Believe me, you and I cannot be more in agreement about the isolating effects of the typical modern suburban American life, though that does vary among subgroups within the US, and "we don't have this" is not categorically true. Religious people are much more likely to report being happier (among other beneficial things), for example[0], and anecdotally I notice the same; church is a social event for most people.
But the fact remains that Sri Lankans immigrate to the US while Americans don't immigrate to Sri Lanka. This is true even for developed countries; in 2018, there were 321k Italians living in the US[1], compared to 15k Americans living in Italy[2], meaning a full half percent of Italians gave up la passeggiata to be in America, whereas 0.005% of Americans did the reverse. If people vote with their feet, they are voting for money and energy over happiness.
I do wish the average American had more access to healthy social lives.
I think people tend to move where the economy is hot. The reasons are obvious: it's not fun sitting at your mum's house, while everybody thinks you're a loser, essentially because the economy is averaging negative GDP growth year on year, and nobody is getting hired.
That's mostly a social thing, not a lifestyle thing. Being unemployed in Italy (or really anywhere) is worse than having a decent job basically anywhere else.
But the fact remains that Sri Lankans immigrate to the US while Americans don't immigrate to Sri Lanka. This is true even for developed countries; in 2018, there were 321k Italians living in the US[1], compared to 15k Americans living in Italy[2], meaning a full half percent of Italians gave up la passeggiata to be in America, whereas 0.005% of Americans did the reverse. If people vote with their feet, they are voting for money and energy over happiness.
I do wish the average American had more access to healthy social lives.
[0]: https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2019/01/31/religions-re...
[1]: https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/2020/08/20/facts-on-u-s...
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Italy