What do the British do better than the Americans

In short, we have a higher quality healthcare system, i.e. our citizens are healthier on average, and it costs less per person. I don't think many Americans really think their healthcare system is excellent but I do hear occasional jibes like,

• Insurance-based healthcare creates efficiency. Keeping healthcare private drives competition and cost-effectiveness. We've already established this isn't currently the case.
• British people have bad teeth. I hear this from Yanks all the time - I think it comes from the Simpsons. Looking at the statistics it seems like British dental health is actually better than American.

But no matter what people say, I'm convinced the British healthcare system is superior because it stands on stronger ideals. One of the NHS's principal architects, Aneurin Bevan, describes the first axiom of national healthcare,

The map below speaks for itself.

The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Iron Maiden, Fleetwood Mac, The Rolling Stones, Dire Straits, The Who, Black Sabbath, The Kinks, The Smiths, David Bowie (pause to breathe)
Coldplay, Muse, Arctic Monkeys, Radiohead, Belle & Sebastian, Portishead, The Verve, The Libertines... and many many more.

Without the Brits my playlist would be pretty plain.

There are brilliant American speakers and writers, but our culture doesn't swim in language the way British culture does. I've lived in New York and London, and one thing that impressed me about the latter is how all classes of people there are good with words. Not all people of all classes of course, but the general verbal ability of average Britons far exceeds that of their American cousins. 

I'm not sure why this is, because England is a much more (overtly) class-based country than America. But while here, in NYC, I can often predict that a college-educated guy will be more verbally skilled than a working-class guy who dropped out of high school, I can't make the same assumption in England. The cockney lorry driver, who never finished school, may do the crossword every day and be able to verbally fence with me and win. 

There are some American working-class groups who excel with their own vernaculars, such as inner-city African Americans (thanks partially to the influence of rap), but many Americans are terrible with words. Our culture is more based around images and actions than talking and writing. 

Americans often wonder why so many plum roles in Hollywood movies and popular TV shows get cast with British actors, even when the characters they're playing are Americans. As someone who has worked with actors for 30 years, I can explain it. You have to be good with words to be an actor in America, more so now than in the past. Networks like HBO and AMC have primed audiences for verbosity, and British actors are, on average, better at delivering those goods than Americans actors. 

Plenty of Brits complain about the decline of language skills in their country. There's some truth to this and a lot of snobbery. Regardless, they're still miles ahead of us.

Health care. It's not that the best British health care is better than the best American health care; it's that British people generally get better care than American people generally get.

Here's an analogy: cars. Britain has Ferraris and America has Lamborghinis. Almost nobody in either country can afford those. So you might as well take them out of the equation.

Ordinary British people drive Fords, and ordinary Americans drive everything from tricycles to Teslas.

Every British person gets a Ford from the government when they're born. It doesn't matter how much money they have or how much tax they pay. They can buy better if they want, but they all get a Ford, regardless.

Americans have to buy their own cars, and huge numbers of Americans don't have anything to drive at all.

Huge numbers of Americans can't afford health care at all, so they just don't get any. When they run out of money for doctors or medicine, they die.

But every British person gets health care for life, and it doesn't matter if they're super-rich or dirt poor. They just get it as part of being British. It is one of the privileges of citizenship.

Americans, by contrast, get protected by vast numbers of nuclear weapons. That's wheretheir tax money goes. You can decide for yourself which is more useful to the general population.

1. Christian Bale/Batman: Arguably the finest on-screen portrayal of Batman ever (maybe Michael Keaton was more suited for the role, but Bale has greater appeal, and far bigger numbers).

2. Henry Cavill/Superman: Way ahead of any of his contemporaries (read Brandon Routh et al) when it comes to playing Superman. Almost as good as Christopher Reeve, or better (some aficionados would disagree), but definitely looks better as Superman than Reeve.

3. James McAvoy/Professor X: Fits the role of a young and idealistic Professor X to the T. Killed in the auditions too. Definitely the second-best portrayal of the genius superhero ever (scroll further down for the best).

4. (drumroll)...Sir Patrick Stewart/Professor X: Hands down the best ever and most indelible portrayal of Professor X. Movie genius plays comic-book genius.

and

(drumroll resumes)...