It’s very easy to visit far away lands and appreciate the good things about them. It makes me laugh when a twenty something goes to Europe and returns as an ‘enlightened’ liberal. Now they’re ‘cultured’ and ‘educated’, they’re more ‘sophisticated’ than the rest of us luddites.
What they miss is the deeper aspects. As an immigrant from the UK, whom still has friends and family there, I admit it took me many years to really understand how the USA is different. The higher standard of living is obvious, it’s the less obvious that takes a while.
Most don’t stop and consider the relationship between the people and their government. We certainly have our issues and are experiencing an undoing of our Constitution BUT at least we understand the CONCEPTS behind them. That the rights of the individual COME FIRST and ARE in the interests of the collective. Not the other way around, that the ‘best interests’ collective come before the rights of the individual. Only in the USA do people think this way. It is not the case in any other country.
Even in western nations, we’re seeing a rapid move toward communist/Stasi like tactics against patriots. Their ‘leaders’ are literally allowing the invaders to receive preferential ‘justice’ and target anyone dissenting with a different form of ‘justice’. Yet none of them realize it’s why we have the 2A....and we’re the ‘crazy ones’.
I know what you mean.
In 1971, as a 13 year old when we finally flew home after living overseas for five years, I kissed the tarmac at Kennedy International Airport in NYC. (back when the airlines would deplane you on the tarmac.)
Literally, not figuratively, got down on my hands and knees and kissed the ground.
It wasn’t that Japan and the Philippines weren’t good places to live-I had a grand time.
But it wasn’t “Home”.
And I was glad to be home. From that day to the present, I have never thought it might be better overall to be some other nationality.