Yes!!! I have noticed how much meaner the United States has become — I’ve felt it for awhile though, in the way people treat me as a patient…I’m treated dramatically different when I’m in Canada (though I have other problems with that healthcare system since my case needs things beyond the scope of what they’re willing to do for me sometimes because my case is unusual),

But the one thing that is shocking different is that people have a *much* more compassionate reaction when I mention I have a serious chronic illness —

Here in the US, when I tell people I have chronic health problems,

99% of the time people *instantly* find ways to distance themselves from me,

or worse, try to twist my serious health problems like ‘what you really have is a personality problem, not an crippling autoimmune disorder’,

Whereas in Canada, when I would mention to people that I have a serious autoimmune disorder (ie, Noah’s teacher, parents of his new friends, etc),

*every* single person was like ‘really? Omg, what is that like? It must be so hard for you. Is there anything I can do to help?’

After many months of thinking about it,

I concluded the main reason probably why the reactions are so different,

Is that here in the United States, if you care about someone with a serious health problem,

it’s going to cost money — even with insurance — being a patient is a never ending cash drain —

So people in the United States,

try to distance themselves from patients, because they don’t want to care about you — because caring means that eventually it’s going to cost money —

Patients are people who need help, people who need a support system,

and pretty much it’s close to impossible to build one when you need it because of this collective distancing, it’s like a catch-22 —

At first I thought this compassionate reaction in Canada was just a fluke, or just a single nice person,

But then it literally kept happening — even a guy I once went on a date with once even wanted to see me again *after* I told him I was sick (which has *never* once happened to me here in the US, unless the guy thought there was really something in it for him 😡),

So eventually I realized —

it was in the culture in Canada, to be compassionate,

because everyone’s healthcare is paid for by the government —

So people can make friends with sick people because they’re not worried about taking on an additional financial burden.

Patients cost money; a lot of money…co pays deductibles, prescription medications, home nursing visits, etc etc etc —

The United States ‘me me me’ has gone too far for too long and now we’re literally imploding from the inside on a lot of levels…everything from road rage to even people getting frustrated in a line at the grocery store —

Our collective sociopathie is poisoning us…making us all unhappy too, I don’t believe most people want to mean, they become mean out of circumstances (though some people definitely make it a point to be mean…)

On Jun 23, 2022, at 10:42 AM, Joe D wrote:


Have You Noticed America Has Gotten Meaner?