Living outside America
ryancarson.com
Living outside America
1–10 of 216 posts
Re: Living outside America
#2"A ton of people I met from around the World thought Americans were overweight, materialistic and unintelligent. This was, of course, an unfair generalization."
Less than 30% of American adults are at a healthy bodyweight, so it's really not an unfair generalization.
Re: Living outside America
#3Living and traveling outside the US (Europe, Middle East, Asia) for ~15 years convinced me of the inherent superiority of the US (culturally, economically, etc.). Our government is broken, but generally the US lets problems get really inefficiently bad, then overcorrects, so I hope that will happen in the next 20 years.
The threats to the US are not other countries getting better than us, but the decline of the nation-state in general, or some global catastrophe which would harm everyone.
(There are plenty of specific areas where other countries are better than the US, but no single country which is enough better on enough things to be a serious competitor.)
I was much more down on the US before leaving the country. Independent of that, I would strongly suggest spending a few years living and working overseas, not just traveling for a few weeks as a tourist.
(The UK/Canada don't really count if you're from the US, either, IMO.)
Re: Living outside America
#4It is most certainly the case that living away from one's source culture has a profound effect on your perception of the world. It's important to note, however, that none of what Mr Carson describes was caused by Britain and the British specifically.
I can say that because I'm from there and I am one. And yet I can report much the same: I moved overseas to unfamiliar shores, and the result has been an enlightenment, a much clearer perspective on the parochial vs the universal. To look back at one's origin with fresh eyes. It's refreshing and challenging and will change anyone with a shred of self-analytical capability.
This became clearest to me when living in the Netherlands. There were two identifiable Dutch social modes: either cliquish & insular, or open & welcoming. The latter was strongly correlated to those Dutch who had travelled. I'm not saying the former were unfriendly, it was a matter of acceptance: I was simply always a guest.
I have observed this trait in many since, and in myself.
Note that I do not believe an overseas holiday is sufficient to achieve this. You'll have to stay somewhere, become at least a little bit of a local. My experience has been that six months is sufficient, two years is optimal.
Re: Living outside America
#5I really think seeing you're own culture from outside your own bubble provides a massive wide angle lens that provides perspective and periphery that you didn't previously have and if you have the opportunity to gain this insight then you should try your best to gain it.
Re: Living outside America
#6Living and traveling outside the US (Europe, Middle East, Asia) for ~15 years convinced me of the inherent superiority of the US (culturally, economically, etc.). Our government is broken, but generally the US lets problems get really inefficiently bad, then overcorrects, so I hope that will happen in the next 20 years. The threats to the US are not other countries getting better than us, but the decline of the natio…
I've never really understood the notion that any one country is better than another one. It just seems way too subjective and people seem to generally favour the country they were born or brought up in.
I think it's much like picking a car. You can argue the pros/cons all day and night but it just boils down to what you personally prefer and what evidence you feel justifies your decision. Declaring a country is better than any other because it has more money, weapons, CCTV cameras, mountains, lakes just seems silly, no?
(I'm discounting countries savaged by war, famine etc because I'd say by most accounts but not necessarily all, they wouldn't be better)
Re: Living outside America
#7Living and traveling outside the US (Europe, Middle East, Asia) for ~15 years convinced me of the inherent superiority of the US (culturally, economically, etc.). Our government is broken, but generally the US lets problems get really inefficiently bad, then overcorrects, so I hope that will happen in the next 20 years. The threats to the US are not other countries getting better than us, but the decline of the natio…
The US is a large country so people like to hate on us. Same goes for China and Russia.
Re: Living outside America
#8Living and traveling outside the US (Europe, Middle East, Asia) for ~15 years convinced me of the inherent superiority of the US (culturally, economically, etc.). Our government is broken, but generally the US lets problems get really inefficiently bad, then overcorrects, so I hope that will happen in the next 20 years. The threats to the US are not other countries getting better than us, but the decline of the natio…
I've never really understood the notion that any one country is better than another one. It just seems way too subjective and people seem to generally favour the country they were born or brought up in. I think it's much like picking a car. You can argue the pros/cons all day and night but it just boils down to what you personally prefer and what evidence you feel justifies your decision. Declaring a country is bette…
Obviously you need a metric, but mine is "place to start a world-changing technology business."
Re: Living outside America
#9This is a great article, and as a European I can relate to all of his points. Here are some comments from the other side of the pond; they're of course my personal opinion but I think they're somewhat representative of the European view.
I don’t view the USA as the center of the world - i see America as an overreaching empire that has had it's heyday. If you take a historical perspective this is how many empires fall. They overreach by trying to annex large parts of the world, spend all of their resources doing so and eventually implode. The British and Roman empire are good examples.
I stopped calling myself a Christian - the fact that many Americans are so religious is just utterly strange, and somewhat frightening. If the Danish prime minister started confessing her belief in a god she'd be laughed out of the room.
I occasionally felt embarrassed of America - I have a mixed relation with America. On the one hand it's a great country with amazing and open people that will gladly help a stranger, and has an amazing work ethic. On the other hand I have a problem with Americans not knowing or caring about how the rest of the world functions, how Americans define themselves in terms of their job, and their aggressiveness on the Geopolitical arena.
I believe America’s time as #1 super-power will come to an end within my lifetime - I think this is already happening.
Re: Living outside America
#10> I stopped calling myself a Christian
Specific to this point as someone that has lived in England forever I find it really strange how on the reddit atheism subreddit all the (American) posters act as if they're persecuted for their Atheism whereas in England religion is just something people do in private if they do it at all, it's hard for me to understand the way r/atheism posters perceive their persecution, but reading someone from America saying that how England is very different with religion makes it easier to understand.