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It seems like there's an assumption in your post and in your fears: unhappiness comes from poverty and a lack of high-demand skills. I think that's a common na
by eric-hu 11y ago
It seems like there's an assumption in your post and in your fears: unhappiness comes from poverty and a lack of high-demand skills. I think that's a common narrative in America, and I certainly have it somewhat ingrained.
I recently moved to Southeast Asia from America. There's a stark contrast between the two places in terms of economic development and quality of goods. People here aren't any less happy. If anything, they feel happier in the poorer or lower tech places I visit.
I feel like my American education and citizenship grant me so many opportunities compared to most that I meet here. Still, I don't believe we differ in the maximum happiness that we can experience.
This isn't to say wealth and education are unnecessary or bad. I'm just adding my observations to challenge the assumptions that more wealth or education will lead to more happiness, justifying "short" term sacrifices in happiness for a few years.
- dopeboy 11y agoCould you briefly go into why you moved to SE asia from america?
- eric-hu 11y agoSure. I quit my job in June and a friend invited me to visit. I checked out some local communities corresponding to my interests in America: tech, startups and dancing. The communities were lively, yet different enough that they caught my interest.
- analog31 11y agoI certainly fear poverty. No question there. That fear could be exacerbated by the erosion of the safety net in the US, and by economic segregation. Poor people experience worse health, higher violence, more intrusive police presence, less social stability. I don't know what it would be like to move my family to Southeast Asia. How do they treat women? I suspect that it varies from country to country. Are their education systems better? I've heard that Korea is everything bad that we've been talking about in this thread, and a friend of mine from Singapore said: "I prefer the American schools. There are fewer beatings." My problem is that I actually like education as an end unto itself. That's my culture. I just don't want it to kill people, or burn them out.
- eric-hu 11y agoIf my last post came across as a suggestion to move your family here, that was not my intention. I mentioned it to contrast happiness against economic success. In American media, the two are so frequently treated as the same, and from what I see here, they're quite different. It seems like some societies are willing to teach people to be unhappy to achieve economic success. Singapore and South Korea are good examples of this. I question in which direction America is headed.