Close knit or financially fit?

Serious question – is it better to live in a culture that’s close knit or financially fit? I mean, if you had to choose between one and the other?

Y’all know I’m a proud American. But I can be honest. We’re not by any means a perfect nation.

American culture primarily comes from a combination of several cultures. We get our Protestant work ethic from England and Germany. Almost all American music came from the Blues. We got our original architecture from Neo-Classicism although many architectural styles have come and gone.

But let’s just talk about one aspect of the culture. We value financial independence and take pride in being a nation where you can come from a very poor background and become anything. (Let’s not let this devolve into political bullshit, but Abraham Lincoln and Bill Clinton both came from the very bottom economically and both became Presidents of the United States. I’m sure there are better examples but those 2 immediately came to mind).

Now the catch.

Americans work so much that we often forget how to live.

On other other extreme, we have Romania. I mention Romania because it’s a nation I know pretty well. We’ve already been there twice (would be 3 or 4 if it weren’t for the scamdemic) and I’m in regular contact with several families there.

They ain’t got no money. But they’re constantly out with friends, attending weddings, and having wonderful weekends, then spending the little they have left in the summer on the beach. (Then of course going back to being broke).

The average American on the other hand will accumulate all kinds of shit, but if you ask them to name five people they’re emotionally intimate with, they’ll be lucky to name 3. And that’s even including family members!

That’s one reason you’ll often hear Americans spill their guts to strangers whereas someone from another culture won’t open up to you for years. We all need emotional intimacy, but its suppression is a side effect of being drowned in work.

So serious question – what’s the better direction? American lifestyle or Romanian?

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