Loved that article. The pictures brought tears of joy to my eyes. What beautiful people; you can see genuine joy and happiness in their faces. I agree that you’ll be hard-pressed to find that in the U.S.
So many people in the U.S. spend 10+ hours/day, 5-7 days/week, at work. They often spend an hour or more on their commute back home at night, but stop off at the fast food joint to pick up dinner on the way because nobody has the time or energy to shop and cook good food on a regular basis. Everyone is stressed and frazzled, so they blame each other for their predicament, fight on a regular basis…then, they get divorced, where everyone in the family ends up a loser. It’s not the “American Dream,” it’s the “American Nightmare.”
We are exceptionally lucky because we have a number of phenomenal neighbors who are all open to the idea of staying home and spending more time with our families and friends. We all get together regularly to play, chat, eat, drink [not too much! :)], and have a good time. Because of this, we have little reason (or desire) to go out and spend money. We all keep our kids’ screen time (TV, computer, video games, etc.) to a bare minimum and have them play outside every day like we used to “back in the day.” It has been incredibly rewarding to all of us, and we are grateful for it every single day.
I think corporate/consumer slavery is also behind the recent trend — since ~2000 — of more and more families trying to live on one income. The “two-income trap” is very real: the more families make, the higher prices go, negating any “benefit” from having a second income.
It’s good to see that more and more people are catching on to the anti-consumerism movement. It makes life infinitely better, IMO.
