I've witnessed a phenomenon many times in my life, where people look at another country and call out something utopian or dystopian about it, and totally miss that whatever they're noticing is also true about their own country.
I say country, but this happens in nearly any in-group/out-group dynamic.
It's far beyond "greener grass" wistfulness. It's a heightened awareness of the other -- from the posture of the presumptive moral arbiter -- accompanied by a diminished awareness of the self.
Seems like a description of the old Horn/Halo Effect Bias. 👍
@White_Rabbit That's a great name for it!
@sumpnlikefaith
A couple of years ago, Mr. Cosmic, my best friend and I laid out our "retirement requirements", followed by our nice to haves.
Where I currently live, in my current house, meets every requirement except not being here (and a couple of minor nice to haves), LOL!
Put it on paper and it looks very different. We also rediscovered some things we'd stopped doing - like walking downtown for dinner and a beer.