To be so intrigued by America?

Exactly. It was designed to prevent the tyranny of the majority over the minority.

And even once the US was past the log cabin era, the philosophy that you can get ahead with planning and hard work persisted. It hasn’t and doesn’t work out for everyone, but the twentieth century had a lot of “rags-to-middle-class” stories like my great-grandfather’s. In the early 1900s, he came to the US from Warsaw as a thirteen-year-old kid who didn’t speak English. His father abandoned the family weeks after their arrival. My great-grandfather grew up and worked as a bartender, then bought and ran a boarding house. After that, he became a real estate agent, and he died at 98 with all six of his (surviving) children and their children living comfortable lives in the suburbs. He didn’t finish high school. His children all finished high school, some of his grandchildren went to college, and one of his grandsons became a lawyer. Now most of his great-grandchildren are college graduates. That’s the sort of family history that Americans are proud of.

Exactly. “I tried all the food banks and no one could help me” - no, lady, you’re a scammer. You want that formula because you’ve got a regular deal going with Madison in 3B (makes minimum wage, mother of twins), or because you’re going to sell it on Facebook Marketplace. “Our baby just turned one and switched to whole milk, and my husband found this unopened formula canister in the back of the cupboard! Oops, missed that one! Fifteen percent off retail price!”

That's true. But the fella is probably not going without.

We could play who goes without poker.

I raise you food stamps. Next time the repubs claim there is not enough tax revenue to fund SNAP, people will go without.

It's not as if US Universities are struggling. Not the big ones. Harvard has over 50 billion in endowments, and still begs for donations.

20 Colleges With the Biggest Endowments | The Short List: Colleges | U.S. News (usnews.com)

And maybe the fake baby crying in the background sounded obviously fake.

Do you know who doesn’t go without? The dozens of bright underprivileged students whose full scholarships will be funded by this man’s donation.

At the food bank where I volunteer, we would move heaven and earth to get that mother the formula, including paying out of our own pockets.

We would also ensure she was receiving the WIC to which she was entitled, and most likely connect her with a case worker to ensure she was receiving help from the many sources available.
www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/healthy-living/wic/get-support/wic-program-and-benefits/wic-food-benefits

BTW our food bank, like many, operates out of a church's premises.

No offense taken; it's just that the "churchiness" of the Deep South is one of the biggest misconceptions about this area of the country. Church is certainly important to many people, but even in small rural communities, it is easily possible to live quite happily as a full member of the community without a religious identity or practice.

On the US left being very left in certain quarters - totally. Mamdani is much closer to Corbyn or France's Melenchon than anyone else on the European left.

Hi, as I said I've only visited for short periods, but it's an impression I got when in the South. Church was a big big thing and lots of things revolved around it. I got the feeling that in the small community I stayed in that church was the central part of their lives, and they were not very religious people either! I haven't seen a similar thing in the UK really, so it's a cultural difference.

I meant no offence, it was just an observation.

Must go to church/be religious in certain parts of the country, it's a passport into the community (whether you really are a believer or not)

Where would this be? I live in the Deep South aka the Bible Belt and I know quite a few people who do not belong or go to church, with no social repercussions whatsoever.

The people at the churches probably didn’t believe her because food bank workers will move heaven and earth to get a hungry baby fed. They’re either volunteers or working for very little salary, because they have a passion for this type of work. They typically have connections with other food banks or retailers and will start contacting other people to work it out. They don’t just say, “Nope, no formula here - too bad for you.”

You’re not grasping how common it is for people to steal or fraudulently obtain baby formula to sell it. Some more cases:

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/nation-world/2016/01/07/big-dollar-baby-formula-thefts-spread-across-us/15695200007/

https://www.ozarksfirst.com/news/2-women-arrested-for-stealing-baby-formula-from-grocery-stores/amp/

https://www.14news.com/2024/03/23/police-thieves-caught-stealing-20k-worth-baby-formula-local-walmarts/?outputType=amp

https://www.ksl.com/article/50960848/2-california-men-arrested-accused-of-stealing-baby-formula-from-utah-idaho-stores

https://kutv.com/news/local/2-suspects-in-retail-theft-ring-accused-of-stealing-30k-worth-of-baby-formula-to-resell

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/02/magazine/money-issue-baby-formula-crime-ring.html

I remember a girl collapsing at a concert I was at in America , I’m medical so did the very basics but she remained unconscious. She could have been diabetic or had an overdose or who knows. I said to security to call 911 and they kept saying we needed her consent as she’d have to pay for the ambulance (!!) I couldn’t believe it as she was in no position to consent to anything! They reluctantly called for an ambulance in the end but it was so bizarre to me as a Brit all the time wasting.

My knee jerk observations about the US. And yes I've been there in various States but only for two weeks at a time so I can admit my obs are probably not representative of life there as a whole and are slightly tongue in cheek.

People are very welcoming and hospitable
Houses are absolutely huge with massive "yards"
Very little fencing between properties
HOAs have huge power to make you conform, with little freedom to do your own thing in your own house very often
Everyone has to have a car (middle of big cities excepted, but only where there's good public transport).
Kids drive at 16.
The driving test is very easy
Many drink and drug drive. Although Uber is helping that somewhat now I think.
Guns and open carry.
School shootings
Must go to church/be religious in certain parts of the country, it's a passport into the community (whether you really are a believer or not)
The cost of healthcare is dependent on your job and your insurance package/co pay amount. Medicare is there for less fortunate.
Not a lot of foreign travel is done, but then again the US is so big and varied it's not necessary
RVs are very popular
Lots more but that's enough for now.

Overall, a nice place with nice people, if you are in the right place to enjoy this.

What if the food bank ran out? This was the scenario that lady was trying to represent. No food any where she looks. She is desperate so reaches out to churches. Even the mega churches that rake in millions a year said no.

Don’t churches have discretionary funds for a one off donation? Didn’t the people on the other end of the phone line feel anything?

I would’ve offered to pay out of my own pocket if I asked her to come down with her baby and I could verify.

A lot of these churches are pro choice. They should be supporting the children that need help.

The only churches that do help were black Christian churches or progressive left wing ones, and a mosque.

Good point. I just googled "food banks near me" and came up with 16, many of them run by religious charities.

If you read the Laura Ingalls Wilder “little house” books, you’ll get a great insight into the American psyche. It was settled by people who were hard working and self reliant, who built log cabins either their bare hands and crossed the country in covered wagons in the dead of winter. They expect to work hard and provide for themselves and their families, and success is seen as a good thing. Also that guns were essential.

The better place to do that would be a food bank.

I agree that we are very different countries. However, there is also quite a bit of commonality that is often overlooked on these threads. For one thing, every state (except Louisiana*) has a legal system that is based, to varying degrees, on English common law. In fact, lawyers can and do cite English cases as authority, especially when there is no applicable precedent from the States.

*Louisiana's legal system is based in large part on Roman law, similar in some ways to Scots law.

Speaking anecdotally, I think it stems from British ideas our parents had of not being Americanised, particularly if you were a teen in the 90s even 00s. I know my Dad hated MTV, American burger takeaways, wasn't very keen on Disney, he would always hire British made children's DVDs from the video shop for me when I was young so films like, The Railway Children. I know amongst my parents friends, he wasn't the only one. My Mum didn't feel the same namely as she was a huge Bob Dylan fan so we went on a tour of the U.S. for 7 weeks when I was 5 years old and she planned it all. The influence on British culture was quite considerable so perhaps they were right to be weary but it's right to not lazily default into that mindset as for a start it's a huge country!

Nope. I am Canadian and I am North American, but not American. I once had an argument with a man from El Salvador who called us both American. Drove me nuts.

Well quite.

Perhaps a greater mystery is why people feel the need to comment or judge a country when they clearly (by demonstration) know very little about how governance and law actually works there and have made little effort to do so.

Maybe again its the commonality of language, that lures people into believing that the US and the UK are similar and there is in fact nothing to learn, when in fact they are quite different.

Good points here. I would point out that in the US Constitution, the powers that states have generally are not devolved from the federal government (in the sense of delegated powers), but rather reserved to the states. This is important because there are many state matters that the federal government has no authority over.

Well the short answer is that anything that is deemed medically necessary is covered by medicaid. So regular doctor visits, hospitalization, emergency services, vaccinations, surgeries, etc., are covered. You actually don't have to have any type of medical coverage at all to get vaccinations for free, though, if they are ones that are required in order for a child to attend school. You can get those for no cost.

Procedures that are purely cosmetic are not covered by medicaid. For instance breast augmentation for cosmetic purposes would not be covered. But breast reconstruction because someone has had a mastectomy is covered. I would assume that the NHS is similar in that regard, but I don't know for sure.

Anytime any service or piece of durable medical equipment is denied by Medicaid the individual has appeal rights. If you appeal, you get to come and talk to somebody like me who will read the regulations and decide whether it's covered or not.

America is very different to a centralised UK or EU country. Counties and cities make their own laws, then there is State laws and then federal law. Its a much more local culture in a huge range of ways. "Fly over" states are so different culturally to the big East and West coast too. Its so interesting and different.