>>58665247>>58668911>whats going on in America?I've thought about this a lot, and there's numerous causes, honestly too much to even succinctly explain, but the end result is a sharp uptick in loneliness and steep decline in birth rates, in the US.
Generally speaking, there's a strong lack of community in America, with most people making connections in varying levels of school, or work. Outside of that, the lack of forced proximity leads to low investment interactions being the norm. Sure you can go to meetups, clubs, groups, etc, but since it's all voluntary and centered around an interest, there's no real incentive for people to even form connections in them.
Without getting into wall of runes territory, the easiest way I can sum it up is to point to Monster Hunter, of all things.
Go look up one of the village themes, and see how people wax nostalgically about every single one, often times calling it a home. The reason people connect so strongly to places like Moga, Pokke, Kamura, etc, is because there's always a strong sense of community in these fictional locations. The farmers grow crops to feed everyone, and give you a bit extra to make sure you're fed for a hunt. The merchant managing the store jokes around and encourages you to stock up, half so you spend more, and half out of genuine concern for your safety. The smithies brag about how their hard work on your weapons and armor is their way of making sure you come back safe, etc. I'm rambling a bit, but the reason I went in detail is to contrast it with the current state of affairs.
People often claim we have "no sense of community" or we "work best in tribes" but they never really explain or demonstrate it much. It's hard to explain, but that kind of feeling people talk about is embodied in those games, and when you compare it to how day to day life is for most people, be it East or West, it starts to make sense why stuff like loneliness, disunity/hostility, isolation, etc, is on the rise and why it's done so much damage to people. Idk, I've noticed people talking about this stuff more, lately, though, so at the very least the issue is starting to reach a critical mass, and is impossible to ignore anymore, so you can take solace in that.
