Yeah. That pretty much sums up how I feel about America. They don't know how good they have it. I don't know what it is about America- somehow, there is a sense of optimism and freedom there that you just don't get anywhere else.

He mentioned that after camping in some rather remote places he really started to understand why Americans hate big government (ok, some Americans) and the whole "do it yourself" attitude. Out there no one will do it for you and nobody can come help you if things go sideways.

If it weren't for the fact that I oppose conscription of all kinds, I'd advocate sending American kids into the wilderness for a week with nothing more than a pocketknife and bag of twine to make them become a bit more self-reliant. Maybe then they'd understand just why government is so dangerous…

I worked with a guy who moved here from Germany for about 5 years. The first thing he did after getting off the plane was head to a car dealership and buy the biggest truck he could find. Why? Because he could and he knew he would never get that opportunity back home. He was an avid outdoorsman but even he got a little weirded out at times at the sheer scale of the country and how easily you could get to places where there was nothing but trees, rocks and not a living soul for 100km or more in every direction. He mentioned that after camping in some rather remote places he really started to understand why Americans hate big government (ok, some Americans) and the whole "do it yourself" attitude. Out there no one will do it for you and nobody can come help you if things go sideways.

When he left he said "You guys don't know how good you have it."