We’re not all that great. I mean, yes it’s a great place to do a road trip and there are some absolutely stunning aspects of nature to explore. But our culture is brain dead at this point. I love my corner of the country (SF Bay Area) but I hate that it’s connected to the states that vote against our interests because they’ve been so successfully manipulated by culture war and captured by religion.

I would have moved to New Zealand after our last election, as I’d planned to since finding out how awful so many of our citizens are during the pan years. It’s only that I unexpectedly found a partner and we started living together that I stayed. She’s a refugee because she was persecuted in her homeland for advocating democracy. As such, she couldn’t go with me to NZ. So now I try to ignore how shitty we are as a people and try to focus on the people near me. We’re going out to dinner tonight at one of my favorite restaurants. Hooray! (We have an embarrassment of riches in terms of food options in the Bay Area.)

Disclaimer: we don’t sound very similar. I would never own a truck or guns or go to a gun range and I hate country music. There’s a McDonald’s across from our building and I mock people who wait in line at the drive through on weekends because I think Burger King is far superior. What I’m saying is that I might not be the right person to advise you about the USA.

Good luck!