Insight after touring Amsterdam:
The American ideal of the resilient individual is, ultimately, a weak point for the culture.
While it is a simplistic ideal for an interesting, fictional story line, it is a liability for large-scale improvements to our society and governance.
This has been a hard lesson for me to realize. I've heard it from friends in other countries and seen it in action... but it was as I've started to really think about how Americans are suffering, and what the solution is, that I realized what we lack is community.
The nuclear family, suburbs, a lack even of community spaces where people interact. Our entire society is built on individualism to our great detriment.
@tyghebright
The first step in solving a problem is to agree that there is a problem to be solved.
Then we have to decide if it is worth our limited time to try to solve.
I think this problem is at the core of many of society's failures. So, I think it is worth solving.