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A few words about the freeway system, which is nothing short of impressive. A complex network of high quality roads covers all states. The only bad thing is that this network cannot keep up with the increasing number of cars. On some of the freeways traffic is so bad, that th freeway becomes a parking lot. A 10 mile journey can take 1 hour - sometimes you could reach your destination faster by walking. The number of cars on American roads is very high. Besides traffic problems, this also leads to pollution like you've never seen - you can actually see the smog, it's pretty scary.
One good thing is that most people obey traffic laws on a regular basis. It's such a refreshing change from the chaotic traffic and idiotic drivers in Romania. In the U.S., there's almost no need to honk. I have no figures, but I believe that the accident rate per 1.000 cars is much lower here than in Romania. The U.S. also has some rather interesting traffic rules that make life so much easier: you can turn right on a red light, after giving the right of way; there's a middle lane on most roads used exclusively for making turns and u-turns; you can make a u-turn in most intersections. The driving licence examination is very easy and straightforward, and you can get a driving license at 16.
You find all types of cars on American roads: American, Japanese, European. Most cars have automatic transmission. You also have lots of SUV's - sports utility vehicles. These are very large all-terrain cars, the size of small trucks, which are used as city cars. That's really weird: truck-size cars used as city vehicles.

Credit cards. Cash is gradually disappearing from personal transactions, being replaced by plastic money. Interestingly enough, checks are also very much used for personal payments in the U.S., a rather archaic practice. On average, only about 40% of household purchases are made with cash. Credit cards are used and accepted everywhere, from your local grocery store to car dealers and landlords. Furthermore, you can use credit cards for online transactions, which makes buying products and services using the web even more convenient. It's not all fun and games, though. There's a national credit history system which is accessed by companies that sell stuff un credit. So, if you've had credit problems in the past, your interest rates go up and you have to make extra deposits; sometimes you just can't buy some stuff on credit. It's pretty serious stuff, since, once again, everyone accesses the system: from car dealers to landlords and utility providers.

The use of plastic money leads to another interesting phenomenon in American society: the excessive use of credit. Since obtaining a credit card is fairly simple if you have a stable source of income, it's very convenient to buy stuff on credit. Basically, credit is used for pretty much all purchases: you finance your education through loans, get a credit to buy a house, get your car, computer and electronics on credit, use your credit card for buying clothes and groceries, and so on. So in America, unless you're fairly rich, you're in debt most of your life. It's a pretty scary thought, especially if you lose your job and find yourself unable to pay rates on mortgage, your new car, your credit cards and so on. The easy access to credit (and its relatively low cost in light of low interest rates currently available in the U.S.) probably leads to some over-consumption and waste.

And this takes us to another feature of the American economy: companies' rather agressive pursuit of customers. This is normally a good thing, but sometimes too much advertising, special offers, huge discounts, and all that can be tiresome. Take TV and radio, for example: there's a lot of advertising, so much more than you'd find on Romanian stations. What's more, companies try to promote their products and services in millions of ways, and are pretty agressive in implementing their marketing strategies. Another interesting fact: American law allows for comparative advertising, such as "McDonald's is better than Burger King", so you won't see any "Generic product" brand in American commercials.

Naturally, one of the most important topics when writing about America (and comparing it to Romania) is the standard of living. as you've probably guessed, it's pretty high. sure, it's not the opulence that you see in movies, since not everyone is a millionaire. what you see, though, is a sense of normality, a sense of people leading a normal life, with few financial worries. out of the 270 million americans 81% own a car, 67% own a house, 98% own a tv and 54% own a pc. the cost of food and beverages is only 16% of the monthly average goods basked, while housing and rent contribute with 40% of the costs, and transportation with 18% (remember, this most likely includes car and home ownership). still, there's enough left for apparel (5% of the goods basket), medical care (6%), recreation (6%), communication and education (5%), etc. the figures are pretty dry, so you should also take into account the quality of goods (i.e. of cars) and the relatively low prices of food, apparel, etc (when compared to wages). An average monthly wage can take care of all food, housing and transportation costs, while leaving more than enough money for recreation, education, apparel, healthcare, all sorts of electronic gizmos, travel and so on. This state of facts is more than normal, but it doesn't happen in Romania. When people have less financial worries, they have more money, time and energy for personal growth, leisure, travel and so on. Since credit is so cheap (interest rates are at record low levels at present), it's even easier to do and get more.

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