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.
They’re common in Canada as well. In my experience, they’re much better than larger banks for things like fees and interest rates.
Historically the main advantage of a larger bank was having banks and ATMs everywhere, but lots of CUs have formed mutual agreements for ATM access, and internet banking being ubiquitous has rendered any advantage the big banks have had moot (in my opinion, at least).
The biggest problem I’ve had with My credit union is there an ability to fix problems, and they’re absolutely antiquated systems.
I went to Florida on vacation instantly tripped fraud. I had contacted them prior They put a note in my account because they had no other way to do anything. I tripped fraud on a Friday night and they were not able to answer a call from me until Monday morning.
A couple of years later I spent a few days in Niagara. The very first day I got up there I tripped fraud. I had already called them went through three different people to make sure there was nothing else I could do. I made sure that I didn’t arrive on a Friday this time. My big problem now was that I was looking at an hour-long phone call and I was roaming. I drove up to one of the higher points in town and managed to get a US Tower. I got them to unlock me which worked for approximately one day.
Their web portal the last time I used it required me to have a 7 to 10 character password uppercase lowercase only. Tell me you’re storing my data and securely without telling me your storing my data in securely.
You don’t always end up with the best management by having the clientele pick the management. And sometimes those really low rates end up making you suffer on the security side of things.
Still the best interest rate I’ve ever gotten on a car loan and the entire staff was absolutely sweet, They were just entirely incapable of keeping my card working whenever I left the state.
I ended up going back to a larger bank. 24-hour fraud unlock hotline, also capable of unlocking me via a link in email as soon as it’s tripped.
Apparently years later I find out that I possibly could have gotten by some of the fraud issues with the credit union if I would have used the card in debit mode. They apparently assume that a debit transaction is inherently secure. I have no idea if this actually works but if you’re having trouble it’s not a bad idea to try it. Just do at least one pin transaction every time you go to a different location.
Ah, that would definitely make a difference. A debit transaction uses some form of “password” like a PIN or the data embedded in a card chip. A credit transaction technically only relies on easily available data and sometimes a signature, much more common for fraud (it’s pretty easy to read and replicate the data from a magnetic strip–one of my classmates did a project to read magnetic strips, and they had to stop letting people swipe their own cards on it because it popped up tons of confidential data).
My CU’s website definitely looks like it’s from the early naughts, but they at least kept things up to date and security practices seemed legit, and I don’t think I ever tripped the fraud detector. I guess everyone’s mileage will vary a bit.
Yeah, I just got the impression that everything they were using was a canned service. And whatever service they bought for fraud protection was either poorly serviced or they weren’t properly trained on it.
The UK has building societies which sound like what you’re describing
Yes, they’re similar, but from what I’ve heard, most UK building societies are basically the same as or worse than banks in terms of fees, rates, and service quality. In the US, most credit unions will absolutely spank the big banks on at least two of those, if not all three.
The majority of UK building societies turned themselves into banks; maybe twenty years ago when the legislation was passed to enable it. A select few still exist though, but I don’t believe any are that large.
There’s only really one big building society in the UK, which is Nationwide, but they’re awesome
*had. They’ve been swallowed whole by the larger banks
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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.).
Incidentally it’s a lot easier to take legal action against a business that violates the ADA than to take action against a government that insists on defunding programs like that.
Right, there are people and lawfirms that make all their money going around measuring doorway widths and bathroom counter heights and stuff, because the person who raises the complaint gets a reward… Sort of like bounty hunters?
I’ve lived in America all my life. Thank you for this interesting outside perspective. I never would have guessed that the ADA is held in such high regard!
The ada is amazing. My husband grew up just as it was being put into place and remembers the protests (to get it, not against it). Without it, things are much more difficult. I know there will be handicapped parking, and cutins on sidewalks and bathrooms and stuff wherever we go without having to look it up.
Yeah it was surprisingly jarring going to Europe and seeing places that were completely inaccessible by wheel chair. I have never used a wheel chair in my life but I know there’s bars in my area that have mini elevators for peole on wheel chairs to access the lower level that’s only like 4 steps down.
Hold on, I’ll phone the Romans and ask them why they didn’t make the pont du Gard wheelchair accessible
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They currently live in the US. So, whether they properly answered your prompt seems to depend on your definition of “your country”.
Oops, I didn’t see that. My bad. Guess I made a fool of myself here.
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/
Another thing I learned from Australia is to use www.airbnb.com.au to check prices. If I got it correct in Australia is forbidden to have hidden charges, so, what you see is what you pay.
Agreed except for the archaic rating system for video games. Gonna tell full adults they can’t handle seeing a drug in a game that’s called by its real name? That’s pretty ridiculous.
Yeah, video game ratings in Australia aren’t great. Australia didn’t even have an adult (R18+) rating for video games until 2013. Before then, all games rated higher than MA were illegal in Australia. Some games were banned, while others were modified to reduce violence, remove sexual themes, remove drug use, etc.
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.
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I’m a smoker in the US. It seems like a hell of a lot less than 6% of people here smoke. I don’t think I have a single family member or friend who still smokes. Feels like it’s just me.
For what it’s worth, I’ve also noticed the same thing where I live in Tennessee. Smoked for 21 years (from 11 to 32), and while there are still a ton of smokers in my little hick town, it’s much less than before.
When does it started ? Do you have law prohibiting smoking in public place like restaurant, transports, nigth club, office, etc ?
Because, while it’s true we see less smokers in movies, it’s the first time i hear US having a anti-smoking culture… Note that I include drugs like weed in the smoking culture and we heard a lot from it recently. And only from US.
On my country, since the 90’, it’s forbiden to smoke in public place, in the office, etc. They also increased a lot it’s price bia taxes, put labels on the packaging and the amount of smokers reduced a lot since. But hollywood still represent us as smoker ^^
When does it started ? Do you have law prohibiting smoking in public place like restaurant, transports, nigth club, office, etc ?
Pretty much this. From the late 80’s more and more smoking bans were put into place. Public buildings, any private business, public transport, etc.
It’s at the point now that the only places you can smoke are your own house (even the apartment buildings I’ve been to have no smoking rules. Like, even in your own apartment) or outside (as long as it’s x feet/meters away from a building’s entrance).
The UK has seen a stratospheric drop too. Banned from all non-private indoor spaces, taxed through the roof. At least in the South, it’s rare to see or even smell someone smoking now, even on TV. Although in some cities it’s just as likely to smell cannabis as tobacco.
I don’t think you’re “exporting it” though - it’s not an American initiative. This was a pretty universal shift of “why the fuck do we do this stupid shit?”
Really? I’m in my 20s, and pretty much everyone I know smokes. I think it’s just less acceptable to smoke alone or in public.
Also US, we’re definitely not exhibiting an “anti smoking” culture. I think you’re confusing what you’re exposed to to what is really going on in the world. It’s important to recognize the limitations of your perspective, and not confuse them for a national trend
I think I’d be more happy with my compatriots abusing cigarettes and not drugs. US has massive narcotic consumption problem and cigarettes I’d call the mildest of this subgroup.
It’s week and other tame drugs < cigarettes < alcohol and other strong shit I’d say.
Wait, you mean to say that strong drugs are less harmful than cigs and tame drugs?
And that alcohol is in the same category as cocaine or meth?
The other way around and yes, pretty much. I mean it’s probably a bit below cocaine but like yeah, that shit is bad.
First thing - you really confused the signs
Second thing - you really have no idea what you’re talking about.
Alcohol is definitely a menace to society, but the strongest alcohol a man can drink (like absinth, not methanol) will be much less devastating than cocaine or meth after one dose. Not to mention some other vile drugs like the russian krokodil.
I mean does the harm per dose really matter? They’re both extremely addictive hard drugs that can literally kill you if you use them irresponsibly. Again, I know cocaine is worse, but not to an extent that warrants different treatment. Cocaine would also likely be safer (though probably still more dangerous as alcohol, I admittedly don’t know enough to say much here) if it was socially accepted like alcohol.
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.
By atom, do you mean nuclear energy? Why did you stop the nuclear plant?, assuming that’s what you’re referring to.
How does this relate to Germany relying using natural gas from Russia, before their invasion of Ukraine? My understanding was that Germany had energy issues at the offset, which I wouldn’t expect considering how much renewavles you use
Honestly, despite all of nuclears many benefits, there’s still no good action plan for the significant amounts of substantially dangerous waste it leaves around. Hard to figure out a storage plan for an invisible poison seeping from a rock for the next 50,000 years.
Does it actually seep? my understanding of chemical waste is: that it doesn’t generate a lot (the US has about a foot ball fields worth from all of our nuclear power plants in our total history, so nearly 70 years), and that they placed is secure, not leaking containers. You’re right that it will eventually be a problem, but probably a problem that we will have to deal with later than our current climate crisis. An argument could be made that maybe new nuclear plants shouldn’t be made, but if we have some up and running, that’s cheap energy that generates little carbon.
but if we have some up and running, that’s cheap energy that generates little carbon.
That is the great misunderstanding of nuclear. It isn’t cheap. It’s supported massively by tax money. In France with all its big nuclear plants for example, the power company went bankrupt. Nuclear is too expensive to run. The government took over the operations.
In Germany, the power companies refused to prolong the operations of nuclear at the beginning of Russian invasion. It was too expensive for them.
The only advantage that nuclear has, is that it’s independent of weather and doesn’t emit carbon. The drawback is the costs, inflexibility (always on), and reliance on cool water (which was an issue in France). That’s why MS, Amazon and all put there eggs into this basket for AI power - they shit money.
Nuclear is too expensive to run in the short term. Nuclear plants only start being profitable after like 10 years. But then they’re really fucking profitable. So it makes sense a company could go bankrupt when you’re 10 years in the red.
Also, on the topic of flexibility, this is only true for, like, 70s era nuclear. France has had load-following nuclear for some time now. Does it follow second-to-second variations? No, but it can load follow on the scale of the daily variations in demand.
I pasted some links, but the DoE says groundwater will most likely be contaminated. Depends on who you trust and how willing you are to suffer radioactive contamination. Granted, it’s probably a better risk profile than say… Coal… But that doesn’t change the fact we have no good longterm plan to store any amount of radioactive waste, and if history is your teacher, a plan will most likely not come to fruition.
What do you mean? We just outsource the waste management to private companies who assure us they will dispose of it in a safe and secure manner. (This is legitimately what America does with nuclear waste, with limited oversight – fuck you Regan – and it is fucking bananas).
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Amazing. Every single word you just said was wrong.
Deleted my comment because I was wrong, AfD does not lobby against nuclear plants.
However it does not change the fact that they are neonazi Putin enthusiasts
But they aren’t conservative, either.
And the conservatives weren’t the ones lobbying against nuclear. That was Merkel, who was a centrist.
Sudden culture shock from a Norwegian:
Still open is the transition of heat and cars to electricity…
Almost all electricity used by Norwegian homes goes towards heating (including cooking and hot water), and charging cars. So counting heating separate from electricity suddenly makes the electric transition sound less impressive. (And the transition away from nuclear more baffling). It’s still impressive to see Germany really follow through on renewables though. 60% renewable electricity is still a lot
Is there a plan to transition away from burning fossil fuels for heating?
There are plans yes, but also corrupt politicians and unethical media who straight up lie to the public and keep this plan from going forward.
German homes are relatively okay insulated. Very remote: burn wood or some sort of wood pellet stuff. Not clean, but it is local and renewable. Less remote: heat pumps, runs on electricity. Cities: many are planning/extending heat nets, those can be partially powered by left over heat from industry. And import nuclear electricity from France in winter I guess!
Why lump atom in with coal? Atom is great, coal stinks. You’re confusing the stats.
Try to dismantle a nuclear plant. It costs tons of money and time. Ask the people at Nagasaki or Tschernobyl.
Dismantle a coal power plant takes time, but one can reuse the iron and such. All the open mining fields and mining tunnels are the problem. In Western Germany, there are areas where house crack or cars fall down sudden openings caused by old mining tunnels.
Try to dismantle at wind mill or solar fields. It’s a quest of days and some bucks.
I prefer the easy way of living. So, my favorite are renewables.
You dismantled your plants because dismantling your plants is hard? 🤔 That seems backwards. Why not upgrade? Then you never have to dismantle. Keep it alive forever.
Upgrading would have cost way more. one of the reasons atom power is so expensive (without government subsidies) is the cost of the plants which needs to be recouped as well as the price of the uranium. not to mention that we haven’t found a suitable place to store the waste for those thousands of years until it’s harmless.
Who cares about cost. We should be willing to pay whatever it takes to end fossil fuel use.
That’s why we invest in renewables.
> I prefer the easy way of living.
There is no such thing as “easy way of living”.
Renewables suck at energy density, predictability and control.
Nuclear gives you all three.
Also, look into the solar panel manufacturing costs to the environment.
Of course, renewables are a must. But by dismantling nuclear you kneecapped yourselves, guys, big time.
Just stumpled upon this BBC article https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/23/sellafield-cleanup-cost-136bn-national-audit-office Cleaning up Sellafield, Europes biggest nuclear dump costs now up to 136.000.000.000 £ That’s the cost of nuclear. The dangerous rests of the power creation.
@DrunkenPirate I’d accept this argument if it were still 1950s.
The year is 2024. Now we know better what to do with nuclear waste.
First, it’s actually crazy recyclable. You can separate plutonium and unreacted uranium from fission products and use it again, making your fuel cycle way more efficient.
Second, you don’t actually need to store the leftover fission products in an on-ground dump, that’s actually mighty dumb. Instead, the borehole disposal can be used. Basically, drill a hole several kilometers deep - that’s easy enough when you take the drilling equipment from all those oil barons - put your fission products in there (they’re quite compact by volume, if you separate it out) and then seal the hole with concrete. Nobody’s going to dig this up ever again. It’s a solved problem.
Cleaning up sites like Sellafield is just dealing with the wartime legacy, when nuclear research was less about energy production, and more about bombs. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Still, we have to manage the waste of former years. Needs money for ages.
We stopped our atom plants and have a plan out of coal.
Yeah you folks did this in the wrong order.
Not when you consider the maintenance costs of the plants they closed. Basically of them were beyond original design life.
I guess, but the Energiewende must’ve been really expensive already and by my best guesstimation those upkeep costs would have been small in comparison. What irks me more about the situation is wrapping shutting down the nuclear plants in a guise of green policy while simultaneously supporting a huge coal industry. Very happy for all the renewables, still.
Then you will love this documentary. It even mentions Germany a couple of times.
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
Plus the general accessibility to free bike workshops that seem to be run by various nonprofits.
I’m still using a (Son) dynamo Busch and Müller light from a decade ago on my touring bike. It’s so reliable and the beam pattern is better than on my car. I also have schwalbe marathons and ortlieb panniers on that bike. Such a good setup for a bike built like a tank. It might be fully German if it wasn’t a Fuji with a Shimano groupset and Brooks saddle.
A year ago I was surprised how large the Portuguese bicycle industry is, as I thought we had none. I assumed we wouldn’t be able to compete with you guys, but turns out the Dutch are that Big an importer
LOTS of industry is also being outsourced to Portugal from other European countries.
It’s basically the place to produce now, if you want your supply chain to be entirely within the EU.Really? Over here we get the idea our taxes aren’t competitive to draw foreign investment and some of the big industry ones are on the verge of moving out, like VW.
I understand drawing in some service industry that doesn’t go to Ireland, but for the industrial sector sounds off to me. I am, however, not an economist.
Why do e bikes even have fenders? I’m not going off-road with the thing, and I cannot imagine trying to ride one where it actually rains, rather than pretends to rain.
Of course you want to be able to ride it in the rain, what are you even talking about?
Even if you’ld wait until rain stops and even if you don’t go off road: there’s puddles on bike paths after it has rained!
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.
And the democracy sausage!
You don’t have to vote. As long as you show up and have your name marked off, you can leave the ballot paper blank.
This is all true, but there’s more:
- Our election campaigns are six weeks by definition. No political ads filling the airwaves the rest of the time.
- We have preferential voting. You don’t have to choose only between the shit and shit-lite parties. You can vote for someone else, and still put shit-lite as your preferred option if the independent you voted first for didn’t get in.
- The electoral commission will help pay for your campaigning if you secured 5% of the vote. Evens the field a bit for not-rich people to run.
- Political signs on houses are pretty rare. Maybe a couple of diehard fans.
- Nobody gets real angry at you if you vote for someone different.
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.
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the difference is this is unified and government maintained, alipay or any payment vendor’s you have to use their apps, and you can only send money to people who have accounts in their apps, here it’s maintained by government no need to make any account anywhere, just direct bank to bank transfer with just phone number and QR code. and more importantly no transaction fees
But it is absolutely horrible when it comes to privacy.
Reading OPs description, I did wonder.
it is indeed horrible, I’m pretty sure one of the biggest motivation to push for digital transactions was to track easily and tax easily
Can you expand on why UPI is horrible when it comes to privacy when compared to the other options you have mentioned?
I would not be doing any sort of digital transactions if I am worried about privacy as I don’t think one is better than the other in this matter. It would be naive to think so otherwise.
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I have gone through the links, and I still cannot find the answer to my question on what makes UPI “absolutely horrible when it comes to privacy” when compared to the other options in your original comment.
I still maintain that all practical means of digital transactions are inherently poor for privacy, regardless of the channel/medium. One is not less private than the other.
Of course, mediums like cryptocurrency exists which “promise” privacy while transacting. But they are not practical in India, and also do not operate at the scale of the options we are discussing about.
Also, I really appreciate responding back with links, but a line directly answering my question would have saved some time, especially since the links you shared are irrelevant to our discussion. None of the links actually do a comparison of the options or even state that one is outright better than the other. If anything, some of the comments in the linked forum posts only echo what I am saying about the lack of privacy across all digital transactions.
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I’m curious, how does that work for people from remote villages? India still have a pretty large population who live traditional lifestyles with limited access to the Internet, don’t y’all? Do they have the option of more traditional paper documents, or do they have to find a computer somewhere to use for certain things?
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Your message is just showing blank for me :/
even people from less developed places use digital stuff, you don’t need computer you only need a phone to use everything, mobile data is super cheap in india (3usd per month for 2gb per day), and smartphones are super cheap too, even people who don’t have access to electricity use digital payments. infact this was possible only because of cheap internet and many indians are comfortable with tech somehow. and connectivity is really good pretty much 100% of country get’s fast 4g and nearly 80% has 5g
Doesn’t “digital” imply “electricity”?
well that i meant 24/7 electricity
That’s really interesting! In the us, I lived extremely rural, without running water or electricity for several years. If we needed to do anything, we had to crank up a generator and use shitty satellite Internet in the beginning. After a while we got a few small/cheap solar panels and a couple car batteries we ran stuff off of.
We have QR code based payments in the Netherlands via iDeal. Makes payment super easy.
is it as simple as " download an app and sign in through phone number and bank account is automatically detected and you are good to go" ans also there is no transaction fees
That’s way more convoluted than here.
Our banking apps have a QR scanner in them so no need for new apps or new accounts.
banking apps have upi too, even in banking apps you have to sign in with id and password and such with upi specific apps you don’t even have to do that, it’s just that you have more freedom here, the thing is any app can have it
Wow that’s really impressive! I’m used to having a great online platform to transfer money, but having government issued documents be digitized is a step beyond what we have here!
We use qr-based payments where I live too. I been the qr-codes have to work on all payment platforms which is super convenient.
The only minor gripe is that they charge a small transfer fee if going between banks. Do you have that fee?
there is no fee, the servers and bandwidth cost taken from taxpayers money basically
India has the BRO too.
Watching a guy called Joe Ryan on Youtube at the mo, who’s riding a motorbike around the Himalayas. The BRO are building roads there at an incredible rate in the most impossible landscape. I’m genuinely amazed at the scale and adaptability of them and how much they’re doing right now.
This is literally changing the lives of those who live in the area, although I do wonder how much this will trigger tourism and change everything as it has elsewhere. But still, those guys can build roads.
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.
It’s also fun that we can go to Germany and still get cash out for free whereas Germans have to pay a fee for using their own ATMs.
For other banks.
Sparkassen customers dont need to pay at other sparkassen belonging to the same group (I think it depends on how the different regions organized themselves)
They can also do coorperations between other banks like for ing-diba and other institutes.
I was just on the Turkish coast and to my surprise, I found an ING atm. “Sweet, its my bank so I shouldn’t have any fees!” I said to my boat driver (who only speaks Turkish).
They charged me like 3%.
ING Turkey ≠ ING Netherlands ≠ ING anywhere else
Oh he spoke other languages, it’s just easier to pretend not to
Portugal has exactly the same system (I’ve lived in both countries) which has actually even more features (such as letting you pay yours bills at any ATM) than the Dutch one.
I think that at least in Europe the countries were ATMs rely on VISA or Mastercard for inter-bank withdrawals like in the UK and US are the exception rather than the rule.
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.
Much of the UK’s regular government stuff is online and very simple too - their website is actually very good. It doesn’t integrate everything though. The health service is particularly fragmented and communication is often by post and not that good.
Same in Spain.
Everything is digitalized and you have the right to do everything digitally. I’ve never mailed anything to the government.
Not sure why you would think Germany is the best in this respect as I’ve often heard the opposite in my travels there. They are very anti-tech in government, privacy/cybersecurity reasons are what’s usually cited.
Same in Lithuania.
In fact it’s so good, that if you owe the state money, they’ll just take it directly out of your bank account…
That‘s nice. We have this forepayment discount with all our taxes and tickets instead :D
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
You may shit and piss all over the NS, but once you’ve been abroad, you’ll accept those delays with grace.
France - treating people the same no matter what they do for a living.
It’s really nice to be respected even if you’re a cleaner or a bin man, and very much deserved
I’ve only spent a couple months in France, but I agree from my experience. I think that foreigners that complain about the French being rude were just expecting special treatment, didn’t put in any effort themselves to be friendly, then shocked that the storekeeper/waiter wasn’t kissing their ass, even though they didn’t even manage to say ‘bonjour’.
Who complains the most about the so-called french “attitude”?
Brits and Yanks, the ones that think cleaners and waiters are beneath them and need to dance to earn tips
Makes sense
French people are nice. Parisians are a special kind of hell.
I lived in Paris for a year, speak french and respect people who work extremely difficult jobs in the most tourist-heavy city on the planet
I think I met three or four grumpy cunts in that year. Considering everything, that’s a miniscule percentage
Bear in mind these people aren’t being false-nice. They don’t rely on tips to feed their kids
I respect the guys that drive garbage trucks, buses and mbulances tremendously. Also those that clean public spaces, make sure the sewers work and my lights turn on at night. The investment banker that makes tons of cash? Not so much.
Japan is like this too, and I loved to see that when I was living there.
The bus drivers often wear nice uniforms and white gloves, and clearly take a lot of care in their appearance and work. And people give them respect.
I wish it was like that everywhere, because being able to have pride in what you do and be respected for it is such an important thing that everyone deserves to have - regardless of what your job is.
We don’t discriminate, we hate everyone /s
Recycling. In Sweden we recycle so much that we have to buy trash from other countries!
In Denmark our district heating is so great that we have to import trash to burn at our Combined Heat and Power plants. Bit ironic given that we’re also a market leader on windmills that are supposed to replace plants.
Germany: bread
Was learning about the requirements it be a baker in Germany - something like 3 years of school to work at a bakery, 6 years to own one. Crazy.
Oh man! Yes!
nah we knew that already
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.
Ah, yes. Trypophobia pancakes.
I feel trypophobia quite strongly with some triggers, even things like budding plants pushing through the ground can make my akin crawl. But for some reason crumpets are okay.
I guess my brain just sees the crumpet texture as being like a macro bread texture, which is okay because it’s kinda bready.
Is that the same thing we Americans refer to as an “English Muffin”? I always thought crumpets were cookies or something lol.
No it’s not. It’s more of a spongy consistency compared to a the dry, breadiness of an English muffin.
Exactly. It is the optimal food sponge; not too deep, not too shallow.
It’s also a fantastically endearing insult to use, since it means someone is a little dense but not actually stupid, and I like to believe that we are all crumpets in this way.
In my dad’s era, a bit of crumpet was something completely different
(I might actually be using it wrong. What does it mean?)
the sole reason I stay in this cold dreary backwater of a country.
You do know you can get crumpets in any supermarket in sunny Queensland, yeah? You can even get Marmite (but why would you when Vegemite is superior).
Australian Marmite is from New Zealand and is not quite the same as British.
Yes, yes, there there, now…
*smothers face with a pillow whilst making shushing noises*Vegemite is superior to marmite, but crumpets are best with butter & honey/golden syrup.
Vegemite doesn’t spread properly and tastes like charcoal.
Change my mind.
Marmite crumpets are the best
