Have any of you even been overseas? Don't get me wrong, I love my country. But we have a multitude of problems, and one major problem is the fact that we live to work. Period. I just recently traveled between three countries in Europe. Guess what I had found? From 2-5pm every day in major cities, people closed their shops and went on a long break. After 8pm at night, sometimes a tad earlier, all the regular shops were closed and most of the locals sat outside at Cafe's relaxing and drinking wine. We went out to go eat lunch and shop on Sunday. Everything was closed minus a few restaurants aimed at tourists. The grocery store was closed, the clothing stores were closed. People were enjoying their Sunday off. I also went in August, and found a lot of stores weren't opening at all. Strange, I thought, until I realized it was because they usually take the WHOLE month of August off. I went into a shopping mall there. It was the same exact thing, materialism everywhere, sure. But no long lines. No fifty registers to check out at. People looking, few buying, but nobody overindulging and nobody busting out credit cards to go stir crazy on things they've worked weeks on end to afford (or will have to work weeks on end to afford). "Europeans work to live. Americans live to work." And that's the problem with our country. Our form of capitalism has put greed first, and our livelihoods second. We don't get Sundays off, ever. The days of business' being closed on Sundays are long gone, and even now what used to be solid holidays are being overturned and reformed into another business day to make a buck off of. We'll go to our grave living for a dollar bill, instead of living for the sake of life itself. The only way to live the more relaxed European lifestyle in our society is to get to a point where you're rich enough to not have to worry about your job. And that happens to so few. Now, why do you think we're all fat, sick, and unhappy? I could guess at a few theories.
You should read littlejacobs thread about society it puts a good perspective on the live to work idea. http://forum.grasscity.com/philosophy/1034988-life-such-serious-thing-ha-society-6.html
I love America to death and there isn't any other country in the world I'd rather live in. And yes, I have traveled to a few other countries.
No, I'm pretty sure it's people like Romney, Obama, politicians in general, all of their corruption, the military, our bureaucratic nonsense, the economy, and blind patriots like you that make it shitty.
I don't care how fucked up it is. I absolutely love where i live and i don't feel like leaving anytime soon. Although that may be because idaho has the lowest rate of federal government influence
Considering it's the federal government that's a majority of the problem, I'd say that's it. They just suck up our state economy, over-regulate, and dump the money into an endless war pit, so the less of that, definitely the better. Apathy doesn't help things, though. You'll eventually feel it too if we just sit around and don't fix anything like we have been for the last 10 years or so.
^ o no i'm all for change and i'm politically active. Things need to change and they will. We're living in exciting times.
Thanks for the rep there guy. To answer your question, I'll tell ya about my visit. I visited Amsterdam, Paris, and Brussels. All had a similar take on working in the world. We were astonished to find we couldn't find places to eat at certain times. But that's their way of life. I was reading up on it, and apparently they have workers unions that have made it so. And in America we frown upon unions, or at least the corporations do. Further research showed me that places like Greece take simply too much vacation time which has caused economic issues, but in other places in Europe their vacation time has had a marginal impact on local and national economies because people don't get fed up with their jobs and contribute more when working because they have free time later on. They don't get burned out working, so they have no problem working when it is time to. That contrasts many peoples opinions that if we did the same, the US economy would falter. That's just not so. I feel the reason we need to work so damn much is the media plays on our mind, making us feel like it's necessary to always be shopping to be happy. And it's not all the medias fault, when you get corporations like that they want money too, and they end up paying the media for the rights to advertise it. Greed leads to more greed. It's also pretty crazy how the USA gives places like Amsterdam such a bad rep for their legalization of things like prostitution and marijuana. The people there were some of the nicest I have ever met, and there weren't dumb high kids in the street doing crazy things like you'd assume. People blended in like normals after stepping out of the coffee shops. I couldn't tell who was high and who wasn't. I was reading a magazine there that said Amsterdam was rated the happiest city in 2011. I had no idea, honestly I thought it'd be a bit scummy because of all the drug use and prostitution. My friends complained about how I needed to be extra careful over there, which is always necessary. I was a little nervous even. But as soon as I got there I noticed young beautiful woman walking around alone with shopping bags in hand listening to ipods. If they feel safe doing that, in a city known for drug use, prostitution, and all that jazz, I'm certain most of the skepticism is made up or greatly exaggerated. But when it came to the prostitution, it was all very well kept. The woman were behind glass and only down specific narrow alleys. They weren't in the main street windows until after 10 at night, and even then they aren't allowed to be naked or flash tits and whatnot. And the red light district is in such a location that it can be avoided entirely, because there weren't many food places or shops located nearby the prostitutes. All the girls were clothed (lingerie, of course, but not naked), and though they did provocative gestures none got too ridiculous. The most they'd say is "Come on in" or "Want some fun?" Very easy to deal with really, though it wasn't my thing because I didn't like the idea of slamming a girl who had 9 other dicks that day. Though I was tempted. It was awesome seeing so many sexy chicks just biking around, and even cars seemed almost a rare thing there. Mopeds and bikes were the major get around tools. In places like Paris, the public transportation was always on time and very efficient. I miss it already, and feel every American should visit to get an idea of what life could be like if we weren't so worried about making a quick buck. People were....living, socializing, taking in the day for what it is. One of only a few we have here on earth. We really don't have long in the grand scheme of things, and they seem to realize that better than most Americans I've met. The sad thing is even now that I realize it, there's nothing I can do. I'm American. I work 40 hours a week, 8 hours a day, and nothings going to change that because our system is fucked up. We're slaves to a wage, and the only ones who get the real benefit of Americas capitalistic system are those who don't need a wage or pinch pennies. They're the ones that have reached the true American dream that is truly dying and so many will never see.
Nah I'm pretty sure it's you pompous, idiotic, moronic people that make the US a shitty place to live. Never met a bigger flock of sheep then Americans.
Thats the thing is we hate government because of the current politicians. If we changed our voting system and limited the cost at which it would take to run a campaign. Then we could elect better people who have our best interests at mind. you can make government efficient if you vote the right people.