Thank you for writing a very thought provoking article. Please put me on your list to ping.
When I was in the Philippines last year, I visited a relatively poor fishing village, where I got into a discussion with the locals about the differences between the Philippines and the US. The locals were under the impression that I was wealthy (and by their standards, I was), and therefore, they were surprised to hear that I worked as many hours as I did. “In the Philippines,” they said, “if you don’t work, you don’t eat.” I explained to them that, in the US, it was the wealthier people who worked the most hours, while it was the “poor” people who didn’t work at all because they were entitled to handouts. That confused them quite a bit.
It confused me, too, as I thought about it.
A system such as I described in the US is quite unlikely in the long run to generate wealth... or happiness... for anybody.
On a related note and consistent with the title of your post, the company I worked for just published a survey which included why people move overseas to retire. It turns out that quite a few people move overseas in order to capture the America that they had when they great up, as opposed to living in the America that is now. Quite ironic that, in order to live in “America”, Americans are moving overseas.
Sorry, but I don’t think retiring overseas has anything to do with “living in America.”
IMHO, it may have to do with it being cheaper. But call it what it is.
I spoke with a young lady who was a telephone agent for a LARGE based in America company. I suspected when I heard here flient english and polite nature that she was a filapina, and she confirmed my thoughts.
She said she wanted to move to the USA someday. I replied that I hoped we were still around...
I didnt say she would get here quicker if she appeared at our southern border, speaking only spanish,and only if the coyotes that she woud have to pay to get to the border didnt decide to sell her to a brothel instead.