Americans of Reddit, what about Europe makes you go "thank goodness we don't have that here?"

California, Hawaii, Iowa, Vermont, and Wyoming require a regularly scheduled recitation of the pledge in public schools.

Do you have to participate in the pledge or armed US officials will force you to jail?

No. You can literally just not participate.

people are made bankrupt because of medical debt. the alternative is to not get the treatment and die. doesnt happen in the EU.

People go bankrupt at a much higher rate in the EU than in the USA where only 0.31% of the population filed for bankruptcy due to Medical costs in 2017.

However, DEBT is the cause of bankruptcy.

Debt of any kind is debt all the same.

3 strikes law mean many have been given life sentences for petty crimes. one guy got 70 years for stealing a sandwich. another got life for stealing a pair of socks. there are thousands more examples.

In California?

In most jurisdictions, only crimes at the felony level qualify as serious offenses with the three strike principle adopted by 27 states.

However, misdemeanor and/or wobbler offenses can qualify for application of the three-strikes law only in California.

incarceration rates are still the highest in the developed world, by a wide margin

Because we have more crime. We are the melting pot of the world. The US has always had more crime and more gang activity than other more homogeneous, less ethnically diverse nations.

other countries manage to solve crime epidemics without such high incarceration rates.

Like who?

journalists have been jailed for not giving up sources, after being "asked" to by a court and refusing.

There have been cases of that -- the longest being 18 months -- and most being a few hours or a couple of days.

Almost all of those incidents were prior to 2007.

Most cases were dismissed incredibly quickly because it is illegal and all.

Most of these journalists were being threatened using technicalities that of course didn't hold weight.

Journalism can be a dangerous job when you are exposing powerful people.

That doesn't change the fact that freedom of press is the best in the US.

im glad you agree civil forfeiture and your militarised police forces are a detriment to your freedom. the EU doesnt have that shit.

Yes the EU does.

face it dude, youre not as free as youve been led to believe by a thousand movies, tv shows and conversations youve had throughout your lifetime.

I have traveled almost around the world.

The US is the most free country on the planet.

/r/AskReddit Thread Parent