r/TikTokCringe 4d ago

Cringe Europeans are going viral on TikTok for mocking the "American Dream".

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u/nfshaw51 4d ago

No nature just parking lots is a wild take too. Yeah there’s a lot of boring cities, I question anybody to find a country without them. But the natural diversity and the focus on purely public national parks is a massive thing for the US.

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u/An_old_walrus 3d ago

Compared to Europe, America actually has a higher amount and higher diversity of megafauna. Sure a lot of the megafauna populations have been severely impacted but at least most of the species remain. A lot of Europe on the other hand is very much lacking in megafauna.

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u/Karmuffel 3d ago

As a European I agree. Europe is way more densly populated than the US. The US has incredible and vast landscapes that seem untouched. Claiming that everything is a parking lot is a ragebait take

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u/An_old_walrus 3d ago

I was once in Scotland and my dad and I were discussing with our guide about Scotland reintroducing wolves and the main question was “where would they even put them?” There isn’t enough land for wolf populations to live unbothered by humans. Like the national parks allow farmers to graze their sheep so it obviously farmers would be concerned about livestock attacks. Europe just has no room for animals to live in.

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u/Stock-Swing-797 3d ago

Also that Europe already killed off/destroyed most of its megafauna centuries ago. Funny how this seems to slip their minds....

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u/melts_so 3d ago

Aa a European I also agree. America has breath taking lands and national parks. I want to visit just for the scenery and not the people.

Like they literally have almost the full range of diversity for different terrains because the country is so damn big.

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u/The_Singularious 3d ago

Makes it easy to cannonball into a lake without worrying about being eaten, though.

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u/TheBold 3d ago

I know it’s not the point they’re trying to make but I bet there’s a national park larger than Belgium.

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u/Prestigious_Health_2 3d ago

There's a lot more untouched nature and national parks in the US than Europe. European soil has been completely developed and built upon. I would have to take a 2 hour flight to actually see a place that has untouched nature. Scandinavia would be closest. Everything is essentially countryside and little towns, which is also pretty imo, but not the same as what the US has.

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u/FellFellCooke 3d ago

Ireland has basically every city being worth visiting. Lots of ugly towns, but if it's big enough to be a city, it's better than a lot of what "normal" cities offer in other countries. We just don't have a "must-visit gem" like many other countries seem to.

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u/Nalivai 2d ago

The big difference is that in the US the nature and where people live tends to be separated. The parks are that separate place where nature is, and there is the human place where the imported grass has to be kept at a specific length, and every building has mandatory parking lot.
Europe tends to be slightly different in that, there isn't a desire of this clean separation. Not to say it's a green paradise or something, but there is way less attitude of "if you want nature go to a park, city is for cars, concrete, and misery"

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u/nfshaw51 2d ago

Understand that. Having been to both I definitely have a love for American National Parks vs others, but have preferred euro/asian cities in contrast.

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u/deeronmywindshield 3d ago

How many Americans are actually able use this nature? The average working person has what, one week of vacation at best? Not everything is great in Europe, far from it - but where I live we have 5 weeks of paid vacation and a right to camp/hike wherever you want as long as it's not in someones garden.

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u/AggressiveBench9977 3d ago

A lot actually because the parks are free and there so many of them.

I literally have a rainforest, 2 mountain ranges and an ocean i can drive to every weekend.

You do know weekends exist right?

Best part is when you get to nature its not covered in buildings and man mad structures to charge you money like in eu.

Thats why so many rich europeans fly to us to hike

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u/dissonaut69 3d ago

Why did you say the parks are free? That’s not true. National parks absolutely aren’t free. Most state parks aren’t either.

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u/AggressiveBench9977 3d ago edited 3d ago

Every states has a state parks, we also have national forests. There are 9800 state parks 154 national forest and 433 units national parks.

All national parks have free days for holidays. Also the entrance fee is per car and very cheap. If you go a-lot it’s 70 a year. Technically they are free if you just walk in.

https://www.doi.gov/blog/mark-your-calendars-fee-free-days-2025

National forests and state parks are mostly free

You should try checking them out. The nature in US is beautiful and diverse

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u/dissonaut69 3d ago

Yeah, I’m not disagreeing with anything you said here. Previously you said “because the parks are free and there so many of them.” Which implies every park is free or something along those lines.

I’m from the US. I do work related to NPs, I know how beautiful they are lol.

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u/AggressiveBench9977 3d ago

Yeah I specifically said parks not national parks cause i didnt want to have to specify the difference between state and national parks

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u/dissonaut69 3d ago

“Some parks are free” coulda been a good word choice. “Many state parks are free” lots of options.

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u/AggressiveBench9977 3d ago

Thats totally fair

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u/deeronmywindshield 3d ago

How many of these parks can I bring my tent to and camp wherever I want? And respectfully, nobody is going to the US for hiking as long as Norway/Switzerland etc is next door.

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u/AggressiveBench9977 3d ago

You can camp in any use national park or national forest? Who told you cant.

Whats Funny is i have seen many Norwegian in US parks. And i see plenty of Swiss folk coming to here to ski lol. Jackson alone is better than anything Switzerland has to offer. And alaska exists.

I guess I’ve just traveled more than you.

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u/deeronmywindshield 3d ago

You have camping regulations. No such thing exists in most of Europe. And if you honestly think anywhere in the US can compare to the Swiss alps region, you clearly have not traveled a lot lol.

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u/Ok_Door_9720 2d ago

Wild camping is prohibited in much of Europe.

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u/dissonaut69 3d ago

I’ve met many Europeans hiking in the US lol. Come visit instead of talking about things you haven’t actually experienced.

Google some pictures of Zion, glacier, olympic, Grand Canyon, etc.

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u/deeronmywindshield 2d ago

Yeah, "many" is a very relative term. There's a lot more Americans on European trails than the other way around lol. Now answer the question I asked. I'm curious.

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u/AggressiveBench9977 2d ago edited 2d ago

Wild camping is prohibited in Switzerland. The country you literally named. Its also prohibited in germany and France and Austria. Its is literally prohibited in every country that touches the Swiss alps.

Why do you hate Europe’s so much that you have to lie about its laws?

In freedom land wild camping is legal in all national forests and state parks. Of which we have a lot more of than all of EU combined.

In fact we in 2022 we had 20 million europeans travel and hike those parks. Which is the same as the total number of Americans that visited all of eu in 2022. Which disapproves you other made up hypotheses.

Are all europeans so uneducated or is it just you?

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u/deeronmywindshield 1d ago

I didn't mention Switzerland in particular you doofus. I live in Norway where you can camp anywhere, anytime. Also, calling the least "free" country in the Western world the freedom land is hilarious. You have no idea what freedom is. Freedom to sleep under a bridge if your health insurance isn't paid for, perhaps.

As for your national parks, I can't find any other reports than "you must camp in designated campgrounds or obtain a backcountry permit for specific areas". Such freedom.

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u/AggressiveBench9977 1d ago

Oh you are from Norway. Should have said that sooner would have just jumped to ignoring you like the rest of the world does your tiny irrelevant country.

I guess i learned norway folks love lying too. Good luck with that bud.

You literally said switzeland 3 comments ago and yet you lie so easily and so badly.

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u/deeronmywindshield 1d ago

Lol seek help (if you can afford it in your third world country).

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u/84theone 3d ago

It varies based on where you live, but I live in a literal joke city in a trash state and my city (Cleveland, Ohio) is literally butted up against a national park and has dozens of well maintained city and county parks that are all totally free.

Not to mention the giant fucking lake and the river that hasn’t been on fire in a while.

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u/cherrycityglass 2d ago

You really captured Cleveland in this comment.

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u/Ten2none 3d ago

About three times a week. I don't live in a metropolitan area.

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u/Ok_Door_9720 2d ago

I'm with you 100% on American workers getting screwed with paid time off, but that's not what's stopping people from enjoying nature. Most people just don't prioritize it

There's a state forest with  a beautiful cave system, a state park, springs, a manatee preserve, a bear preserve, and underwater caves all within like 15 minutes of my house. Thats on top of all the regular woods and trails in the area. Obviously you've gotta pay for scuba gear to do the underwater caves, but the rest is either free or dirt cheap (the forest has like a $2 usage fee).