| Replying as a 60yo American living in the Western part of the US (ie. I'm about as Westerner as it gets, I suppose)... > I claim that the West has forgotten what "home" means. This I mostly agree with. The America I'm familiar with is quite rootless. In fact rootlessness was encouraged even ("you should be willing to move to a new/better job"). It goes all the way back to manifest destiny - always be on the move. There's a temporary feeling about everything. Most of our buildings aren't intended to last centuries - they're intended to be knocked down when something more profitable comes along and that might happen just be in a few years. > Western culture has become empty and fake I agree with this as well. Style over substance. Confidence is valued over competence. > They really believe, they are part of something bigger, are very important and are going to be famous or something. But this part I don't agree with. I think if anything Americans in 2023 would like to feel like they're part of something bigger but that feeling has been lost for quite a while now. There's no shared vision of what America should be at this point like there mostly was 40 or 50 years ago. That common vision has shattered into a million pieces especially over the last 10 years or so. We're the most isolated people on earth. > There are things that have now become impossible in the West. Simply expressing unsatisfaction has become a danger for the status quo or the state. I don't think you've been listening. There's plenty of expressed dissatisfaction - I just did above. Social media is rife with dissatisfaction. |