I'm considering leaving the U.S.. Which other societies and cultures have you enjoyed most?
I'm considering moving from the U.S. to another country. Which other societies do you think have the liveliest, most organic cultures and also have the most control over the institutions which affect their lives?
Reply to this Hello David 😊
Good question.
I think a country with the combination of having more say in the government and organically produced food is unlikely in the world as it is at the moment.
I imagine the largely organic ones to be the ones which are less modern and thus have not been subjected to the farming methods which stripped most of the minerals out of the soil in the US.
Mel
Reply to this That's a really interesting question! Though "liveliest" and "most organic" can have several interpretations (more or less literal)... I will venture to make some suggestions: Liveliest: Latin America comes very quickly to mind... no matter how bad things may get, the party spirit is always there: Brazil is a great example but the entire subcontinent applies too. Also, in this category, I would also add Norway and Finland to the list of liveliest, especially in winter when you tend to get very social and friendly because you don't get to see the sun very often.
"Organic" as in fluid or not-so-structured for the majority of the population... I have found this quality in smaller countries/territories: Hong Kong, Belize.... But perhaps you refer to something else...
Most control over the institutions which affect their lives?? This one is the toughest because whenever the citizens exercise the most control, things tend to be more chaotic than when it is the other way around and it is rarely a stable condition over time.. Humans will be humans... My best example of institution-maturity in any country has to be Japan... In spite of an extremely dense population, it remains one of the most civilized countries in the World, but I don't believe that its citizens have much control over their institutions... It may be the other way around...
You may find that no country is perfect... There are always trade offs and the grass isn't greener on the other side of the fence. Good luck in your quest!
Reply to this Thanks for the replies Mell and Omega! Just to give a bit more insight into what I was thinking, by an "organic culture" I meant a culture which is created by the people following it. I was thinking of this as opposed to what I see a lot in the U.S. where the culture is determined by what corporations put in movies, on TV, or in magazines.
And by control over institutions, I meant countries which have some form of democracy. For example, I don't think the U.S. is very democratic because the major institutions in society are corporations and Lord knows there's no popular control over them. In fact, my feeling is that Japan is actually fascist in the technical sense of the term. That country is 100% controlled by corporations.
My guess is that you're right, Luis, about no country being perfect. I had a chat with a traveler who owns a house in a remote Thai village. He said that while he likes it there, living there was a real eye-opener for him. Though he's very well traveled, he said that the people in his village have completely bizarre beliefs and there's a lot of bullshit one has to put up with.
Thanks again, Mell and Luis.
Reply to this Me, I'd go for New Zealand. Healthy in so far as it has a temperate climate, plenty of breathing space and an independent spirit. Despite being a constitutional monarchy, it has low disparities of income compared to most countries in the 'developed' world. My impressions of having visited are that few people are very wealthy and few very poor, there being no great outward shows of affluence or poverty.
Reply to this Another thing to consider:
As a foreigner living in any country you will experience burocratic and other problems, which the citizents of that country dont have to deal with.
Reply to this I was going to suggest New Zealand, too. On my visit it seemed that the pace of life was much slower. Plus, I agree with Skylark's comments.
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