--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It may be that America has become too big…" description: "\"It may be that America has become too big and complicated for most people to deal with being part of. People are longing for a smaller, stupider realit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e05/matt-taibbi-2257_america_it-may-be-that-america-has-become-too-bi_598615.jpg" --- # It may be that America has become too big and complicated… ![“It may be that America has become too big and complicated for most people to deal with being part of. People are longing for a smaller, stupider reality.” quote by Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e05/matt-taibbi-2257_america_it-may-be-that-america-has-become-too-bi_598615.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e05/matt-taibbi-2257_america_it-may-be-that-america-has-become-too-bi_598615.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e05/matt-taibbi-2257_america_it-may-be-that-america-has-become-too-bi_598615.jpg) > “It may be that America has become too big and complicated for most people to deal with being part of. People are longing for a smaller, stupider reality.” [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. America's complexity overwhelms individuals, prompting a desire for simpler, less demanding realities. **In simple terms:** People crave simplicity amid complexity. Key Takeaway Seek clarity and manageable goals. Themes complexity discontent simplification Mood cynical reflective Type political social commentary When to use this quote - political discourse - personal stress - media consumption - community building Key Concepts sociopolitics psychology culture Questions to Reflect On - How does complexity affect personal well‑being? - What can be done to balance simplicity with responsibility? A Different Perspective Simplifying may ignore systemic issues needing collective action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Longing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/longing/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) ## Related quotes > [People are longing to rediscover true community. We have had enough of loneliness, independence and competition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-vanier/people-are-longing-to-rediscover-true-community-we-have-had-enough-of/) [Jean Vanier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-vanier/) > [I think that 'Lost' is a bit of a dinosaur in terms of the type of show it is. The economics just don't support…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlton-cuse/i-think-that-lost-is-a-bit-of-a-dinosaur-in-terms-of-the-type-of-show/) [Carlton Cuse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlton-cuse/) > [“A big complicated mess is easy. Making something simple and clear is hard.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-f-lamont/a-big-complicated-mess-is-easy-making-something-simple-and-clear-is/) D.F. Lamont > [No problem is so big or so complicated that it can't be run away from!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-m-schulz/no-problem-is-so-big-or-so-complicated-that-it-can-t-be-run-away-from/) [Charles M. Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-m-schulz/) > [Today we're just growing and consuming, and I think maybe there's a sadness in that. People are longing for a time when there was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-verbinski/today-we-re-just-growing-and-consuming-and-i-think-maybe-there-s-a/) [Gore Verbinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-verbinski/) > [People are longing for tribe and community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zal-batmanglij/people-are-longing-for-tribe-and-community/) [Zal Batmanglij](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zal-batmanglij/) > [“What we rarely see receive is a picture of adulthood that represents it as the ideal it should be. (...) What better way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-neiman/what-we-rarely-see-receive-is-a-picture-of-adulthood-that-represents/) [Susan Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-neiman/) > [Be short in all religious exercises. Better leave the people longing than loathing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathanael-emmons/be-short-in-all-religious-exercises-better-leave-the-people-longing/) [Nathanael Emmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathanael-emmons/) > [“I think that a lot of people have a longing to move out of the present. The present is very constricting. You can’t go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audrey-niffenegger/i-think-that-a-lot-of-people-have-a-longing-to-move-out-of-the/) [Audrey Niffenegger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audrey-niffenegger/) > [People are complicated. People have secrets. It doesnt make them good people or bad people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-zayas/people-are-complicated-people-have-secrets-it-doesnt-make-them-good/) [David Zayas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-zayas/) > [I hope people who read my books feel empathy for us and really see us as complicated people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-hope-people-who-read-my-books-feel-empathy-for-us-and-really-see-us/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [Law and politics are often overly complicated because there are people that don't want the rest of us to know what's going on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ari-melber/law-and-politics-are-often-overly-complicated-because-there-are/) [Ari Melber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ari-melber/) > [“In spite of being complicated people choose superstitions over common sense.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/in-spite-of-being-complicated-people-choose-superstitions-over-common/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [It's really hard to get fans in another country, especially here, because America is so, so big, so it's really hard to get known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/it-s-really-hard-to-get-fans-in-another-country-especially-here/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) > [President Barack Obama is a doer. And we in America will do big things with him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-hunt/president-barack-obama-is-a-doer-and-we-in-america-will-do-big-things/) [Jim Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-hunt/) ## More by Matt Taibbi > [ The Congressional Record will forever show that \[Obamacare\] was passed in a romper room of overgrown children seemingly barely old enough to keep from… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/the-congressional-record-will-forever-show-that-obamacare-was-passed/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [Sniper is a movie whose politics are so ludicrous and idiotic that under normal circumstances it would be beneath criticism. The only thing that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/sniper-is-a-movie-whose-politics-are-so-ludicrous-and-idiotic-that/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [I get the cynicism thing all the time, although I don't really know where that comes from, because I think I'm actually the opposite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/i-get-the-cynicism-thing-all-the-time-although-i-don-t-really-know/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [It's really interesting that we've had this great Tea Party movement that is all about restoring free market capitalist values, but what they completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/it-s-really-interesting-that-we-ve-had-this-great-tea-party-movement/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [To be robbed and betrayed by a fiendish underground conspiracy, or by the earthly agents of Satan, is at least a romantic sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/to-be-robbed-and-betrayed-by-a-fiendish-underground-conspiracy-or-by/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > ['Nobody goes to jail.' This is the mantra of the financial-crisis era, one that saw virtually every major bank and financial company on Wall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/nobody-goes-to-jail-this-is-the-mantra-of-the-financial-crisis-era/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [The basic scam in the Internet age is pretty easy even for the financially illiterate to grasp. It was as if banks like Goldman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/the-basic-scam-in-the-internet-age-is-pretty-easy-even-for-the/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [For the broadcast business to be successful, viewers need to be not merely interested in our political melodramas, they have to be in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/for-the-broadcast-business-to-be-successful-viewers-need-to-be-not/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [It's not a stretch to say the whole financial industry revolves around the compass point of the absolutely safe AAA rating. But the financial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/it-s-not-a-stretch-to-say-the-whole-financial-industry-revolves/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [You know what an effective deterrent to crime is? Jail! And do you know what kind of criminal penalty actually makes people think twice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/you-know-what-an-effective-deterrent-to-crime-is-jail-and-do-you-know/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [Conspiracy theorists of the world, believers in the hidden hands of the Rothschilds and the Masons and the Illuminati, we skeptics owe you an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/conspiracy-theorists-of-the-world-believers-in-the-hidden-hands-of/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [Like wars, forest fires and bad marriages, really stupid laws are much easier to begin than they are to end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/like-wars-forest-fires-and-bad-marriages-really-stupid-laws-are-much/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [You can have somebody living next door to you and you can live in a completely different world from that person, which is definitely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/you-can-have-somebody-living-next-door-to-you-and-you-can-live-in-a/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [George Bush and John Ashcroft were religious in a scary way, but the rational among us could always take heart that, deep down, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/george-bush-and-john-ashcroft-were-religious-in-a-scary-way-but-the/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) > [“People aren't pissed just to be pissed. They're mad because a tiny group of crooks on Wall Street built themselves beach houses in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-taibbi/people-aren-t-pissed-just-to-be-pissed-they-re-mad-because-a-tiny/) [Matt Taibbi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) [Explore all 175 Matt Taibbi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-taibbi/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. Remember, under a Trump administration it's called America first. Remember that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-need-a-system-that-serves-our-needs-not-the-needs-of-others/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [You live overseas, you see these exotic places and you want to know about them. But, weirdly, it also made me homesick for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-jennings/you-live-overseas-you-see-these-exotic-places-and-you-want-to-know/) [Ken Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-jennings/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. It's AIDS, it's herpes, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/freedom-in-every-sense-but-primarily-political-sense-a-rise-in/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) > [“In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/in-american-terms-the-accomplishment-of-genghis-khan-might-be/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) [Browse all 20,382 America quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It may be that America has become too big and complicated for most people to deal with being part of. 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