I left the US, as you know, back in 2022. I would say that outside of the internet on the ground where I was living in Ohio, that the divisiveness wasn't so bad. People were just being people. We had riots in Cleveland that the mayor just let happen. Businesses burned and whatnot. But the next day, on the ground, were Americans cleaning up the mess and helping each other.
I was in the laundry mats and in the parks with everyone. I didn't notice a real divisiveness or bullyishness until I went to college, where I kept my conservative views to myself. That was a small community of privileged twenty-somethings. I broke bread and laughed with a lot of people in the bars and parks, and we didn't talk about politics. It seemed like only the real douchebags did that. They were embedded in their echo chambers. Honestly, I only encountered that once, and everyone else ignored the lady and went on lambasting Baker Mayfield's failings as a quarterback that season.
I made my decision not to return after moving to Ukraine. The United States seems to me like a giant Walmart. People have been blessed so long with prosperity it seems that they find problems for themselves to keep them relevant. Tocqueville saw this coming over a hundred years ago.
What I see now is people bleating on social media but denying or running away from their responsibilities as citizens of the United States. People condemn spending they don't agree with all day online but don't donate a dime to local charities or volunteer their time.
After seeing the resilience of the Ukrainians and getting sucked into the shit show that is X., It is hard for me to have compassion when so many people follow tits over tea kettle billionaires and politicians.
Thank you for a thoughtful post. I disagree with your pessimistic view of our citizens' divisions. From a high level, yes, there are many divisions (fueled in part by legacy media and social media). However, at the "neighborhood" level I see none of the strife and malevolence that many talk about. (I say this as a conservative living in Washington DC!)
I have never hated my fellow citizens. We continue to argue about solutions, yet I believe most of us (on all sides) agree on the problems. Some divisions (e.g., massive illegal immigration) will remain intractable, yet we have always had such issues, and I remain moderately optimistic about our country's future.
Due to the “Affordable” Care Act, we left the USA 13 years ago first for 2 years in Belize and the rest in Uruguay.
Enjoyed our time but we are getting old and the pull of family and friends has become stronger than the dégringolade inflicted by fruitless policies and a fake pandemic.
The renewal of liberty next door in Argentina and the public rising up in the USA gives us hope. There's still work to be done.
america is a cesspool of entitled women
I left the US, as you know, back in 2022. I would say that outside of the internet on the ground where I was living in Ohio, that the divisiveness wasn't so bad. People were just being people. We had riots in Cleveland that the mayor just let happen. Businesses burned and whatnot. But the next day, on the ground, were Americans cleaning up the mess and helping each other.
I was in the laundry mats and in the parks with everyone. I didn't notice a real divisiveness or bullyishness until I went to college, where I kept my conservative views to myself. That was a small community of privileged twenty-somethings. I broke bread and laughed with a lot of people in the bars and parks, and we didn't talk about politics. It seemed like only the real douchebags did that. They were embedded in their echo chambers. Honestly, I only encountered that once, and everyone else ignored the lady and went on lambasting Baker Mayfield's failings as a quarterback that season.
I made my decision not to return after moving to Ukraine. The United States seems to me like a giant Walmart. People have been blessed so long with prosperity it seems that they find problems for themselves to keep them relevant. Tocqueville saw this coming over a hundred years ago.
What I see now is people bleating on social media but denying or running away from their responsibilities as citizens of the United States. People condemn spending they don't agree with all day online but don't donate a dime to local charities or volunteer their time.
After seeing the resilience of the Ukrainians and getting sucked into the shit show that is X., It is hard for me to have compassion when so many people follow tits over tea kettle billionaires and politicians.
Thank you for a thoughtful post. I disagree with your pessimistic view of our citizens' divisions. From a high level, yes, there are many divisions (fueled in part by legacy media and social media). However, at the "neighborhood" level I see none of the strife and malevolence that many talk about. (I say this as a conservative living in Washington DC!)
I have never hated my fellow citizens. We continue to argue about solutions, yet I believe most of us (on all sides) agree on the problems. Some divisions (e.g., massive illegal immigration) will remain intractable, yet we have always had such issues, and I remain moderately optimistic about our country's future.
Is it that I sound uninformed?
Due to the “Affordable” Care Act, we left the USA 13 years ago first for 2 years in Belize and the rest in Uruguay.
Enjoyed our time but we are getting old and the pull of family and friends has become stronger than the dégringolade inflicted by fruitless policies and a fake pandemic.
The renewal of liberty next door in Argentina and the public rising up in the USA gives us hope. There's still work to be done.