Most people have "nothing" & are happy. Americans have "everything" & we're angry & violent.

[pink-o]

I just returned from a trip to Cambodia--a country where 40 years ago the population was torn by American war crimes and Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge Killing fields. In the 21st century,
Cambodians still lag behind; it's the very definition of a 3rd world country. I saw people with hand-held hatchets, notching bamboo to build the stilts for their homes. Others ply the tourist trade in Siem Reap, where we all come to see the temples.

And to a person, I encountered no hostility--no residual hatred of Americans and how our fucked-up war affected their country. Of course they're gonna be polite to tourists, but I have traveled enough to understand when someone is merely humouring you. These folks are truly serene and do not view the world with bitterness. They have the family structure and human support system that is essential to contentment. Never has it been more obvious how we have sacrificed that for material comforts, and consequently become whining, hostile and angry.

In the USA, even a few generations ago, we knew how to be self-sufficient. Just about everyone can tell stories about their grandparents, who maybe were farmers or tradesmen and knew how to McGyver anything from anything. Now all we know how to do is open our wallets and pay someone to do shit for us. And the oligarchy has been so insidious, chipping away at our very foundations to enslave us to consumerism. We don't live in groups that share goods--we live alone and each person has way more stuff than s/he needs. And we're all so fucking scared that someone else (usually with dark skin) wants our shit and is gonna commit violence to get it. So we wall ourselves away, behind alarms in our homes and our cars. We have all this shiny stuff, and we're STILL angry, still afraid! We have no trust of each other, no idea that someone could actually be kind and helpful. We believe a stranger must have an agenda and covet all the cool shit we've accumulated, so distrust and hostility rule the day.

I swear, I was almost in tears over the contrast. Why have we let this happen to us?

OTOH, I'm pretty happy with my 1st world amenities--I would never give up my hot running showers or my sweet wifi and access to digital info. But everything has its price. Americans have given up far too much for this lifestyle--proven by the fact that we're totally stressed out, unhappy and compelled to live up to an impossible standard. Coming home after this trip was so depressing--I encountered angry, complaining Americans the minute I boarded the plane! When all our protective and territorial instincts are manifested in looking after material goods, it makes for a toxic life.

Sad.

[FiveGoodMen]

1. We have a constant barrage of ads telling us we haven't made it yet.

[pink-o]

2. ...and nobody we can trust to tell us we're all right! n/t

[Go Vols]

3. There are still a lot of people

who can take care of themselves.I still kill a hog and a cow once a year,grow the majority of my fruits and vegs.Put up/can/freeze stuff for the winter and keep a 60+ year old Ford tractor running to make a lot of this happen.

I would guess 50-60% of people in my community do the same.

[Leme]

4. I wonder

how happy they are and how much free time or family time they have.

[The2ndWheel]

5. When you expect everything, but don't get it, it's probably not going to make you happy

Not only do we want things to always get better, but we try to force things to always get better. Nothing but better is good enough. That's a huge burden.

The living alone or in groups, and paying people to do whatever for us, that's all about the cost of energy. If energy is expensive, we need other people. If you're not nice to the other person, they might not help you move. If energy is cheap, you need other people less. If you can pay to have people move things for you, you don't need to be nice to anyone, and the movers go away after their job is done.

[pink-o]

6. I just see a huge contrast in our attitude as compared to those who don't have the goods we do.

I've traveled all over the world, and there seems to be a higher concentration of Americans who are scared of other people ripping them off. Yes, we've all dealt with pickpockets and petty thieves--but I got my stuff stolen in LONDON, not in West Africa! As for violent crime, I've never been worried about it anywhere as much as here in my own country.

People here tried to warn me against going to Cambodia, thinking I would encounter hostility. But the average person there does not own a gun, or even have enough stuff that they want to PROTECT with a gun. For better or worse, the more you have the more you think you need, and the more your sense of entitlement increases. It's really hard not to fall into that trap--and leaving America every once in awhile is very enlightening!

[Lurks Often]

7. Perhaps it is partly a function of those who chose to immigrate to the US as well

as a country with a very heterogeneous population and with the majority of people who voluntarily immigrated to this country in search of something that could not find in their home country, we are not a country full of people especially willing to accept the status quo or willing to do the same thing our parents or grandparents did.

[MisterP]

8. consumerism is of necessity self-defeating and atomizing

it makes people want to buy, not buy what they want
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_alone