traveling open your eyes to how terrible the US is in many ways?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

The problem in the US is not that we have problems. It is our obstinate refusal to solve any of them while new problems continue to crop up. While many of these problems are sort of relegated to the poorest people in our country, they are increasingly “trickling up” to the middle class.

People are routinely dying from a lack of healthcare or going bankrupt from medical problems. This should have been resolved ages ago, and is simply not such a crisis in other countries.

Same with gun violence. Yes, there are a multitude of tertiary issues related to gun violence but the main issue is simply guns.

And now, we have a huge mentally ill homeless population suffering in our cities and it’s only growing.

And I think the worst part is that people seem so lonely and unhappy.

Why do we tolerate this?

When I go to my parents’ home country, it just isn’t so miserable. I’m staying in a middle class neighborhood, not a luxury hotel. I have been here often over the last 2 decades: People are grinning and bearing it. No one is shot in the street. If I need medicine I can just walk into the pharmacy and buy it for $2. People are out past 8pm having fun. People are just enjoying being with other people more.

Something is just broken at home. I really feel like I get a break abroad, from the horrible political news and violence and apocalyptic weather events. I have not felt this way before.

You keep on repeating yourself here. Over and over. These are your feelings. Some agree, some disagree. We have free speech here. We don't need to agree with you just because you type out the same words over and over.

If you are so distressed go out and help people in need in the U.S. or go back to your home country. What you are not going to do is make us feel so bad about ourselves that we are going to spend our days in despair, looking for Russia or China or Iran to come save us.

What are you talking about? I am not the only poster on this thread?

I wondering why you feel so threatened and defensive at the idea that something may be going sideways with our way of life. Who said anything about China and Iran? Do you realize what a provincial and close minded reaction that is? And how do you know that I’m not involved with helping people in the US?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

The problem in the US is not that we have problems. It is our obstinate refusal to solve any of them while new problems continue to crop up. While many of these problems are sort of relegated to the poorest people in our country, they are increasingly “trickling up” to the middle class.

People are routinely dying from a lack of healthcare or going bankrupt from medical problems. This should have been resolved ages ago, and is simply not such a crisis in other countries.

Same with gun violence. Yes, there are a multitude of tertiary issues related to gun violence but the main issue is simply guns.

And now, we have a huge mentally ill homeless population suffering in our cities and it’s only growing.

And I think the worst part is that people seem so lonely and unhappy.

Why do we tolerate this?

When I go to my parents’ home country, it just isn’t so miserable. I’m staying in a middle class neighborhood, not a luxury hotel. I have been here often over the last 2 decades: People are grinning and bearing it. No one is shot in the street. If I need medicine I can just walk into the pharmacy and buy it for $2. People are out past 8pm having fun. People are just enjoying being with other people more.

Something is just broken at home. I really feel like I get a break abroad, from the horrible political news and violence and apocalyptic weather events. I have not felt this way before.

^^exactly. Compared to other countries we cannot do anything to improve or solve collective problems. our infrastructure is decaying because of it - it is well known. even making the smallest improvement to traffic or public space is incredibly costly because we’ve set up a system where people can easily throw wrenches into the works - and we have become so miserable and individualistic that people seem to enjoy crusading against change.

Who.appointed you to speak on behalf of the country. You don't know what is going on in people's heads. Your entire goal is to tell people to feel despair. "You need to hate America, I say, this is why!". You have an agenda.

yes … my agenda is that we should have a transit system on par with equally wealthy countries! And for my neighbors to have more of a sense of collective good so that they don’t spend their time crusading against housing development for example.

[Anonymous]

I think the British know how you feel. They were once the most developed country and London was an incredible city. Over time, the pace of growth in London slowed while elsewhere it increased. By the time I visited London for the first time in the late 90s, London felt like a relic, preserved for historians. Yes, it was still a bustling city, but it didn’t feel modern like Singapore or Tokyo. In 30 years, the US will start to feel like a historical artifact to be preserved rather than leading the world into the future.

[Anonymous]

I often travel and think the opposite- we have it great in America. Central and South America are riddled with poverty, corruption, drugs. I feel unsafe as a woman in the Middle East and India (also riddled with extreme poverty and is unsanitary). Even in Europe, my kids point to laundry hanging across alleys and small apartments and comment how poor those people must be. Nope, middle class Europeans live in small apartments and don’t enjoy many of the day-to-day conveniences we have. They pay dearly for their safety net such as healthcare though high taxes and will complain about the long waits and inefficiencies in their healthcare system. I’d never want to live in communist China or in Russia under Putin. Does anyone think there is anyplace in Africa that has the comforts and safety we have here?

We certainly have our problems, but there are few, if any, places that don’t. I’ll take our issues any day over the issues of any place I’ve visited.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

The problem in the US is not that we have problems. It is our obstinate refusal to solve any of them while new problems continue to crop up. While many of these problems are sort of relegated to the poorest people in our country, they are increasingly “trickling up” to the middle class.

People are routinely dying from a lack of healthcare or going bankrupt from medical problems. This should have been resolved ages ago, and is simply not such a crisis in other countries.

Same with gun violence. Yes, there are a multitude of tertiary issues related to gun violence but the main issue is simply guns.

And now, we have a huge mentally ill homeless population suffering in our cities and it’s only growing.

And I think the worst part is that people seem so lonely and unhappy.

Why do we tolerate this?

When I go to my parents’ home country, it just isn’t so miserable. I’m staying in a middle class neighborhood, not a luxury hotel. I have been here often over the last 2 decades: People are grinning and bearing it. No one is shot in the street. If I need medicine I can just walk into the pharmacy and buy it for $2. People are out past 8pm having fun. People are just enjoying being with other people more.

Something is just broken at home. I really feel like I get a break abroad, from the horrible political news and violence and apocalyptic weather events. I have not felt this way before.

^^exactly. Compared to other countries we cannot do anything to improve or solve collective problems. our infrastructure is decaying because of it - it is well known. even making the smallest improvement to traffic or public space is incredibly costly because we’ve set up a system where people can easily throw wrenches into the works - and we have become so miserable and individualistic that people seem to enjoy crusading against change.

Who.appointed you to speak on behalf of the country. You don't know what is going on in people's heads. Your entire goal is to tell people to feel despair. "You need to hate America, I say, this is why!". You have an agenda.

yes … my agenda is that we should have a transit system on par with equally wealthy countries! And for my neighbors to have more of a sense of collective good so that they don’t spend their time crusading against housing development for example.

I don't want collectivism. So look I have an opinion as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

The problem in the US is not that we have problems. It is our obstinate refusal to solve any of them while new problems continue to crop up. While many of these problems are sort of relegated to the poorest people in our country, they are increasingly “trickling up” to the middle class.

People are routinely dying from a lack of healthcare or going bankrupt from medical problems. This should have been resolved ages ago, and is simply not such a crisis in other countries.

Same with gun violence. Yes, there are a multitude of tertiary issues related to gun violence but the main issue is simply guns.

And now, we have a huge mentally ill homeless population suffering in our cities and it’s only growing.

And I think the worst part is that people seem so lonely and unhappy.

Why do we tolerate this?

When I go to my parents’ home country, it just isn’t so miserable. I’m staying in a middle class neighborhood, not a luxury hotel. I have been here often over the last 2 decades: People are grinning and bearing it. No one is shot in the street. If I need medicine I can just walk into the pharmacy and buy it for $2. People are out past 8pm having fun. People are just enjoying being with other people more.

Something is just broken at home. I really feel like I get a break abroad, from the horrible political news and violence and apocalyptic weather events. I have not felt this way before.

You keep on repeating yourself here. Over and over. These are your feelings. Some agree, some disagree. We have free speech here. We don't need to agree with you just because you type out the same words over and over.

If you are so distressed go out and help people in need in the U.S. or go back to your home country. What you are not going to do is make us feel so bad about ourselves that we are going to spend our days in despair, looking for Russia or China or Iran to come save us.

What are you talking about? I am not the only poster on this thread?

I wondering why you feel so threatened and defensive at the idea that something may be going sideways with our way of life. Who said anything about China and Iran? Do you realize what a provincial and close minded reaction that is? And how do you know that I’m not involved with helping people in the US?

Why would I be threatened by somone else's opinion? You are not that powerful. Just because you throw words out of your mouth doesn't mean they are true or even need to be considered. Listening to you is not the determiner if someone is close minded because you are not an authority on anything. In addition, complaining doesn't make one non-provincial. You are provincial: not appreciating that different places are unique, including our country. A large country like ours is not going to have a transportation system like Germany's. If your point is to encourage everyone to be so unhappy that they look to you and say oh wise one tell is what we need to do to be happy you have failed. Those of us who are happy are working everyday, trying to advance in our careers to keep up with the economy,supporting our families, instead of begging people on the internet to be "collective" and do things for me so I don't have to work hard. "I just need a little studio in a big city where I can walk everywhere and I then will not really need to go make money and work, I can enjoy my hobbies as a man should!"--well that is not my priority, so not "collecting" or whatever to support this--young men and their desire for ample leisure time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

The problem in the US is not that we have problems. It is our obstinate refusal to solve any of them while new problems continue to crop up. While many of these problems are sort of relegated to the poorest people in our country, they are increasingly “trickling up” to the middle class.

People are routinely dying from a lack of healthcare or going bankrupt from medical problems. This should have been resolved ages ago, and is simply not such a crisis in other countries.

Same with gun violence. Yes, there are a multitude of tertiary issues related to gun violence but the main issue is simply guns.

And now, we have a huge mentally ill homeless population suffering in our cities and it’s only growing.

And I think the worst part is that people seem so lonely and unhappy.

Why do we tolerate this?

When I go to my parents’ home country, it just isn’t so miserable. I’m staying in a middle class neighborhood, not a luxury hotel. I have been here often over the last 2 decades: People are grinning and bearing it. No one is shot in the street. If I need medicine I can just walk into the pharmacy and buy it for $2. People are out past 8pm having fun. People are just enjoying being with other people more.

Something is just broken at home. I really feel like I get a break abroad, from the horrible political news and violence and apocalyptic weather events. I have not felt this way before.

^^exactly. Compared to other countries we cannot do anything to improve or solve collective problems. our infrastructure is decaying because of it - it is well known. even making the smallest improvement to traffic or public space is incredibly costly because we’ve set up a system where people can easily throw wrenches into the works - and we have become so miserable and individualistic that people seem to enjoy crusading against change.

Who.appointed you to speak on behalf of the country. You don't know what is going on in people's heads. Your entire goal is to tell people to feel despair. "You need to hate America, I say, this is why!". You have an agenda.

yes … my agenda is that we should have a transit system on par with equally wealthy countries! And for my neighbors to have more of a sense of collective good so that they don’t spend their time crusading against housing development for example.

I don't want collectivism. So look I have an opinion as well.

fabulous, then enjoy the decaying bridges, flight cancellations, endless traffic jams, and uneducated children that are the result. Congrats!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

The problem in the US is not that we have problems. It is our obstinate refusal to solve any of them while new problems continue to crop up. While many of these problems are sort of relegated to the poorest people in our country, they are increasingly “trickling up” to the middle class.

People are routinely dying from a lack of healthcare or going bankrupt from medical problems. This should have been resolved ages ago, and is simply not such a crisis in other countries.

Same with gun violence. Yes, there are a multitude of tertiary issues related to gun violence but the main issue is simply guns.

And now, we have a huge mentally ill homeless population suffering in our cities and it’s only growing.

And I think the worst part is that people seem so lonely and unhappy.

Why do we tolerate this?

When I go to my parents’ home country, it just isn’t so miserable. I’m staying in a middle class neighborhood, not a luxury hotel. I have been here often over the last 2 decades: People are grinning and bearing it. No one is shot in the street. If I need medicine I can just walk into the pharmacy and buy it for $2. People are out past 8pm having fun. People are just enjoying being with other people more.

Something is just broken at home. I really feel like I get a break abroad, from the horrible political news and violence and apocalyptic weather events. I have not felt this way before.

^^exactly. Compared to other countries we cannot do anything to improve or solve collective problems. our infrastructure is decaying because of it - it is well known. even making the smallest improvement to traffic or public space is incredibly costly because we’ve set up a system where people can easily throw wrenches into the works - and we have become so miserable and individualistic that people seem to enjoy crusading against change.

Who.appointed you to speak on behalf of the country. You don't know what is going on in people's heads. Your entire goal is to tell people to feel despair. "You need to hate America, I say, this is why!". You have an agenda.

yes … my agenda is that we should have a transit system on par with equally wealthy countries! And for my neighbors to have more of a sense of collective good so that they don’t spend their time crusading against housing development for example.

I don't want collectivism. So look I have an opinion as well.

fabulous, then enjoy the decaying bridges, flight cancellations, endless traffic jams, and uneducated children that are the result. Congrats!

You keep on talking at us here. But you mean nothing to us, so your curses of doom and gloom fall flat. You can't make things terrible by your mere declarations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I often travel and think the opposite- we have it great in America. Central and South America are riddled with poverty, corruption, drugs. I feel unsafe as a woman in the Middle East and India (also riddled with extreme poverty and is unsanitary). Even in Europe, my kids point to laundry hanging across alleys and small apartments and comment how poor those people must be. Nope, middle class Europeans live in small apartments and don’t enjoy many of the day-to-day conveniences we have. They pay dearly for their safety net such as healthcare though high taxes and will complain about the long waits and inefficiencies in their healthcare system. I’d never want to live in communist China or in Russia under Putin. Does anyone think there is anyplace in Africa that has the comforts and safety we have here?

We certainly have our problems, but there are few, if any, places that don’t. I’ll take our issues any day over the issues of any place I’ve visited.

Well stated.
Thank you, pp. I couldn't agree with you more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

The problem in the US is not that we have problems. It is our obstinate refusal to solve any of them while new problems continue to crop up. While many of these problems are sort of relegated to the poorest people in our country, they are increasingly “trickling up” to the middle class.

People are routinely dying from a lack of healthcare or going bankrupt from medical problems. This should have been resolved ages ago, and is simply not such a crisis in other countries.

Same with gun violence. Yes, there are a multitude of tertiary issues related to gun violence but the main issue is simply guns.

And now, we have a huge mentally ill homeless population suffering in our cities and it’s only growing.

And I think the worst part is that people seem so lonely and unhappy.

Why do we tolerate this?

When I go to my parents’ home country, it just isn’t so miserable. I’m staying in a middle class neighborhood, not a luxury hotel. I have been here often over the last 2 decades: People are grinning and bearing it. No one is shot in the street. If I need medicine I can just walk into the pharmacy and buy it for $2. People are out past 8pm having fun. People are just enjoying being with other people more.

Something is just broken at home. I really feel like I get a break abroad, from the horrible political news and violence and apocalyptic weather events. I have not felt this way before.

You keep on repeating yourself here. Over and over. These are your feelings. Some agree, some disagree. We have free speech here. We don't need to agree with you just because you type out the same words over and over.

If you are so distressed go out and help people in need in the U.S. or go back to your home country. What you are not going to do is make us feel so bad about ourselves that we are going to spend our days in despair, looking for Russia or China or Iran to come save us.

What are you talking about? I am not the only poster on this thread?

I wondering why you feel so threatened and defensive at the idea that something may be going sideways with our way of life. Who said anything about China and Iran? Do you realize what a provincial and close minded reaction that is? And how do you know that I’m not involved with helping people in the US?

Why would I be threatened by somone else's opinion? You are not that powerful. Just because you throw words out of your mouth doesn't mean they are true or even need to be considered. Listening to you is not the determiner if someone is close minded because you are not an authority on anything. In addition, complaining doesn't make one non-provincial. You are provincial: not appreciating that different places are unique, including our country. A large country like ours is not going to have a transportation system like Germany's. If your point is to encourage everyone to be so unhappy that they look to you and say oh wise one tell is what we need to do to be happy you have failed. Those of us who are happy are working everyday, trying to advance in our careers to keep up with the economy,supporting our families, instead of begging people on the internet to be "collective" and do things for me so I don't have to work hard. "I just need a little studio in a big city where I can walk everywhere and I then will not really need to go make money and work, I can enjoy my hobbies as a man should!"--well that is not my priority, so not "collecting" or whatever to support this--young men and their desire for ample leisure time.

Ok dude. You can be happy - as long as you’re not actively getting in the way of the US improving itself. Because the US is way behind on developing infrastructure compared to peer nations.

What I suspect is that you are not actually happy but are desperately anxious and polarized. As long as we approach things that *should* be common sense improvements for the nation (like improving housing and transportation) as another chapter in our excruciatingly stupid culture wars, the US will continue to fall behind.

I feel like a third party dedicated to actually solving American problems is needed - let’s fix the bridges, teach the kids to read, keep people healthy, make the cities vibrant, the small towns with jobs, and keep the water and air clean. Left and right can agree with all of that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

The problem in the US is not that we have problems. It is our obstinate refusal to solve any of them while new problems continue to crop up. While many of these problems are sort of relegated to the poorest people in our country, they are increasingly “trickling up” to the middle class.

People are routinely dying from a lack of healthcare or going bankrupt from medical problems. This should have been resolved ages ago, and is simply not such a crisis in other countries.

Same with gun violence. Yes, there are a multitude of tertiary issues related to gun violence but the main issue is simply guns.

And now, we have a huge mentally ill homeless population suffering in our cities and it’s only growing.

And I think the worst part is that people seem so lonely and unhappy.

Why do we tolerate this?

When I go to my parents’ home country, it just isn’t so miserable. I’m staying in a middle class neighborhood, not a luxury hotel. I have been here often over the last 2 decades: People are grinning and bearing it. No one is shot in the street. If I need medicine I can just walk into the pharmacy and buy it for $2. People are out past 8pm having fun. People are just enjoying being with other people more.

Something is just broken at home. I really feel like I get a break abroad, from the horrible political news and violence and apocalyptic weather events. I have not felt this way before.

^^exactly. Compared to other countries we cannot do anything to improve or solve collective problems. our infrastructure is decaying because of it - it is well known. even making the smallest improvement to traffic or public space is incredibly costly because we’ve set up a system where people can easily throw wrenches into the works - and we have become so miserable and individualistic that people seem to enjoy crusading against change.

Who.appointed you to speak on behalf of the country. You don't know what is going on in people's heads. Your entire goal is to tell people to feel despair. "You need to hate America, I say, this is why!". You have an agenda.

yes … my agenda is that we should have a transit system on par with equally wealthy countries! And for my neighbors to have more of a sense of collective good so that they don’t spend their time crusading against housing development for example.

I don't want collectivism. So look I have an opinion as well.

fabulous, then enjoy the decaying bridges, flight cancellations, endless traffic jams, and uneducated children that are the result. Congrats!

You keep on talking at us here. But you mean nothing to us, so your curses of doom and gloom fall flat. You can't make things terrible by your mere declarations.

Wow. I really want to know more about who this imagined “us” and “them” are. I’m literally arguing in favor of fewer flight delays and bridges that don’t fall down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I often travel and think the opposite- we have it great in America. Central and South America are riddled with poverty, corruption, drugs. I feel unsafe as a woman in the Middle East and India (also riddled with extreme poverty and is unsanitary). Even in Europe, my kids point to laundry hanging across alleys and small apartments and comment how poor those people must be. Nope, middle class Europeans live in small apartments and don’t enjoy many of the day-to-day conveniences we have. They pay dearly for their safety net such as healthcare though high taxes and will complain about the long waits and inefficiencies in their healthcare system. I’d never want to live in communist China or in Russia under Putin. Does anyone think there is anyplace in Africa that has the comforts and safety we have here?

We certainly have our problems, but there are few, if any, places that don’t. I’ll take our issues any day over the issues of any place I’ve visited.

Well stated.
Thank you, pp. I couldn't agree with you more.

look into how much China has built out its infrastructure in the past decades compared to the US. I don’t want to live in China either; but that doesn’t mean the US isn’t falling apart. Eventually some smart US city will join the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative to get infrastructure funding 😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Definitely not. I live in Germany, and I have to laugh when so many Americans fantasize about moving to Europe and talk about it like some kind of utopia. It's insanely naive. Every place has its problems and issues

The problem in the US is not that we have problems. It is our obstinate refusal to solve any of them while new problems continue to crop up. While many of these problems are sort of relegated to the poorest people in our country, they are increasingly “trickling up” to the middle class.

People are routinely dying from a lack of healthcare or going bankrupt from medical problems. This should have been resolved ages ago, and is simply not such a crisis in other countries.

Same with gun violence. Yes, there are a multitude of tertiary issues related to gun violence but the main issue is simply guns.

And now, we have a huge mentally ill homeless population suffering in our cities and it’s only growing.

And I think the worst part is that people seem so lonely and unhappy.

Why do we tolerate this?

When I go to my parents’ home country, it just isn’t so miserable. I’m staying in a middle class neighborhood, not a luxury hotel. I have been here often over the last 2 decades: People are grinning and bearing it. No one is shot in the street. If I need medicine I can just walk into the pharmacy and buy it for $2. People are out past 8pm having fun. People are just enjoying being with other people more.

Something is just broken at home. I really feel like I get a break abroad, from the horrible political news and violence and apocalyptic weather events. I have not felt this way before.

You keep on repeating yourself here. Over and over. These are your feelings. Some agree, some disagree. We have free speech here. We don't need to agree with you just because you type out the same words over and over.

If you are so distressed go out and help people in need in the U.S. or go back to your home country. What you are not going to do is make us feel so bad about ourselves that we are going to spend our days in despair, looking for Russia or China or Iran to come save us.

What are you talking about? I am not the only poster on this thread?

I wondering why you feel so threatened and defensive at the idea that something may be going sideways with our way of life. Who said anything about China and Iran? Do you realize what a provincial and close minded reaction that is? And how do you know that I’m not involved with helping people in the US?

Why would I be threatened by somone else's opinion? You are not that powerful. Just because you throw words out of your mouth doesn't mean they are true or even need to be considered. Listening to you is not the determiner if someone is close minded because you are not an authority on anything. In addition, complaining doesn't make one non-provincial. You are provincial: not appreciating that different places are unique, including our country. A large country like ours is not going to have a transportation system like Germany's. If your point is to encourage everyone to be so unhappy that they look to you and say oh wise one tell is what we need to do to be happy you have failed. Those of us who are happy are working everyday, trying to advance in our careers to keep up with the economy,supporting our families, instead of begging people on the internet to be "collective" and do things for me so I don't have to work hard. "I just need a little studio in a big city where I can walk everywhere and I then will not really need to go make money and work, I can enjoy my hobbies as a man should!"--well that is not my priority, so not "collecting" or whatever to support this--young men and their desire for ample leisure time.

Ok dude. You can be happy - as long as you’re not actively getting in the way of the US improving itself. Because the US is way behind on developing infrastructure compared to peer nations.

What I suspect is that you are not actually happy but are desperately anxious and polarized. As long as we approach things that *should* be common sense improvements for the nation (like improving housing and transportation) as another chapter in our excruciatingly stupid culture wars, the US will continue to fall behind.

I feel like a third party dedicated to actually solving American problems is needed - let’s fix the bridges, teach the kids to read, keep people healthy, make the cities vibrant, the small towns with jobs, and keep the water and air clean. Left and right can agree with all of that.

So i don't know how I feel but you know how I feel? You are the sole arbiter of what is good and right? No.
I am happy with car-centered culture. I have a job and can afford a car. I like the freedom of driving. I don't want to live close to neighbors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m usually happy to return to the US after my travels.

+1. I enjoy and appreciate other places, but I actually really like Americans. I wish we could learn from other countries’ successes though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Taiwan is about the size of MD and Delaware combined. Of course it's easy to run cross-country trains for cheap in a place that small.

The king of Thailand is the richest monarch in the world (estimated net worth $30-70 billion) and Thailand has the strictest Lèse-majesté laws in the world, meaning criticizing the king carries a sentence of 3-15 years in prison.

I've lived abroad in a few countries and traveled to nearly 100. What I look at is things like innovation, economy and standard of living. Thailand's economy is nearly 50% from tourism (it's 3% in the US). For the most part, tourism does not require innovation. Name any innovations from Thailand that you use. They have 0 Nobel prize winners. Compare that to the US, where more than half of all Nobel prizes awarded in 2024 went to Americans, despite having less than 5% of the world's population.

Taiwan does a little better on the innovation scale -- TSMC is a massive semiconductor manufacturing company and you probably have at least one of their chips in some device in your house. But I think people would struggle to name even one major Taiwanese company.

Then look at standard of living. In the US, even low-income people live in a house with air conditioning and usually a dishwasher and a garbage disposal. Meanwhile, every time there's a heat wave in Paris and scores of people die from the heat.. because not all places have air conditioning. Compare that to for example, Montgomery County, where air conditioning has been _required_ in all rental properties since 2020.

Yes, the US has many downsides, crime and violence in particular. I think we as a society choose to live with it because those who are middle class and above are mostly isolated from it, and ther lower class do not have a strong enough voice. Compare that to many countries, especially in Asia, where you can walk around alone at night down dark alleys with zero fear.

The US is by no means perfect, but it's hardly terrible. A 1-week vacation to some tourist land in another country is hardly a typical experience of how real life is like there.

The US is uniquely bad in infrastructure development compared to peer countries and I bet also compared to many “poorer” countries. We just don’t invest in it; and leaving decisions to fragmentary states and municipalities results in an uncoordinated and ineffecient system. What OP was seeing in terms of superior transportation was real. In the US we just accept things like regular air travel delays of hours and cancelled flights; and the lack of rail options in most of the country.

https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/state-us-infrastructure

When it comes to roads, you seem to be overlooking the interstate highway system. The federal govenrment funds most major transporation infrastructure projects in the US, and for good reason -- the nation's economy overall benefits from having a well-connected country. Yes, states are the ones to propose and implement such projects, but typicallly the feds put in the majority of the funding.

Even with "local" rail, like Metro's silver line, the Feds put in about 40% of government funding.

As for rail infrastructure, the US is just so much bigger and with lower population density than most countries. Why would anyone sit 2+ days on a train from New York to LA when they can fly in 5 hours? The same is in Europe -- Copenhagen to Athens is a shorter distance but no one is going to sit 2 days on a train and bus (there are no inter-city trains to Athens) when they can fly it in 3 hours.