Culture Shock in My Own Culture

Three days back and I am already stir-crazy. America is a tough place to live, to eat, to breathe. American cities are some of the most unhappy places in the world. The vibe is just plain off.

Las Vegas is the worst place I’ve ever lived. Not the worst place I’ve ever been, though. I’ve been to Africa so I know what that looks like.

But the people there were happy. Americans are not happy.

How much poorer are countries like Mexico, Colombia and Uganda than the United States? And how much happier are they?

In my experience, much, much happier.

American cities have become bastions of crime, homelessness, traffic, pollution, stress, anger, filth and racism. Racism I have directly experienced. And not the kind one might expect.

People are miserable here and it is seeping into my soul. These three years have destroyed social trust, cohesion, optimism. These thirty years have destroyed the American Dream.

Escape. If America is killing your soul, get out. Escape to the country, the forest, the plains, the mountains, the islands, the jungle, wherever. If you feel the call, answer it. Don’t let this dying culture take you down with it.

And if you love it here, go with it! Roll with that feeling. If you’re set, if you feel safe, secure and optimistic personally, financially, societally and spiritually, keep it up! Maybe this system just works for you.

I made it two days before I started feeling it. It’s the food, the vibe, the stress, the rush, the fear in the air. People doing jobs they hate, living places where they don’t feel safe, with little to no social integration, without fulfilling interpersonal relationships.

This isn’t exclusive to America, or even the West. It’s probably worse in Japan, actually. Their suicide numbers are way worse than ours. It’s isolation that’s killing us, killing our young people, killing our souls, killing our belief in a future that’s worth hanging around for.

Life has shown me one thing. Anecdotal perhaps, but certainly to true to me:

People in “poor” countries seem to be a lot happier, more at ease, and have more meaningful relationships.

Is simpler better? If simple is what you want, absolutely. And I’m pretty sure I want simpler.

There are certainly millions of people in this country who love where they live, love what they do and who they spend their time with. I’m sure if I was sitting in a hot tub at a mansion in the Rocky Mountains watching the snow fall, a million miles away from society and all its stressors, looking up at the stars, enjoying nature, enjoying winter, I might feel different.

But cities are death. American cities are death, and Las Vegas is one of the absolute worst.

Trust your heart, your intuition, and your belief in yourself. Keep going. Your tribe is out there, your soul home is coming. You will find where you belong, where you are needed, loved and valued.

Loved and valued for who you are, not for what you have.

Keep going.

And don’t ever, ever move to Las Vegas.