- 2 days ago
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Short filmTranscript
00:00America is the richest country in the world, so why does life feel so poor for so many of us?
00:08This isn't a temporary crisis. This is real life for millions of people in a country that calls
00:16itself the land of opportunity. Over 38 million Americans live below the official poverty line.
00:2344 million face food insecurity. More than 650,000 Americans are homeless each night.
00:32Over half of working adults can't afford a $500 emergency.
00:37The top 1% of Americans hold over 30% of the nation's wealth, while the bottom 50% of Americans hold just 2% of the wealth.
00:52I know what it feels like because we lived it. We are a low-income family. We've experienced food insecurity.
01:01We have lived without access to affordable healthcare. We have lost jobs through no fault of our own.
01:08And we have been exhausted. But after we left the U.S. to find a better life for our family,
01:14we noticed something that changed the way we viewed everything. In places that America calls
01:24developing countries or third world countries, we have found people living better on far less,
01:31but are much happier. They have much higher quality of lives than we did back in the States.
01:38Through our experience traveling through lesser developed countries, we have discovered that the system in America is not broken by accident.
01:50It is broken by design. And it is something that we all need to start talking about more.
01:56Let's be honest. For a lot of Americans, especially in rural areas, life isn't just hard. It's broken.
02:05And if you're living it, you don't need statistics to know what I'm talking about.
02:08But let's go over some anyway, just so that you know you're not alone.
02:13One in eight Americans rely on food banks or SNAP just to feed their families.
02:19Rents have doubled in many towns, even while wages stay flat.
02:24Healthcare cost is the leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S.
02:28And in rural areas, no hospitals for miles, no public transit, no options.
02:35If you're poor in America, you are expected to survive a system that was never designed for you.
02:42You're told to work harder, hustle more, grind until it gets better.
02:47But the truth is, you can work every single day of your life, multiple jobs, and still never be able to afford to buy a home,
02:58to pay all of your medical bills, or to buy truly healthy food for your family.
03:04That is not a personal failure.
03:06That is what happens when your country treats basic human needs as a profit opportunity.
03:13For most of our lives, we have lived in the Southern Appalachian region of East Tennessee,
03:18and then later we moved to Southwest Virginia.
03:21We not only have personal experience with this, but we also watch the struggle of our entire families.
03:28So this story isn't just about us.
03:31It's about our community, our friends, our loved ones.
03:35And it's about a lot of you.
03:37We did everything to make it work.
03:40We grew our own food.
03:41We bought things second hand.
03:43We took care of our stuff.
03:45We fixed stuff when it broke instead of buying new things.
03:48We were not materialistic.
03:49We were super frugal and lived below our means.
03:53Debt-free.
03:54We just did all the things that we felt were right.
03:58But still, no matter how frugal we were, no matter what we did, we still could never truly break out of the system.
04:07And it's not just us.
04:08It's our loved ones, our grandparents, aunts, cousins, neighbors.
04:14They are all working so hard and they're still struggling.
04:18They work in factories, construction jobs, and slaughterhouses.
04:22They're CNAs.
04:23They're teachers.
04:24These are irreplaceable jobs that are vital, but yet they're still not paid a living wage.
04:29The constant fear of your car breaking down or an illness that will keep you from going to work and paying your bills, let alone a doctor's visit.
04:41One bad month that can completely wipe you out.
04:45That isn't freedom.
04:46That is survival mode.
04:48And that's what it feels like to millions of people across the US.
04:52This is the country that is the wealthiest nation in the world.
04:56And a huge percentage of the population can barely make ends meet.
05:02So we made a decision that most people don't even think is possible.
05:07We left.
05:08We started traveling Southeast Asia, Thailand, Vietnam.
05:12And what we saw completely changed our viewpoint of what a poor country actually looks like and what's possible when a society prioritizes people over profit.
05:25We weren't looking for much when we left the US.
05:28Honestly, we were just looking for a more affordable place to survive and have a higher quality of life.
05:35But what we found when we got here was something we never really expected.
05:41We found access to healthcare, to affordable housing, affordable transportation, fresh food, amazing community, safety.
05:51In countries that we had been told our entire lives were third world countries.
05:57In Thailand, there's universal healthcare.
05:59In Vietnam, 90% of people are covered by public health insurance and healthcare costs are much lower.
06:07While we were in Vietnam, we had to take our two year old to the ER after a head injury.
06:13And we paid a little over $7 out of pocket to be seen.
06:20And that was without health insurance.
06:23Meanwhile, in America, it can cost $300 just to go to the doctor and thousands of dollars for an ER visit.
06:32And that's with insurance.
06:34In the food, the food here is so healthy.
06:38It is fresh.
06:39It's grown locally.
06:41There are neighborhood street markets on every corner.
06:46It is affordable food, even when you compare it to the wages that the people make here.
06:52There's fresh vegetables and fruit and meat and spices and pre-cooked to-go meals that you can just grab and take home with you that are made by local families.
07:03Even the poor families here eat well.
07:07They have access to affordable, healthy foods.
07:11It's not owned by corporations.
07:14It's not profitized.
07:16It's just local people feeding each other.
07:20Compare that to rural America where processed food is more affordable, may be the only thing available, and people may have to drive 20 miles just to get to a grocery store.
07:32In the community, the community here is strong.
07:35They are still very much family oriented.
07:38Families live together.
07:40Elders are respected.
07:41Children are respected.
07:43People know their neighbors.
07:44They look out for each other.
07:46Even us.
07:47Even being foreigners.
07:48Even not being from this area.
07:51Just the community vibe that we get, particularly with our two year old.
07:58We feel so safe and accepted here.
08:01Listen, we've been told our whole lives that America is the greatest country in the world.
08:08And I'm not here to bash America.
08:10There are some amazing things about America.
08:13I love certain parts of being American, of course.
08:19I'm not denying that.
08:21But we still have to acknowledge the problems that we are facing.
08:27A lot of us are facing and are truly struggling.
08:32We've been sold the lie that if you work hard enough, that if you sacrifice enough, everything is going to be okay.
08:40But what I've seen overseas is that a good quality of life is not only about wealth and making more money.
08:50It is about priorities.
08:52These countries aren't perfect.
08:53Far from it.
08:54No country is.
08:55But they are prioritizing health care, affordable housing, transportation, community care, basic human dignity.
09:07While in America, that is slipping away for millions of people.
09:11So when people ask us, why did we leave?
09:14Isn't it scary to move abroad?
09:16Our answer is no.
09:19What's scary is being one hospital visit away from losing everything.
09:26What's scary is watching people that you love break down from stress, debt, and isolation in the richest country on earth.
09:36If you are struggling right now, if you're exhausted, anxious, stressed, just know that it's not your fault.
09:44You're not lazy.
09:45You're not stupid.
09:46And you're not broken.
09:47You are living in a system that was not designed for you to succeed.
09:52It's not designed to take care of you.
09:54It's designed to extract from you.
09:57We've all been sold the same story.
09:59If you work hard enough, if you follow the rules, if you keep your head down, then you will live the American dream.
10:09But that American dream just isn't true for most of us anymore.
10:16The cost of housing, food, education, health care have all skyrocketed.
10:22And wages have barely moved in 40 years.
10:25Meanwhile, billionaires are tripling their wealth and corporations pay almost no taxes.
10:30This isn't a failure of individuals.
10:32It is a failure of policies, policies by both parties that over decades have prioritized profit over people.
10:42Us in America are owned by corporations.
10:46Everything is for profit.
10:49Our health care.
10:50Our food system.
10:51Things that are basic human needs.
10:54Our government bails out banks.
10:56They let corporations outsource jobs, slash benefits, and raise prices.
11:01They defund schools and health care in our towns.
11:06And you are just told to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
11:09I get told a lot that wages in these other countries are a lot lower than in the US.
11:14And yes, while that is true, somebody in Thailand can still pay for housing, food, health care, all of their basic needs,
11:25and still have money left over at the end of the month to save or have a little bit of fun with.
11:32While in the US, if you look at the same average wage and then deduct all of your meeting your basic needs expenses,
11:41health care, housing, transportation, all of that, there's no money left over.
11:46In fact, most people are going into debt just to meet their most basic needs today.
11:51So while the wages are lower in these developing nations, the cost of basic living expenses are also much lower.
12:01We have personally lost family members due to the health care crisis in the US.
12:08We have watched families not only lose their lives, but their homes.
12:12We have watched neighbors lose jobs, lose hope.
12:17And through it all, we've been told that it is our responsibility to fix it.
12:21But there's no fixing the system that is controlled by money when you don't have any to begin with.
12:28And the thing that is most frustrating is that this country has the money, it has the resources,
12:34but what it doesn't have is the desire to build a system in which ordinary people are able to survive and maybe even thrive.
12:46And that's why we left, not because we hate America, but because we wanted to be able to live.
12:52So you might be thinking that's great for you, but I can't just pack up and leave the country.
12:58And I totally get that.
13:00I am not suggesting that everyone just pack up and move.
13:03I know that there are very valid reasons why a lot of people can't do that.
13:09But what we need to do is we need to wake up to the reality of what is going on.
13:16And you need to know that you are not trapped.
13:19You've just been told that you are.
13:21Step one is to question the narrative.
13:24Start asking yourself, who is benefiting from me believing that my suffering is normal?
13:31That I should have to work two jobs just to afford to pay rent and put food on the table.
13:37That I deserve to go into debt just to go to the doctor.
13:42You don't deserve that.
13:43Nobody does.
13:44The system wants you to believe that.
13:47They want you to think that you're failing so that you will work harder.
13:51It's your fault for not figuring it out.
13:54It's your fault for not working hard enough.
13:57For not getting the right college degree.
13:59For not having the right job.
14:02Step two is to rebuild your life around your priorities.
14:07Wherever you are, whether you live in rural America, the city, or another country,
14:12really stop and think what you want your priorities in life to be.
14:18Is it healthy food?
14:20You can start a garden or going to farmers markets or really deep diving in ways on how
14:27to source healthy, low cost foods.
14:33I have a whole playlist on my channel on the most affordable foods that we bought while
14:39we were in the U.S. and tons of recipes and everything that we were able to keep our grocery
14:44budget really low by eating very low cost but healthy foods.
14:51Do you want to establish a greater sense of community, getting to know your neighbors,
14:57building mutual support with each other, having that strong support system with your community?
15:02Are there things that you want to learn which everybody should continuously be learning?
15:07Reading books, learning about other cultures and countries.
15:12You don't have to go anywhere to learn these things.
15:15That's something that I'm going to be sharing here on my channel are just the things that we learn
15:20as we're traveling around.
15:22Do you need to become more financially literate so that you can understand debt and savings
15:28and living below your means, budgeting?
15:30All of those things are still very, very important and very vital to living in a weak economic society.
15:39And step three is to consider your options.
15:42And yes, that might even mean thinking about leaving the country if that is a viable option for you.
15:50There are safe, affordable, family-friendly countries all over the world where you can live a higher quality of life
15:59than you have in the U.S.
16:01No country is perfect, but for us it has been the difference between surviving and really living.
16:09If your health, your safety, your sanity, your children's future are at risk,
16:16you owe it to yourself to explore every possible option.
16:21No guilt, no shame, no apologies.
16:24Millions of people are waking up to the same realization that the idea of the American dream that we have been sold is a lie.
16:33But the human dream to be healthy, to be safe, to be connected, to have enough, that is still alive and thriving in all of us.
16:44That dream is still possible and the first step is refusing to continue to suffer in silence anymore.
16:50We're not just telling the story from the outside.
16:53We have lived the struggle and now we're traveling around to different countries to find something that works.
16:59Not just cheaper places to live, but healthier, more connected, more human ways of life.
17:05We're searching for more affordable, sustainable options for ordinary people like us.
17:11And we're sharing them here in case you might find them helpful too.
17:16Because it's not just about finding a new place to live.
17:20It's about finding a new way to live.
17:23A new way to live that is sustainable for everyone no matter where you are.
17:29So if you want to follow along and see what we're learning and unlearning, make sure that you subscribe because I'm going to continue to share our experiences in all the countries that we visit.
17:42I know that there's other people like us that are searching for something different that have felt the struggle and want things to be better.
17:50They just want to be happy and free.
17:53There is another way to live.
17:55So let's find it together.
17:57As always, thank you guys so much for watching and I'll talk to you next time.
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