Thank you for this article Gerarld, especially coming from an American. Maybe I could write a whole article as well about this.

About how we, writers, or the people that are around us, can see some things and others are still so late behind. I have so many American friends that I just cannot even mention politics, capitalism, or whatever.

They think capitalism is a good thing, but it's only good because they either profited from it or they don't exactly know what that is. I see so many strange things in American society — a country that I have never been in but I have dedicated a lot of my time studying it . So many people are afraid of socialism — let alone comunism —, because of deep ignorance and because of the ideology that has been given to them. I have seen so many people saying the old argument

"Don't you want to work and feel you deserve things because you worked for them? Would you like everything to be free?"... what a load of crap.

Portugal, a socialist and welfare state, things are not for free. You have to work to have a life, but from what I see, Americans ( most of them) they have a live to work, because they need to "own things". I's just and such a basic concept.

We all are adults, we all should know that material things don't give any happiness, it's just lasts for minutes, and the more you have the less satisfaction you get. This is something I realized when I was 11 years old... I was eleven! I got it even at that age. How can anyone trade their time on earth to work to own things? this is just one problem sure...

I am just venting without reflecting on my words too much.

By the way, I have read your article about your tiny house and your former tenant.. I was shocked about how you and Mike lived like that. You see, I pay 260 euros a month for rent ... it's such another world.