The Myth of Misery

"What the West calls 'lack' others call life. What the West calls 'modern' often feels like soul suicide."

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The media says they're miserable.

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But the smiles you see in third world countriesthose arent performed.

Theyre not influencer grins or filtered joy.

Theyre raw. Deep. Present.

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Many of them wake with the sun.

They eat what they grow.

They laugh without devices.

They rest without shame. They know their neighbors. They feel the seasons. They move with the earth, not against it.

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Meanwhile, in developed nations:

People take pills to smile.

Scroll endlessly just to feel something.

Work jobs they hate, buy things they dont need, and call that success.

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The lie is that poverty equals misery.

But many who have little... live richly.

And many who have much... are dying inside.

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The West measures happiness in consumption.

But joy doesnt live in credit scores.

It lives in presence.

In connection.

In rhythm.

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Sure, some struggle.

But to paint entire cultures as broken is colonial narcissism disguised as compassion.

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Theyre not miserable.

Theyre simply not caught in the same spell.

They havent traded their breath for Wi-Fi.

They havent forgotten the feel of soil, song, or silence.

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What the West calls lackothers call life.

What the West calls modern often feels like soul suicide.

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This isnt about glamorizing struggle.

Its about correcting the gaze.

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They are not less than you.

They are not waiting for your savior complex.

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They might just be freer.

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And thats the part they dont want you to see.