The U.S. Suffers from an Extreme Level of Individualism.

This is one of the reasons this nation hasn't moved forward in a long time.

I miss the sense of participation, sharing, and community in my home country of Colombia — I felt I was part of a nation.

Before anyone starts saying, 'Then go back to your country if you miss it so much,' hear me out.

Criticizing the U.S. does not mean I don't care. It's the opposite. I care about this country and its people and want us to become aware of the issues stopping us from moving forward and changing for the better.

Growing up, my mother knew our neighbors, and I was friends with their kids. After school, we would gather and hang out at the community's park.

When I first came to the U.S., that's what I missed the most, and it's still something I miss, especially around the holidays and the New Year.

This is something the U.S.A. lacks — a culture that values your town, neighborhood, and neighbor.

Maybe it was once a priority, but it wasn't the case when I moved here. I lived in Queens, New York, for the first two years, and I still have no clue who my neighbors were!

Unfortunately, the U.S. celebrates an extreme level of individualism, with everyone thinking we're too different to ever understand one another.

We're so glued to our phones, games, laptops, work, etc., that we've forgotten the simple joy of interacting with another human being.

I will admit that times have changed, and finding a kind and respectful person can be difficult. These crazy stories we hear about people assaulting another for seemingly no reason are terrifying, and it makes sense why we're so cautious about engaging with a stranger.

But these stories are the exception, not the rule.

Aside from these extreme stories, I believe there are a few other reasons why we're so unconcerned about our immediate space:

We're distracted by the media that constantly highlights the lives of Hollywood celebrities and influencers.

Making us think the solution to our problems is to make more money at whatever cost so we can do whatever we want.

Movies, social media, and any media you can think of, in some way or another, are constantly trying to get us to pay attention to the lives and lifestyles of celebrities and influencers.

Instead of worrying about our current situation, reality, and space, we worry about the lives of strangers.

This is one of the biggest culprits of the disconnection I see.

We stopped caring about making our lives the best they can be and are instead constantly daydreaming about one day becoming a celebrity or influencer that has all this supposed stuff, friends, and money, traveling around the world.

The reality is nothing is as it seems, and as we've seen time and time again, material things and money do not guarantee happiness.

We're glued to our phones and subscriptions, constantly looking at screens, avoiding real life and its issues.

Life is not pretty and comes with its fair share of challenges.

We're using technology to escape our reality rather than to improve it. Aside from the media constantly bombarding us with news about total strangers, we're also using media to avoid the reality we live in.

Life is not always roses and rainbows, which, by the way, is the same for all these celebrities and influencers. We all have problems. Life does not discriminate. It happens to ALL of us, the good and the bad.

Yet, knowing this, many of us still stuff our brains with unnecessary movies, TV shows, and content.

Part of life means going through painful moments and situations. But instead of using the technology we have available to help us move forward, we're using it to mask the pain and avoid taking care of ourselves and the challenges we face on a daily basis.

The media manipulates all kinds of stories to spread hate and bigotry and create more division among its people.

I stopped watching the news a long time ago because they only cover what's always going wrong.

Real journalism died a long time ago, and very few people are willing to tell the truth about what's happening in the world.

Many people in the U.S. are not critical of their news sources and, as a result, believe whatever their favorite news anchor says.

The U.S. is a nation that lacks self-awareness.

This is another reason we're unable to unite.

We're so worried about our egos being hurt that instead of being honest about our problems, we stick our heads in the sand and pretend nothing is happening.

We blame everyone else but ourselves for why things aren't changing in a good way.

The reality for most people is that 90% of their problems are their fault.

The only way to start fixing things is by first looking in the mirror and admitting what we’re doing that's making things worse instead of better.

Unfortunately, I don't see the people of the United States doing this anytime soon. Everyone is too consumed with their emotions, feelings, and egos to have a serious conversation about the present and the future.

Although the U.S. is a hotbed for technology and breakthroughs that have the power to change the world, time and time again, we've seen these things be misused for greed.

This has indirectly taught us that in this country, every man and woman must fend for themselves and not rely on anything or anyone.

We're a selfish nation.

You may be thinking, how are we selfish when we're donating millions and billions of dollars to other causes?

I'll tell you why. Because the majority of those donations aren't to help people in need. They're manipulations of millionaires and billionaires who want to avoid paying taxes.

They're the manipulations of a poorly run government that isn't trying to help but rather establish influence in foreign nations, giving them the power to tell those nations what to do.

Do you know why we're a selfish nation? Because we refuse to take care of our own.

There are a million examples I could give you. From people not earning a livable wage, to the middle class being taxed a ridiculous amount, to health care being difficult to access, to our food having little to no safety regulations, which makes it poison, to companies intentionally understaffing and abusing their current employees, etc.

The problems we have are serious.

Until we stop worrying about our egos being hurt, until we stop focusing on people's private lives and instead focus on working together to come up with solutions, we'll be an individualistic, lonely nation that can't get sh*t done.