Ok LP, Ive got where you are coming from, in a very generalized way. I have met people and had lengthy discussions that hold your basic beliefs in standard humanism and I respect those beliefs immensely. However, my experience in life has been a wonderful one and I attribute that to many things, two of which stand out profoundly in my mind:
1) A unique and beautiful extended family experience
2) A unique and beautiful experience living in what I rightfully believe to be the greatest nation yet conceived on this earth.
With all its warts and ugliness, it is still a far cry from what most other nations have been able to achieve. I salute the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Australia for carrying very similar traditions in culture and government as we do here in these United States, and I can easily think of a dozen other nations, some in Western Europe, that strive for the equilibrium present in this land, but I believe firmly we have the most to gain, and the most to lose. Yet, by and large, I would fight to the last measure of my ability to escape from the majority of nations presently existing on this planet, to come here.
I am sure you could justifiably tear me a new one for my views. Its been done before and it will happen again, the beauty of democracy eh.....
Just my opinion though and thanks for sharing yours
Lastly I agree with you on this: We all will suffer the exact same fate in this life, as all life experiences its own demise. The billions that have been, and hopefully, those many more to follow us as we each wind our own singular way through time.