It gets harder and harder to return to the U.S. after every trip.
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Anonymous
dp... tell me you don't understand US history without telling me you don't understand US history. |
Anonymous
I express vocally how I hate that my kids have to have shooter drills. I hate the direction of this country but it is still my country. My spouse and children hold dual citizenship, not me. I noticed you didn't respond to my post about how Trump loves Putin and his style of leadership. So, it's ironic that you bring up how Russian might invade other countries. |
Anonymous
Nope, nothing wrong here.
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Anonymous
Get out of your bubble. See the country. Our country. Learn about it. |
Anonymous
https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/gen-z-americans-expat-travel-trend-survey |
Anonymous
It’s about unified culture. You have to have an underlying culture that values those things for it to be prevalent amongst the populace. There has to be unifying values the majority of people agree on. That's why America has so much trouble with certain things. There are no underlying unified values, even for simple things like public cleanliness. It's a bunch of clashing cultural values. Thus, the idea that all cultures are equal in all regards is a flawed philosophy. Some behaviors from some cultures lead to better outcomes than others. Multiculturalism, in that respect, doesn't work. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
oh the irony |
Anonymous
Americans have an "I" attitude". Most of those other countries have a "we" attitude. |
Anonymous
A lot of what you experience is about where you live in the US vs living in the US. I grew up in a small town in flyover country, and despite being poor, I had incredible food. I didn't even realize that most of the US was eating mealy, starchy tomatoes and carrots that were basically shelf stable. If you live far away from the places where food is produced, they alter the veggies etc so that they can endure the trip to your grocery stores and the lont wait til they are consumed. In the DMV, you can sign up for CSAs or shop at farmers markets. I used to question whether I was meant to live in the US. Then I realized that a lot of things I disliked about my life were choices I had made or failed to make. So I created a different lifestyle and stayed in the US and have a much better life here than the one I likely would have had in Europe. |
Anonymous
You’d come back from Japan in like 11 months. They have their own ingrained issues with xenophobia and you’d always be considered an outsider by the majority of people. I’m guessing you’re not Japanese. |
Anonymous
CSAs and farmers markets are very expensive though. I live in a city and grew up in the burbs and have access to produce, grew up in an Italian family where delicious food is worshipped. But still the food in Europe like cheeses had fewer preservatives for a lower price point. Sure, you can eat fantastic food in the US if you are well off or perhaps live in flyover country near some decent farms for a *handful* of items. But in Europe, you can eat fantastic food even if you're not well off AND even the more "processed" food has fewer fillers. Hello shredded Kraft Parmesan cheese made from wood fiber because you cant buy blocks of parm like the UMC can. Did you see the comment re: lead in children's cinnamon pouches? That is a current CDC alert happening right now, identified because of a sudden rise in children having high lead levels. I've traveled by car through a lot of the US, but tell me where a carving station with fresh prepped food in is a routine thing at rest stops? |
Anonymous
Pretty much. Just walk around cities like Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo, Chengdu, Singapore, etc. U.S. infrastructure seems to have stopped developing since the 1960s or 70s. Those cities are so, soooooooo much more advanced now than virtually every city in the U.S., including New York. They’re so clean, and there are hardly any homeless and junkies anywhere. Crime and gun violence is virtually nonexistent. All of this stems from the “ME” instead of “WE” attitude in the U.S. We prioritize individual SFH owners and the individual, therefore we must build everything for their cars and driving around in a car with only one person in it. Junkies and homeless? Oh well, not MY problem even though they’re huge blights on a city. I mean a 2nd tier city in the U.S. like Philadelphia, for example, looks more like bombed out Iraq vs a comparable 2nd tier city in a first world country like Fukuoka in Japan. People who’ve been there and traveled know. Vs America just gave up on development a long, loooooong time ago: |
Anonymous
In the US you pay through the nose for fresh veggies and even when fresh veggies are in season, most of the stuff you find in the grocery stores is from Mexico and elsewhere. We have tons of farmland but rather than growing food for Americans we grow massive monoculture and industrial crops with nothing else for miles to sustain bees and pollinators. We made family farms sell out to massive ag conglomerates run by suits who only care about extracting every last penny. And instead we get crap loaded with preservatives or imported from elsewhere. It's really a shame that we've screwed ourselves so badly with corporatism. |
Anonymous
I have a bit of a different perspective on Europe because most of my family lives in Europe and is not well off. I can say with total confidence that the food I eat in the US is of higher quality than the food they eat in their well-off European country, because I'm UMC and they are working class. Unfortunately, cheap, processed food is prevalent in the world. If anything, Americans are more critical of their food choices and other nations accept their choices as good. Take Japan's view of Ramen noodle soup as an example. It's accepted as good, in part because it staved off famine at a time when survival was the main goal. But it's objectively not that nutritious. Americans tend to be very critical of America when compared to how other countries discuss their own nations. Re pop up stands at rest stops, I imagine most state workers would chase them off. That has more to do with bureaucracy than availability. I often find road side stands and buy fresh produce, honey, bbq. It's prevalent in places where the economics make sense for the vendors. The more expensive the area, the less the economics make sense. Personally, I get my meat from a butcher that only stocks high quality meat. I get my veggies from a local farm that has a market. Sometimes I use meal kits and the food isn't as high quality but is generally good. My relatives in Europe buy veggies from places like Lidl, and they are comparable to what you'd get from Giant. They buy every day because their fridges are tiny, and as a result they engage in a lot more impulse buying of cakes and pastries. Obesity and weight problems are rising in Europe. Meanwhile, I've never struggled with my weight here in the US. Yes, a lot if this is due to class and income. But like I said, my family in Europe is working class. You can buy meat and cheese from local or artisan dairy places. There is a large market for this kind of stuff and you can absolutely find it. But I think what you're really saying is that you wish that the dominant culture in the US was one that prioritized high quality food, and you perceive that this is the case in Europe. I think that isn't true at the working class level, the same as the US. But it is true that a European UMC might be more likely than an American UMC to prioritize quality food. Our current food policies were made immediately after the depression and were intended to make it so that people in the US never experience hunger again. The goal is noble, even if there are unintended side effects. I think when you look at the US through the eyes of the people who tried to make it better, you might end up with more empathy and understanding of how we got to our current state. And I'd gently recommend that you can either leave or stay, but if you stay, start living the life you want to have. You might have more common ground with flyover people, traditionalists, etc than you think, because what you're saying is that you want a greater connection to nature and the earth. |