You might have noticed that the TV shows and movies from the 60's and 70's had very different characters from today. The characters in those days exuded kindness, warmth, feeling and had strong morals. The main characters were never assholes, even if they were action heroes. They cared about others, and were nice and friendly, like people you'd be glad to hang out with. And they had an air of familiarity to them, like they were part of your family. Viewers felt an emotional attachment to them. Love and drama scenes were full of genuine emotion and feeling. Even the music in older TV shows and movies was very romantic.
But modern TV shows and movies have cold, uncaring, gritty characters that seem soulless, inhuman and devoid of feeling or warmth. All they care about is acting tough and badass. With no emotional investment in them, you don't even care if they live or die. Sadly, I guess that reflects the attitude of young modern Americans (or is supposed to).
It's kind of like that 1978 sci-fi horror movie "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" with Donald Sutherland. In that great classic film, alien pods replicate humans on Earth into alien clones who are devoid of any emotion or feeling. At the end, everyone in the city of San Francisco has turned into soulless inhuman clones. You gotta wonder if the filmmakers were trying to tell us something, since the film's scenario so chilling accurately depicts modern America. Plus, the humans only get replicated when they "go to sleep" which was a great pun, whether intended or not.
Many foreigners and soulful aware people have observed to me that Americans seem to lack soul, and have only money in their eyes. It's as if the "life force" has been drained or sucked out of them. Now, I don't see how it would even be possible to suck out the soul or life force of an entire nation, so I can only wonder if something "out of this world" is going on at a higher or deeper level of reality. (Reality is multi-layered after all, with both physical and non-physical layers) It's as if invisible extra-dimensional forces are at work.
However, since I cannot speculate on things unseen, I can only try to find more physical earthly reasons and causes. So here are some that I offer based on my speculation and educated guesses.
1. Americans are conditioned to be single-minded about the purpose of life, which is to make money. They are taught that life and everything is all business. A workaholic lifestyle is considered to be the norm that one strives for. Such a narrow focus on life suppresses their creativity and imagination, and makes them dull as well.
In America, the pursuit of money has REPLACED the human soul. Thus the eyes of Americans look empty and plastic, not soulful or passionate. Their eyes often look depressed too, as though they've been overworked and been overconsuming too much with nothing else to live for.
Moreover, the ever increasing high cost of living in America (due to inflation and the malpractices of the Federal Reserve and banking elite), which has gone out of control, has further perpetuated the need for living a workaholic lifestyle to keep up.
Most Americans don't realize how insane it is to live on a treadmill though. They never stop to ask themselves this enlightening question: What's the point of making a living if all you do everyday is work to make a living? After all, there's no "living" to make if there's no time or freedom to "live" and do what you want right? Thus the phrase "making a living" becomes a self-contradiction and oxymoron.
2. Americans are conditioned to be materialistic and derive happiness from consumerism and material possessions. Thus their focus is on the external rather than the internal. As a result, they do not cultivate their inner self or soul and thus become soulless. This explains why people who are highly materialistic seem to have empty soulless eyes with no inner self or spirit radiating within, and lack true passion as well.
Americans also trade happiness for comfort, by following the system rather than their soul. This is a big mistake because when you focus on bodily comforts and neglect the wishes of your soul, heart or spirit, you deny yourself and live a very fake and inauthentic life.
3. Americans are conditioned to live in fear and paranoia. Someone told me this once: "Cars run on fuel, Americans run on fear." The typical American mentality, personality and attitude is in a state of fear consciousness. You can see it in their personality, body language, and vibe. Their media perpetuates fear by feeding them bad news and tragedies everyday. Studies show that the more you watch the news, the more paranoid you become, which is no surprise.
But even if they listen to the alternative media, they will still be fearmongered, because the alternative media tells them that their enemy is their own government and the lies, corruptions and conspiracies of the powers that be. So they are always kept in fear of something, whether by establishment sources or alternative sources.
The thing is, having fear when there is real danger involved is normal and necessary for survival. But Americans are in a mode of fear about everything, to the point where it dominates their state of mind and consciousness, becoming excessive and beyond reason. They even start to fear things that don't exist. As a result, they see every stranger as a potential psycho, criminal or terrorist.
What's ironic is that in foreign countries where there is a higher level of danger and crime, people are not as paranoid. For example, Russia, Mexico and the Philippines all have higher crime on their streets than America does, but yet the people there are not paranoid or in a constant state of fear at all. In those countries, you can walk up to strangers (including women) and talk to them and they will be relaxed and comfortable. Unlike Americans, they do not have imaginary fears. Rather, they are more in touch with reality and their personalities are more down-to-earth.
I would even venture to guess that Americans project their fears and lack of freedom to other nations. They view people in other nations as living in fear, being unkind and unfree, while themselves as friendly, warm and open, even though the truth is the exact opposite.
The problem with being in a perpetual state of fear, or being in fear consciousness, is that it lowers your energy and chakra levels to a slow vibration, which makes you less aware, less conscious, and impairs your ability to think clearly. It inhibits your potential for growth, creativity, openness, adventure, and new ideas. As a result, your soul/spirit becomes low density and less vibrant. Rather than being on fire, you feel weak and helpless.
The consequence is that fear narrows your mind. The more fearful you are, the more narrow your mindset is. But the less fear you have, the more open-minded you will be, and along with it, your imagination, creativity, and soul will blossom and expand as well.
4. Americans are not curious nor are they drawn to novelty. They prefer familiarity over novelty, and lack curiosity. Thus they are not drawn to new ideas, new people and new things. Instead, they seek the familiar and the routine, in people and things, and do not trust the unfamiliar.
This explains why Americans are not comfortable with meeting new people and why they don't like talking to strangers unless it's for business only. American social life is highly cliquish, which means that it is limited to within groups that are CLOSED and EXCLUSIVE. Preferring familiarity, Americans only socialize with established friends in their social clique, and are not open with strangers. To strangers, they tend to be standoffish and distant, as if everyone is expected to mind their own business.
The problem with social life being limited to cliques is that cliques by nature are closed and exclusive. Thus, the people within them are going to have an attitude and mentality that is "closed and exclusive" as well (or snobby and stuck up in other words). Therefore, to fit into a clique, you have to be "closed and exclusive" yourself. Otherwise, you will have a hard time breaking in as you will not be on the same wavelength as the people in them.
(What's interesting to note is that when two American strangers run into each other in a foreign country, they are much more likely to start a conversation and ask questions about each other, than if they met in America, which speaks volumes.)
This is especially the case with women in America. Studies show that women prefer familiarity, whereas men are more drawn to novelty. See here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23740467
Thus women in America are more cliquish and socially closed when it comes to meeting new people and socializing with strangers, than men are. This is a consistent pattern I've seen time and time again. No question about it.
The significance here is that people who are more curious, more open, seek new experiences, and drawn toward novelty, tend to be more passionate, creative and imaginative than those who aren't. Thus they will seem more soulful and alive as well.
5. Americans are taught to only care about themselves, be independent and not need others. As a result, they are socially disconnected and distant from others. As they say, every man is an island. By default there is an "ice barrier" between strangers, hence the term "breaking the ice". Americans don't talk to strangers unless its business related.
Most friendships are facades and more of an acquaintance relationship than a true friendship. True friendship, connection, camaraderie, love, romance, community, and family values, don't exist in their natural form in modern America.
Inwardly, Americans are cold and unfeeling, albeit with fake plastic smiles, as well as arrogant and asshole-ish. In fact, modern American television and movies idolize characters who are uncaring assholes with no warmth, which reflect the typical modern American personality, sadly. In contrast, television shows in the past (before the 1990's) featured characters that were warm and caring. I guess to be truly independent and not need others, one has to become cold and uncaring. This makes them seem soulless as well.
6. In American public schools, imagination and creativity are suppressed, not cultivated. Children are conditioned to be left-brained by following steps, memorizing data and repeating it on tests. This makes them left brain dominant, while ignoring the right brain, which controls creativity, imaginative and freethought. As a result, they become robotic, zombie-like and dull. They also become rigid and not as open to new ideas. That's the goal of the American system, unfortunately, which treats everything as a business, including people.
Deep down, people can feel intuitively that they've been suppressed and controlled into an inauthentic existence. That's why their faces look depressed, empty and grumpy. Their "life force" has been suppressed and killed off. They can feel that something is wrong, but can't consciously understand why. So they feel this constant dissatisfaction and emptiness. But rather than engage in introspection, they engage in consumerism and making money. But ultimately none of it leads to true happiness, joy or fulfillment.
7. Food in America contains more processed ingredients than in any other country. Just look at the food labels at the supermarket in America and you'll see what I mean. There are so many processed ingredients and additives listed that you can't even pronounce. Not so in other countries. And who knows what those GMO's (genetically modified organisms) from Monsanto, which are now in most American food, are doing to us genetically.
You've heard the saying, "You are what you eat". Well if most of what you eat everyday contains a high amount of processed artificial ingredients, then logic would follow that you will become "artificial and processed" yourself, wouldn't it? Thus, the more "artificial and processed" you become, the less you will seem to be alive and soulful.
8. The architecture in America is dull and soulless. The buildings in most of America, such as the architectural design of the suburbs, strip malls, and corporate offices, have no style or creativity. They look soulless, empty, depressing, rigid and conformist, especially compared to the rich creative colorful architecture in Europe. As a result, the soulless architecture that surrounds Americans must play a part in making them soulless as well, since the environment rubs off on the people in it.
The lonely consequences of non-conformity
In regard to these likely reasons why Americans seem so soulless, the sad implication is that IF YOU do not share these same qualities, and if you are a freethinker with a soul, then you will be on a different wavelength and not be able to connect with others.
As a consequence, you may be ostracized from social life and dating in America, leaving you feeling lonely, alienated and isolated. It will be hard for you to make friends, get dates or have fun. You will have a hard time breaking into cliques, which are mandatory to have a social life in America, because as mentioned earlier, people (especially women) are only social within cliques, they don't go out and meet new people.
As a result, life will feel boring, empty and depressing. You will have no action in your life. And you will be ignored and left wondering, "What happened to the myth of the wild open America shown in the media?" because the reality around is that everyone is closed and cliquish, especially women.
However, you can't simply "pretend" to fit in. You see, if you are on a different wavelength or frequency than others, they will FEEL it and SENSE it too. They will get weirded out by you without knowing why. If you are on the polar opposite wavelength as them, they will begin to fear you. You will act as a "mirror" to them which shows them what they have really become, which makes them uncomfortable. After all, darkness fears light.
NE Asian countries share the same soulless traits
But the above dominant traits do not just apply to Americans. I have found that they apply to NE Asians as well. By that I mean people from Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Singapore. These countries also suppress their people's souls so that they can become workaholics. Like Americans, they are repressed, live in fear and paranoia, and limit their social life to within closed cliques.
Thus they are not open, do not make eye contact with strangers, and are not relaxed. They prefer familiarity over novelty, and are highly conformist as well. Their mentality is one of groupthink. (But as Aaron Russo said, "Groupthink is no think.") In these ways, NE Asians are very similar to Americans.
(What's funny is that NE Asians are tricked by Hollywood into thinking that America is very open and wild, but it's all illusion of course.)
Thus, if you are a soulful open-minded freethinker, you will not fit in there and will not connect with people there either, leaving you feeling alienated, isolated and lonely as well. It will be hard to make friends, join social networks, have fun, or get dates there since your vibe and wavelength will be different from others. So I would avoid NE Asian countries as well, if you do not fit into such repressed conformist cultures. Otherwise, you will feel ostracized and be bored there.
For instance, in my native country of Taiwan, I notice the same correlation as in America. Taiwanese live in a high degree of fear and paranoia, and are conditioned to be workaholics with very few interests. They are focused on external materialistic things and only care about practical issues. There is no focus on the internal, and no cultivation of the soul. Thus they seem soulless as well.
Therefore, I cannot connect with Taiwanese either and feel ostracized from social groups there. Their wavelength is way different from mine. Plus their social life is confined to within closed exclusive cliques as well, and women do not talk to strangers.
Good News: Why freethinkers will be happier in Europe
The good news in all this is that freethinkers will be a lot happier in Europe than in America. They will feel more accepted and have a far easier time meeting new people, making friends, having fun and getting dates. The reasons are:
1. People in Europe are more open to new ideas, more curious and more attracted to novelty. They have a wider variety of interests and are more broad-minded. Thus they will be on a more compatible wavelength with a freethinker. This is true of European females too, who are more open and down-to-earth than in America. Overall, a freethinker will connect better in Europe and feel more accepted.
2. The social atmosphere is more inclusive, friendly and sociable. People do not live in fear and are not as paranoid of strangers. They are more comfortable and relaxed about meeting new people. They will engage you more easily and make eye contact. Social interaction is much more smooth and natural. Again, this is true with young women too.
3. In Europe, people have richer souls, and are more deep, authentic and down-to-earth. Thus, if you are the same way, you will feel "surrounded by real souls" who seem more alive. Thus you not feel alienated or isolated, even if you are sitting alone and drinking coffee at a cafe by yourself. That's the beauty of it. You are surrounded by your own kind, so the depressing empty feeling you get in America isn't there anymore.
4. Fun activities and cultural events are more frequent and inclusive in Europe. You will have more fun than you ever had in America. There are always cultural events going on around town, even in a small town, and you can always join in, celebrate and party without feeling awkward. There is a feeling of inclusiveness in such social activities that you could never dream of in America. Trust me, I've experienced it and can personally attest to this. You will truly be amazed.
Note: The above attributes of Europe apply to Russia too. However, I do not mention Russia because although it is a very fun, exciting and dynamic country, it is also more dangerous, has a higher crime rate with muggings and scams, and is more of a hassle to get into because you have to buy a visa to enter the country. But Russia is a very exciting and soulful culture, so if you don't mind braving the risks, I would say go for it.
