On Cultures That Build
IMO this sentence resonates:<p>&gt; He enjoys what he has as a tenant, without any feeling of ownership or thought of possible improvement.<p>I read this sentence and I think it carries a lot of truth. I think it&#x27;s not hard to believe that people today just don&#x27;t &quot;own&quot; the USA like they did before. Literally, home ownership has been in decline for generations [1]. Millennials are in debt [2], and younger generations go longer without even having a family to root them in [2].<p>Back in my home country you stay in your city— in the USA everyone seems to be moving about all the time; first for school, then for the job. Morale wise, patriotism has been stained by rampant nationalism, so who wants to own that title? What&#x27;s the &quot;American&quot; identity, when everyone clings to their differences? I&#x27;ve met people born and raised in the USA who introduce themselves as Salvadorian, Venezuelan, Japanese before saying they are American, because in the USA that&#x27;s what they are— something else first, then American.<p>Moreover, it&#x27;s easy to be disappointed with Americanism. Generational memory exists. People built last century expecting a better future this century, but capitalism and irresponsibility failed to make it happen. This country built roads and bridges it cannot afford to maintain [3], a health care system that bankrupts people and sells them addictions, an economy that disproportionately favors the rich, and a government that has spurred some dystopian agencies [5], destabilized many other governments [6] and is constantly at war [7] while failing to address the needs of its population.<p>If you don&#x27;t own your house or your whole paycheck, if you don&#x27;t own your culture or what your country stands for, if you don&#x27;t feel connected to your neighbor or feel like you could even connect with them, or if you&#x27;re not proud of where you are, then yeah, you&#x27;re a tenant. And tenants don&#x27;t build.<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.apartmentlist.com&#x2F;research&#x2F;homeownership-by-generation" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.apartmentlist.com&#x2F;research&#x2F;homeownership-by-gene...</a>
[2]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.pewsocialtrends.org&#x2F;essay&#x2F;millennial-life-how-young-adulthood-today-compares-with-prior-generations&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.pewsocialtrends.org&#x2F;essay&#x2F;millennial-life-how-yo...</a>
[3]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.strongtowns.org&#x2F;the-growth-ponzi-scheme" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.strongtowns.org&#x2F;the-growth-ponzi-scheme</a>
[4]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2019&#x2F;12&#x2F;19&#x2F;learning&#x2F;what-students-are-saying-about-how-to-improve-american-education.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2019&#x2F;12&#x2F;19&#x2F;learning&#x2F;what-students-ar...</a>
[5]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Project_MKUltra" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Project_MKUltra</a>
[6]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;List_of_wars_involving_the_Uni...</a>
[7]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;List_of_wars_involving_the_United_States#21st-century_wars" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;List_of_wars_involving_the_Uni...</a>