Next Exit Please!

So, I hit the USA and the road instantly becomes a six lanes in each direction freeway. - I had been riding on one lane each way highway in Mexico (admittedly I had taken the old "non-toll" highway).

In the USA, every car on the road is traveling at 120-140Kmh. - In Mexico, I had been traveling at about 100Kmh with traffic speeds ranging from farm equipment at 40Kmh to cars at 120Kmh.
In the USA, there is no hesitation, people know how to drive and are doing it for the most part very well. In Mexico, some people are driving, but most are doing something else as their priority! Traffic is slow, chaotic and unpredictable and much more dangerous too.
Every car is in excellent condition in the USA but in Mexico, Id say that about a third were in really rough shape and probably not fully "roadworthy". This ratio gets much higher in the country and higher again as you get further South in Mexico.
There is not a single bit of garbage anywhere that I can see in the USA, whereas it is absolutely everywhere in Mexico - Literally, you can not look anywhere without seeing discarded food wrappers, plastic bags and drink bottles.
In the USA, there is no dust at all (though there is plenty of dense smog!). In Mexico, particularly in the desert regions, there is a constant and all pervading supply of dust and it comes from the fact that virtually none of the road verges or side roads in the country are paved (and that's where lots of the vehicle traffic is). - I couldn't tell if there was smog in Mexico or not because of the dust.

So that all sounds like the USA is the place to be right?.... but actually, I didn't think it is!
Its sad to say because the US achieves so much and has such great potential; but then it just misses the point completely!

West Coast USA is the epitome of one flavor of western society: Its clean and fast and efficient and safe.... but its completely empty too!

It seems to me that the Californian freeway is the perfect metaphor for the society that spawned it. It is big and fast and clean and efficient. Everyone is on it and they are all going as fast as they can in the same direction. People have slightly different styles and some want to be in front all the time, and some want to eat their burger while they drive, and most want to talk to someone on their cell phone as they drive. And all the cars are shiny and clean and very new, and many of them are big empty pickup trucks with lots of chrome and raised suspension, and they are all "going"....

But going where?
The freeways don't actually go anywhere!
They bypass absolutely everything! ... They go!... That's all they do... They just Go!

I too am part of a version of this society and I'm more or less aware of the "object of the game", and this is what we do with our time:
It seems to me that the basic code of life here is to "have stuff"!
The goal is to "have more stuff than most people (as many as possible), and as much stuff as your friends!"
We aim to do this for our selves and our families and we do it because everyone else is doing it. And it achieves a lot but it does not answer the question of "why do we want the stuff?"...

And we want the stuff because we think it will make us happy, but in fact it doesn't... I know because I have tried this approach for many years and been quite successful at it (getting stuff that is)- but unfortunately it is COMPLETELY EMPTY - Stuff does not make us happy!

Most people get caught up in it and before they know it, they have a family and then they are locked in with acquiring stuff for themselves and then for the kids and their education and everything else... No one gets to stop and take a look at whats happening...
They get stuck on that freeway and are just Going...

I too have been stuck on that freeway Going...., for years!
But, as "outrageous fortune" would have it, I am single and have no family or children or any reason not to "hop off" the freeway for a moment and take a look around.
So, I have done that; Actually I have done that quite often in the past too, but I have always just got back on the freeway after the break and started Going again - Why?
Well, because I didn't know what else to do, Everyone else was doing it and I didn't have a better plan, and well,... There must be something in it or people wouldn't do it!,  And if I don't do it, I'll get left behind!.....

The answer then is because of lack of alternatives and fear!

But I don't think that is quite true.
Now, after much deep consideration, I KNOW (and I can only speak for myself here) that having lots of "stuff" will NOT make me happy!
And, after having looked deep inside myself, I can now finally say that I have found something else that at least has a possibility that it MIGHT be able to make me happy - That "inner light".

I know why people stay on that freeway - Its because they cant see any alternative, and No one can show it to them... I think you have to find it for yourself... And that's really hard, and it takes great will to get off that freeway while everyone else you know carrys on...

But I think that may well be what I'm going to try to do!
Not sure of the details yet, but getting off that freeway is my current priority!
I'm not going to just abandon everything and disappear because I'm not yet that sure that I have found a long term alternative solution. But I think its fair to say that a "disengagement" is in order :)