada, very briefly.
What countries are most friendly to a vegan lifestyle? Which ones are most walkable and bikeable?
In Belgium we hired bicycles at the railway station at Ypres, biked around the countryside all day, then dropped them off and got the train back to Brussels.
As for the Netherlands… this is a typical railway station bike park.
That looks like paradise.
Unfortunately most humans have been duped. So India for instance would be an answer that someone might give but they only have about 9% as vegans. That’s terrible because every other country gets lower in their percentage. As for biking I’m not sure I haven’t biked in years
I’ve heard a little bit about India having their own issues regarding animal rights. 9% is still a lot better than 1% though.
Biking is my freedom, which means I’m very unfree.
Although they use milk, they consider egg a meat. They treat their cows like gods, so if you’re vegan only for the reasons of animal suffering then I’d argue being vegetarian in India is philosophically identical
I’m in it for the health and benefits of plants
Been lucky enough to have been able to visit Hong Kong before the takeover, Germany, the Netherlands, India and my wife was able to go additionally France and Costa Rica.
Never had a problem with international travel and never felt unsafe in any of those places personally outside of trying to drive, just once, in India, was enough for me and took up my company’s offer for a driver. My wife had no issues with any of her traveling with or without me either.
I’ve only just joined lemmy.ml communities, is it US only or something?
American here. I’ve traveled to Scotland and Italy. Both are amazing places that I would be proud to call home if I were a local. The only times I felt uneasy were when we traveled to areas known to have pickpockets. As opposed to my native red state wherein I have to worry that every person is concealed carrying and may “go off” for any slight annoyance.
As an European, just driving from Toronto to Montréal, you’ll already be in a vastly different environment and may even experience culture shock. The same can be probably said of going from any of the US states to Mexico.
Have you ever traveled inside of america?
Over 25 States. I’m American
I kinda ment that as a blanket statement for everyone. But 25 states is crazy!
As someone who has ridden Mexico City’s and Istanbul’s metros, Americans should be fucking embarrassed of mass transit back home.
Atlanta ripped up their street cars and I’m still angry about it. So many towns in Georgia have old train stops that have been converted into museums or restaurants. My parents and I both have one, but there’s no way for me to take a train to them. It’s upsetting.
So did Pittsburgh and then never replaced it. The only way to get around the city is via bus. There is a light rail system but it basically only goes from the suburbs to downtown
They destroyed the railroad networks because they tried to force people to buy cars lol only America could do something that short sighted
It happened in the UK too, in the 60s. Some of the lines have been reinstated in recent years, but most were gone for good. Cars were the future! Really dumb.
It is a lot more complicated than that.
Most early 20th century mass transit networks were private businesses subject to government regulation. Most of the government regulation focused on controlling fares, so there was a lot of deferred maintenance. This was made worse as some mass transit systems were built to be a loss leader to support selling real estate.
Several mass transit networks went bankrupt due to the combination of fares not covering expenses and reduced demand due to completion with cars. Most American cities weren’t equipped to take on subsiding or taking over mass transit, so they let the existing networks die.
Fair point about the nuance but this was a dumb mistake the government should have put development into them and expanded now they are regretting it. They think the solution to traffic was going to be Musk boring tunnels for Tesla’s. It’s like they forgot railroads exist
It was a dumb mistake, but it was a dumb mistake that had broader political support than the narrative that “car companies destroyed mass transit” suggests. It is important to recognize how a broad base of support was created in order to fight it in its current interations.
And I completely agree that Musk tunnels are a shit technology and that actual trains need to be built. I just think it requires understanding how politics functions rather than just accepting a corporate bogeyman.
GM did play a very large role in it though so you can say both but it def was pushed by the car industry to dismantle
ITT: OP Asks thought provoking question, then acts like an ass in the comments.
If you think my personality is ass i can’t help that sugar bear
My brother has the time and money to travel right now, but I’m having a hard time convincing him to go somewhere. He’s one of the people who think every country except the US is dangerous. Oh, and also, only the US has “safe” food. 🤦♂️
The brainwashing is real. I had a friend like that. They asked me if I was going to eat dogs in Japan lol damn. It’s like they had a propaganda switch activated everytime they had a discussion about anything foreign
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What does seem to be a point of agreement for Europeans that live in the States for years is that the US is so huge that for most people, there’s no reason to leave. Whatever landscape you want can be had, from the tropics to the Arctic Circle. Geography makes it easy to never have a passport and experience 20 lifetimes of places. It actually is an amazing and diverse place.
That being said, getting an outside perspective of the world is an entirely different thing. Until an American gets their exceptionalism challenged by someone, it’s an internal emotional paper tiger. It typically benefits Americans to leave the country.
I won’t touch your point about most dangerous. I don’t agree, but won’t engage because I don’t want to end up in a Palintir database. Delete this post unless you want CBP searching your phone next time you re-enter the country.
I won’t touch your point about most dangerous. I don’t agree, but won’t engage because I don’t want to end up in a Palintir database. Delete this post unless you want CBP searching your phone next time you re-enter the country.
A scary reminder of chilling effects, hits close.
Yeah. I’m aware, and it makes me sick.
But not as much as the fact that the Republic is over. Strap your survival pants on, pal.
Being able to explore different geographic landscapes is nice but traveling outside of your country is necessary to broaden one’s worldview.
But even travel alone isn’t enough. You need to have a genuine curiosity about the world. About humanity.
I watched Eat Pray Love with my SO recently. I can’t think of a more narrow minded approach to telling this type of story. Using other nations and their people as a backdrop to one’s own half baked self discovery. It was poorly done and thankfully even the core audience of americans identified its issues.
I can’t imagine a life only seeing one nation’s people, worldview and lifestyle. It seems incomplete to me. I know for many Americans there are financial challenges (and not a lot of PTO) but I agree with you that its often to an individuals benefit to broaden their horizons.
100% yes.
I am privileged to be able to travel for fun, but also live in and get immersed in other cultures thanks to work.
The Americans that spend 5 days in Cancun, an all-inclusive in DR, or “went to Africa” by touching Morocco on a day trip from Spain…ugh. Y’all look bad saying box-ticking is anything else than that. It’s not a competition; what did you actually personally gain from the experience? What makes you grow as a person with greater understanding of our world? Sometimes the answers surprise you, but largely, it’s about saving money and being a dick to people you wrongly assume don’t speak English.
Agreed. I’d add that I don’t think experiencing a diaspora culture in the US is the same as going to another country and experiencing a culture on it’s home turf. The latter requires a sense of humility that I think the vast majority of Americans struggle with (or shy away from for other reasons). Overcoming those holdups leads to oppurtunities to have a more complete sense of the world and self.
I genuinely think many in America (also generally the West and wealthy people) see the world as a commodity that should offer a degree of “user/customer experience” which leads to some problematic world views and is part of why they may treat travel as a checklist. They want to go as far as possible without actually leaving home and wear it as a status symbol.
1 million percent correct here.
Did you know you can be exposed to other cultures without leaving the country? You did a good job of pointing out why travel alone doesn’t make people more open minded, but you didn’t touch on the opportunities Americans have to connect with other cultures without leaving their own country.
Not to mention different economic classes. Like people for whom travel to a different continent would be a luxury beyond their financial capabilities.
You can be exposed to an Americanized version of that culture, absolutely. Its not the same as going to its source.
No of course not, but it still exposes a person to a culture different than what they may be used to.
Its certainly better than nothing. But leaving your home country, especially to see and try to understand a culture different from yours, requires a type of humility that helps make a person more complete. I know many Americans struggle with work life balance which makes it not so feasible so I agree that exploring other cultures at home is a reasonable compromise. But a compromise nonetheless.
But even travel alone isn’t enough. You need to have a genuine curiosity about the world. About humanity.
Indeed. I’ve once met a boatful of American tourists visiting Cologne (Germany). I don’t think they actually knew where they were, and even called me a liar when I told them that the cathedral they were looking at was 750 years old (“No bulding can be that old!”).
I’ll search their phones lol. Good post except most Americans don’t even know about other states. They don’t travel through America lol only a small percentage of us do.
Yes, quite a lot. I’ve never actually been to America though.
Sooooo funny haaaaaa
Yeah I went to Japan for work.
I was supposed to go to Europe when I graduated high school, but my mom got cancer instead. And by the time my sister graduated I was disowned so our father and her went without me.
I still want to go to Europe, but unfortunately it’s very far away. And I’d love to go back to Japan and see more than just factories in small cities. Tokyo was gorgeous but I only saw the airports and trains.
If the middle east were to stabilize and get really cool about a lot of things really fast I really want to see Iraq and Iran. I’d love to see Babylon and other early cities.
If you don’t know less than 50% of Americans have a passport. The ones who don’t, I really see the limitation in their thinking.
why do you think it’s a thinking problem? applying for a passport costs money. travelling to another country costs even more money. not everyone has had access to the same opportunities.
anyways. i haven’t gotten to travel out of the US, but it certainly ain’t because i wouldn’t like to. it just isn’t financially feasible for a lot of people here.
Yeah this question really was “have you traveled to a different hemisphere”. Ok ok, there’s also central America and the Caribbean, but most American trips to either of those places are to resorts in impoverished nations unless it’s to Costa Rica, which i hear is gorgeous, but is also the equivalent of Aussies going to southeast Asia, but more culturally similar.
Why don’t we go to other hemispheres? Because they’re very far away. I’d be shocked if Canadians were significantly more likely to go to other countries (us excluded), and they’re quite a bit closer being further north. And a lot of Americans live between two mountain ranges in the middle of north America, where it’s a flight to either coast before flying to a different continent.
I think OP was saying that traveling opens your mind to new thoughts, not that people don’t travel because their thinking is limited.
I’ve never even been to the US and agree with what you say. But travel dosn’t necessarily make you have good takes. Tourism is often very destructive and ignorant.
Also, among people from outside the imperial core, who travel a lot, there is a different bias: they are more likely to be comprador capitalists, because you need money to travel. For example in Egypt, I’ve only met people critical of the military. Outside Egypt, I’ve only met Egyptians who support it and whose families have high status because of positions in the military. Or take Cuban or Venezuelan exiles, who hate their home countries socialist politics. I’m also not sure, if the trend to move to Dubai to work a high profile job for one or two years in a totally artificial setting broadens anyone’s cultural horizon.
Dubia is a artificial paradise the country is on a time limit to implosion. Also capitalst will forever rule until people stop caring about money so much.
