> Seems strange how bad ISP's are in the US compared to the UK

UK average fixed-line download speeds in Q4 2017 were about 26 Mbps [1]. The same Q2/Q3 2018 statistic for the United States was over 96 [2].

American broadband is crappy. But in mean technological leadership, it’s ahead of the UK. (At the leading edge, I get 400/35 for $80 in Manhattan.)

[1] http://www.speedtest.net/reports/united-kingdom/#fixed

[2] http://www.speedtest.net/reports/united-states/

I wish they'd do the median rather than the mean. Having a small percentage of people with super high speeds will drag the mean up, but it doesn't change the experience for the typical consumer.

Bill Gates walks into a bar. The mean net worth of bar patrons is > $1,000,000,000.

I'm in Manhattan too, and with FIOS my options are 100/100 for $40, 300/300 for $60, or 940/880 for $80. Admittedly those prices might be first year discounted prices.

What's really strange is how the crappy broadband is continuously justified in the US.

Replace “broadband” with everything from education and healthcare, through infrastructure and a dozen other words, and you’re still right. I don’t understand it either.

Education and healthcare are of high quality in the US, generally speaking. They are just super expensive.

The Radio Eriwan joke writes itself.

Oh man, those still hold up too. “In principle yes, but unfortunately nobody here has the education to be sure.”

The belief in American exceptionalism isn't limited to just positives.

Broadband in the US varies wildly - I'm paying $85 (~ £67) for an 800/800 fiber connection, but I am in a market where Comcast and Centurylink are slugging it out, so we have much better offerings than many parts of the country.

Depends on where you are. I’m paying $80/month for 940/940 fiber with no cap or throttling. A few miles down the road the only option is slow and unreliable cable through Comcast.