Totally agree. We’re the most prosperous country in the world but we basically fail all social health markers. Literacy rates, quality of healthcare, infrastructure, deaths during child birth…all these are inferior to many European countries with a fraction of our GDP. It’s shameful. We can and should do better.

The major takeaway: wealth does not equal a good life.

American here, can confirm. Drank the “greatest country” kool aid as a kid, then started to travel in young adulthood.

I’m still struggling with the fact that I feel least “at home” and most isolated in the place I call home. Every single place I’ve ever been outside the US (7 countries and counting, 4 in the EU) has seemed more welcoming, interconnected, simple to get around, and vibrant. Let alone a more reasonable cost of living and a much better safety net.

True Detective, season 1

Yup!