means it was never really good,

Yes.

As an American, since I was a teenager, I always thought Canada or the Scandinavian countries would be better places to live (mostly due to cannabis laws and healthcare). I grew up in rural US, so was aware of high levels of bigotry and poverty, but yeah, it seems to be getting worse. Rights have been getting eroded since W (except LGBT rights, until MAGA). The economy, for the working class, has been in decline since I've been alive. We seem to be going through a corpo-fascist self-coup now, so it's definitely worse. In terms of foreign meddling, I don't think much has changed since I've been alive until this Trump term. Disregarding LBGT acceptance, I think the late 90s were peak. Regarding WASP men, I think the 50s may have been the peak. The country was built on genocide and slavery in many uniquely brutal ways, so don't think it was really "great" until the mid 1900s, but not even sure it was comparatively great to other peer countries back then, in anything other than having a large economy and plentiful resources to be exploited.

You speak from privilege to think there were good times in America. If you're a minority, you knew that was bullshit. If you knew US History, then everything is a facade.

What you see online/in news now is a caricature of the worst of America. Normal people here aren't chronically online, or worse, professional influencers, and algorithmic scams/busted parties largely made them delusional voters.

That being said, I'm a U.S. southerner and I have seen some shit you wouldn't believe. Like shit too dramatic for television. Some is finally out in the open.

I traveled to every state in the US save Alaska, multiple times. I lived in the forests and public lands, sometimes going days or weeks without seeing civilization.

America, the land, is a beautiful and majestic place. It is full of magic and incredible, ancient power.

America, the people occupying the land, is a lie. Most of it is dusty, decrepit, and feels awful. The cities are the epicenter of this horrible feeling.

Some parts of some cities feels pretty good. Large dog parks, for instance, are almost universally good feeling. From New Mexico to Oregon, to Florida and to Pennsylvania, the Dog Parks were where I went to grab some good vibes in larger places. But besides that, I always had a timer before the cities got too awful feeling before I had to retreat back into the public lands.

My recommendation to you is this: connect with those lands. They were there before you and will remain after. They are a gift nearly no American properly taps in to, and it shows. That is where the spirit lives. You have an incredible treasure all around you, connect with it, it is waiting for you. The good times have just begun if you learn to connect with it.

Don't give in to the manufactured fear. The world is much bigger than this, and the universe is so much larger than it, it becomes a joke. You are part of that larger universe.

🤪 I’ve read opium level the first time