Cultures really are different, diverse, and have different priorities, in deep and meaningful ways.

Political correctness' "diversity that is disguised homogeneity where every really just agrees with me deep down inside, whether they know it or not, and all cultures are the same except for the superficial trivialities of what songs they sing, what clothes they wear, and what holidays they celebrate" is not an accurate picture of the world, and really quite provincial and imperialist (imposing your view on the whole world) on its own, despites its pretenses to sophistication and worldliness.

Yes. Yes it is. The country is Bulgaria.

I dunno. I get the same feeling at my work a lot of the time.

There are entire countries where the modus operandi is finding a position of some power, then finding a way to cheat there so you can get something for yourself. Corruption is a measure of success.

Knowing the loopholes and exploiting them means you're the smart one among a sea of clueless idiots. People get "secret" respect for being corrupted. Former Soviet block countries are one example of this mentality.

There's a reason certain countries can't make quick progress, while others can. Culture is the operating system of the mind, it affects how we perceive the world, how we make decisions, and ultimately where we're dragging the entire society with us.

I never understood why somebody would not find a way to arrange themselves with these types of situations.

There seemed to be three option, either actively start a movement to change the system, or position yourself to profit from the system, or leave the system. Just going around "the system is against me" is one of those victim positions that make yourself feel good but won't make any difference for anyone.

That's easy to say. If you were actually living in that situation, the solution would be less obvious. People have home, roots, family. A situation like that is not black and white. Life is complicated and things are difficult. Be kind.

Who is assuming that "system is against me" victim position you're talking about? I don't see it.

People do what they can in their position. Spontaneous organization leading to system change happens, but it's spontaneous.

Maybe you're imagining some kind of movie montage set to 80s bad disco music, where a guy Decides to Make a Movement, and a movement gets assembled and in the end we get a wide shot with hundreds of thousands of people doing system changy thingies, but reality usually doesn't work this way.

You can't just decide this, especially if you're a ~60 years old network engineer. Deciding to build a life abroad at that age is also quite unlikely.