I don’t always agree with you. Yet I like these personal takes from you so much. You have a truly warm and sincere vibe . Bless you. X

Thank you for sharing. I find myself constantly thinking about these things and processing.

By the way, since Brexit UK passport holders lost the possibility to work and live in any EU member country (without visa, work permit etc.). The EU offered it to the UK government but they denied.

Be glad you were living in CA during COVID & had that community. Folks in red states didn’t for the most part. In several of them politicians & people trying to mandate masks were often met with threats of violence. People were harassed & mocked for wearing masks. I live in Tulsa Oklahoma. Healthcare workers were threatened so bad that health systems put up signs that it’s illegal to harass & threaten health workers with the number in the statute. The fact that state and local politicians said nothing about this violence broke me. I would hold back tears thinking about how I wished we had that kind of community the red folks in Oklahoma call ‘socialism’. We went to San Francisco to spend Christmas with my husband’s son and daughter in law. It was the only time I have felt safe during COVID.

Since you posted this video we had a mass shooting at a local hospital. Oklahoma has had permit-less carry since November 1, 2019. The shooter was an enraged back surgery patient that had asked the surgeon for help with pain. He had the surgery May 19. He was able to legally purchase two guns, one of them hours before he murdered the surgeon, another doctor, a receptionist and another patient. The mayor and governor refused to mention the fact that he could just pick up a gun enraged and mow down people. Individualism rules in the state and people are more than willing to watch others die or die themselves for it.

individualism has run amuck in the US and people are being destroyed in one way or another as a result. This is all happening because of the evil lust for money and power.

I’m so glad you’re in a way safer place than the US.

I hear and feel you on this. I, personally, do not love The U.S. albeit being born here. The Country does not match my ethics, ethos, principles, or value in humanity. I don't care for the level of consumerism, corruption of capitalism, or worship of the Almighty Dollar so innocent people are being lost in the shuffle thru evil lobbying measures.
You are 100% correct regarding desensitization. So many innocent lost lives dying in vain and it's a typical Tuesday here in North America.
When an average citizens 2 main goals are to stay out of the line of fire and do your best not to wind up living in a tent….it's time to move on. It's just geography and loyalty to a specific set of geographic coordinates makes no sense to me. In 2022 where technology and transportation are, flights and phone calls are always a possibility. Amendments can be changed but a life can't be brought back from the dead. I should know….I worked in a Morgue 2020 – 2021.

You are so right. Nothing is going to change. Most people are not even talking about the shooting. It weighs heavy on my heart everyday and it seems like no one cares😥

So true. I say it all the time. We are a me, myself and I nation. One reason why I want to Portugal.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. I completely agree and can relate very much to what you shared. Especially about the feeling of “are we really not going to acknowledge what’s happening?” I’m Asian and I come from a very collective culture and it’s such a better way to live. But living in the US has changed that to a certain extent.

…individualism…the ultimate divide and conquer machine….never a major crisis was ever solved through individualism…

Thank you for this video. Our family shares your views on individualism. There is lack of empathy for others and I've noticed it in the younger generation that I work and skate with. They all say they have no empathy. This just makes me sad. I'm looking forward to living in a country where lives are valued and I don't have to fear sending my kid to school.

I hear you, Kirstin. I am very aware of how privileged (and downright lucky!) I am to have been born and raised in the US, as a native New Yorker, to parents who emigrated from elsewhere, so I appreciate working toward the Cultural Collective. I must say though, I appreciate individualism, as well. But not individualism on steroids. Desensitization has become a mental, emotional, and economical coping mechanism at this point. I think 9/11/01 was so shocking that it took a day or two for many to really even understand what had just happened.
And for you, as a nurse in our healthcare system, I would think there would be much more compassion toward its employees! Again, as you said, desensitization. The assumption is that everyone is a robot and expected to be emotionless or deal with mass traumatic events on their own time. It makes you wonder where emotions are “supposed” to be displayed, if ever?… All of that built up emotion just makes for an angry explosion 😧😔

Hello, Kirsten! I've been enjoying your channel for quite a while. I appreciate your honesty and thoughtfulness on many topics. I hope to meet you and take you and Mark out for coffee or a bite when I get to Lisbon for my scouting trip. You are correct about several points, particularly the emphasis in American culture on the individual's concerns instead of the community needs. I wish to point out that it wasn't always this way, certainly not this bad. The shift began in the 60s and took off in the late 70s, represented by two books that stayed on the bestseller lists for years (literally years). They were "Winning Through Intimidation" and "Looking Out for #1", written by the same author. I used to hide them in overstock when I worked in a bookstore. When people asked, I explained that if this became the fundamental philosophy of the U.S. we would be in deep trouble in 30+ years because it was a psychopathic philosophy. And here we are. I will never forget driving home two weeks after 9/11 and seeing someone steal a flag from a roadside business and peel off in his truck because flags were hard to find and fetching big bucks. As I explained to a friend asking how I could leave the States, the current USA is not the USA I grew up in. It's no longer the aspirational nation of Norman Rockwell celebrating our opportunities and our diversity, economic, social, and ethnic. Where we may disagree on the method, but by and large worked for the good of the community. We no longer work for the common good. We live under the Pirate's Code: Take all you can, give nothing back. Eu vou em Portugal!

Thank you Kristen for sharing such heartfelt thoughts. I wish we were sitting close by to hold hands, if only for a brief moment. Reflecting on what you shared brought tears to my eyes. My 9/11 experience was similar to what you have shared. Here in Canada my place of work was on strike at the time. Our Union called off the strike, for many of us were essential workers and so we were all in agreement to resume our daily work responsibilities. However, when we all went back in, no one spoke about what we all saw on the jumbo TV when we were outside picketing; there was a feeling that we were not to engage in conversation about the tragedy that happened on that day.
I don’t recalled every talking anything about 9/11 to anyone, I did my grieving in silence, from one tragedy to the other the sadness extended beyond borders.
Here in Canada what happened in the US greatly affects us. Our survival depends on each other; together we are stronger🙏

I hope this doesn't sound racist, but I always thought that the individualistic type of culture was more of a white person thing. I don't know any people of color but I've seen where they had more of a family type of culture and the neighborhoods they lived in they looked out for one another more than what I've experienced in my neighborhoods. I've NEVER known my neighbors. One of the things I'm looking forward the most about moving to Portugal is being around a different culture where it's more of a community than just a group of individuals.

Thank you for sharing…until our great country recognizes and acknowledges its issues (past and present), I believe we will continue this downward spiral.

Hi Kristen, thank you for sharing your thoughts, I truly understand when you speak about individualism version caring as a group, it’s exactly the same state of mind in the UK, individualism at his best! I feel it’s sad to only live for yourself. Sharing is caring, Cheers. Laurence

😁👍

I sometimes have the impression that America added a 11th commandment to the other 10: “Pull thyself by thy bootstraps… loser!” The problem is that connection is a major part of what makes us human and we are all occasional winners and ultimate losers, because we are all finite and we will all die.

Well stated! The perceived since of community and friendliness I’ve heard about the Portuguese makes it appealing to move there. As Americans, we normalize too much. Of course it’s a method to survive emotionally, but we should be making the needed changes so we no longer have all of these tragedies to get over. To be honest, I haven’t watched or read much about the Texas school shooting. It was too much, and it was the 3rd mass shooting in a 7 day period. One person’s murder is one too many. 🕊