American revelations: 10 proofs of a nation of parasites

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Imagine that you have an alcoholic brother from whom you are trying to keep your distance. You do not mind if he will be present at some family celebration or celebration. You still love him, but you don't really want to communicate with him. So tenderly, lovingly, I try to describe my current attitude towards the United States. America is my alcoholic brother. I will always love her, but at the moment I do not want to be with her.

I know this sounds harsh, but today my home country is not the best place to live. This is not about the socio-economic situation, but rather about the cultural aspect.

I have lived in different parts of the United States and have visited almost all fifty states. I have spent the last three years in Europe, Asia and South America. I have visited over 40 countries, communicating mostly with non-Americans. I speak several languages fluently. I'm not a tourist. I don't visit resorts and rarely stay in hostels. I usually rent an apartment and try to blend in with the culture of every country I visit. It was a little background. Now let me tell you about ten things most Americans don't know about America.

1. Few people like us

Unless you are talking to a real estate agent or prostitute, the chances that they will be impressed by your American nationality are nil. Yes, we had Steve Jobs and Thomas Edison, but if you are not Steve Jobs or Thomas Edison (which is unlikely), then most people will simply not care who you are. There are, of course, exceptions. These usually include the British and Australians.

Americans are taught throughout their lives that they are the best and serve as examples to the rest of the world. It is not true. Moreover, people are annoyed when Americans try to show it at every turn, being in a foreign country.

2. Few people hate us

Apart from a rare roll of eyes and a complete inability to understand why someone decided to vote for George W. Bush (and twice), people from other countries treat us normally. I would even say: most of them don't care at all. I know it sounds absurd, especially when CNN and Fox News show the same angry Arab men on reruns for ten years in a row. If our country does not invade the territory of another (which is quite likely), then in 99.9% of cases people wanted to spit on us. We rarely think about the people of Bolivia or Mongolia, the same can be said about them.

Americans believe that the rest of the world either loves them or hates them. In fact, most people are completely indifferent to us.

3. We don't know anything about the rest of the world

We constantly talk about our exclusivity and world leadership, but we do not know anything about our "followers". They, it turns out, have completely different views on history: the Vietnamese fought for independence; Hitler was defeated by the Soviet Union (not us); there is evidence that Native Americans were wiped out by disease and plague before the arrival of the Europeans, not after; The American Revolution ended with the formation of the United States in part thanks to Britain, which spent most of its resources fighting France (not us). The world is much more complex than we think and does not revolve around us.

We did not invent democracy, even a modern one. In England and other European countries, parliamentary systems existed more than a hundred years before we created our first government.

According to a survey conducted among the younger generation of Americans, 63% of them were unable to show where Iraq is on the map (despite the fact that the United States was at war with this country), and 54% did not know that Sudan is an African country.

4. We do not know how to express gratitude and love

When we say “Fuck you!” To a person, we really mean “I love you!”. When we say to a person “I love you!”, We really mean “Fuck you!”. Such is the paradox.

Open expressions of affection are not common in American culture. Residents of Latin America and some European countries do not consider us "cold" and "unperturbed" for a reason. In our social life, we always say not what we mean, and we do not always mean what we say.

In our culture, gratitude and love are implied, but not directly expressed. We almost never share our feelings openly and freely. The culture of consumption has made our language of gratitude cheaper. The phrase "Glad (a) to see you" has become empty, because it is expected and heard from everyone.

5. The quality of life of the average American is not that high

If you are an extremely intelligent and talented person, then the USA is perhaps the best place in the world to live. The structured system allows people with talent and benefits to quickly climb the ladder of success.

The problem is that everyone thinks they have talent and advantages. It is because of this culture of self-deception that America continues to invent and churn out new industries more than anyone else in our world. This illusion, unfortunately, only perpetuates enormous social inequality. The quality of life of the average American is much lower than in most other developed countries. This is the price we pay to maintain our development and economic dominance.

I believe that being rich means having the freedom to increase your life experience. Despite the fact that the average American has more material goods (cars, houses, televisions) than citizens of other countries, the overall quality of his life, in my opinion, leaves much to be desired. Americans work a lot, have little rest, spend several hours a day commuting to and from work, and are burdened with debt. They are busy with work and buying unnecessary things. They do not have enough time to develop relationships, hobbies and new experiences.

6. The rest of the world is not a slum hole compared to us

In 2010, I took a taxi in Bangkok to drive to the new six-story cinema complex. I could get there by metro, but I preferred a taxi. On the seat in front of me, I saw a sign with a WiFi password. I asked the driver if he had wireless Internet in the taxi. He flashed a wide smile and explained that he had installed it himself. After that, he turned on a new sound system and disco lights. The interior of his car instantly turned into a fun nightclub on wheels … with free WiFi.

Over the past three years, I have visited many places, each of which was much nicer and safer than I expected. Singapore has a pristine appearance. Manhattan, compared to Hong Kong, is like a suburb. My area in Columbia was much better than where I lived in Boston (and cheaper).

We Americans are used to thinking that other people live in a backward world, but this is not the case. Japan and South Korea have more advanced high-speed Internet networks. Also, Japan is famous for its developed transport system and advanced trains. Norwegians, along with Swedes, Luxembourgers, Dutch and Finns, make more money than Americans. Singapore is known for its largest and most sophisticated airplanes. You will find the tallest buildings in Dubai and Shanghai. Meanwhile, the United States ranks first in the world in terms of the number of prisoners.

7. We are a nation of paranoid

I have come to the conclusion that we are very paranoid about our physical safety. It is enough to turn on Fox News or CNN for just ten minutes, and during this time you will find out that drinking water is deadly, your neighbor may turn out to be a pedophile, Yemeni terrorists and Mexicans are going to kill us, a wave of bird flu is approaching, and so on. These are just a small part of the reasons why we have as many weapons as we have people in our country.

In the United States, security is valued above all else, even freedom. We're paranoid.

My friends and relatives told me not to go to certain countries, because they would kill me, kidnap, rob, kill, rape, sell into slavery, infect me with AIDS and so on. During my travels, none of this happened to me.

In countries like Russia, Colombia and Guatemala, people, on the contrary, were honest, open and friendly with me, and this scared me the most. A stranger in a Russian bar invited me to his dacha, as he said "for a barbecue," with his family, another stranger on the street offered me to show the sights of his city for free and led me to the store, which I tried unsuccessfully to find.

8. We are obsessed with status and crave attention

I noticed that the way we Americans communicate is designed to get attention and create buzz. Again, I think this is a product of our consumer culture. We believe that if something is not the best or does not attract attention, then it is not important.

That is why Americans have a peculiar habit of thinking that everything around is "amazing", and even the most mundane actions are "beautiful." We were convinced from childhood that if we are not the best at something, then we mean nothing at all.

We are obsessed with status. Our culture is built around achievement, productivity and exclusivity. A desire to compare ourselves with someone and attempts to surpass each other penetrated into our social relations. Communication became objectified and became a rivalry.

9. We are an unhealthy nation

The United States ranks 37th in the world for the quality of care, according to the World Health Organization. In Asia, hospitals (with doctors and nurses trained in Europe) are much better than ours, and medical services are ten times cheaper. In the United States, vaccinations cost several hundred dollars, while in Colombia you will pay less than $ 10 for it. And Colombia, by the way, ranks 28th in the world for the quality of health care. A common sexually transmitted disease test costs more than $ 200 in the United States and is free in other countries.

But it’s not even a matter of the health care system. Our food is killing us. I will not go into details, but just say that we eat stuff stuffed with chemistry, because it is tasty and cheap. Our portions are absurdly huge. We rank first in the world in terms of the number of drug sales, and, by the way, they cost five to ten times more than in Canada.

We are the richest country in the world, but we are in 35th place in the ranking of countries in terms of life expectancy.

10. We confuse comfort with happiness

The United States is a country built on exaltation of economic growth and personal resourcefulness. Small business and continuous development are valued above all else. Americans believe that it is your responsibility to take care of yourself, not the government, community, friends, or family (in some cases).

Comfort is better than happiness. Comfort is easy. It requires no effort or work. To achieve happiness, you need to work hard. You must be proactive and overcome your fears and problems.

Comfort is equated with purchased items. For generations we have been buying big houses closer and closer to cities, TVs with huge flat screens, and so on. We become submissive and complacent. We are obese. When we travel, we spend most of our time in hotels, rather than seeking cultural experiences that might challenge our prospects or help us grow personally.

Depression and anxiety disorders are rampant in the United States. Our inability to confront unpleasant things has cut us off from what brings true happiness: relationships, unique experiences, personal goals.

Unfortunately, a by-product of our commercial success has been the ability to avoid the necessary mental struggles of life and indulge in simple, superficial pleasures instead.

As history shows, all great civilizations eventually disappeared because they became too successful. The American nation is smug and unhealthy. My generation is the first generation of Americans to live worse economically, physically and emotionally than their parents. And this is not at all due to a lack of resources, lack of education, or resourcefulness. It is all the fault of corruption in the massive industries that control government policy, and the fat complacency of people who sit and do not want to change anything.

I believe that the biggest flaw in American culture is our blind self-absorption. In the past, this has only hurt other countries. Today it is starting to harm us.