Dear Americans, please get out of the country at least once in your life. You need to see what incredible things you're missing!
Image By Enric Fradera via Flickr
For a million reasons, I believe one of the best things I've ever done with my life was to start globetrotting. (Let's go into those in another post ... that could be a a whole book series!) Growing up in America, the culture taught me to believe certain ideas about how to find happiness:
- You deserve the right to own a gun to stay safe.
- A man doesn't really love you unless he proposes with a diamond ring.
- Foreskin on a man was made to be removed by doctors in a hospital just because.
- If you're depressed, just medicate your way out of it.
Then I visited 5 extraordinary countries that completely debunked these myths for me and showed me the incredible "other side of the coin" for how societies can be. Americans, prepare to be amazed:
Image Taken By Michael Coghlan via Flickr
1. India Wants to Protect Its Citizens By Making It Nearly Impossible For People To Legally Own a Gun.
From what I've seen traveling around India, it's not a hard concept to understand. Gandhi made such a deep impression on this country by winning India's independence through nonviolence that you'll find now that most people still prefer to resolve conflicts without any weapons. They prefer to march, go on strike or unionize.
I've been all over North and South India, and I've never seen or even heard of a gun shop anywhere.
If a fight got really bad and people badly needed to defend themselves from someone with murderous intent, they'd use a machete -- which are common around here since that's how you break open the coconuts that everyone drinks. You only see guns carried by military officers, posted at police stations and doing security patrol around events with really massive crowds. When I tell an Indian how Americans all have guns and no one feels safe, they're shocked. It's also partially because Indian culture has incredibly strong networking systems where people support each other. Americans are much more isolated.
Example: In an Indian community, a resident knows everyone in their neighborhood. "Block parties" are informal and frequent. They help each other and ask each other for favors all the time. If a shop owner wants to take a break and grab a cup of chai, he just does it whenever and gets his neighbor to watch his shop for five minutes. It's no big deal. They feel supported, so they don't feel such a need for extreme weapons like guns. But just think how many people in America don't even know their neighbors' names? That's the extreme difference in fear between these two countries.
The Washington Post reported in 2016 that India has " ... some of the strictest gun laws in the world...the government has made the laws even tougher. Prospective gun owners will have to show they have been trained, and they must carry their firearms only in holders and secure them in a 'knocked down' condition in gun lockers at home. The government will declare new gun-free zones, in addition to schools, across the country." Culturally speaking, most Indians feel guns are unnecessary.
And yes, I did feel safer in India.
Image By David van der Mark via Flickr
2. The Dutch Guys in the Netherlands Don't Worry About Proposing With Diamond Rings.
Many other women I know had the same experience as my best friend:
We met some Dutch guys while backpacking around Europe. She fell for one, and he proposed without any big plan or ring, but she was so happy because she thought diamond rings were a little too superficial anyway, and why should true love be obsessed with appearances?
I could see the point: Wouldn't you rather have a great guy who loves you and spends money on things you really need instead of blowing a fortune on a ring just so that you can show it off to be "better" in some way? They still got gold bands, and he still bought her jewelry later ... but he told her that it's just not a big custom in Holland. Some do it, but the majority feel like "Aw...just do whatever you feel like. Who cares? Just don't make too much of a fuss, will you?" In general, the Dutch feel that way about a lot of things...
And actually Americans are brainwashed by advertising into believing they can't propose without an engagement ring - since the 1940s only! If you don't believe me, read about DeBeers aggressive advertising campaign that changed the way Americans propose forever.
3. Most Sri Lankans Would Never Dream of Having Their Baby Boy Circumcised.
I love Sri Lanka because it's very much like a little India, just more Buddhist. I've seen that the Buddhists in Sri Lanka, being also especially nonviolent, are really close to nature. The oceans here are as warm as bath water - how could you not swim all the time? The beaches are beautiful. Many Indians live here. Now with all that in mind...
Only Muslims circumcise here, and the majority of Sri Lankans are Buddhist or Hindu -- and everyone is passionate about their religion. Historically, there's been a lot of tension around this part of Asia between Muslims and other religious groups like Hindus and Buddhists. This is a part of the world in which religion would be the only reason why you circumcise. They know very well that there's no proof that circumcision is "better for health."
It made me wonder why circumcision is a standard practice in American hospitals, and for totally unreligious reasons too? If you're curious, here's the best thing I found about it: (https://matthewtontonoz.com/2015/01/05/why-is-circumcision-so-popular-in-america/).
Image By Luke Standridge via Flickr
4. Japan is one of the least-depressed countries in the world, and they're less-medicated than America.
I've found that Japanese people are among the most polite, respectful and considerate people I've met in my travels. They're impeccably clean, neat and organized. They treat guests with incredible tolerance because they are always aware of a great need to avoiding offending others. And many of them prefer traditional Japanese medicine (TJM), acupuncture and meditating at one of the many Zen-style meditation centers throughout Japan.
CBS reported that Japan has one of the lowest depression rates in the world, and I believe it's because they're much less medicated. They handle stress very differently than Americans, and they typically keep their cool much better.
I found an incredible chart
showing that the USA's 321.4 million people spend an average of at least $192.8 dollars per person each year on prescription drugs when you do the math. That puts America as the number one biggest spender on pharmaceuticals, making it the most heavily drugged nation in the world. Japan however, ranks number 8 on that list, far below most European countries.
Which countries have blown your mind lately?
Please reply and tell me! I'm happy to keep expanding this list with credits and more interesting research from all of my fellow Steemit-peeps!
And if you're wondering about how to get discounts to fly for free, then see my earlier post: an in-depth guide to how mileage-reward programs really work.
Interesting...two things though:
Thanks for your feedback! Yes, I understand that the popular media is spreading the diamond engagement-ring craze all over the world now. I think it's kinda too bad. If people really have that much to spend then great, go for it ... but I don't like the social pressure put on people who are already struggling to make ends meet to "prove their love" through diamonds. There's a lot I appreciate about Dutch culture, especially in terms of tolerance.
As for the Japanese suicide rates, I do remember that they have been pretty high in the past. You inspired me to do a little more digging, so I researched the most-recent suicide rates I could find for both the USA and Japan. This website has a good collection of data showing that Japan's suicides have decreased steadily every year since 2003. However, it is actually true that more Japanese commit suicide than Americans, even though this gap is closing because American suicides have increased. The latest charts I found say that about 19.5 people out of every 100,000 take their own lives in Japan, compared to 13 people out of every 100,000 in the USA. Last year in 2016, Japan's suicide rate dropped down again to about 17.3 people per 100,000. Other countries like Lithuania, South Korea and Russia have much higher suicide rates than Japan though.
One thought I had about the low depression rates and higher suicide rates is that maybe it's kind of a stigma in Japanese culture to admit you're depressed. I don't know who they interviewed for their depression study, and maybe these people didn't want to admit they had depression. I know that Americans are very open about depression, and it's fairly socially acceptable to a lot of people I grew up with. Are there any Japanese people who want to weigh in on this? Correct me if I'm wrong.
The main point I wanted to highlight is that while the Japanese have a very highly developed nation, they haven't exploded their pharmaceutical industry like America has. I would like to see more cultures looking to alternative, holistic ways to treat their problems rather than resorting to suicide or living on drugs.
Awesome to see you actually went into depth on my comment! So yes you just might be right about the stigma on admitting you have a depression. It would be lovely to get some Japanese perspective on this. I do have to mention again I am no expert on this but have recently traveled to Japan and tried to educate myself as much as possible on their culture and traditions.
Again, I was just speculating with these figures, would be cool though if there were some truth to it.
@joylovestowrite im from the Philippines and im proud to say that nothing beats our hospitality here, take it from all the tourist who visited our country, they keep coming back, some even stayed here for good, because for me we Filipinos are we genuine. Hope to see you soon here :)
From the photos I've seen, the Philippines really does look like a beautiful country! I'll have to put it on my bucket list. I've heard there's a lot of great sailing around those islands. Other people do say on travel forums that Filipinos are very happy people in general. Is it true that many people don't take medication for depression there? What are the best places to visit there?
I am really fascinated by Dutch way of thinking regarding to marriage, it's just beautiful to be simple, comparing to how this matter is handled in my country, i m very disspointed by the way girls are treating men being over demanding and arrogant, they think its like shopping, always thinking that next year material will be alot more cooler so they keep rejecting guys on silliest reasons seeking for perfection untill they find themselves pushing 40 and everything is falling down, meanwhile guys with pride like my self decided to walk away from this madness and wantch from distance and laughing
Untill Europeans announced to my people "marry us for free" knowing that girls in france in Italy are very pretty and respect men with arabic manners and strong will wich our own girls are blinded by materialism
Thanks for sharing! I have noticed how materialism is spreading rapidly throughout the world. There's a great quote I heard:
"People are supposed to just use their phones and love others. But now, people love their phones and use others." I sincerely hope that more of us will start recognizing how empty blind materialism is and return to our common values.
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STOPGreat post! I heard around 40% of Americans own a passport! That is shocking. With the strong currency, getting around to here in Asia is eAsy.
I also do think American should travel more to see the world. It will open eyes!
Americans are brainwashed by the media, fed poisoned food, and consume a vast majority of the worldwide Rx and illegal drugs. They are angry and unable to move as 7 out of 10 of them are now obese, overweight, and ill.
They are unable to perceive that they are being lead by evil madmen. Instead they fight among each other in a fake left/right paradigm.
I have been in SE Asia for over a year now after way too many years in the states. My only regret is that I did not leave sooner and that my son is still there. I hope I never return and i feel like I am just now finally recovering from the experience of being there.
I can understand how you feel, and I'm also very grateful to live abroad. It wasn't until I got out that I could look at what's going on in America more objectively. The obesity problem in America is getting serious. I recently read that America has more diabetic patients than any other country in the world, which is no surprise when you discover how much processed sugar is in basically everything you buy in the grocery stores. About half of all the American adults have diabetes or have such high blood-sugar levels that they will develop type 2 diabetes. And the irony is that now Americans are researching how ancient cultures in the rest of the world ate to try and reverse these diseases.
I think getting free of the place is good for anyone. I work in weight loss and health and I was spending every day discouraged and upset as the people get bigger and sicker. All the chronic diseases are way way up. It's horrible to watch and I felt like I needed to save myself if I was going to do any good at all.
In weight loss there is a moment when you enter "Onederland" which is the day your weight finally goes below 200 pounds. People celebrate this as I did myself. Lately I've been celebrating as people get down to "Threederland" This means they started their weight loss journey in the 400's and have so much farther to go. It is heartbreaking but I am not giving up.
I admire your dedication. Are you into fruit smoothies as part of the diets you give to your clients? Because I just came up with an awesome one that I just posted: I call it Mango/Pomo Tango. Do you like it?
Yes, I would definitely like that. But now in Thailand - I get all my food and drinks from street vendors. It's not really cost effective to make my own here.
Got it. I remember the rambutans in Thailand were so good...or are you more of a durian type?😉
My favs are breadfruit, bananas, pinapple and papaya here. I just wrote a post about the papaya :)
Rambutan and mangosteen both kicked up my arthritis last year when I tried them even though I loved both. They are in season now so I might go try again. Sometimes it's just me being in a low point and not really the food.
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Very interesting
The point of owning and bearing arms is to defend ones self from an oppressive government. If no Indian citizens own firearms then the government can do what they wish with them. To my knowledge they are already one of the most strati-sized societies on earth and this is nothing new for their culture, remember the untouchables within the Indian caste system which is still around. The poorest of the poor are held down and kept there, it is the same all over the world unfortunately just not quite as blatantly.
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