- Welcome to America, the freest country in the entire world, which we know is true because
it's a thing that people say and you might actually believe that until you try to build housing somewhere or drink alcohol in public. But unfortunately, America is not the freest
country in the world. In fact, according to some, it's barely in the top
20 freest countries. But the world is a diverse
place and one country's freedom is another country's criminal violation. And there are wide swaths of activities that are perfectly normal
in other countries, but also very, very illegal in America. So today, let's look at some international liberties that could get you fine or locked up if you tried them stateside. And some of these foreign
freedoms may surprise you. But let's start with a truly
evil and dastardly product, one that actually
specifically targets children. I'm of course talking about Kinder Eggs. Now, we like to say that
children are the future, and here in America, the moment we find out that something puts children in danger, legislators pull out
all the stops to ensure that we try to keep our kids safe. And that's why America has stood firm to cracking down on a
grave and terrible threat to children's health and safety posed by toy filled chocolate eggs. Kinder Surprise Eggs, which famously contain a yellow capsule, which contains a small toy, have been a beloved staple
for children around the world ever since the product's
introduction in 1974 by Ferrero, the Italian company. But in the United States, these toy filled treats have
been classified as dangerous illegal contraband. And some background. In 1938, the US passed the Food,
Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which empowered government
agencies to regulate food safety, and under consumer
safety regulations issued by the FDA and the Consumer
Product Safety Commission, the sale and distribution of any food with a quote "non-nutritive
object embedded" is prohibited, and that includes toys found
inside confectionary items. Now, although you can
find Kinder Surprise Eggs in Canada and Mexico, don't try to bring them into this country or you risk serious fines. In 2011, the US Customs and
Border Protection, the CBP, seized more than 60,000
Kinder Eggs from travelers' baggage and international mail shipments, more than twice that number from 2010. This caused the CBP to issue
a press release in 2012 warning people to try to stop sneaking chocolate eggs into the country. Quote, "Also known as Kinder Eggs, these chocolate treats
may be cute and seasonal, but they are too dangerous to children to be imported legally into the US, The problem is the small plastic toy inside the Kinder Egg. While sold in many countries, this product is banned from the US because young children can choke on it." Now, some people have argued that these Kinder Eggs are not a risk to European children and Canadian
children because European and Canadian children are
smarter than US children. (man giggling) Now, a few months after the
CBP released that statement, a married couple from Seattle was detained at the Canadian
border when the pair was caught with six Kinder Eggs from Vancouver. The couple was unaware that
they were in possession of illegal ovarian contraband
and was even more shocked that each egg carried a
penalty of $2,500 per egg. Now, luckily for that couple, they were let off with a warning, but not to worry American
Kinder fans because in 2018, Ferrero introduced a
modified Kinder Joy Egg that complies with US regulations. Crucially, the Kinder Joy is not actually
an egg-shaped chocolate. It's half a chocolate egg
with wafer bits inside while the toy is kept on
the other side of the egg, away from the edible bit, which I guess is suitable for
hapless American children. And despite the fear
surrounding Kinder Eggs, there's little evidence that these chocolate delights are
as dangerous as claimed. Now, there have been seven
reported child deaths between 1989 and 2016, a relatively tiny number in the face of billions of eggs sold. And furthermore, the
packaging warns parents that the eggs are not suitable
for kids under the age of three and supervision is recommended. But let's not leave
food-based illegality because while Americans remain deeply divided on a wide variety of issues, there's one thing that
most of us can agree on and that's that life begins at cheese. Now, over the last 40
years, our love of cheese, much like our waistbands, has grown. Between 1977 and 2020, we Americans have increased
our annual cheese consumption from 16 pounds to 40 pounds every year. And I'm probably responsible
for about half of that. So needless to say, we
Americans love our cheese, whether it's on pizza, burgers, or in the form of 64 Jesus-infused slices of American cheese. - Have you been up all
night eating cheese? - I think I'm blind. - But if you are taking a
cheese tour of the world, be careful what you bring
back to the United States because your love of cheese might just put you in legal jeopardy. - You guys enjoying that cheese? It's unpasteurized. It's illegal in this country. - In fact, many raw,
soft cheeses from France like bleu de gex, roquefort, or reblochon are illegal
in the United States due to the FDA's strict
cheese production regulations. Under these rules, cheeses made with raw unpasteurized milk is illegal to import or
sell in the United States unless it has been aged
for at least 60 days. The reasoning is, of course, food safety, namely to minimize the risk of foodborne contagions like listeria,
salmonella, and E. coli. And after 60 days, the acids and salts in raw milk cheese coupled with the aging
process begin to naturally kill these types of harmful bacteria. But here's the thing, anyone who has ever been to France knows that the cheese is
so, so much better there. And it's not just raw cheese. The FDA has also cracked
down on certain cheeses just because they contain
too many live insects. That's the case with casu martzu, a traditional Sardinian sheeps milk cheese that's intentionally
infested with live maggots. Casu martzu, which literally
means rotten cheese, gets its special flavor
from being left to rot out among swarms of fly larvae. And while I'm told this
hellish looking cheese is actually quite delicious, it turns out that eating maggots is actually a tremendous health risk, earning the cheese the nickname the world's most dangerous cheese. And as a result, casu martzu
is not only illegal in the US, but in the entire European Union. But here's the thing, anyone who has ever been to
Sardinia knows the maggot filled cheese is just
so much better there, but the friendship also have
been on the receiving end of big government's
anti bug eating crusade. In 2013, the FDA angered
American cheesephiles by blocking the import of
French mimolette cheese just because the cheese is naturally infested with cheese mites. And while most cheese makers
consider the mites a nuisance, mimolette producers actually encourage the microscopic critters to burrow into the rind in order
to help the cheese ripen and produce its distinctively
sweet, earthy flavor. (man humming) Mitey. But the FDA has determined that eating too many mites could cause
an allergic reaction, resulting in the ban of
the gouda-like cheese. And though the FDA has no
legal limit on cheese mites, the agency indicated
target of no more than six mites per square inch, which mimolette simply cannot meet. So, what are the consequences
of contraband cheese? - We got a tip about some food entering the country illegally. - No, no, no, no, no, no, no. - Well, the failure to
declare food products on your customs forms can
result in fines of up to $10,000 and your unlawful cheese will
be seized, but be forewarned. There is a thriving black market for cheese in the United States and illegal cheese is very
much on the government's radar. The Department of Homeland
Security, you know, the post 9/11 agency responsible for protecting the country
from terrorism and Kinder Eggs, has helped to bust cheese
smuggling rings into Canada, but unless you're a large
scale cheese smuggler, you're probably not
looking at any jail time. - Wow. You got me. Good one, making me
think I was gonna, like, die in federal prison. Ah, that's super funny. You scamps. - So worst case scenario, you're probably looking at a fine and suffering the on
way of eating your dry, cheeseless crackers alone. But let's leave the food world and get into something that probably
makes a little bit more sense. Now, a source of pride for
the baby boomer generation is that everything was dangerous
and no one seemed to care. Yes, that golden era
where we lined our walls with cancerous asbestos, medical professionals smoked in hospitals, and people sold chemistry sets to children that contained real uranium. So of course, as a society, we used to let kids hurl giant darts into the air with impunity and
call it a national pastime. That's the story of lawn darts, which have been illegal in
the United States since 1988 after being linked to
thousands of injuries and the deaths of at least three children. Lawn darts, known as
javelin darts or jarts, was a popular lawn game
in the mid 20th century. The gameplay was actually
quite straightforward. Players would take turns
tossing giant darts into a circle placed about 35
feet away, call it corn hole, but with giant razor
sharp darts raining down from the sky instead of soft bean bags. Now, unfortunately, throwing a giant metal dart
is a tremendous safety hazard and government regulators
eventually began to take notice. - This isn't child's play according to the Food and Drug administration. - The US's first attempt
to outlaw the game was strenuously posed
by jart manufacturers who fought the proposed FDA ban in court. In 1970, manufacturers
actually won a compromise that would allow the sale of lawn darts so long as it was, one,
only marketed to adults, then two, the product was no
longer sold in toy stores, and three, the product
contained warning labels alerting consumers to keep it
out of the reach of children. But unfortunately, these
compromised measures were insufficient to prevent tragedy for aerospace engineer David Snow. In April 1987, Snow's seven year old daughter, Michelle, was killed by a lawn dart thrown by one of her nine year old brother's playmates in the backyard of their home
in Riverside, California. The dart hit her head with
approximately 23,000 pounds of pressure per square inch and Snow's daughter died three days later. The grieving father then
made it his mission to lobby public officials to take lawn darts off the market for good. Snow brought his complaint to the Consumer Product Safety Commission who were persuaded to
investigate Snow's claims. The Commission discovered that
over a period of eight years, lawn darts had sent 6,100
people to the emergency room, 81% of those cases involved
kids aged 15 or younger, half were 10 or younger, and many had suffered
permanent injury disability or even death. In 1988, Snow prevailed in his crusade. The Commission voted
two to one to prohibit the sale of all lawn darts and
had them removed from stores in time for that year's Christmas. And Canada also outlawed
lawn darts in July of 1989. Now, if you wanna play
traditional lawn darts, you'll have to hop on a plane and visit the European Union
where the game is still legal. But here in the US, you can find a legal version
with a modified plastic blunt tip that replaces
the sharp metal tip 'cause that makes quite a lot more sense. But that takes us to something that's arguably even more dangerous, smoking. Now, for most of the 20th century, cigarette smoking was glorified as the ultimate embodiment
of the American West, things like tough guys,
rebels without a cause. In advertising, doctors
endorsed their favorite brands while we were told that women found smoking men irresistible. But this image of health and sex appeal slowly began to change starting in 1964 after the US Surgeon General
stated definitively that yes, smoking tobacco can be fatal. And research shows that flavored
cigarettes largely appeal to and are disproportionately used by those under 18 years of age. - That is not how to inhale, Bobby. You're hot boxing it! - So to help combat
youth smoking, in 2009, the FDA banned the sale
of flavored cigarettes, including cloves, cinnamon,
candy and fruit flavors pursuant to the Family Smoking
Prevention and Control Act, though menthol cigarettes
were exempted from the ban as well as non-cigarette tobacco products like electronic cigarettes, cigars, smokeless, tobacco, and hookah. But the US is not alone here as countries with policies banning some or all types of flavored
cigarettes include Canada, Brazil, Ethiopia, Uganda,
Senegal, Niger, Mauritania, and 28 member states
of the European Union, Moldova, Turkey, and Singapore. As for everyone else, well, not only are flavored
cigarettes completely legal in the vast majority of countries, but the US ban on cloves actually created an international incident. In April 2010, Indonesia, the world's top producer
of clove cigarettes and the source of the vast majority of those smoked in the US, filed a trade dispute with
the World Trade Organization. In its claim, Indonesia argued that the US
ban illegally discriminated against foreign products
of flavored tobacco and created an unlawful advantage for domestic tobacco manufacturers. In September 2011, the WTO agreed, finding that the ban was
indeed discriminatory because it prohibited clove cigarettes while allowing the sale of
American menthol cigarettes. The opinion was affirmed
on appeal in 2012. This ruling gave Indonesia
the right to retaliate until either the US
changed its law to comply or the two sides reached a settlement. And in 2014, the two countries reached a
final settlement on the issue, ending their dispute. Under the settlement, the US agreed it would not
arbitrarily discriminate against certain Indonesian
tobacco products and promised to work with
Indonesia on other trade issues. Now, a decade after the
flavored tobacco ban, public health advocates seemed
to have been vindicated. A 2020 study published in the "Journal of Adolescent Health" found that the flavor ban was effective at reducing cigarette
use among young people. In April of 2022, the FDA took additional steps against flavored tobacco products
by proposing a ban on the sales of menthol cigarettes and all flavored cigars. In this proposal, the FDA argued that these actions had the potential to reduce
disease and death by quote "reducing youth experimentation and addiction and increasing the number of smokers that quit." Public comments will continue
through July of 2022, but Kinder Surprise
Eggs are already banned, so the hard work has
already been accomplished. But that takes us to the
next American illegality, something you potentially
might do every single day. Now, if you were an
American pedestrian in 1903, crossing the street was
a very simple endeavor. If you wanted to cross the street, you would just walk across the street. Before the introduction of cars, roads were seen as a public space that all citizens had a right to occupy, even children at play. But today, if you try and cross the street without using a crosswalk
or cross the street when the traffic light is
flashing do not walk, well, congratulations, you have
committed the crime of jaywalking. Now, across the pond, some of our European allies
have taken a more laissez-faire attitude towards jaywalking
by making it totally legal. They just call it walking. Now, for example, there are no laws against
jaywalking in Norway. The same goes for the UK, meaning that The Beatles didn't
need to use the crosswalk for their famous "Abbey Road" cover. And the Netherlands used to
have laws against jaywalking, but repealed these statutes in 1995 to simplify the traffic
code and give pedestrians more freedom. In these countries, your right to cross the street freely shall not be infringed, but
here in the United States, we've taken a more punitive
approach to walking. Now, every year, cities like Los Angeles issue tickets to tens of thousands of
pedestrians for jaywalking, which includes fines worth up to $200. But this was not always the case. In fact, ticketing someone for jaywalking is a relatively young
concept in the United States. According to University of
Virginia historian Peter Norton, the notion of jaywalking, with jay being an early 20th century slur for someone stupid or unsophisticated, was introduced by a group of auto industry aligned
groups in 1920s as part of a concerted pro-car
anti-pedestrian propaganda campaign. But when cars were first introduced, there were a few crosswalks
painted on the street. Pedestrians generally
ignored the ones that existed 'cause they didn't need to, but as cars became more widely available, pedestrian deaths skyrocketed
with hundreds of thousands of Americans, many children, being killed in car crashes for the first few decades
of the 20th century. So to counter all this negative publicity, auto industries sought to enact traffic laws that would shift blame from drivers and their cars
to the pedestrians themselves. And it worked. Not only did cities and states begin criminalizing jaywalking, but the US government supported the anti-pedestrian propaganda
campaign by ridiculing jaywalkers and placing blame on them
for automobile crashes. And today, some criminal justice advocates believe jaywalking should be
decriminalized altogether. But as an aside, you should all go watch "Not Just Bikes" and get orange build because it's kind of stupid
that we've seated all of this real estate to cars
for both driving and parking when cities should be for
the people themselves. But I'll get down off of my soapbox. And while it might sound counterintuitive, countries that allow jaywalking tend to have lower traffic deaths as pedestrians tend to cross more safely and when they aren't worried
about criminal penalties. And criminal justice advocates point out that jaywalking laws have
a very disparate impact with tickets not evenly applied and enforcement disproportionately targeting people of color. So far, in 2021, Virginia has heated this
call by becoming the first and so far only state to
decriminalize jaywalking and a similar bill to
decriminalize jaywalking was vetoed by California's governor
Gavin Newsom in 2021. So, for better or worse, if you wanna stay on
the straight and narrow in 49 of the US states, you'd better be sure to look both ways and stay in the crosswalk every time. For now. Okay, so maybe America
isn't the freest country in the world after all, but you can take a stand for your right to exclusive content
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I'll see you in court.
It reminds me of the time I went on a student exchange in Washington DC where I got a $200 ticket for jaywalking on my first day there. I had no idea that it was a crime to cross the road anywhere but at the lights. I thought it was absurd but I didn't want to get in an argument with a cop on my first day in the country so I accepted it. In London everyone just crosses wherever and whenever there's a gap in traffic.
Cool that he shouted NJB out. When I first read the title of your post I thought you meant legal eagle called him out and I was concerned for a second.
Based and orangepilled
I gotta say, jaywalking is the most bullshit concept ever.
Of course you don't want people walking over some highway with super high speeds, which should usually be separated with barriers or on a different level than any foot paths.
But honestly, most traffic issues in the US seem to stem simply from them not distinguishing road types properly, both by signage or what is allowed on it, and by the way they are built.
Okay as a frenchman I didn't even know jaywalking was a concept (I means it put a word on my passion to cross the street to slowdown car on my city center) And wtf about kinder America ! A'd wtf wtf wtf about cheese America !!!!!!!!
Edit :spelling
Legal Eagle is so handsome
Why did the California guy veto the decriminalisation?
The Nebula version is just praising /u/notjustbikes instead of the add.
LegalEagle is great at being based while pretending to be centrist