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.
953 Responses
Definitely check out schools in Philly!!
Thanks for your deep words. It gave me a lot of hope. The whole world seems to be falling apart. Honestly, no country seems to have it together now. I hope the current President can bring world peace and his taxes and tariffs wher the poor seem to be bearing the brunt of it all.
Wow. For such a ‘ Spiritual ’ community, I am disappointed and disheartened to see so many negative and angry comments. 🙁
I was deeply disappointed by your post. Intended to inspire U.S. citizens, it has instead achieved the opposite effect.
My, my, my. Vishen, you have struck another nerve.
I have only read a fraction of the comments, but the feedback illustrates the divisions you allude to.
Despite the fact that dissent is not openly denied or censured (at the moment) on platforms such as this, I do not look across our border and see the land of the free. I see a land where freedom is selectively granted, depending on the prevailing ideology.
America’s prosperity was built on the backs of immigrants, yet, currently, they are perceived as the source of everything wrong in the country. This is not to say that there are no problems with how immigration is handled or how porous the borders are. Fix the problem instead of persecuting those who take advantage of it.
What is the difference between an immigrant taking advantage of a lax border and any American citizen taking advantage of tax loopholes to not pay their taxes? I see none.
Picture yourself being born with the biological drives of a man, but in a woman’s body, or vice versa.
The excited states of America are no longer free for those trapped in the wrong body.
Who’s next?
People are accusing Vishen of using this platform to play politics.
He speaks from his heart, and he is being accused of fomenting WOKE attitudes and perceptions that are unwelcome.
If you don’t like it, bugger off. We don’t want you.
This is the land of the free, a place where opposing views are supposed to be totally acceptable. Normal.
No longer.
Too bad we can’t simply lock up the detractors and throw away the key. Better yet, deny them due process and ship them out of the country. We don’t need you and your WOKE ideas.
There is nothing wrong with soul searching. There’s nothing wrong with looking in the mirror and asking yourself who you really are, what’s important to you. If you have a constitution you swear by that enshrines rights and freedoms for all, but selectively enforce those rights and freedoms, then what is the message you are sending out to the world?
As for Dubai and Estonia, I am not familiar with the rights and freedoms enshrined in the laws of those countries. Neither country claims to be the leader of the free world. Neither country professes to have the moral high ground.
This is why foreigners, like myself, look upon what we are witnessing as a tragedy. We’ve grown up looking to our big brother with fondness and admiration for the commendable values shared with the world. It is difficult to witness an erosion of those values from within.
If we don’t speak out, it means we no longer care.
Thank you for these powerful words! They touched my heart and came just at the right time for me. They helped me to hope again while everything in the world has begun to feel so grim. I hope I can inspire others to make better choices as yours have done for me.
Yes, let’s pray for leaders in this world who are great. Who have a will serve, true strength, humility, grace and wisdom. Who draw support through their goodness and insight. Such people are out there…
May we call them forward and recognise them when they step up.
May a new era dawn for humanity…
To be honest, your comments are one-sided, sir. Why not send your son to LA County? Or Seattle or Portland? How much can one country, the USA, do? How much aid can the US give to NATO? Pairs treaty? For those of us Americans, enough is enough! We’ve had enough of woke politics, woke policies, cities being destroyed, vandalized by hooligans. Vishen, was your business ruined by the riots of BLM? Huh? Frankly, maybe it’s my ego, but had I seen this before signing up for MindValley in Amsterdam, I would not have! No way. Bro, stay out of politics. It hasn’t gone well for many, with swords way mightier than yours. And Pete Hegesth, brilliant!
I agree on every point you make. Although I love open discussion- this letter is not that. What is so disappointing are the blatant lies included in the letter. No homework has been done here.
My question for you is: Are you worried about the facts in the statement below?
If yes, how can you lend your support to these ‘people’?
If not, are you… PARTAKING?
“One of the most shocking testimonies ever delivered in Congress in United States history.
“I state without reservation that the United States federal government under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris is the world’s largest child sex trafficking organization in modern history. The probability…that thousands of these children are being raped at this very moment is one hundred percent.”
“I served in the United States border patrol for twenty four years until I retired as a deputy patrol agent charged in San Diego sector. I worked under five presidential administrations, and only one president secured the border -President Donald Trump.”
“Border Patrol agents went from working and being supported by the greatest border president in American history…
To the worst, president Joe Biden. My last year in the board patrol was Joe Biden’s first year in office On his first day in office I watched in disbelief as ninety four executive orders cascaded down from Washington DC obliterating every immigration policy that had been provided the most secure border in America’s history. Border agents were forced to carry out unconstitutional orders, and that violated every law in the Immigration Nationality Act President Biden, through Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, created policy out of thin air, ignored federal immigration law and facilitated the largest mass invasion into America that the world has ever seen….
The United States of America will have spent hundreds of billions of dollars…in four years to fund the needs of over fifty million illegal aliens that populate our nation. Between one in six and one in seven residents in America is an illegal alien. America has suffered the greatest demographic shift in modern history.
After serving in the United States Border Patrol for twenty four years… I state with complete certainty that Biden Harris and Mayorkas are intentionally strategically, and purposely weaponizing illegal immigration and using it as a tool to fundamentally transform America. Inside this invasion the unspoken evil of child trafficking and more specifically child sex trafficking has flourished.
At the end of this current administration, the number of children trafficked will have grown to over five hundred and fifty thousand unaccompanied alien children known as UACs.”
Pete Hegseth
Not only are the facts you noted above atrocities but the lost children heartbreaking. How can anyone see what we are doing now wrong!
Thank you so much for your message! I’ve been thinking about what I can do to create a consciousness awakening in the US. Is there someone at MindValley I could speak with about this? I have the academic and business background to be relatively successful at such an endeavor, but I would love to get some insights from the MindValley team about strategy.
Your letter elicited tears of joy. I had the opportunity to see you in a training video where you described how humiliated you were by the crackdown on Muslims and what you went through, and how you left the US because of it. I was heartbroken for you, and for us. I didn’t want you to hate us. And now, I am so heartened that you still love America and I am so thankful that you, and the world, are pulling for us to survive this. Most of us can’t believe this is happening, and that we are so far down the road to autocracy.
Yes, we humans are so fallible. There is none righteous, no, not one. I believe that this treacherous, and heartbreaking time will find us mending our wounds and learning to appreciate and be accountable for a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. We Americans have spent most of our lives not involved in politics, and complaining about our government, instead of thanking God for it, and praying for those in authority over us.
I am thankful for the love expressed by Vishen, and for those of you from around the world to whom the possession of freedom means so much, pulling for us to survive this. And to those of you who have suffered at our hands, most of us are painfully aware of the failings of corrupt entities in our government. I have cried many tears, and said many prayers, when I see the pain in the faces of those we should be protecting.
I believe good will come of this frightening time, in the end. Please pray for the illegal and legal immigrants who are terrified and suffering. We will not forget those who were ripped from their families and sent to the prison in El Salvador, and to far-flung places around the world.
I love you but I don’t agree with the underlying message here. The world is corrupted – all countries are.
Europe is in deep trouble – recent attacks in France make me feel unsafe to go there. My life here in California is great. I’m an entrepreneur who can do anything I want. I love my freedom here!
Yes, everyone in our government is corrupted- those who have been in office the longest, are the worst. This is because you have to do some really bad things to say in Office that long. They’ve learned to lie about literally everything. I believe nothing I see or hear from any elected official.
The corruption is being exposed. It’s always been there – we are just now seeing it more clearly than ever before. The “burning down” of this country is necessary to rebuild our corrupted healthcare system, education system, and political system.
I’m staying focused on what I can do for my own family and community. I’m staying positive and loving and compassionate. That is all that I have control over. My vote means absolutely nothing when I have to choose between one corrupted official or another.
I just want to write very shortly: beautifully put. I agree..!
I couldn’t agree more. Our America has taken a scary turn that I truly hope is temporary. He is taking us in an ugly and fascist direction
Will you also be sending open letters to China, Russia, North Korea, South Africa, etc… or are you just singling out the US?
Companies should tread lightly when trying to position wisdom as political rhetoric. You’re right, we do have a choice. I can choose to be a promoter of MindValley or detractor.
Agree wholeheartedly.
I did not join Mindvalley for political commentary. I’m actually disgusted Vishen that you would use this platform to voice your political beliefs. Not cool at all
Well said and still so complex…I cried all while reading your message . Have followed Mind Valley and its evolution for many years. Studied with Barbara Marx Hubbard and others.
We need courage and inspiration, and somehow to find a middle way through all the division. I am hopeful, but it will take time,forgiveness, and lots of love for everyone involved.
Prayers up…
Thank you.
Vishen, what a great letter. You put into words what I had been vaguely thinking, drawing from your own experiences.
I was born and raised in Japan, and have lived in Australia, the UK, and now Canada. I’ve come to realize that many people outside the U.S. share similar feelings toward America.
We often hear the phrase “Only in America”—sometimes in admiration, sometimes in criticism.
Yes, we need to start these conversations, especially among world leaders and true influencers.
I admire your courage, Vishen. My respect for you has only grown.
Thank you for your extensive letter. It is a profound reflection, one that I deeply share. We must always strive for a more equal, borderless, and better world, where no one is discriminated against.
The comments are more interesting and revealing than the letter itself. Sad but true.
A few pretty alliterations and some aesthetic dream-speak rhetoric is not going to wake up a nation nor influence its voters. MLK tapped into the audience of his time with absolute emotional precision.
Yes we all want to see positive change and global peace – but that only works if you get the core emotions of your audience and what they have in common. Vishen it seems, doesn’t get them.
You don’t go and alienate them by being passively condescending in a detached from reality ode to the American dream.
I also find it super strange and disconcerting, that someone who has achieved so much by building a platform that supposedly is about freeing up your mind, creating choice, independence, autonomy and change in the individual is using said platform to subliminally suggest – while hiding behind words of “inspiration” and an air of superiority, and in a somewhat condescending tone of voice – how Americans should be voting to make change.
As if the alternative vote would be much of a muchness.
In my humble opinion as someone who feels duped and disillusioned (see what I did there?;) by these 2 party policies that occur in most Western countries, there are only 2 truly effective “votes” one can actually make:
– vote with your feet and your choice of passport
– vote with your choice of money (opting OUT of the fiat money system is the biggest vote you can ever make! I.e. by choosing Bitcoin you get to buy and create time & energy instead of loosing it).
Sadly not everyone has the emotional, circumatancial nor the financial possibilities of making either or both of those choices. But they are politically untethered choices, that if made en masse would force a government to rethink their systems and influences.
I think Vishen despite all his commendable passion, missed the mark, as well as the mark of the times here, vastly. As well as his audience.
Hmm. Pity. Nice try tho.
[Ps – I am not American, nor do I live there, so this is written from an outside perspective on how this letter reads to me. I also consider myself A-political for a number of reasons, I follow economics not politics – politics is just there to distract people from what is being done with the money]