You hav put it very well.

I really cannot understand the need for Europe to be seduced by consumerism. After WW2, what evolved quite soon by consensus was a social welfare state of affairs. America was already on the path of me me me and the American dream: the bigger the better. Its war machine became massive. Corporations became cartels. Power games with Russia had a catastrophic effect, both at home and abroad. It seems Vietnam was a lesson ignored. And then proxy wars flattened the Middle East. Enslaved completely by more more more, deep in credit card debt, we blunder on. We have tainted the world, including china and Russia with a deadly way of life. You’re right, america is the mother ship.

What I mean is that i love the landscapes of the Netherlands! Spending some time there made me really get into Dutch Masters. I’m an artist. Gave me a reference point to connect with their work. I liked that everyone mostly walked in the cities at their own pace. And seemed happy with what they had. Walk in New York and dc and you’ll find no one makes eye contact or smiles. Ive lived in usa for over 35 years and I’ve seen it go through a transformation that can only be described as my broken dream. Lip service to human and civil rights. Slavery never ended. Healthcare sucks for the poor. It just depresses me to be there in a rich city bubble. The real america is suffering. The hyper rich have it all at the cost of the average American. It infuriates me to see the exploited unmoved.

Here in the developing world I’m more at home. We go out on the streets demanding social justice. Yesterday was huge. International women’s day processions and celebrations on the streets! In the capital there was trouble, religious fanatics stoned the women but they continued undaunted. We risk our lives. Rich and poor alike. It’s the passion that gets me going! I see only passivity in america. And my heart breaks for those caught in inter generational poverty, mostly people of color. But also rural white population which cannot afford dental health etc. People in their 30s are toothless. Came as a shock to me when i saw a blue-eyed blonde man practically toothless. Yes, our colonial masters left us with a genetic imprint. One simply does not expect to see white poverty.

What sort of a world are we leaving our coming generations?