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Hard to discuss this topic of “life is better in America” without discussing “at who’s expense.” American wealth is a facade of wealth flown in from cheap labor markets and built on the backs of exploited labor. Everything we have in this country that is tangible comes from markets like that. Consumerism as a metric for judging a country’s success or quality of life is meaningless if that country cannot sustain that same level internally. The consumerism you call “success or quality of life” has given us nothing but the worst mental health conditions in the world. The highest pharmaceutical drug use in the world. Some of the highest suicide rates. Some of the lowest happiness scores. Political division. Worse overall health with no improvements in longevity or quality. Declining birth rates. A crumbling education system withA society addicted to debt. A veteran population thrown under the bus. A hollowed out middle class. The list goes on! But hey, we’ve built a few social networks and developed better ways to get fast food and cheap Chinese made products delivered to our door in hours so we can keep our eyes fixed to screens! What are some big American achievements that have nothing to do with unbridled consumerism in the last 30-40 years? A few drug breakthroughs? YOUR life might be better, but is the COUNTRY better? Is the US better positioned for long term success? Not sure, it does seem like people and politicians are waking up to this fact. The IS is a big shop and it’s slow to steer, so hopefully over the next 20 years we can get some actual leadership instead of these phonies to usher in a new golden era in American innovation and wealth. I’m confident that we will because when the towing gets tough, Americans tend to rise up like no other nation. But looking around at society and the people described by RKbang in the AV thread, it might be a while! There is a reason this song is blowing up with the average person in the US right now.

I highly recommend Iceland. My son & I finished Laugavegur trail and did the ring road in a camper van. The trail was easy and amazing.

I went to Rügen in Northern Germany with my family at https://www.cliff-hotel.de this summer. The area was so lovely and the hotel was recommendable too - especially if you have kids and like wellness.