Non-Americans of Reddit, where are you from and what do you think about America? Who was your favorite president?

Canada.

I love most parts of the USA that I have visited. I have family near San Francisco, in NYC and New Jersey, all of which I love to visit whenever I can. (Even though people love to make fun of Jersey I've always enjoyed my time there, haha.) Las Vegas is a terrific demonstration of man's hubris. Florida... Has great weather.

One of the most fascinating things about the USA is the density and variety of consumer goods you can buy, which sounds weird and USSR of me to say, but it's so acutely noticeable. There are services where you can order things online and have them delivered that day? Incredible! Here, Amazon Prime typically takes at least three business days. There's just no comparison.

There is an energy in the USA that doesn't have a parallel in Canada. On the street in any major US city, it feels like something is always on the verge of happening. There's an electricity crackling. Someone's always yelling! Woah! I guess it's probably exhausting but short-term, it's a lot of fun.

Less good: generally speaking, American ignorance to everything non-American is uniquely powerful and it is staggering. I had to learn and memorize all fifty states to pass grade 8 in Canada; in the USA, it's not uncommon to meet someone with a graduate degree who cannot name a single province. (We pull out stuff like this on a pretty regular basis in schools/offices and laugh, sadly.) I get it-- it's how you're taught. But it's annoying to have to describe everything in reference to the USA. It's even done professionally-- on TV, people are introduced as being from "Little Rock, Arkansas" whereas Canadians come from "Toronto, Canada" or sometimes even more strangely "Ontario, Canada."

Also: the justification that "the country is real big" as an excuse for not speaking a second language. One, we're a little bigger and technically everyone is supposed to learn French. (In application, maybe not, but it is legally mandated.) Two, there are so many Spanish-speaking people in the USA that you could learn a language and use it without ever having to leave the country! My cousins in California took French instead of Spanish. I asked, "don't you meet Spanish speaking people every day? Wouldn't it be more useful?" They said it wasn't as "classy" a language to learn. Yeesh, fuckin racist.

Anyway. Favourite president is probably Obama! He's had a rough go with the obstructionist congress but I've always admired his spirit. Likewise Clinton, who is not without his flaws but had a sense of humour about himself that you don't often see with world leaders. I am, of course, a Liberal (Canada's centre-left party) though, so that skews my views that way.

/r/AskReddit Thread