I've just come back from a "developing" country. This is an odd term, for they are developed in so many ways that we (the US) are not. They do much more with so much less. Their families are their greatest resource and their source of their strength and will to persevere in the face of daunting odds. So after this, it is very hard for me to find anything to complain about in my own life. Even a simple assessment, as is asked for in this thread, feels like complaining. Of course I know better; I know that this is a fine, worthwhile place to air our collective hurt, which is as real as anything. But I don't feel anything but gratitude and humility today, for all the things we take for granted here in the West. And I feel ashamed, yes, to be an American who has lost sight, long ago, of what really matters and the humility that can only come from real suffering and real pain. To be sure, my pain has been as real as anything but today, it feels false to talk of it in such a way. And I'm not sure I can continue here, to contribute when people elsewhere have everything to complain about but choose not to. It is hard when faced with such resilience and stoicism (and defiant joy) to air one single gripe, especially in such a public way.

I know we are all struggling in our own way, that this particular kind of struggle is in a way, a uniquely western phenomenon...and I know it is as real as anything, yes I do. But I don't think I can go on accepting the same, puerile self any more. It's not fair to the rest of the world; we have to reach down a little deeper-and get a little more perspective. I certainly do. We didn't always have these problems in the West and I often think now, it's just a matter of returning to our roots, of working harder, of being stronger, of not succumbing to labels and diagnoses, of not accepting the advice of strangers about which we know nothing (this is surely the most bizarre aspect of PC if you ask me). So to sum up, there's some self-loathing for sure, and a real desire to tell everyone to get off their collective tuchus and do more to improve their situation, to be proactive, to grow a spine. This is what I brought back with me, this is what I saw in the mirror that was held up to my face and I don't know how much longer I can participate here with the knowledge I have now, with this all-revealing glimpse of myself in a mirror held up to me by another culture..

I want to wish everyone well in their struggles but in my heart, something tells me there's something deeply wrong with our culture and I can't in all honesty, see a way out of it. And anything I might say now seems like so much verbal masturbation. I bear no one any ill will but I think I've lost my stomach for all this touchy-feely nonsense. And I feel like exiting quietly, stage left and turning back to face the mirror, alone.