I’ve been thinking about the US’ role internationally and some things that the US does and doesn’t quite do as well as other countries in my very limited exposure internationally. Even considering the limited exposure I’ve had internationally, there are a few things I had never considered before traveling that I now find frustrating here in the US.
Best 3 aspects of the US
The best three aspects all fall under idealism vs anything specifically tangible. This is probably because of the limited time I’ve spent abroad, I’m leaning toward cultural aspects for 3 best vs the more detailed specifics of the three frustrating.
- The American Dream
- The concept and true potential for anyone to be anything is quite powerful. You are what you make of yourself, whether you want to be an astronaut, a physicist, actor or politician you can do anything assuming you have the capability.
- Melting Pot Concept
- As a nation we are better and stronger united, we are better when we have different perspectives and are from different places. We are better and stronger when we can openly and respectfully discuss our perspectives and differences without fear of reprisals.
- Ideal of Equality
- While in the US the concept seems to continue to evolve over time, but the ideal is that all persons regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender or belief are equal. Americans have and continue to struggle with this continuously over the last 250 years since the nation’s founding, but the ideal persists and I believe is worthy of pursuit.
Frustrating 3 aspects of the US
All three aspects below I file under the heading of ‘hidden costs’. It strikes me as absolutely asinine how these counter-intuitive cultural items plague us
- Tipping
- The general concept I was raised on was that if you enjoyed the service you received, why not tip between 10 and 20 percent of your bill to help the wait staff, since they’re not well paid. For reasons passing my understanding, when the fair labor standards act was enacted in 1938 it excluded service workers and over the next 60 years it was codified that service workers would be paid significantly less due to tips being encouraged as a cultural staple, placing the burden of an additional hidden cost on consumers. Over the last few years from this writing since the COVID pandemic, nearly everything has a tip request associated with it. As an example, I ordered a product online and was requested to add a tip. I fully understand and realize that if the burden of cost moved from the consumer to the business, and the business paid a fair and equitable market based wage to the server, the business would in turn pass along the added cost to the consumer all the same. No money would really be saved, but the key difference is that the cost would no longer be hidden, which I would greatly prefer.
- Sales tax not included in prices
- American business have a concept that the business is not liable for paying taxes for goods sold, the consumer carries that burden which is calculated at the point of sale. Before traveling abroad, I had never even thought of the possibility the business figures taxes into the cost of a product, which is so much better for the consumer. Imagine, what something says it costs, is actually what you pay? Hopefully one day, the status quo will change.
- So many taxes… Tax sheltering vs tax evasion
- Honestly, I have no issue paying taxes, the quote from Oliver Wendell Homes that ‘taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society’ feel generally true to me. Where I start to have issues is when I feel like I’m being taxed into oblivion. Between interest tax, income tax (state and federal), sales tax and property tax. It is a lot in terms of both dollars and frequency. I begin to carry the concept that a hand is out no matter what I do that I need to pay, essentially being nickel and dimed to death. I’d love to see the tax code simplified, but that’s not an original statement or sentiment. I’d love to pay taxes once a year instead of what feels like constantly. I once had someone explain to me with a straight face that tax sheltering is good while tax evasion is bad, for the life of me I couldn’t figure out the difference outside of one being technically legal and the other being technically illegal. They said, ‘well, tax sheltering is good because it helps you not have to pay taxes. While tax evasion is bad because you are intentionally not paying taxes that you owe.’ Sometimes I feel we live in an odd country.
Will any of this end up changing? Maybe, but I’m not sure if I’ll see substantial change in my lifetime. You never know!
