NYC might be the biggest psyop ever - am I crazy for thinking this?

Okay, hear me out—I’ve been turning this idea over in my head, and I can’t shake it: New York City might be one of the greatest psyops of all time. Like, it’s been marketed for decades as the place—the ultimate dream city where ambitious, creative, smart people go to “make it.” But the more I think about it, the more it feels like a trap. A self-replicating illusion that keeps people stuck in this exhausting cycle of struggling, surviving, and telling themselves it’s worth it. It’s like the city convinces you that suffering is the price of success—that the stress, the loneliness, the burnout are all proof you’re strong enough to belong there.

And it’s deeper than that. NYC sells an identity so hard that even when people are miserable, they won’t leave. Why? Because leaving means admitting the whole dream was a lie. The media’s been hammering this idea into us forever—being in New York equals success, no matter how much you’re drowning. They’ve glamorized the suffering so much that people wear it like a badge of honor. You’ve heard it—folks bragging about the grind, romanticizing 80-hour weeks, acting like that’s the only way to live. It’s genius, really: they’ve made leaving feel like failure, so people stay trapped even when they’re dying to get out.

Here’s the wildest part—it’s not just a city. It’s a mental prison dressed up as freedom. Once you see through the hype, you realize you don’t need NYC to be the powerful, magnetic person you thought it’d make you. That energy’s already in you. The city didn’t give it to you; it just convinced you it did. So now I’m wondering—once you break free of that illusion, where do you even take that power next?

What do you all think? Am I onto something, or is this just a late-night brain spiral? Anyone here ditched NYC and felt lighter after? I need to know.

This goes far beyond just NYC tho same pattern seems to follow in other aspects too.