[sneak]

The American lifestyle is engineered specifically to fit a style that, whether intentional or not, promotes deep and debilitating loneliness.

You have to deliberately live in a very abnormal way to avoid it.

Most Americans have very little contact with strangers outside of their workplace. It's a real tragedy.

[e40]

And I think the young male culture of gaming is only making it worse. (Observations from my 20 yr old college student son and his friends.)

[black_13]

I spent 3 weeks in Germany a country not know for talkative or friendly people and I had more real and friendly conversations with others than three years in here in the US.

[jdavis703]

Ditto. At least in Berlin people will even let their neighbors in for parties, which seemed crazy to me as an American. I could never imagine opening my door and letting random folks come in my home.

[stagger87]

In suburban America the concept of a block party is relatively common. All neighbors in a cul-de-sac/street get together and eat/drink.

[sneak]

I've lived in several US suburbs and as far as I've seen block parties in suburbs only happen on TV. Suburbs are actively antisocial places.

Street festivals and that sort of stuff actually happen in NYC, which is, of course, not a suburb.

[jdavis703]

But if I understand the party is usually on the street or yards (I could be wrong, I’ve never lived in that type of suburb). People generally don’t open their homes, right?

[sneak]

In Berlin it's a lot more likely that your neighbor is someone you'd want to party with, too.

[black_13]

To connect is to have power.

[blueprint]

two words: climbing gym