Very good questions. Maybe America's work habits is what made her the greatest nation on earth. Putting old folks in care facilities is a bad sign though.

Ask D'jaba why he came to America to study rather than another 3rd world country.?

I know why he came to America Gary. The seminary he and I attend (and students from 88 other nations).
Same reason the Chinese and Rwandan and Ethiopian and Russian and on and on came to this particular seminary which still teaches a non-denominational orthodoxy (traditional) Christianity of the one, holy, catholic (universal) Apostolic Church. There's but a handful of these seminaries left in the world 300 years after the Enlightenment period. Sadly, most seminaries have integrated to the culture around them over that span of time.

KeniaKid, as always, you have a very strong answer and it seems pretty darn accurate. You have a solid lens on life and your answers are worth reflecting on. Thanks.
TRex, kind of a pointed answer brother trapper. Seems a bit judgmental as you warn others of being judgmental. Don't walk the liberal's path. Libs (philosophy, not political) like to paint their opposition with the lens of color they think.
My friend in the faith, a man I never met before 2019, has had an interesting life, and isn't judging us. He's asking. There is a difference and I am not intimidated by inquiring minds. I think it shows interest. He doesn't tell me how Americans outta live. He ask me "why" we live the way we do. Heck, most of it, I never thought much about before. I've never aimed at retirement as a destination but realize many do. My wife is one who uses the "retire someday" imagery often, and I have no idea what that is to be honest. Retire? From what?

So I appreciate everyone's thoughts. I'll share many of these with D'Jaba.
I also ask him about Gabon. Some ways of his culture seem similar to me and some things (men rearing boys after age 6) that are foreign as can be. For instance,"D'Jaba, what do you do when there's no husband in the home?"

We go back and forth a lot. All good.

Blessings,
Mark

Now were supposed to feel guilty for retiring? The reason Gabon is still a third world country where such things are not common is the average IQ is 64. In the United States an IQ of less than 70 is considered mentally retarded and qualifies for S.S. disability.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/en/country-rankings/average-iq-by-country

There is one Man on here who lives life that way... I hunted with him. Heck of a Guy!

Where in this world did you come up with your thesis danny? I mean your first sentence.
The 2nd sentence isn't worth responding to since I'm not in the habit of judging other people's mental status.
I realize you'll stand upon your statement however since it's a Google find. You might also Google how incredibly useless and worthless IQ tests are.

Kinda funny Mark they keep on re-doing the IQ thing and keep coming up with the same results. Google countries ranked by wealth. Pretty close to the avg IQ list. Another reality people dont like so they just disregard it

Good answer.

I'm not arguing IQ may be linked to accumulating wealth. Guess then we'd have to dive in and clarify what wealth is. Cash is a common answer of course.
Some would argue that into this world I came naked, and naked from this world I will leave >>>> so then what does wealth look like?

For me I was lucky, for the most part I always enjoyed the job I was doing. I was getting paid to learn, even jobs that I did not enjoy I was learning, how not to supervise or that I did not want to do that kind of job the rest of my life. I learned a lot of skills that I used throughout my life. I did like most always miss being at home to raise my kids and tend to my homestead. One day finally got a nest egg, paid off all debts and was done with it. been retired for all most 12 years and some days miss the jobs I worked at over the years. I am busier now or at least as busy as I have always been, so never really retired, just working for me now. I really feel folks that retire and sit on a couch most of the time miss life and have wasted life.

actually, wealth is almost directly related to how Free a society is.

that's why we're losing ours.

Am I correct to summarize that freedom is a theme here?

I guess for me, it is. my great, great, great, great grandfather came to this country as a lad in 1742. his grist mill was burned to the ground by the Tories. as a forty-something year old, he joined the county militia to fight the British. guess some of it rubbed off.

Mark, keep in mind (before you answer your friend) that we at T-Man are an odd bunch; and do not (even FAINTLY) resemble the norm in America.

VERY skewed sample, my Friend!

I remember a religious bunch that came to America to study and ended up flying planes into buildings. They didn't like Americans being prosperous and happy. Ya never know what someone is thinking but worldwide America seems to be generally disliked.

Now you went and done it white marlin. Now you went and dooooone IT!
You are gonna get a gaggle of PMs making you realize that if everybody was like _______, this world would be a perfect place.

I’m a believer in that retirement allows financial freedom to do what you want when you want. You work to save enough to allow that freedom in retirement. Often times, people continue to work during retirement but it’s at something they enjoy/believe in and money is no longer the driving force. It’s more about personal satisfaction.

It sounds like your buddy D’jaba retired from being an attorney. Ask him why. It also sounds like he had a whole village saving up for what he wanted to do/believes in. Maybe he doesn’t understand the concept of financial freedom because he got it given to him by his village.

It's the rest of the world that's odd, not us!

To keep a goal in front of people otherwise no one would want to work in corperate america.