My move to Costa Rica was widely questioned. Yet here, I don’t have any daily security concerns and while it’s not perfect, I’m surrounded by people who are generally confident their government’s priority is the people’s best interest. In this country, there is no army, access to medical care is considered a constitutional right and the government’s number one and two priorities are education and protecting the environment.
Costa Rica is routinely recognized worldwide for its leading healthcare and one of the highest life expectancy rates, educated and happy people and strides in renewable and sustainable energy. When I post things like this to my facebook page, I find I’m often met with a lot of hostility and opposition. “Well they are such a small country, that’s why,” “They have far fewer people, it’s the only reason that works,” “I’m sure they have to wait years to see a doctor.”
Those close-minded reactions, are only excuses. This is the 21st century. A majority of the countries in the world have freedom. Access to technology and education has spread, allowing global advancements. Many countries have managed to find common sense solutions, to solve similar if not the same problems the United States is currently facing - from healthcare and education, to minimum wage and rights for workers, to women’s rights and aide for families, to gun violence and incarcerations, to energy and infrastructure, to trade and immigration - for every issue listed, there’s a country out there that has figured out how to solve it more effectively than the United States, period. This information is out there for everyone to find with just a bit of independent research.
As a culture, we seem hell bent on coming up with reasons why “it worked for them, but won’t for us,” instead of being willing to learn and then be vigilant together in pressuring our government to forge similar paths of progress.
During this election, I’ve realized: The United States has created its own downward spiral by being married to a broken two-party system ruled by bureaucracy and corporate interests, and a general unwillingness to support the few leaders who have come forward with the potential ability to do something truly different.
It’s time to understand we’ve reached an era where there is no single greatest nation, but a beautiful fabric of many that have managed to observe and then collectively implement elements making the world a better place for all of us combined. Will we join them, or sink our own ship in a sea of stubbornness and an obsession with superiority?