Chapter 360: Chapter 366: The Most Wasteful Country in the World
Abu Dhabi Corniche Hotel.
In front of the grand, elongated entrance of the hotel, three luxurious black Rolls-Royces were parked.
Several doormen immediately stepped forward to open the car doors for the guests.
The moment the female doorman saw Martin step out, she froze briefly before her expression turned excited.
Indeed, all the doormen at this hotel were women—and not just any women, but handpicked beauties.
"Good evening, sir. Let me carry your luggage for you."
One of the female doormen eagerly stepped forward, taking the suitcase from Martin's hand.
The other doormen instantly looked envious. That suitcase had just been touched by Martin! Damn that Trini, this b***h was way too fast!
Martin had booked four rooms: one presidential suite and three executive suites.
The presidential suite had six rooms in total. Martin stayed in the master bedroom, while Gordon and his three bodyguards occupied the remaining rooms.
At this moment, Martin stood by the window, gazing at the lush greenery below. Smiling, he remarked, "These countries sitting on oil reserves are truly wealthy. They've created an oasis in the desert from scratch. It's said that planting a single tree here costs over $5,000, and the annual maintenance exceeds $800 million. It's astronomical!"
"Eight hundred million a year?!" Gordon, standing behind him, exclaimed. "That's insanely wasteful!"
Gordon couldn't wrap his head around it.
Martin chuckled. "At the very least, that spending has made this desert more livable for humans."
Then, turning the conversation in a new direction, he asked, "Do you know which country is the most wasteful in the world?"
Gordon blurted out instinctively, "The UAE?"
Martin's smile widened. "No, it's America!"
Gordon froze, then, to his surprise, nodded in agreement.
In truth, Americans themselves knew that their country's level of wastefulness was appalling. Don't believe it? Let's compare three sets of data:
The average annual water consumption per person:
Germany: 300 cubic meters.
China: 440 cubic meters.
The U.S.: 1,500 cubic meters.
The average annual electricity consumption per person:
China: approximately 730 kilowatt-hours.The U.S.: approximately 4,370 kilowatt-hours.
Food waste: Americans waste over 150,000 tons of food daily, adding up to 54.75 million tons annually—enough to feed more than 70 million refugees. (Why he didn't add up the China wasted food every year? It's 108 million tonnes per year according to 2024 year data)
Here's how Americans waste resources:
A normal person taking a shower turns on the tap, waits for the water to heat, and starts showering. Americans, however, turn on the tap, go play a game or watch a movie, then come back to shower. During this time, water gushes down the drain.
Americans rarely bother to turn off faucets, especially in outdoor public areas. Even if water flows endlessly, no one feels it's their responsibility to close it.
Their toilets are nicknamed "water tigers." A single flush takes over 15 seconds, wasting an entire bucket of water each time. (Exaggerated)
Americans dislike washing fruits and vegetables but also won't eat them unwashed. So, they've devised a simple solution: place the produce under running water and leave for a walk. By the time they return, it's all clean—along with gallons of wasted water. (Exaggerated.)
You've probably heard the phrase "Harvard's lights are still on at 4 a.m." You might think it's because Harvard students are so diligent they start studying at dawn. The reality? At 4 a.m., nobody's awake. The lights are on simply because Americans don't turn them off. Public spaces remain brightly lit 24/7, regardless of whether anyone is there. (Exaggerated.)
Air conditioning usage in America is another level of extravagance. Ninety percent of public places run air conditioners year-round, often at full blast. In summer, the temperature indoors is so low you need a jacket to avoid catching a cold. (WTF? so in china, mall there dont fucking use air conditioning in summer?)
Americans never dry clothes outdoors. Every household uses a dryer, which runs for two hours at a time, consuming vast amounts of electricity. Nationwide, dryers consume 95 billion kilowatt-hours annually. For perspective, when the Three Gorges Dam first came online, its annual power output was only 85 billion kilowatt-hours. (True, i mean the 95 Billion watt annually.)
As for their homes, most are made of wood and poorly insulated. Every household relies heavily on air conditioning, which runs 24/7—even when they're out. That way, they can return to a perfectly cooled or heated home. Convenient? Yes. Wasteful? Absolutely.
In American supermarkets, fruits and vegetables are selected based on uniform size and color. Anything too large, too small, or slightly irregular is discarded. Over 25% of food doesn't even leave the farm because it doesn't look "perfect." (Partially true)
Supermarkets and restaurants have strict rules: any grilled food not sold within two hours is immediately thrown away. Roast chicken, fried chicken, fries, bread—if unsold, it all goes straight to the trash, no matter the quantity. (Partially True)
Americans typically shop for groceries once a week, buying enough for the next seven days. They never consider whether they can finish it all. Whatever isn't consumed by the next shopping trip gets thrown away. This cycle repeats weekly. (Exaggerated)
Of the food Americans throw away:
40% is vegetables.
20% is fruit.
25% is beef.
10% is seafood.
If this wasted food were conserved, it could feed three entire Senegal-sized populations.
Some might argue this wastefulness stems from America's wealth. But that's not entirely true. The country also has a shameful number of homeless and impoverished people—1.9% of the population. (Meanwhile 300 million people in the China—home to 1.4 billion Chinese—are homeless.)
Why doesn't the government redistribute these wasted resources to the poor? (Ask your Chinese Government first.)
Simple: the government isn't unwilling—it's the capitalists who refuse. (Exaggerated)
In America, even aiding the poor is a business. Corporations profit from government subsidies, tax breaks, and price adjustments. They allocate a small portion of these funds to buy token aid for the poor, pocketing the rest. They'll even run PR campaigns to gain public praise. (What?? For fuck sake, it's not just america but china too and other country in the world.)
Compared to this, can the UAE's spending really be called wasteful?
No wonder Martin sneered.
(GodOfReader: Sorry for those (Exaggerated) or (True) in each end of paragraph. This wont happen again in later chapter unless the author bullshit us again.)