The USA actually doesn't. They only require a biometric passport, and facial recognition is sufficient for that. Ireland, the UK, Australia, NZ, and a few others are in visa waiver and don't collect fingerprints for passport issuance.

The fingerprint requirement is an EU requirement, and Ireland/UK used an opt-out.

Ireland and the UK used an opt-out and do not require fingerprints for their passports.

I believe it is the lye in the tile grout that causes brick/tile layers to have no fingerprints.

I've never seen an European car with automatic beat a manual on the mileage.

2011 BMW 535i

Manual: 19 city, 28 highway, 22 combined
Automatic: 20 city, 30 highway, 24 combined (fueleconomy.org)

High end cars are the easiest examples, since they are getting the more advanced automatic transmissions. Autos can have 7 or 8 gears, which mean you can have a couple of really high gears for great fuel economy, whereas manuals are stuck with six gears max.

Any idea why automatics are built the way they are?

It's a historical thing. The first automatics didn't have computers obviously. They just continued refining the tech.

Manual transmissions save money on the initial purchase price and long term maintenance.

They can but not always. Some automakers build outstanding automatics that are bulletproof and maintenance free (other than fluid changes), whereas their manuals, like all manuals, need their clutches replaced.

In the U.S., I exaggerate only very slightly to suggest that a driver's license (and even automobile ownership) are seen as a fundamental human right,

Or perhaps more accurately, a necessity. Because, in many parts of the US, it is a necessity period.

The only reason driving isn't a "right" is because, in spite of it being a necessity, we may deny it based on residency status.

The driver education in the US is a complete joke.

I don't know if the problem is driver education, as much as a disinterest in following those rules. Every driver in the US learns those things. They just aren't considered very important.

But why do you care what others do?

I'm not the person you're asking, but, chiming in, I don't care what others do personally. Though one downside of things is that automakers often don't bother designing/making a car with a manual for American drivers, since so few Americans opt for one. For an individual who buys cars used, it also makes it a lot harder to find one.

Airbus is run by software. Boeing by pilots.

That continues to be true with existing aircraft and designs. It had less to do with the two companies have a huge philosophical difference than the fact that Airbus had a lot of clean sheet designs and Boeing did not, and it was easier for Boeing to not use fly-by-wire.

When Boeing does do a clean sheet design (777, 787 and maybe the replacement for the 737) it adapts fly-by-wire and the systems are more or less equivalent to how Airbus aircraft are flown.

The problem is Canadians employ the metric system, but with US cars calibrated in imperial units, they cannot be allowed on Canadian roads and the cost of conversion is prohibitive.

Where are you getting this from? All you need to do is check riv.ca to see if your car is admissible for import. If it's over 15 year old it's automatically admissible, and under 15 years almost everything is admissible. Cars in the US are required to have metric on their speedometers anyway. If it's admissible and has DRLs, it's good to go, no changes needed.

The biggest problem with importing cars into Canada--1.) US dealers are prohibited by automakers from selling new cars to residents of Canada (and vice versa) and 2.) Canada import duty has to be paid.

So we are choosing to be more efficient than fast?

In regards to aviation...definitely. In fact, most of the time we don't actually fly as fast as the 707 used to. We probably fly 50-100mph slower than we did twenty years ago. In combination with congestion, flights across the US take about an hour longer than they would have in the 70s or even 80s.

Airlines have been purposefully flying slower and aircraft manufacturers have been designing aircraft whose fuel efficiency sweetspot is slower.

Isn't it possible though that you never run into such a person because they're basically hidden (they wouldn't be in the work force, they wouldn't be producing anything that would bring them notice)?

How about Panera?

We assume that thieves have no conscience at all, otherwise they wouldn't be thieves.

The reality is that they have a mixed conscience, and might in some way feel better about what they're doing if they're not entirely thieving about things.

More often than not, if a thief has the chance to steal some money but not all the money, they will leave some of it there.