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ICBanMI t1_je6tsxd wrote

Reply to comment by s0_Shy in Arkansas man missing since 2021 found hundreds of miles away in Texas by _katykakes

I completely understand rural and poor areas in other countries not having the ability to travel/vacation. We're talking about the US where people are proud of their ignorance. A lot of people in the US have access to someone with a car. I'm not going to say travel is cheap, but honestly it would smooth over some of the problems at the state level people have if they saw how much better/worse other states had it. It's very easy to get stuck in their bubble and think there is something wrong with all the people complaining about local issues.

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s0_Shy t1_je6wdqb wrote

People travel all over the country all the time. I live in a rural area and most of the people I know regularly leave the state on vacation. Leaving the country on the other hand is quite rare though because it can be expensive. I get what you're saying though. Problem with a lot of Americans is simply political and a product of team mentality. The people here lack critical thinking and that's true everywhere in the country. The truth is our whole country is a shit hole pretending to be something it's not. We were told this is the greatest country ever and a good chunk of the population believes it even though its far from the truth.

There may be problems at the state level which is being displayed proudly by the Southern states right now but a conservative visiting a progressive state isn't going to change their way of thinking. That goes vise versa as well. Every state has its problems and bad policy but the whole team mentality prevents the masses from using any critical thinking to do things in their best interests.

I may be wrong but I don't think your typical cocky American is going to have an epiphany and change their way of thinking by vacationing in another country. It's also pretty exspensive and difficult to move to another country as well even for people that have a decient amount of money for that to change their world views. Because believe me, if I was able I would gladly leave the USA and never come back if I could easily move to one of the select countries on my list of better places to be.

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ICBanMI t1_je6yh00 wrote

> People travel all over the country all the time. I live in a rural area and most of the people I know regularly leave the state on vacation.

I know. That's not the US people that think, "Where are you from?" And "where do you live?" Are the same question. You're preaching to the choir. I know all this and agree with it. We get high on our own shit and that leads to a lot of problems.

> There may be problems at the state level which is being displayed proudly by the Southern states right now but a conservative visiting a progressive state isn't going to change their way of thinking.

Southern are the biggest offenders, but it's a bunch of states. People only need to go to other states to see how badly they are getting screwed.

> I may be wrong but I don't think your typical cocky American is going to have an epiphany and change their way of thinking by vacationing in another country.

No, it's not instant like that. And some people are super immune to it. For some people distance and proximity have a way of burrowing into the brain that eventually shows them what is and isn't great in their surroundings. If Americans could vacation out of the country, they would be a percentage that would be a bit more progressive... but that wasn't what I said at all. I said 200 miles. I'm talking about really insular people who see any change as a problem.

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s0_Shy t1_je7176f wrote

If I travel 200 miles in any direction I'm still in the South. I get what you're saying though. Too many people do enjoy the comfort of their own home too much and get stuck in their ways. Even with devices where they can literally talk to anyone in the world they choose to find like minded people and form an echo chamber.

Funny thing is the US has people from all over the world. So many cultures brought here which should be embraced but it's not. It's sad because I have a friend from Columbia, a friend who's mom escaped North Korea, several friends from Mexico and some friends whose father came from Pakistan. Learned a lot of cool stuff about their families and countries of origin.

I feel Americans honestly don't have to leave their home town to learn about other cultures etc. What makes America shit is the rejection of these people. Forces them to be more alone and isolate. The American culture should be simply put embracing the melting pot that America is. Really only the cities have this to an extent which is why the cities are usually more progressive even in the conservative states.

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ICBanMI t1_je72yx0 wrote

I'm from the South and I an attest that even rural areas have some melting pot that happens. The majority don't care about immigrates. A few do violence to them (getting to be less and less every year). The problem that continues to plague these Southern states is they still want a caste system with themselves above someone else. So all that happens is anyone with means leaves the state as soon as they can while the worst people get to continue trying to directly/indirectly enforce the caste system they have imagined.

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s0_Shy t1_je73qkg wrote

I can see that. Seems like it doesn't matter what group you belong to, they just want to feel like they are better than whichever group its time to gang up on.

Thanks for the conversation. Pretty rare to have one like this without it devolving into something toxic.

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