American Banality versus Norwegian Humanity: Musings on Twin Sisters

I just watched a fascinating documentary on PBS about two Chinese twins, Twin Sisters, one raised in the urban US the other in rural small town Norway. The documentary showed how the Norwegian twins life revolved around family, nature, hiking, biking, school, and natural beauty. The American twins life, on the other hand, revolved around shopping, dolls who wore the same dresses she did, and event after event be it violin practise or soccer practise. At the end of the documentary the male of the American couple that had adopted one of the Chinese twin sisters remarked about how homes in rural small town Norway were built so families could enjoy each other. I would add that they were also built so the family could enjoy the beauty of the fjord on which the town they lived in lay. For me the life of the Norwegian twin showed how hollow and banal the life of the American twin was compared to the life of her sister in Norway. It showed to me how much we in the US have lost since the 1980s thanks to the octopus that is American consumer capitalism.