Posted on 06/24/2018 6:57:30 PM PDT by vannrox
Are you happy? Isn’t there a sick emphasis on money and consumerism?
no.
That is drivel, made up claptrap by people too lazy to get off their butts and compete.
Nice long read thought provoking and enlightening for the most part. Where to begin? Well lots of thoughts but since is now bedtime my brain isn’t up to putting them into words but thanks for posting looking forward to reading responses tomorrow.
Yeah it’s funny how they seem to tout spirituality and how we are not alive spiritually yet say that we are too conservative and Christian (well at least one did but that seemed to be the inference of a few others as well.
oh well that could be. I do the American thing of working at my own business 7 days a week and I am not good at sitting around pontificating.
“Are you happy?”
Yes, mostly.
I have a roof over my head. There is food in my fridge. When I flick a switch the lights go on. A turn of the wrist brings fresh clean water into my home. When I push the handle of my toilet body wastes are carried away to be properly treated.
I have a family I love and who love me back. I’m blessed with a fine son and an amazing wife. I’m surrounded by more plenty than 85% of humanity can dare to dream of.
We spend more on the care and feeding of our dog than most people on Earth spend on themselves AND their families.
I live in the most powerful country that has ever existed. If the Romans had the kind of military might we do the entire planet would be speaking Latin to this day.
Is it perfect? Nope. There’s a lot of it that I don’t care for. But what I care for, I care for a lot.
“Isn’t there a sick emphasis on money and consumerism?”
Of course. But that doesn’t mean I have to participate. Nor does it mean that you have to.
So cheer up. We live in amazing times. 3 or 4 generations ago you’d have been a serf somewhere. You’d have been toothless by 30 and dead by 35. If you’d had any kids 2/3 of them would have died before the age of 5.
Have a little gratitude. You live in a country where the number 1 health problem of “the poor” is morbid obesity.
Think about that for a minute.
Are a very large number of people easily distracted idiots? Sure. Do you have to live your life like they do.
HELL no.
So don’t.
Enjoy your day. It could be your last. So find what joy in it you can. Locate beauty, it’s all around you if you’ll just look for it. Then take a minute to drink it in. Make your tiny little corner of the world just a bit better.
Smile at someone.
Open the door for a lady or an elderly person.
Give someone that parking space.
Bid a good day to someone and really mean it.
Let some slight roll off your back and realize that it says more about them than it does about you.
A lot of people hate waking up in their skin. Don’t be that person.
Hope this helps.
Best,
L
Never heard this type of sentiment from legal immigrants I’ve known.
The #1 thing they say surprised them when they got here was the fact that Americans actually work very hard. They had the impression from Hollywood that life here was one long beach party.
I went to an international business school for my MBA. No matter how many times we told them, foreign students had the idea that life in the US was going to be orgies and car chases and parties and gun battles. They just refused to believe us when we told them that was all Hollywood BS and the reality was the exact opposite.
I had one of them approach me about 6 months later and with shock in his voice declare that America is a really conservative country. My response was “yeah. I TRIED to tell you.........”
Until they see it, many foreigners just do not get that no matter how many times they’re told. The worst are the Yurps who just know it all....even if their total experience is having been to Disneyworld for a week. They’ll still just insist they know my own country better than I do. All you can do is just laugh.
No, it’s the lot of them. Euros really tout spirituality, usually with a cig in their mouth and a brewski in their hand.
Hollywood and the Media was the same reason Osama bin Laden attacked us on 9/11...he was convinced by them (and Bill Clinton's effeminence in the face of terror attacks in the 1990's) that America would never go after al-Queda.
Here are a number of links in the website Quora. Quora is a site where people around the world as others around the world questions about a myriad of subjects. The following are a variety of links to subjects about the US in Quora. There is another link in the site I could not find, but it had well over 1,000 immigrants defend the joy and privilege of being Americans. Take a look and enjoy the site.
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-good-qualities-of-the-United-States-of-America
https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-bad-qualities-of-the-United-States-of-America
https://www.quora.com/What-was-the-strangest-cultural-thing-you-have-experienced-as-a-foreigner-visitor-in-the-United-States
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-biggest-culture-shock-you-have-ever-faced
https://www.quora.com/Were-1990s-Russians-dumbfounded-when-they-first-visited-capitalist-grocery-stores
https://www.quora.com/What-surprises-Europeans-when-they-come-to-the-United-States
https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-mind-blowing-facts-about-the-U-S-military
https://www.quora.com/What-does-it-feel-like-to-come-to-the-U-S-as-a-legal-immigrant
https://www.quora.com/What-good-has-the-United-States-done-for-the-world-since-WWII
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