The U.S. is known for its 50 states, incredible national parks, and capitalistic culture. While millions move to the U.S. each year, others hope to move away from the country, hoping for a better life elsewhere. Someone on the internet asks, “Americans, how has traveling changed your perception of America?” Citizens chimed in to deliver this list.
1. Moving Won’t Solve Your Issues
How often have you heard a friend say they must flee America to save their sanity? I hear it about once a week, and so does this user.
“If you are genuinely unhappy and suffering from mental issues, leaving America will not fix you. For most people, you’ll just be farther away from your support structures like family and friends and long-term physicians,” they write.
2. Capitalism Drives the Country
The United States thrives on consumerism and does everything to push that mindset, including driving individuals out of their homes and jobs to make an extra dollar.
Abroad, bartering, negotiating, and sharing are commonplace and practiced in the culture. You never feel pressured to dole out cash that you don’t have to buy something you don’t need.
3. Increased Appreciation
One user shares they traveled across the world and realized that life in America isn’t as awful as some make it out to be. From an economic standpoint, according to this person, Americans are lucky and live in a fortunate area as opposed to other countries with high poverty levels and fewer resources.
4. Public Transportation Suffers
Unless you live in metropolises like California, New York City, or D.C., public transportation in the U.S. is lackluster. You need a car or need to know someone with a car to get from point A to point B, and gas is costly. In other countries, public transportation is the most popular form of travel and is budget-friendly.
5. America Pays Better
A jet setter says despite America’s shortcomings, the country tends to pay more for jobs that pay a lot less overseas. Of course, this is an ethical dilemma when the U.S. purchases items from those countries with low wages.
6. Disposition of Wealth
“I’m about as Native American as you can get, I suppose, and I would agree totally with your conclusions. If anything, the country has become too rich, though that’s hardly what the media talks about. We were happier when we were poorer,” one person recalls.
7. Progression Is Unparalleled
“Things like gay/trans/women’s rights, religious freedoms, and how seriously we take issues of racism, immigrant’s rights, etc. In the USA, like many fellow progressives, I saw us as terrible on all this because of how fierce and bitter the battles on them are, how painful the histories are, and how often we misstep and move backward.
After being abroad long enough, I realized that in most countries, these things aren’t up for debate at all, and what we’d see as having completely lost all these battles (to the point of not being able to conceptualize the battle itself) for them is the status quo,” a traveler raves.
8. Perfection Doesn’t Exist
Although humans bemoan about their living quarters or cherish their home country, no place is perfect, according to many users on this thread.
9. Healthcare Needs To Step It Up
Healthcare shouldn’t cost a mortgage, several users on this thread say. Considering America hires the best doctors globally, treatment should be available to those who depend on it. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Those who can afford healthcare receive stellar treatment, but those who need to take out loans or go into unfathomable debt to save their lives or their family’s lives choose between life or sickness all too frequently.
10. Gun Violence Is All Too Prevalent
“The situation with guns in this country is one of the areas where I’m starting to really get angry. Nobody favoring stricter gun control is saying all guns should be banned. In general, guns should be harder to buy and require a license and training to own, and certain types of firearms should be banned altogether (nobody except the military and police should have AR-15s).
All the shootings we have aren’t something that happens in a healthy, civilized society. It’s beyond time for something drastic to change,” a U.S. resident reports.
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