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I have been to the United States several times before this trip, but in 2023 and 2024 I really went in depth and reached some of the more rural areas, the ones not many tourists/non locals visit.
I am a graffiti writer/urban explorer, although not a traditional one. The 2 main things I do while I travel the US are 1- paint hidden areas under bridges/tunnels 2- walk around/skate around downtown areas. While most writers like to stay around the big cities, I prefer to visit the smaller towns/rural areas.
Because of these 2 activities I partake in, I visit a lot of random places that normally other people would not visit simply because they are generally just boring places to your average individual.
As well as this, I stand out as an obvious outsider, being non-white and having an Australian accent, it often strikes up conversation with the locals from the small towns.
While I am painting/seeking out hidden areas, I often run into homeless people/remnants of campsites in these places. I always try to be friendly and say hello to people, so sometimes I strike up conversations where people talk to me about their living situation and how they ended up there.
The main question I always get asked by people is “Why are you travelling here of all places?” My answer to this is the same as why I travel anywhere. I just enjoy being in new places, and seeing both the good and bad of the world. It’s important to see the bad to appreciate the good.
And make no mistake, I am very grateful for the situation I was born in and the advantage I was given in life. After travelling to many different countries, I am aware of the advantage I was given simply because of where I was born.
My hometown of Sydney, Australia, as of 2023, was ranked as the 4th best city to live in the entire world. Not a single American city ranks highly on the list, and for good reason.
Ever since I was 16, I endeavoured to make a living online through internet marketing, at a time where the average joe making a living online wasn’t really heard of, compared to these days where there are plenty of kids who can make a living online doing something simple like streaming video games.
But make no mistake, I am also extremely grateful that I was able to waste many months online, making pennies before I was able to make a sustainable living. I had my parents supporting me and a safe place to live until then. If I was born in a less advantaged place, I could be already working in a sweatshop before I became a teenager, I could be in a war torn country fearing for my life daily, with no electricity, let alone access to the internet.
I will write more about the global situation and the geopolitical issues I have seen, but for now, the purpose of this write up is to write about the socio-economic issues I have observed in the United States.
The main points I will be covering are
- How travelling from state to state feels like travelling from country to country
- The deteriorating downtown areas in much of the rural US, while the corporations and strip malls(stroads) grow larger and larger.
- How the homeless problem in the US differs from any other country I have been to
- How many Americans I have spoken to from rural areas have not only no/warped understanding of how other countries are, they do not even know much about life in cities like NYC, Chicago etc besides only being a few hours drive away.
- How Americans seem to become more fiercely political the more rural you go, and how they argue politics where it’s completely unrelated.
- The large amount of propaganda Americans are subjected to, on the billboards/radio etc, and how it differs when you go from the city to the country.
- How Americans accept a lot of things as ‘normal’, when it would not be considered normal in any other country
- How the United States remains an economic superpower with a large influence over the world, especially via Hollywood TV/Films, but the vast majority of the US, is absolutely nothing like many people think, with so many people living in poverty.
Let’s take into consideration 3 huge American corporations and how they impact the people and community. Amazon, Walmart and Dollar General.
Amazon
While Australia also has Amazon, it is nowhere near as widespread as it is in the US. No matter where I have been in America, I always see the Amazon delivery trucks as well as the Amazon boxes outside people’s houses and businesses.
In Africa, if you want a cheap everyday item like a phone case, you go out and buy one from a vendor on the street.
In the US, if you want a phone case, you can order it off Amazon for a few dollars with free express shipping, free returns and it will be at your doorstep before you know it.
Now while this is great if you want cheap items, you also need to think about how it is impossible for small businesses to compete with this giant. You cannot undercut Amazon, simply because you would not be making any profit. They even have their own shipping courier, which is unheard of in other countries. Because of how highly it is used and ranks in search results, some smaller businesses resort to selling their products on Amazon and giving them a cut of their profits.
I believe Amazon is a key reason why shopping malls in America are dying, as well as why so many stores in different downtown areas around the country remain abandoned/vacant.
Walmart
Walmart is the all-encompassing megastore which is in every major town in the USA. These days you can go out to eat at Subway for lunch, go to the optometrist, go grocery shopping, go buy some childrens toys, go to the bank to get a loan, go buy some hardware and tools, get your car fixed, all in the same building known as Walmart. In Australia, I would have to go to several different stores, and spend several more hours running the same errands. However, convenience comes at a cost. Walmart is able to effectively put many different local places out of business, and not just the retail sector. One Walmart I visited even had a medical centre inside, although this is something I only saw once.
Also take into consideration this-
When Walmart moves into a small town and wipes out all the smaller businesses by undercutting prices, they also eliminate a large amount of jobs. So the people who were paying $5 instead of $10 for a meal, this can come full circle when they lose their job and end up working at Walmart and getting paid less.
Walmarts do not exist in downtown areas, they exist usually on something known as a stroad, an exit off the highway, and are usually located near fast food chains, and other big box corporate stores. They effectively remove business from the heart of the town and move it to this new car-centric area. The big chains band together, and this exit off the highway becomes the new epicentre and one stop shop, killing off the downtown area.
Dollar General
I underestimated the power of Dollar General until I really went deep and visited the very rural areas. This chain exists in towns so small that they do not have a Walmart. I have spoken to several people who do not even regularly go to the grocery store, instead they survive off fast food and the cheap processed food selection that Dollar General has.
This corporation is also responsible for ending a lot of smaller businesses.
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How Americans are fiercely political and divided
I have never been to a single other country on the globe where its citizens are so political, and this is observed every day when I was travelling throughout it. There are always huge flags, banners, bumper stickers, and signs everywhere. It is common when I strike up conversations with people that they start diverting and talking about politics when it has no relevance to the conversation. This phenomena can also be observed online, the amount of times I’ve seen Americans arguing about politics online in the comments of completely unrelated YouTube videos, among other things, is absurd.
For many people, this truly is the most important part of their personality.
I do not have much interest in speaking about American politics, so I will not elaborate too much on this section. All I will say is that people should realise there are bigger issues to worry about, and the rich and powerful rely on this division of its citizens to pit them against each other.
While driving I would sometimes listen to the radio as well as observe billboards, which don’t really make sense to me. For example, I don’t quite understand why so many people are always discussing gay/trans rights, when, unless you belong to that demographic, it really should not affect your everyday life regardless how you feel about that topic.
I have noticed in poorer communities, people tend to be more politically inclined, compared to the city, and they think the political parties are the only thing which can save/deteriorate their town.
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Oblivious to the outside world
Most Americans I have met do not have too much knowledge of the outside world, and are shocked when I tell them about things in America which do not occur in other places.
For example, going to a restaurant and paying the price of the food only rather than paying the ‘server’ is mind boggling to some. Going to the doctor/hospital and not showing any sort of ID or anything, just getting free treatment is something that doesn’t make sense to many Americans.
The prison system, the school system, the way Americans are all taxed, many just believe this to be the norm and can’t imagine anything else.
Americans are assigned a ‘social security number’ at birth and set to live, work and die.
Travelling state to state, or country to country?
Painting graffiti in different states feels like painting different countries. I paint mostly underneath bridges and tunnels. This requires me to park the van in a place that may be seen as unusual. In a very populous place like California, maybe no one bats an eyelid if they see someone park and then walk under a bridge with a backpack. In a very rural state like West Virginia, this could be quite the opposite. Several times I would park the van, and start walking, and people would come out of their houses to question me, to follow me secretly, to say I couldn’t park there (regardless of actual legality), etc…
I realised I had to try and be a lot more cautious in these more rural states if I was to avoid trouble, so I resorted to not ever parking near people’s houses and forgoing certain spots if I felt it was just too rural and my presence walking around would draw too much attention. What state/town I was in would drastically affect my attitude for graffiti/stickers. In a big city, I would generally feel comfortable walking/climbing around and painting/putting up stickers if I was visible by the public as I was usually quick about it. In the smaller towns I was far more cautious, as even just putting up stickers in front of pedestrians could cause some issues.
A place like NYC does reflect what I envisioned and exactly what I expected, from what I’ve seen on television/movies. I would see lots of people riding bikes around, commuting to work, lots of small corner stores, lots of people out and about, parks full, people playing basketball, whatever you normally see in a big city etc etc….
A place like rural West Virginia/Arkansas is completely different, you rarely see people walking around or outside, the downtown areas look completely abandoned, and if you see people hanging around downtown they are likely homeless.
Another example I have to consider, is when I spent some time travelling through somewhere such as California, is most people I observed with relatively ‘normal looking’, but going to rural states, most people are obese as well as the amount of ‘morbidly obese’ is so high, it would be easy to guess if you are in an urban area or a rural area just by looking at the people walking around Walmart.
A person from NYC going to a rural town in upstate NY would be a culture shock despite being only a few hours drive away, and vice versa.
The lack of public restrooms, and why
There is a huge lack of public restrooms in the US, as well as the ones you see in places like parks are often just locked without any valid reason or signage. So much so that I generally don’t even try opening the door to most public restrooms I see, I just assume they will be locked.
The few public restrooms you see open are usually small with only one stall, very dirty, out of toilet paper etc…
In the cities, many businesses will have signs saying their restrooms are broken, not for customers or have a numerical lock on the door.
Now let’s look at ‘rest areas’ on the interstate. I’m going to be honest here, these places are usually superb, very clean and very nice. While driving long distances, I often look forward to these places, to break up the drive, use the restroom, fill up my water bottles at the refill stations, and sometimes just sit and chill in a very clean, air conditioned area.
What’s the difference with the restrooms here and in the city? One caters to vehicular traffic and one caters to pedestrian traffic.
Skateboarding’s link to observing economic disparity.
One of my favorite ways to wander around a new city and explore is to ride my skateboard. While skateboarding is illegal on the sidewalks in many places, this is where I normally like to ride, and after riding through a few cities, there is something I have noticed.
In the poorer suburbs, the sidewalks are basically unrideable. I basically spend a lot of time just carrying my board as the sidewalk is full of cracks/weeds and completely unrideable.
In the wealthier suburbs, the sidewalks can be exceptional to ride. Smooth, wide and very well maintained.
It is the same city though. Just certain areas the city cares about, and certain areas they do not.
The quality of sidewalks is not something that many people notice, but as a skateboarder, it is something I have observed everywhere I went. It is one small detail out of many.
Los Angeles – rich get rich, poor get poorer
I have always wanted to go to Los Angeles since I was a kid. It’s Hollywood, y’know? LA is a big place, and the areas within it are very different. I have wandered around the train tracks and LA rivers around downtown and it’s pretty lawless to say the least. Completely covered in trash, full of homeless, and some spots I did not paint because of the hostile people living there.
I remember a particular stretch of tracks downtown, walking through giant piles of stolen bikes being parted out, and seeing masked people rob a freight train as it parked up momentarily. I have observed chaotic scenes similar to this before in poorer countries, but it’s not really what tourists think of when they think of ‘Hollywood’.
Not too far of a drive away from this chaos, what do you have? The rich celebrities, the gated mansions and wealthy neighbourhoods of Beverly Hills, Calabasas etc…
Conversations with homeless
Painting graffiti in America, I always run into homeless people. Sometimes they keep to themselves, sometimes they want to talk.
Sometimes they ask me for money and I offer to buy them food instead. Most of the time they will decline, but something they will take me up on my offer so I strike up a conversation as I walk with them to the nearest food place/grocery store.
I ask where they are from and how they got into that situation. Some people say something simple like they lost their ID, and then had trouble acquiring a new one, and then their life gradually declined into homelessness. Many people had a bad childhood. Sometimes I meet people that enjoy living under a bridge. Sometimes I see families and children, just trying to survive and get through the winter…
The fact that I paint graffiti and enjoy exploring lets me see the kind of places the homeless seek out. I am merely a traveller, a tourist passing through and painting something for fun. For them, that bridge covered in excrement and trash is their home…
It is true that a lot of homelessness is associated with drugs/alcohol addiction. I have met many people who are obviously high and incoherent and other times I meet regular people though. I treat everyone the same, regardless of whether they appear to be wealthy or poor.
Some of the worst people I’ve met in life were the wealthy, entitled ones. Some of the kindest people I’ve met were the unhoused ones with next to nothing.
Some people are in that situation because of their own bad decisions. Some people were taken advantage of and dealt a bad hand in the game of life. Many people suffer from bad mental illnesses, and are left untreated and unhoused.
I remember these people I crossed paths with that I could not help. I remember being in a small town, saying hello to someone under a bridge and opting to start a friendly conversation before realising that they had schizophrenia. They started rambling to me and talking to people that were not there, and I listened to it all as I took my time to paint a piece. I normally paint quickly, but sometimes I opt to do a piece and paint longer if there are people who I feel are enjoying talking to me at the spot.
I remember reading discarded journals under bridges, of people writing about their lives. I remember people telling me about their goals and dreams, I remember the hope in their voices as they described where they wanted to get there in life, and I knew the chances of them achieving their dreams were next to nothing.
I remember meeting people who were living amongst a pile consisting of just random objects they collected of no use to them, they were obviously hoarding and had a mental illness.
Maybe when you have so little to your name and no one to support you, having a bunch of random items around you makes you feel okay.
No one chooses where they were born and what situation they were born in. We shouldn’t try and divide ourselves. We are all humans moulded from the same clay.
We laugh, we cry.
We get excited, we get angry.
We love, we grieve.
We are all one race, the human race.