Dear America,
I want to begin with this:
I love you.
I really, truly do.
I lived in your cities. I walked your campuses. I sat in your coffee shops, dreaming of building something that could change the world.
America was where I studied. Where I discovered my voice.
Where I fell in love with ideas that reshaped my life.
Where I started Mindvalley, with nothing but ambition and a belief that anything was possible.
For a full decade, you were my home.
And in many ways, you still are.
I may live elsewhere now, but I still identify as American more than anything else.
Because America—the idea of America—isn’t just geography.
It’s a frequency. A dream. A promise that inspired not just me, but billions of people around the world.
What we loved about you
We loved your optimism—the way you believed anything was possible.
We loved your rebels—the ones who spoke truth to power and rewrote the rules.
We loved your Martin Luther King Jr., whose voice still echoes across continents.
We loved your Silicon Valley, that dared to invent the future.
We loved your Apple, born in a garage, changing the way we connect.
We loved Burning Man, a wild celebration of freedom, creativity, and community in the desert.
We loved your poets, your scientists, your dreamers.
You were never perfect. But damn—you had soul.
You were the lighthouse.
The messy, brilliant, complicated beacon we looked toward for what was possible.
But lately… that light feels like it’s flickering.
What the world sees now
In just six months, this is what the world has seen:
– Threats to abandon NATO, the alliance that preserved peace for generations.
– Pointless trade wars where everyone loses.
– Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Treaty, while the Earth burns.
– And now—bombs falling on Iran.
Another unwinnable war in the Middle East.
A war your people swore they’d never allow again.
Not after Iraq.
Not after Afghanistan.
And it’s not just the outer world we see you destroy.
We see you tearing yourselves apart from within.
- Immigration raids that tear apart families and have caused LA to burn.
- Politicians who sound like children while openly taking bribes.
- Tax cuts for billionaires, while those struggling now actually have to pay more in taxes.
- A climate movement abandoned by the very country where it was born.
And yet—I’m writing this letter with an open heart.
Because I haven’t given up.
This week, I’m helping my son apply to U.S. universities. We’re preparing for a tour of East Coast campuses. Then, I’m driving from South Dakota to Yosemite, with stops at Mount Rushmore and the great open spaces I fell in love with.
I want to show my son America. Because I still believe in what America can be.
But I also cannot stay silent—not as a lover of your culture, not as a global citizen.
This spiral you’re in?
It must be named. And it must be stopped.
Because true friends don’t stay silent when they see you crashing.
The spiral was not a mystery. It was a choice.
Every war.
Every broken treaty.
Every erosion of trust.
It didn’t just happen. It was chosen through voting decisions.
By people who, often unknowingly, chose:
- Ego over empathy.
- Charisma over character.
- Soundbites over substance.
And I don’t blame you.
You were caught in a storm of propaganda. You were tired, misled, afraid.
But we need to be honest:
When you vote for leaders who enable war, destabilize peace, and govern through vengeance, you are not just voting for policy. You are voting for self-destruction.
What happened to service?
A great American president once said:
“Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” – John F. Kennedy
Another said:
“We must never remain silent in the face of injustice.” – Barack Obama
Even Ronald Reagan once called America a “shining city upon a hill.”
What happened to that America?
Now we see leaders who sow division instead of unity.
Who thrive on conflict rather than compassion.
Who look not to serve, but to rule.
And as Sun Tzu warned:
“Some men would set their own nation ablaze, just to be king over the ashes.”
Can you recognize them?
Because now more than ever, you must.
America, you’ve always known how to tell the story. Now it’s time to live it.
Think of your heroes.
The ones you’ve shown us on screen for decades.
Will Smith in Independence Day.
Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible.
They save the world, not just themselves.
They protect their families, but they also rise to a higher mission.
That’s what made us fall in love with you.
Your heroes were never selfish.
They were flawed, yes. But they stood up for something bigger.
So why, in real life, do you so often vote for the opposite?
Your vote is not just yours
I say this with love—and urgency:
Your vote doesn’t just affect your neighborhood. It affects the entire planet.
- It affects the air we all breathe.
- The treaties we all depend on.
- The peace we all hope for.
- The future our children will inherit.
This is no longer about party loyalty or economic policy.
This is about consciousness.
This is about whether the most powerful country on Earth will continue to operate from fear and ego —
Or rise into wisdom and service.
What the world needs from you now
We don’t need another American empire.
We need an American elder.
Not one who dominates. One who guides.
Not one who fears. One who serves.
Because you were never meant to be a fortress.
You were meant to be a lighthouse.
But a lighthouse cannot fulfill its purpose if it forgets to shine inward first.
You taught us to dream. Now we’re asking you to dream again.
The world doesn’t hate you.
We’re not laughing at you.
We’re just watching… and hoping.
Hoping that the America we believed in is still in there.
The next time you march in the streets,
March for all of us.
Not just for the poor or hungry in your zip code.
But for the citizens of our shared planet who need you to shine again.
And when the time comes…
Vote with your heart. And with your higher self.
The choice is yours
Not every election is a turning point.
But some are.
And the one you’re facing now?
This is that moment.
You can vote for leaders who turn the world into a battlefield.
Or vote for those who understand that true power is service.
You can choose:
- Ego or evolution
- Division or destiny
- Fear or future
The world is not asking you to be perfect.
We are simply asking you to remember who you are, at your best.
The America that marched with MLK.
That wrote the Moonshot speech.
That created iPhones, NASA, jazz, and the dream that all humans are created equal.
That’s the America we still believe in.
That’s the America the world needs.
Let that be the America you choose.
— Vishen
Founder, Mindvalley
Citizen of Earth.
Forever shaped by the promise of America.
PS: This letter isn’t just mine—it’s a conversation we all need to have. I’d love to hear how this landed for you. What do you believe America still stands for? What does it need to stand for?
Share your comments below.
Let’s make this a space for reflection, dialogue, and hope.
951 Responses
I would like to share my heart with you and the readers. My heart is filled with love and sorrow for all that is happening in our world right now and the last 100 + days. I cry for all who have died or continue to suffer for the greed and ego of the men and women who are supposed to be serving this country and all its people. I pray and meditate daily with the hope that many others will rise up and let their light shine for all the world to see. I do not want to live in fear but it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you live with the possibility that it’s another flipping train! Trump is taking much away from me and so many like me ( 77 and trying to live on less than $1200 a month. ). I love the USA, the one my dad and mom taught me to respect and be proud of. I will continue to meditate and pray for change in the hearts and minds of the idiots now in control of our country. Much love and continued prayers, Vicky
Hi Vishen,
I have reviewed the thoughtful critiques of your piece… and I think your call for America to reignite its positive vision is spot on.
The larger context is that humanity is an existential crisis – a bottleneck we may or may not get through. Ecologically, main elements include that we are headed towards runaway global warming resulting in a hothouse Earth, and we use more resources each year than the Earth can renew. Ecological collapse will result.
War, and perhaps any serious threat, tends to create a good-guy bad-guy mentality… with ‘our side’, as the good guys of course. Our vision narrows, and critical faculties shut down.
The Russian incursion into Ukraine stimulated this reaction. Historically, the larger context here is that starting with the Clinton administration NATO has expanded towards Russia, and the prospect of having Ukraine as a hostile, heavily armed NATO member on Russia’s southern border was an unacceptable threat to the Russians. The Russian incursion towards Kiev was not a ‘full scale invasion’ the way commentators in America and Australia typically describing. It was a small force meant to intimidate Ukraine leadership from joining NATO. It almost worked.
This is a matter of public record. Folks can work it out with an afternoon’s research on Google.
So – nuclear annihilation and ecological collapse are the two greatest threats humanity faces. They transcend politics, although politics is part of it. We need to slow the economic-industrial machine that drives ecological destruction. And rather than ramp up military budgets around the world, our future survival (onboarding nuclear annihilation) depends on replacing military competition with diplomacy for the common good. This, of course, was the original intention of the United Nations.
Achieving the needed shift in direction requires catalyzing a profound improvement people’s mental and emotional maturity… resolving trauma, grounding our thinking in ecological reality, shifting from silo thinking to systems thinking and the like – with a view to evolving a compassionate, just, ecologically sustainable world.
However, it is useless for us to ‘call for actions’ in posts like this unless we also provide a way to follow through.
I’m on the Executive Team for Stable Planet Alliance. Our vision is to empower ‘ordinary people’ to be what we call Evolutionary Catalysts. Put simply, Evolution Catalysts talk with people they know and influential decision-makers about these issues. The way to take it to scale is to inspire the members of established groups to act as Evolutionary Catalysts, and provide them with purpose-built communication tools to make conversations effective.
These two articles spell out the approach.
Becoming an Evolutionary Catalyst
https://medium.com/@andrewgaines/becoming-an-evolutionary-communicator-and-an-evolutionary-catalyst-030a57ab5222
Aligning to Co-Create a New Kind of Social Change Movement
https://medium.com/@andrewgaines/aligning-to-co-create-a-new-kind-of-social-change-movement-8e9f3f0b2ad1
The background I bring to this is decades of work in improving brain functioning as a Feldenkrais practitioner, psychotherapist, and creativity trainer.
Vishen, I would be pleased to have a Zoom conversation with you or your staff about this. I live in the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney.
Andrew Gaines FRSA
Stable Planet Alliance
Andrew.Gaines@stableplanetalliance.org
http://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewgaines1
Please don’t use your platform and community to voice your personal political beliefs. Instead of unifying peoples from both polotical sides by providing excellent speakers, leaders and forerunners, and offer guidance, support and love, you’ve chosen to divide, disrespect others views and put out negativity and low energy. Really didn’t expect that from YOU! Do you really want to alienate your members that don’t believe as you? This is not the place to discuss your political beliefs. We look to you to be so much better than that.
Personal development should not be used, to blind our eyes on what is happening in the outside world.
It is not about political belief.
It is about the most powerful democracy in the world is slipping into fascism and severe mistreatment of minorities.
Should he have not spoken up to the Nazis ad well?
Greetings from Austria, the country that gave birth to Hitler – we’ve had that big shit.Personal development should not be used, to blind our eyes on what is happening in the outside world.
And right now the most powerful democracy in the world is slipping into fascism and severe mistreatment of minorities.
Should he have not spoken up to the Nazis ad well?
Greetings from Austria, the country that gave birth to Hitler – we’ve had that big shit.
Dear Vishen. Thank you for your letter to America. I appreciate your concern for this country and it’s residents
There’s a lot to love about this country and there’s a lot that could be improved. The president of this country ordering the bombing of Iran was not the choice of most of us. So even though I did not vote for this president, his administration is doing good in some areas, but the people who really run this country are making the calls, not the American people. The illusion is that we the people run this country with our votes. But every four years it’s the same poor choice of the lesser of two evils, both backed by the real powers that be. Pray for us that the people of this country will wake up during this Age of Awakening and they will not just vote but educate themselves and get involved in the process of changing this country, our country from the inside out.
Your statements are so so true. They break my heart for America. I love our country, but people have taken up political corners and totally missed the point of the right person, not party. We need to come together and vote for someone who actually cares about our country, humanity, not their own egos.
I am very disappointed in this article. How could you live in the USA for one decade and not see the poverty and class discrimination? I am not talking race discrimination because for the majority of people that is a thing of the past. But the biggest issue now is class discrimination where people of all colour are discriminated against for being born in poverty. One thing you never mentioned was the health system in the USA. It is the worst in the world. Charging extortionate prices for drugs and operations which are infinitely cheaper in other countries. Have you never heard of medical bankruptcy? Multiple families face that every year. The USA is not and never was an example to be looked up to.
The Paris Climate Treaty is nothing to do with the climate. Its a money laundering scheme. The people who support the Climate Treaty are the same people who kill marine life and bird life with windmills. Who convert agricultural land to solar panels, which takes the land out of the food supply. Who execute deforestation on a massive scale to convert the land to either solar panels or windmills. That is not friends of the earth. That is enemies of the earth.
What about all the children who work in mines in 3rd world countries to extract minerals for solar panels and batteries for electric cars? Google children mining Lithium. Google children mining Cobalt. You will see that even the MSM reports this news. Have you never seen the dumps of solar panels after their life ends? Have you never seen the graveyards of old electric cars in China? Solar panels and electric batteries are not earth friendly. At end of life they are not recycled, and already they are being dumped in massive landfills.
When you say immigration raids do you mean the South American gang members who have infiltrated the USA in the millions? Where do you get your news that you are not aware it is gang members that Donald Trump is trying to deport? I am not a Donald Trump fan, but I do agree with him on some issue i.e. deportation of illegal criminals.
I am guessing you have never heard of the Uniparty either. That means Republicans and Democrats both vote for war and on some issues are identical eg supporting the elites at the expense of the working class people. You can count on one hand (maybe 2 hands) the number of good politicians in the USA. The rest of them are in it for themselves.
Finally back to the children. Don’t you know that parents are being attacked for wanting to protect their children from groomers? The biggest most important reason the majority of people voted Republican is to protect their children from Democrat groomers. How can you be so out of touch with politics to not know about the sexually explicit material that Democrats are pushing on young children? It is the number one issue for parents. I am very disappointed by your article because it proves that you never read the news. All the points raised by myself (and others) are very well known, so it is beyond belief that someone running an educational website never takes the time to educate himself about what is going on in the USA.
I appreciate your passion, but many of these claims deserve a closer, evidence-based look—especially when they involve serious accusations, misinformation, and global challenges. Let’s walk through a few key points:
🇺🇸 On Poverty, Class, and Race in the U.S.
You’re absolutely right that poverty and class inequality are major issues in the U.S., and they affect people across racial lines. But to say racial discrimination is a thing of the past overlooks key structural realities that still shape people’s lives.
I’d encourage you to look into policies like redlining, urban renewal land seizures, and government disinvestment—all of which intentionally targeted Black and Indigenous communities, stripping away homes, businesses, and generational wealth.
These weren’t just historical wrongs—they created disparities in housing, education, health outcomes, and wealth that persist to this day.
Race and class are not mutually exclusive; they’re deeply entangled in American history and policy. Addressing one without the other misses the full picture.
🏥 On the U.S. Healthcare System
Yes—the U.S. has the most expensive healthcare system in the developed world with some of the worst outcomes for that spending.
Medical bankruptcy is real: studies estimate that two-thirds of U.S. bankruptcies are tied to medical issues.
Drug prices in the U.S. are 2–10x higher than in other countries for the same medications.
This is a legitimate crisis—and one of the rare issues where most Americans, regardless of party, agree on the need for reform.
🌍 On the Paris Climate Accord and Renewable Energy
The Paris Agreement is a voluntary global framework to reduce carbon emissions. It does not mandate land seizures, deforestation, or forced renewable projects.
The claim that it’s a “money laundering scheme” has no basis in fact or credible economic analysis.
Wind and solar energy do have environmental footprints—but multiple independent studies confirm they are far lower than fossil fuels across their entire lifecycle.
We should absolutely ensure ethical, sustainable development, but dismissing renewables wholesale misrepresents the issue.
👷♂️ On Child Labor in Mining for Batteries
You’re right to be concerned about labor abuses in cobalt and lithium mining, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
But this is a systemic issue across global supply chains—not just renewables. The fashion, chocolate, coffee, and diamond industries have long histories of child exploitation, too.
The answer isn’t retreating from clean energy—it’s investing in better sourcing standards, international labor protections, and ethical innovation.
🚫 On Immigration and Crime
Despite political rhetoric, undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit violent crimes than native-born citizens, according to studies from the Cato Institute, the Marshall Project, and the DOJ.
The idea that “millions of gang members” are infiltrating the U.S. is not supported by data.
Most of Trump’s immigration actions targeted asylum seekers, families, and workers—not just criminals.
Conflating immigration with crime inflames fear and misinforms the public.
🏛 On the “Uniparty” and Political Elites
It’s true that many Americans are frustrated with both parties, and there’s valid criticism about corporate influence, lobbying, and bipartisan war funding.
That’s why public accountability, ethics reform, and civic engagement are so essential.
But real change comes from informed, collective action, not conspiratorial thinking or total institutional distrust.
🚸 On Grooming, LGBTQ+ People, and Children
This is one of the most dangerous and misleading claims circulating today.
Over 90% of child sexual abuse is committed by straight, cisgender men, typically within a child’s family or close circle—not by drag performers, librarians, or LGBTQ+ teachers.
According to the U.S. DOJ, FBI, and child safety organizations, there is no evidence that LGBTQ+ people are more likely to abuse children.
Pedophilia is not linked to sexual orientation. Framing inclusive education as “grooming” is a political tactic rooted in anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda, not fact.
Meanwhile, this rhetoric has caused real harm—leading to bomb threats, teacher harassment, and hate crimes.
If we’re serious about protecting children, we need to focus on where the statistical risks actually are—not scapegoat already marginalized communities.
🧠 Final Thought
There are serious issues worth confronting: healthcare, inequality, environmental ethics, corporate power. But solving them requires discernment, evidence, and structural solutions—not fear-based narratives.
When misinformation and scapegoating take over, we lose sight of both the truth and the opportunity to fix what actually matters.
Vishen,
Dear God, I have read a few posts and am highly concerned.
You have identified and expressed concern about the most unbelievable monstrous political decisions the US has ever had to come to grips with. Monster is the key word. There is no mistaking that the key person is a monster. He does not care for anyone no matter who they are. The people who support him are blind and closed off to their own consciousness. And to their own well being. We can only hope that the majority see the idiocy and Maliciousness that the party in power now are perpetuating on the American people. God help us.
Well said Vishen. Totally agree with your comments. That said, its not hidden that our US government has been taken over for many, many years by corporate America looking solely for profit and not the well being of its citizens. Whether its drug companies pushing vacines and hiding cures because they prefer to make money off treating the symptoms rather than the cause of the illness. Food companies poisoning the soil and selling us food that has lost its nutrition. I can go on and on, but that Americans are now the most healthy group in the world is not a surprise. The current administration has added to the challenge by seeking to undermine the constitution, and unfortuantely our congress is bending over, joined by some of the Supreme ccurt justices, to turn a blind eye. I have hope, however, that the current status of the US was necessary and similar to an earthquake and bad tornado to awaken the true believers and citizens who believe in justice for all, race equality, for women’s right to choose, and for keeping religion out of government.
Vishen, you have recently made a post that saddened me, and this post warms my heart. That is the way of the world. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I wish for a new day in the USA. The world needs consistent, leadership from my country.
OMG Vishen! I am so glad you spoke out, and sooooo eloquently! I feel the same as you, as the words you spoke in this letter. I am a US Citizen and deeply want to change my country’s trajectory. We all need to listen to each other and hear what those who are troubled and angry cannot clearly say – they matter too.
BEAUTIFULLY said Vishen!!!!
I have been FIGHTING for FAIRNESS, WOMEN’S RIGHTS and RACIAL EQUALITY since I am SIX YEARS OLD!!!
I am in MY GOLDEN YEARS now, and am APPALLED by what the 74.million Americans did to our country and to the world!!!!
My Fiance is Parisian, and it looks like I will be finishing my life in Europe,where I believe it will be BETTER for Artistic people to reside like ourselves!!!!
I will continue to vote for candidates that SUPPORT the VALUES that you describe, but it is for the YOUNG people to CARRY THE TORCH NOW!!!!
MAY GOD BLESS US ALL!!!!
Thank you for this timely and important message. Half the country is in a cult though and I fear it will land on deaf ears blocked by cognitive dissonance. I appreciate you putting it out into the world though!
Thank you Vishen and others for such a heartfelt post and also for many comments. As a global citizen, American, and Californian, who lives Oceania as my current home, I watch the unfolding as of my native land from afar and right now with horror and deep deep sadness. I cast my votes at each election, but as with the due process, sometimes the side I chose with mine isn’t the outcome. I travel back regularly to see dear family and friends. But things in the political climate and culture have changed. Politics and attitudes of self centeredness of leaders who don’t lead with heart, compassion, and higher self principle are very sad to feel and witness. May the gentle and decent strength awaken in many, instead of fear and silence of retribution. We need a compassionate and caring America again.
I live in Los Angeles, and see first-hand every day the reality of what is going on.
You obviously know nothing about America and what actually happens here besides what the major media outlets propagate, who are 90% anti-the-current-executive-in-chief.
You should take the time to research beyond the same ol’ propaganda and division that has been pushed for nearly ten years at 100,000,000x repetition.
Just because they repeat this stuff over and over on the channel that you got to host on, does not make it true.
I would expect someone of your experience would understand how beliefs are massively influenced through repetition, and at least be wise enough to question the narratives that are being strategically pushed day in and day out. And question the root of the beliefs you have formed.
America is amazing, and getting even better, and the current guy is doing a nice job of moving things in a positive direction for ALL Americans.
Check your sources and quit falling for propaganda. Your son will enjoy life and prosper in the USA more if he understands how to not get sucked into the Media’s propaganda like you have.
There is tremendous opportunity and prosperity and joy right here right now, in spite of the goofy divisive messaging blasted on repeat by a certain group of manipulative people.
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Thank you!
P.S. All of that technology that you run your business on right now? I suspect that 98% of it was created by amazing people here in the USA, including that AI you used to help you write this post and email.
The United States of America still leads the world in almost everything, and that’s why everyone has been beating the doors down to get into our country and this will certainly continue, because we are awesome, and not what the “progressive” propagandists say we are.
Thank you, Vishen for your powerful, truthful and compassionate speech. I agree wholeheartedly with what you have said. I am Australian and am grateful I live in this great country.
Vishen you absolutely don’t speak for me.. My views are completely contrary to yours as I see that all great breakthroughs come after destruction and cataclysm… that I wouldn’t even call it that.
I recall, DJ T saying he would drain the swamp and what I’m observing is him doing exactly that on a global global scale.
NATO is no longer relevant and is basically a bunch of countries coming together out of fear
The Paris climate treaty is also a waste of hot air
And what you describe the world is seeing it’s not what I’m seeing.. and I noticed from the comments in this thread, not everyone agrees with you either
Admittedly, you have a great platform to share your thoughts, but they are just that your opinions and like bum holes everybody has one!
Thank you for your post. We need you and the world to help us fight the evil and corruption that has taken over our country. Unfortunately I am very discouraged and uncertain what to do and whom will help us. Unfortunately many American’s have turned against what our Country has stood for. The Judges and elected Representatives are paid for or fearful. The media is basically worthless and not telling the truth. I hope the world will continue to see the good in America and sends us messages of hope that we can regain what we have lost. Not sure who will end this or how it will happen but at 73, I have lived through many things I didn’t think I would. Hopefully this will be another bookmark of forgotten awful time. Praying for a bright future.,
Well said, Vishen.
As a US Citizen, I also want to thank you and commend you for having the courage to speak out — something that, unfortunately, is sorely lacking in many members of the Republican Party. At least, I hope it’s just silence and not a collective complicity or ideological infection, because hate, when unchecked, can become contagious.
Now more than ever, we need strong voices to push back against the wave of misinformation being spread by the president and his close-minded circle. Thank you for being one of those voices. Voices willing to rise above the noise and stand for truth, empathy, and global responsibility.
Thank you for using your platform not just to inspire, but to challenge and lead with heart. I’m hopeful that others will do the same.
Sincerely,
Héctor J. Villares
Alex Krainer is one of the sane voices analyzing what is going on in Ukraine now Iran. With a listen!
E we really don’t know what is going on but I don’t think Trump will get us into a big war. He is from Croatia and lives in Monaco. He uses his geopolitical knowledge to guide gods investment strategy. Trend Compass on Substack.
Thanks
Sue
Western capitalist patriarchal systems are the problem. They have represssed the feminine and devalued the qualities related to this great frequency/archetypal energy. They exploit the earth for their own benefit and focus on the individual over the community.
You write with passion but to invoke the great American dream and hero’s is to miss the point that these systems have reached their used by date and are now imploding. The work is to face the consequences and to focus on restoration of the feminine with the masculine. I say this as an elder woman who has lived my whole life under a system that didn’t value my qualities.