In May of 2019 I traveled close to the North Pole to the archipelago of Svalbard. The main purpose of this trip was to photograph polar bears in their natural environment. I had never been to the Earth’s polar regions, and wasn’t sure if what I had seen in the pages of National Geographic could be expected when I peered out the airplane window on descent into Longyearbyen, Svalbard’s largest and only ‘real’ township.

To say one has a unique perspective on the United States is often synonymous with presumptiveness and pretension. The United States is arguably the most diverse and complex nation on Earth, culturally, racially, geographically and economically. 
Therefore, it’s reasonable to think any stated insight into the workings of the most powerful economic machine ever created will draw some ire from others.
 However, the internet is not short on opinions, and I wouldn’t be writing this if I didn’t think I had one worth sharing.