It’s not that we don’t want to, it’s that our society’s design discourages this. For the most part, if you don’t have a GOOD job in the US, you don’t get healthcare or retirement. And even the employers at those good jobs can and do fire employees at any time, for any reason. Given the cost of healthcare without insurance and lack of social safety net, l I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that for most Americans, even upper middle class, holding on to their jobs is a matter of life and death.
Can 100% confirm. I've gone from earning $50 an hour (back when that was a lot of money) to a successful career owning/operating my own businesses to living in constant pain and misery that I can't even afford to visit a doctor for, and thanks to the societal gray area I fall into (not being a homeless drug addict) I don't qualify for free medical help to get healthy enough to go back to being "productive". For the love of all that is holy, DO NOT get sick in the USA! Your value as a human here depends entirely on the value that can be extracted from your wallet.
But you're not mentioning the ACA or any right wing key words/phrases, so I'm confused what your message (what action should be prescribed) and target audience are.
If holding on to your job is totally a matter of life and death today, that seems like a really clear and complete denunciation of what was formerly considered the Obama administration's greatest accomplishment.
It makes me wonder if you all in this subthread were influenced in the last couple of elections towards or away from Democrats for that reason.
Yet, they are all stuck in the never ending rat race. The excessive focus on the rat race leads to less energy and time left for friendships. The little time that is left is left only for superficial acquaintances. You know, the kind where people talk to each other like a sitcom.
Every time I go to Asian countries, I am stunned by how much time people (even those with high powered careers) give to family and friends. You know, things like casual hanging out in friends apartments on weekends, street food time in the evenings, experiencing a new restaurant or exploring a new village on a short road trip together.
Americans just don't want to engage in this kind of "unproductive" lifestyle. It's all about work, career, money. The entire cottage industry of self-help is all about spending every living moment improving yourself to more material wealth.