I don't honestly know why all of America doesn't have them, and my suspicions are it has something to do with timber shareholders.

It's actually rooted in America's puritanical roots. Americans were largely introduced to bidets during WWII in French bordellos. It didn't leave a good reputation coming back.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/the-b...

That explains the history but not the present. People aren't afraid to get rid of something stupid (see OSHA, anti-seatbelt lobbyists, chamber pots).

No, it's cultural; Americans just can't imagine not using dry paper to smear feces around after they use the toilet, instead of using water to properly clean themselves. I tried talking to people I knew about them during the pandemic when everyone was freaking out about toilet paper shortages, but it went nowhere.

I also suspect NIH is a big part of the problem. Bidets and washlets weren't invented in America or adopted there first, so Americans can't adopt them now since that would be admitting they weren't first for something. Americans are, as a whole, completely unable to look at what other countries are doing and learn from their example.

Uh… a bidet is not a substitute for using toilet paper.