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Comment by traceroute66 | Hacker News Reader

> I'm thankful I was born in the US above anywhere else

Ah yes, such a wonderful place to live:

    - Innumerable shootings (mass and otherwise) and yet "oh no, its nothing to do with our complete lack of gun control"
    - Healthcare that bankrupts you
    - Horrible agriculture practices
    - Large portion sizes
    - Worldwide taxation by IRS
    - Incessant tipping of anything vaguely resembling a human that moves or breathes

The list goes on no doubt.

The whole Donald Trump era culminating in the events of 6 January 2021 said a lot about the sad state of modern day America. That and the way the US failed to get a handle COVID.

To use your words, I'd absolutely never want to live in the US, so many better places to be born and live on this great planet.

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Please don't take HN threads further into nationalistic flamewar. It's not what this site is for.

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> Large portion sizes

As an American, receiving too much food was not something I expected to see as a reason not to live in America.

> As an American, receiving too much food was not something I expected to see as a reason not to live in America.

That's kind of the problem. Americans are blind to the problem, takes an outsider to notice it.

Four points:

   - Too much food makes you fat, which brings health problems which brings you into the vicious circle that involves US healthcare
   - American food is generally unhealthy, hence see above ... eating more is bad, not good - we're not exactly talking five-a-day veg in your average American diet !
   - Food waste - excessive portion sizes lead to partial consumption which leads to food waste
   - Excessive portion sizes lead to the need for horrible US agriculture practices because its the only way you can make large portion sizes remotely viable

> Too much food makes you fat

Yes, and plenty of wealthy countries have the same problem, including Australia. As animals it's hard to control yourself because scarcity used to be the inhibitor. You need will power to ignore the initial hunger pains which no one teaches.

> American food is generally unhealthy

Yes, companies like Coke market addictive products like sugar mixed with caffeine and are allowed to hook people. Where is the FDA on that? It's the same FDA that allowed the opioid crisis so I assume they are complicit.

> Food waste - excessive portion sizes lead to partial consumption which leads to food waste

Not really a problem, we ship tons of grain and non spoilables overseas due to our massive agriculture industry. Certain foods can't really be distributed like that. Eating a large portion isn't really a bad thing as it's becoming clear that fasting in between a large meal is better than multiple small ones.

> Excessive portion sizes lead to the need for horrible US agriculture practices because its the only way you can make large portion sizes remotely viable

We actually pioneered agriculture and saved many people from starvation. We've learned from the dust bowl proper techniques to not deplete the top soil and to use circular fields and cycle crops. We've provided these techniques to Japan and other countries and the excess food from our crops goes to Africa.

> We actually pioneered agriculture

No doubt America has made many advances in agriculture, but that statement seems way over the top for a practice that is more than 10k years old.

Sure I'll qualify it, pioneered modern agriculture.

I take home leftovers and generally eat them the next day.

These comparisons are always relative. There are things I aspire but are out of reach for me and the ppl who have it take it for granted. On the other hand, there are folks who aspire things which I have and I take it for granted.

Wow it's a bingo of propaganda.

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