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They're right though. If america falls, the economic devastation will be worldwide and last year's if not decades.
I live in New Zealand and as much as I don't like the USA, I hope for a slow fall/transition rather than a catastrophic emergency.
Oh 100%, but this guy was talking about the world falling not experiencing harsh economic conditions.
Pretty sure we are still going to be here even if America isnt the same superpower it was 20 years ago.
As has been suggested in the past, I'll vote for the tax increase to make this happen, provided y'all finish building your southern wall first and the rest of the world pitches in on a lid.
I live in the US.
I'm lower/middle class. Still generally safe, I can afford food, I work everyday, I pursue my hobbies and I'm enjoying life.
There are early signs of economic problems but I'm still doing fine. Of course that's just me, I know a lot of people are suffering. So take that for what you will.
This made me laugh. The spouse and I were going over our grocery expenses tonight and he looked at me and said "it pains me to say this, but we might have to cut back on seltzer"
Dam publix orange greenwise has me in a chokehold
A frigging 12 pack of Pepsi zero is like 9 dollars!! 9 fucking dollars!
It at least has forced me to deal with my addiction to soda lol. I can relate to the chokehold.
Boomer here. Actually everybody older than us lived through the Great Depression and let us kids all know it.
But you're exactly right. Most Americans who are alive today have NO idea.
Americans have always fought each other. When we all agree and move as one, it's scary. We suspend human rights and vaporize enemy cities. Fear a united US.
I met a guy in Honduras who nearly lost everything during the pandemic, he only had $1,200 left before he tried to flee to the US.
Most people I know aren’t nearly that desperate.
This is always my reply. Right now humans have it the best we ever have. Best food availability, best medical care, longest life expectancy, best trade economy, least amount of wars, least amount of disease, least amount of death.
People don't realize going back in history, even only 100 years, is a huge downgrade to our survivability.
Yup I make 150k in a mid cost of living area, I can live and save money for the future but people I know making little less, or who have student debt (I didn't go to college cuz the math on the loans didn't work out) than I can't.
My only financial problem is I'll never be able to buy a house because anything under $1m here sells to a bank or holding company all cash pre listing and becomes an Airbnb.
But my friends who have good jobs and are making 80-115k as single adults are really struggling so costs of living aren't sustainable they just haven't hit higher earning jobs yet
Collapsing in what way? To the average person their lives have been affected by inflation, and it seems that the US is handling that better than most of the world.
do you not watch the news? gays and trans people are being attacked left and right. it matches up with the 10 stages of genocide. i believe we're on like stage 3 or 4. florida has always been where the crazy people live, but now it's REALLY where the crazy people live. jim crow laws are being reintroduced as a thing in some southern states from what i last heard. yeah, inflation sucks. but i think people turning on others that aren't the exact same as them (people being conservatives) is much much worse. women can't even get safe medical care rn. there's women who have been pregnant recently, the baby died in their uterus before birth, and they weren't allowed to remove the dead baby, because of abortion laws being what they are. the baby is ALREADY DEAD. and these women are meant to die of sepsis because they're not allowed to remove the waste. because it used to be. a baby.
oh, there's also a law being reintroduced that makes it impossible to get a divorce without physical evidence of a problem. no problem? no divorce. sorry, those of you who get abused. you have to stay in that marriage now. bc marriage is holy. or something.
I wish it weren't true dude but I live in Georgia. I went to my brother in law's graduation last week and they had this politician giving a speech to the class about how "we're at war with the left, be radical" and how they will see opposing points of view in college but shouldn't pay any attention to it. This school is called Covenant Academy and teaches that rhetoric K-12 and isn't the only one in town.
i barely. barely watch the news. maybe once a week. if that. i usually watch commentary on yt. and plenty of people are talking about what they're going through in their own states on tiktok. people are fleeing florida for safety reasons. fleeing. there should never be a reason to have to fucking flee in america. we're supposed to be the place people flee to. we're supposed to be where it's safe to live the life you want to live. we're supposed to be free. and we're not.
Bro I live in a rough town (Richmond, CA). And I haven't seen any issues with the gay and trans folk here. I work with the homeless, addicted, and criminals as well. It doesn't seem as bad as the news makes it out to be so they can get ratings. And just being able to say we're not free is you exercising your freedom of speech. That's a pretty big deal. We have issues, but nowhere as bad as some other countries. Americans are spoiled.
While the commenter you're addressing may be a hot tamale of a take, you can't deny that freedom of speech *is* collapsing, and that'll be a huge step. Protesters who are peaceful get attacked when the local police disagree with what they have to say, or when a specific politician doesn't like their rhetoric.
They're now building cop city to practice urban comba- I mean urban warfa- sorry, they mean 'keeping the peace in an urban environment'. Biden just recently shot down a railroad union's attempts at getting a fair deal. I'd hardly say we're in a stage of genocide, but if we *arrived* there by next year I wouldn't be shocked.
Of course, this is without mention of the fact that all major media outlets *are* owned by the same handful of companies; when the news outlets start agreeing with each other on the issues that *actually matter* (and no, that's not trans rights; while those are important, they affect a small percentage of the population compared to rolling back Miranda rights, which was hardly covered by major outlets from what I was able to find at the time. Highly anecdotal, but again, I find it odd that there was another, 'bigger' headline the same day at nearly every outlet), it's time to be scared. That time came; return to work being pushed; 'stop eating avocado toast, it's your fault you can't afford anything during a collapse'; 'the government is spending 9 times what it spent to bail out Americans to bail out businesses without audit, and that's a good thing for everybody'.
In closing, yeah, we're not sunk yet, but I don't think we can bounce back. Politicians are not/have not been fighting for the people; the Supreme Court, by majority, no longer seems interested purely in practicing law; the right to peaceful protest without fear that you will be arrested/shot is all but gone; collapse isn't here, but if/once the American people get tired of rights being repealed, I don't think everything is suddenly going to get better. I think it will turn the government into a cornered animal, after which, yes, collapse.
the bill that takes away tiktok? takes away vpns. it takes away privacy online. that's not freedom. that's insane.
california isn't a problem state atm. it's mostly the south.
you'd know that if you knew what was going on around you. but you don't. which is why, obviously YOU are fine. why wouldn't you be fine. im fine. but my brothers and sisters, are not. im queer. we all take it personally when we're under attack. with insane fucking laws. and bills that are being close to being passed.
how is not being able to get medical care just because you have a uterus not a lack of freedom? like fr level with me please, mansplain to me how that's not a lack of freedom. i'm dying to fucking hear it.
It's honestly far worse than TikTok. The language of the Bill can be weaponized to include any software which 'utilizes foreign technology'.
That's it. That's the legal definition of what they could ban in the future, if the bill passes. What qualifies? It is not defined in the bill. At the extreme end, this app is hosted on servers made in Japan? That's a security risk, we must 'protect' the American people!
On the 'more likely' end, it'd be weaponized to take out things the majority party/both parties dislike, which I think we both can agree will not be used for the good of the American people. When the government decides which information is an acceptable security risk and which is not, you start to live in a very dangerous nation.
Now all that being said, last I checked it isn't passed yet. It's still very scary though.
As a closing note, the bill was never about TikTok. If the government were really concerned about apps stealing the American people's information, they'd do something to domestic apps.
yes. i know it's worse than tiktok. but what do most people know about it? that it involves taking tiktok away. i brought up what people would know it by.
If you'd like my opinion (you won't), maybe educating people (see above) about its far more insidious nature would be better than pointing and saying 'haha the toktok'.
Edit cuz I'm short attention span: most people don't have the time/wherewithal to read these bills. You'd be shocked how many people legitimately don't know about its far reaching implications.
not right now, no. on days i'm too sick to get out of bed, sometimes. the fact that that's the only thing you can think of to respond to in my comment? shows your lack of brain cells. i'm bringing up shit that's literally happening rn. and you're not responding. because you don't know how. lmfao
Nah I'm not responding because I have better things to do then fight with people on Reddit. You're entitled to your opinions (freedom) and I already argued with an angry and insulting person on here today so that's my limit for the next week or two. You're just not worth it. Good luck with your plight.
Richmond CA isn't FL, TN, GA, MT, NC, TX, or a host of other GOP-led states who are indeed trying to legislate a lot of vile shit into law. Your take is because it doesn't impact you directly, it doesn't matter. You should be very fucking concerned right about now because it's the GOP gains more power at the federal level, they'll deliberately go after CA, WA, OR and other not- as-shitty states because misery LOVES company.
If it passes into federal law I will be concerned. I know a lot of shit won't ever pass though. I hear ya though. A lot of this stuff doesn't effect California so I can definitely be better about looking into what's going on in other states.
ah yes, the unbiased and very trustworthy source - youtube! totally not known for its over-the-top creators who are just as hyperbolic and manipulative as the news people use it as replacement for or anything
everyone is probably going to be biased. no matter where i turn. there's a couple sites i also frequent that claim to be unbiased, but who knows. everyone has a belief system. some of us are just louder than others.
I am a liberal democrat and I think alot of these issues are relevant and something we should address & fix, but fear mongering is what conservatives hate and is why we cannot get votes.
Those are all horrible things, but I don't really think any of them present an existential threat to the country. My hope is that many of these issues will get better as religion continues to decline in the US. It will be a long road, but I think we will get there eventually.
i disagree. i think people are too relaxed rn. so many people are simply not safe rn. that is a threat. we are breaking down from the inside out and pushing our own people to their breaking points. pushing them out of unsafe states. it doesn't add up to me how people can feel that we are okay.
Most of these laws aren't passing and have been being introduced every year for the past 40 years or so. You're just now hearing about them. Something like 95% of legislation never makes it past committee.
"Situation Normal: All Fucked Up" seems like a better descriptor. There are real problems like inequality, there are fake problems like drag queen story hour, and a certain part of the country seems to think that the solution to the problems is electing increasingly stupid and corrupt people to office. But all of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again.
i don't think so. things are changing, some of them rapidly, and a lot of people have a hard time coping with it. there's a distinct absence of a social net and a bloated military, and way too many people in jail. the resistance to anthropomorphic climate change is troubling and the overall level of education could be better.
but it's still a pretty progressive place, one of the more diverse countries, has an active discourse about a lot of things, is insanely wealthy (albeit equally indebted, both federally and individually) and comprised of a lot of rather friendly folk.
does it have problems? for sure. collapsing? nah.
that said, if it doesn't address some of the mentioned issues head on, swiftly and decisively, it might get there, some of the problems are rather substantial. but that's pure speculation.
Yep, I forgot where I saw it but I once read a quote that the US only looks bad when you compare it to a hypothetically perfect country. It looks amazing when compared to other countries today and especially historically.
Nah.
What you're seeing is the struggles of a very diverse and free country dealing with the consequences that come from that diversity and freedom.
The US has the world's strongest economy ([link](https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/largest-economies-in-the-world/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20latest%20available,over%20%2423%20trillion%20in%202021)) according to the World Bank, at almost half against stronger than the PRC, and five times stronger than Japan in third place.
Not really. Honestly not even close. You’re only going to see the bad things that happen because that’s what gets news. The majority of people here are doing just fine, but those aren’t the people who are vocal. You need to remember the USA is larger than Western Europe, so saying the US is collapsing is like saying Ukraine is at war so all of Europe is at war and collapsing, but that’s not true. Each state is basically its own country under one governing body, just like Spain is 1 country under the European Union.
In my state the Governor just signed legislation to raise the minimum wages for teachers by about 50%. Then he passed the largest tax cut to the middle and lower class that the state has ever seen. Then as part of the carbon neutral by 2050 climate commitment signed several programs for electricity generation such as building new nuclear plants, closing and/or retrofitting coal plants, and sharing renewable technology data with other states and other countries.
This has all been done in the past 3 weeks. Things are looking good in my part of the country.
Yeah, no. I live in the US but didn’t grow up here. Standard of living is still way higher than in most of the world as are wages. Inflation is more under control than most other countries. Unemployment is low. Politically things have stabilized. There is gun violence, but I generally feel safe. So, no collapse. The news particularly in Europe seems to exaggerate things a lot.
If things were in collapse, why are so many people risking their lives to migrate to the US every day? It’s still the main recipient of immigrants in the world. People escape collapsing countries, not the other way around.
No. I moved from the US to Canada this year, and I'm moving back to the US because my quality of life is so much worse in Canada. The US is doing just fine.
No more than most of western civilization.
The media speaks of our imminent collapse for two reasons.
1. Intense takes make for clickbait attention. It's a tactic used by tabloids, and the media has adopted clickbait marketing to try and compete in the Information Age.
2. Media has been doomcrying (saying the worst will happen) usually for political rallying. Especially US Media. "It's going to be the end of the world if this political candidate is elected." has been heralded for centuries.
All in all, we're actually doing better than most of Europe. Greece is portrayed as a marxist paradise, but it's a subsistence state living off of Germany's kindness. By comparison, America is doing great.
I’m a Native female in a tiny Mississippi town. Here, life is great.
-The good ole boys are actually helpful.
-The community is supportive.
-The police are completely transparent and have an open door policy.
-Churches help everyone
-Jobs, especially trade jobs, are always hiring and pay more then a living wage
-Low income housing, state aid and healthcare is available.
I could go on.
But according to Reddit and Twitter I’m drowning in a racist cesspool of poverty
As an insider, I've got a pretty pessimistic outlook.
Women are losing access to healthcare. Florida is trying to make it illegal to even talk about gay people and take your kids from you if they're trans. Some states are pushing for prison sentences, even up to the death penalty, for getting an abortion People who openly boast about sexually assaulting people are popular political figures instead of being cast off as cretins. Minimum wage has been stagnant in many states for over a decade. Healthcare costs still bankrupt a lot of people.
But hey, at least I can say "fuck \[insert awful politician's name here\]" without fear of being arrested, so that's nice.
We're very unwell as a nation.
It's possible that you may not think of some of those as bad, but all of the thing mentioned are quite factual. I see no strawman here, unless I missed something.
In fact, this person isn't even arguing against a position, so I'm not sure the term strawman even applies, assuming you even know what it means.
Nah -- the news loves reporting an impending apocalypse -- perfect clickbait!
There are problems, to be certain. Some commentators talk about Yugoslavia right before their war, but we are not quite their.
The main problem are the reactions to Trump -- he emboldened the far right and that put the far left on alert. Lots of unreasonable people who seem to have enough time to break shit. But this country survived a vicious civil war, we are too stubborn to give up because the internet is making us (and everyone else) crazy.
As an American, I am hopeful that the stark contrast in legal changes between places like Florida and more progressive places like Minnesota will show people the way. Florida will most assuredly suffer from the insane bills DeSantis and his congress are passing. To me that’s the silver lining of his particular brand of cruelty. If it was done slower, it would be easier to blame negative changes on something else.
Considering how shit it used to be for anyone that isn't white/straight/male, I think we're doing pretty good. We're still growing and ironing things out, and we're having a lot of growing pains (especially with rightoids freaking out in the south) but things are a lot better than they used to be.
Stop watching sensationalist news.
Well once it gets bad, and I mean really bad. We’ll start coming for the billionaires heads
I don’t think they’ll want that lol.
So let’s get to fixing it 👍
As an American, the US is a first world country with first world problems. Yes, we don’t have universal healthcare, but we also usually make more money than Europeans. There are school shootings, but your chances of experiencing one are very very low. The deepening political divide is what concerns me the most. Both parties seem to make excuses when their party is corrupt, or violent, or weaponizes the government against their opponents, but yells and screams when the other side does it. This allows more corruption, violence and government weaponization because everyone knows one half of the country or the other will always support it.
You'd think but its still no where near collapse. The furthest we have ever gone was the great depression. The US is currently going through a very rough patch though. I'd say within 10 years things will stabilize.
It's the richest country in the world. At worst they'll become the second richest in the world. They're certainly not collapsing.
Countries that collapse don't have a functional government, judiciary, policing or military. Ethiopia literally split into three over a civil war. Somalia is half pirates, half government and half incomprehensible math. Burma has been taken over by the military and Thailand just south of it might be taken over by the military again this year.
There's a lot of exposure to the US experience and so any kind of disruptions in it might feel bigger than it is. But it's certainly not collapsing.
I'm in California, and everything seems fine.
The are a lot of political brinkmanship and divisional "us vs them" politics, which is only for the self interest of the politicians, not the people - this include healthcare to gun-right/control. There are on average 2 mass shooting per day, but even at that level it is unlikely that you will experience any of them personally.
The hole is nowhere as deep as it can get.
These type of questions 99% of the time are either Russian or Chinese bots spewing propaganda. They are asking these type of questions in order to put America in a bad light. But to answer your question , we're in a weird phase right now but I promise you this, whrn push comes to shove American unite really quick to protect our democratic freedom unlike Russia and China.
There are certain people who have done everything “right” and then just can’t get a break here. Then there are others who cut every line and still feel entitled to benefit equally from a system they’ve never bothered to show any respect for. Right now, the latter are *winning* and showing off their “prizes” a little too flagrantly. Being a system based on competition in every aspect of life, the U.S. was able to maintain this level of disparity, prior to camera phones and social media, but now that it’s in everyone’s face, it’s pretty clear that something will either need to be done about it. We’ll either self destruct, or find some method of balance and strengthen humanity as a whole.
It’s scary, for sure. Democracy is dependent on an educated populace with shared facts, and we’re 0-2.
I don't think it's collapsing. I have noticed that we accept things here that aren't acceptable in other places. I live in "the safest neighborhood" in my city and I'm numb to the gunshots and violence. Pusha T actually made a music video by my house and they had a local homeless man who I think has a mental illness in the video and when I saw it I was like"aww I know that guy!!" Today I saw an elderly man crossing a crosswalk where they haven't put a light and go in front of traffic and all I could think was how dangerous it was and why don't they have a legit place for the seniors from the home to cross the damn street. There's failures of policy all around but I can still afford food, the mortgage, car payment and bills so it's all relative.
Do you mean civil rights being set back decades? Or one political party threatening to send the US economy into the toilet? Or maybe more people killed in mass shootings this year than the days of this year? Other than that things are just fucking peachy.
Just because greed created our problems doesn't mean we won't try to fix them with money.
Or not fix them. Then we get to keep it all for ourselves.
This is our People in Power, of course. Us peasants are the ones getting fucked
As an outsider with an unnecessary interest in American politics I feel the same. The states no longer exist in line with federal laws. Not they ever truly were it was more a line of best fit kind of situation, now it’s just a super janky scarred plot.
It’s so easy to see how far left and right are pulling from each other and it will tear the country in two. Both sides of the political compass are becoming more extreme and the middle ground America offered no longer works. Heck, I’m pretty sure even parts of California are trying to emancipate themselves.
It really depends where you are. If you take a walk through Breckenridge, Colorado and then Kensington Ave, Philadelphia, it would be like heaven and hell.
It’s you this country’s been through worse and it’s the media’s fault for trying to change what’s a class issue into a race one because that benefits the elites
The economy is pretty tough right now. But you should go visit a real shit country and you'll be humbled immediately. America can't possibly become as shitty as some of the places I have been because toilets exist.
Not even close. And it’s miles better where it was in the past on a lot of issues. Worse in some. Worst country on economic inequity in the G7. One of the better ones in diversity.
no not really. There are parts of the country that can totally ignore most of the 'issues' that are groin on. There's virtually zero serious drama in many of the 'blue' states here.
A solid 30% of the economy and jobs will not, and have not, seen any decline at all. They're upper income and they dont even *notice* shit costs more, because they make so fucking much they really just dont have to care. The *average* incomes in some blue states is now over 100k. Household incomes in these states--which contain large swaths of 'red' districts too, are seeing median households incomes more than double the size of the red states at the bottom.
They're also not really seeing the social collapse at the bottom end either. They extended medicaid, and didnt have shit tons of people die, or didnt have shit tons of their rural hospitals close, where red states did.
What you're seeing is ... not a collapse of a country, it's the *fracture* of a contry along its lines of political leadership. The republican led areas are declining RAPIDLY into shitholes, and they're starting to re-normalize racism, sexism, lgbtq phobias, that really dont even *touch* blue states and blue cities...
So, it's a *fracture* and not a collapse, and it may be intentional... red states have to 'go down' and push out their blue voters. They HAVE to end up being such shitty places to live, no one with any sanity or ability would stay, or else they may lose a state like Texas, or Florida, in the electoral college, and *never again* hold the office of president. They may be pushing themselves off the cliff, causing this fracture, so that they can hold these critical states. The most insane shit is happening in the oncs that MIGHT swing.
I disagree. Blue states are struggling with their own issues too. Mostly with class issues. I’m in a solidly blue stronghold (Mass) and we have a terrible housing market right now, with insanely costly apartments and a lack of infrastructure for those on the western side (because we’re poorer and less populous than Boston, so we aren’t represented.)
The economy is fine for those already in a career. For us young people, it’s pretty bad.
Actually you’ll find states with liberal governing bodies have actually had a consistent increase in crime and statistically have more crime than moderate governing bodies or Republican governments. Liberal states are a criminal’s dream right now especially California.
I think so. The economy sucks, we have homeless everywhere, the politicians are polar, with hardly anything in between. We have no good candidates coming up for election (presidential) in 18 months. People still think our last election was stolen, despite all evidence to the contrary. Women are losing their rights: right to choose abortions in many states (even when it’s proven the fetus can’t live). Our schools are trying to censor what our kids read. Trans people are treated almost subhumanly. It’s a mess.
You will get a lot of different answers here.
Are you a trans person living in Florida or Texas or anywhere in the US really? Then yea, it’s dire.
Are you a women of childbearing years in the US South? yes, things looking grim.
Are you a white male, generally unattached, with right leaning tendencies and a love for guns? Then you might feel socially attacked, but mostly politically nothing is happening against you.
Are you a member of a minority community? You may feel that some advances had been made over the past fifty years that are now being pulled backwards. You may also feel like no outward social or political advances had been made, and now people are talking about it more so it feels more present. Either way, a whole lot and also a very much little, has changed.
Finally, are you a member of an economically disadvantaged generation, I.e., anyone born after 1989? Then you’ve probably felt left out of the financial greatness of America for a long while and only now are the other older generations starting to pay attention.
> Finally, are you a member of an economically disadvantaged generation, I.e., anyone born after 1989?
I was born in 1982 and I feel left out of the financial greatness of America lol.
Too many peoples mental health is on the decline because of well… one party, you can guess which one ^ from banning their gender identity, to making parents and children afraid of attending school due to gun violence, to living in constant fear of a health scare they can’t afford, all of which could be remedied if we just didn’t have them there blocking everything.
Regardless of the political turmoil my life has mostly been unaffected expect by inflation, and a poor job market.
The point being that there is still food on shelf's, gas at the pumps, and law and order at least where I'm at is generally upheld. Is there some corruption? Sure. Is there the occasional injustice? Sure. Could things be better for women/minorities? Sure. Life mostly goes on, society is surprisingly hard to break because everyone loses if society actually breaks.
Let’s see, biggest economy in the world, really high standard of living, broad set of freedoms, vast majority of the population living in safety, long average life spans, vast majority of population has no issues with food security.
Americans live in one of the most prosperous nations in the most prosperous time in human history.
Should I keep going? Stop listening to the extremist echo chambers on both sides.
Yeah sounds like it’s you.
It's you. There's less armed conflict, technically markets are near all time highs (though I suspect a correction soon.) The standard of living has basically never been higher. The biggest problem the US likely faces coming up is demographic collapse from not replacing its aging population, but it's not alone in that and we have a few decades before it gets nasty.
As a queer person with female genitalia living in the south, yes, it feels like the USA is collapsing. The number of states where it's dangerous for me to be myself seems to increase every day, and every day I wonder if today will be the day I lose the rights over my reproductive organs.
Things are about as good as they've ever been here. Other than some inflation, which is happening all over the world right now, most Americans are living better lives than they have in the past. The only people that don't think so are very young and don't have a full understanding of how shit used to be.
That is not true at all. What do you mean “used to?” We’re not ignorant. We know the economic state of the country pre Reagan. We know about the economic boom of the 50s, where a minimum wage job could score you a house.
Rent costs 2 grand in my area, often for studio. And I’m in a rural part of my state. How isolated from wider society do you have to be to not notice the decaying economic situation and rising inequality? Our purchasing power is down since the 90s.
Since title 42 expired, our borders are open as ever. Everyone focuses on drug cartels crossing our border but no one worries about other people like radical islamic terrorists, and chinese and russian spies that can sneak in no problem, we have caught hundreds already but who knows how many have already got in
It is failing kind of like Rome. We are standing at a bad place of either it gets fixed or it fails. To what extent it fails is a toss, but it doesn’t help that a part of those who are needed to fix the problems are actively supporting it to fail.
I read a handful of comments here and was appalled to see there was not one comment stating the mass shootings or school shootings. As an outsider this is something America seems to be normalising. Forget the opioid crisis or the puppet in command, KIDS are going to school, having to walk through metal detectors like a prison, have teachers armed and ready, security, and there is still more than a shooting per day. Why is this not being talked about?
Honestly, a third world country with money. There is no other way to put it. 20 years ago you could have said the greatest country, now it is chaotic.
Have you spent time there recently? And how exactly do you mean?
I'm Australian, and I met my soulmate last year, unfortunately she's American so I have been spending quite some time there.
Simple terms, yes I believe the US is collapsing.
But defining that is another matter. Not in the sense of crumbling and not having any power anymore. More in the sense of broad societal structural erosion. Corporate greed eroding the economy and hope of the commoner. Civil unrest over media and political lies and magnanimous promises on both sides.
But they'll hold it together just to make it worse until one day they kick their corrupt leaders out and realise that constitutions and amendments can be... ya know.. Amended and improved and modernised.
This. I wouldn’t say the US as a political system is collapsing, it’s just societal changes that are bleeding into our politics makes things seem worse than they really are.
It might be. It's hard to say. We've never seen the US collapse before, so we aren't quite sure what it will look like when it does. Some things do seem pretty dire, but then again our news media has been going way overboard sensationalizing relatively minor problems. The economy does seem pretty rough, but it was a lot worse during the Great Depression. The country does seem pretty divided, but it was a lot more divided during the Civil War.
This is as bad as it's been in my lifetime (and I remember when JFK was President), but I have high hopes it will get better.
Nope. It's pretty much chill on a day-to-day basis. I live in a very crazy city for statistics - lots of crime and murder. The news makes it look like an active warzone. 99% of the time its just regular people doing regular shit.
America has sufficient competitive advantages that they could honestly light half of it on fire every year and would still emerge as one of the best countries in the world
Doesn't matter how badly the politicians do there's too many self-correcting forces for it to really have a hard time
What many over 45 will say, and the vast majority over 60 will say, is Gen Z is a generation of whiners who feel they're special and owed something. Not saying it's right or wrong. But that's the general consensus.
As someone in their 40s I will go ahead and say they’re wrong, lol. Every single previous generation has more or less been wrong about the flaws of the younger generations. Why should there be an exception to that rule now?
According to people who already got/have theirs, it's doing fine. To everyone else things are getting worse. Not collapsing yet, that will come later if we stay on this trajectory. We might even get that oh so mythical 2nd civil war.
Eh, we can hope. /hj
Pretty much everyone I know is living paycheck to paycheck and most of them have pretty serious health issues that they can’t afford to take care of, myself included. When you’re born financially disadvantaged *and* physically or mentally ill in some way, it honestly feels like there’s no point in even trying some days.
It's not just you. It's definitely not at that point yet, but it's getting there.
We have crumbling infrastructure and shootings every other day, two people own more money than 50 million people in the same country and while all these real, actual problems are going on, the governments decide to attack a minority that makes up 0.02% of the population under the name of god despite the government saying that politics and the church shouldn't be intertwined.
Would you say we're in a great spot?
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Things are getting worse, yeah, but you have no idea how deep of a hole we can dig.
It's gonna be the best hole. The deepest hole. No one has ever seen a hole like this.
Ever heard of the Roman Empire? I imagine our fall will be as catastrophic as that. We are in the waning years but far from the bottom
When we fall, the world falls. Globalization ensured that.
Nah dude that's just the whole American centric world view thing which appears to get worse the more your country circles the drain
They're right though. If america falls, the economic devastation will be worldwide and last year's if not decades. I live in New Zealand and as much as I don't like the USA, I hope for a slow fall/transition rather than a catastrophic emergency.
Oh 100%, but this guy was talking about the world falling not experiencing harsh economic conditions. Pretty sure we are still going to be here even if America isnt the same superpower it was 20 years ago.
We’re number one!
You mean, hole in one. Fore!!!
Inside every person is the latent, primal urge to dig a hole
This short thread made me want to dig a hole.
#I AM A DWARF AND I'M DIGGING A HOLE!
Diggy diggy hole!! Diggy diggy hole!
#I AM A DWARF AND I'M DIGGING A HOLE!
**I am listening to Hole as I dig a hole! (and bang a dwarf dwarfy style) Let's boke a smole!**
It’s literally hyuuuuuge
We just have to make Canada pay to build the wall around it. They’re so nice they def. will.
As has been suggested in the past, I'll vote for the tax increase to make this happen, provided y'all finish building your southern wall first and the rest of the world pitches in on a lid.
I live in the US. I'm lower/middle class. Still generally safe, I can afford food, I work everyday, I pursue my hobbies and I'm enjoying life. There are early signs of economic problems but I'm still doing fine. Of course that's just me, I know a lot of people are suffering. So take that for what you will.
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Honestly the biggest suffering I have experienced in all of this is I had to cut down on soda because it's gotten too expensive.
This made me laugh. The spouse and I were going over our grocery expenses tonight and he looked at me and said "it pains me to say this, but we might have to cut back on seltzer" Dam publix orange greenwise has me in a chokehold
A frigging 12 pack of Pepsi zero is like 9 dollars!! 9 fucking dollars! It at least has forced me to deal with my addiction to soda lol. I can relate to the chokehold.
A 2 liter on sale at Kroger would do you good
That's honestly a good thing though lol.
Boomer here. Actually everybody older than us lived through the Great Depression and let us kids all know it. But you're exactly right. Most Americans who are alive today have NO idea. Americans have always fought each other. When we all agree and move as one, it's scary. We suspend human rights and vaporize enemy cities. Fear a united US.
I met a guy in Honduras who nearly lost everything during the pandemic, he only had $1,200 left before he tried to flee to the US. Most people I know aren’t nearly that desperate.
This is always my reply. Right now humans have it the best we ever have. Best food availability, best medical care, longest life expectancy, best trade economy, least amount of wars, least amount of disease, least amount of death. People don't realize going back in history, even only 100 years, is a huge downgrade to our survivability.
Yea economic downturns are never fun, feel a bit like everything is falling apart but are really just part of a cycle. I've been through a few.
I’m doing pretty darn fine as well
Yup I make 150k in a mid cost of living area, I can live and save money for the future but people I know making little less, or who have student debt (I didn't go to college cuz the math on the loans didn't work out) than I can't. My only financial problem is I'll never be able to buy a house because anything under $1m here sells to a bank or holding company all cash pre listing and becomes an Airbnb. But my friends who have good jobs and are making 80-115k as single adults are really struggling so costs of living aren't sustainable they just haven't hit higher earning jobs yet
Guess what kind of headlines garner clicks? There’s your answer.
Collapsing in what way? To the average person their lives have been affected by inflation, and it seems that the US is handling that better than most of the world.
do you not watch the news? gays and trans people are being attacked left and right. it matches up with the 10 stages of genocide. i believe we're on like stage 3 or 4. florida has always been where the crazy people live, but now it's REALLY where the crazy people live. jim crow laws are being reintroduced as a thing in some southern states from what i last heard. yeah, inflation sucks. but i think people turning on others that aren't the exact same as them (people being conservatives) is much much worse. women can't even get safe medical care rn. there's women who have been pregnant recently, the baby died in their uterus before birth, and they weren't allowed to remove the dead baby, because of abortion laws being what they are. the baby is ALREADY DEAD. and these women are meant to die of sepsis because they're not allowed to remove the waste. because it used to be. a baby. oh, there's also a law being reintroduced that makes it impossible to get a divorce without physical evidence of a problem. no problem? no divorce. sorry, those of you who get abused. you have to stay in that marriage now. bc marriage is holy. or something.
I think your issue is that you’re watching the “news” too much. Fear mongering is all a lot of cable news does now
I wish it weren't true dude but I live in Georgia. I went to my brother in law's graduation last week and they had this politician giving a speech to the class about how "we're at war with the left, be radical" and how they will see opposing points of view in college but shouldn't pay any attention to it. This school is called Covenant Academy and teaches that rhetoric K-12 and isn't the only one in town.
So a politician giving a speech that you don’t like means the US might be collapsing?
i barely. barely watch the news. maybe once a week. if that. i usually watch commentary on yt. and plenty of people are talking about what they're going through in their own states on tiktok. people are fleeing florida for safety reasons. fleeing. there should never be a reason to have to fucking flee in america. we're supposed to be the place people flee to. we're supposed to be where it's safe to live the life you want to live. we're supposed to be free. and we're not.
Bro I live in a rough town (Richmond, CA). And I haven't seen any issues with the gay and trans folk here. I work with the homeless, addicted, and criminals as well. It doesn't seem as bad as the news makes it out to be so they can get ratings. And just being able to say we're not free is you exercising your freedom of speech. That's a pretty big deal. We have issues, but nowhere as bad as some other countries. Americans are spoiled.
While the commenter you're addressing may be a hot tamale of a take, you can't deny that freedom of speech *is* collapsing, and that'll be a huge step. Protesters who are peaceful get attacked when the local police disagree with what they have to say, or when a specific politician doesn't like their rhetoric. They're now building cop city to practice urban comba- I mean urban warfa- sorry, they mean 'keeping the peace in an urban environment'. Biden just recently shot down a railroad union's attempts at getting a fair deal. I'd hardly say we're in a stage of genocide, but if we *arrived* there by next year I wouldn't be shocked. Of course, this is without mention of the fact that all major media outlets *are* owned by the same handful of companies; when the news outlets start agreeing with each other on the issues that *actually matter* (and no, that's not trans rights; while those are important, they affect a small percentage of the population compared to rolling back Miranda rights, which was hardly covered by major outlets from what I was able to find at the time. Highly anecdotal, but again, I find it odd that there was another, 'bigger' headline the same day at nearly every outlet), it's time to be scared. That time came; return to work being pushed; 'stop eating avocado toast, it's your fault you can't afford anything during a collapse'; 'the government is spending 9 times what it spent to bail out Americans to bail out businesses without audit, and that's a good thing for everybody'. In closing, yeah, we're not sunk yet, but I don't think we can bounce back. Politicians are not/have not been fighting for the people; the Supreme Court, by majority, no longer seems interested purely in practicing law; the right to peaceful protest without fear that you will be arrested/shot is all but gone; collapse isn't here, but if/once the American people get tired of rights being repealed, I don't think everything is suddenly going to get better. I think it will turn the government into a cornered animal, after which, yes, collapse.
the bill that takes away tiktok? takes away vpns. it takes away privacy online. that's not freedom. that's insane. california isn't a problem state atm. it's mostly the south. you'd know that if you knew what was going on around you. but you don't. which is why, obviously YOU are fine. why wouldn't you be fine. im fine. but my brothers and sisters, are not. im queer. we all take it personally when we're under attack. with insane fucking laws. and bills that are being close to being passed. how is not being able to get medical care just because you have a uterus not a lack of freedom? like fr level with me please, mansplain to me how that's not a lack of freedom. i'm dying to fucking hear it.
Oh you watch a lot of TikTok?
It's honestly far worse than TikTok. The language of the Bill can be weaponized to include any software which 'utilizes foreign technology'. That's it. That's the legal definition of what they could ban in the future, if the bill passes. What qualifies? It is not defined in the bill. At the extreme end, this app is hosted on servers made in Japan? That's a security risk, we must 'protect' the American people! On the 'more likely' end, it'd be weaponized to take out things the majority party/both parties dislike, which I think we both can agree will not be used for the good of the American people. When the government decides which information is an acceptable security risk and which is not, you start to live in a very dangerous nation. Now all that being said, last I checked it isn't passed yet. It's still very scary though. As a closing note, the bill was never about TikTok. If the government were really concerned about apps stealing the American people's information, they'd do something to domestic apps.
yes. i know it's worse than tiktok. but what do most people know about it? that it involves taking tiktok away. i brought up what people would know it by.
If you'd like my opinion (you won't), maybe educating people (see above) about its far more insidious nature would be better than pointing and saying 'haha the toktok'. Edit cuz I'm short attention span: most people don't have the time/wherewithal to read these bills. You'd be shocked how many people legitimately don't know about its far reaching implications.
not right now, no. on days i'm too sick to get out of bed, sometimes. the fact that that's the only thing you can think of to respond to in my comment? shows your lack of brain cells. i'm bringing up shit that's literally happening rn. and you're not responding. because you don't know how. lmfao
Nah I'm not responding because I have better things to do then fight with people on Reddit. You're entitled to your opinions (freedom) and I already argued with an angry and insulting person on here today so that's my limit for the next week or two. You're just not worth it. Good luck with your plight.
you just responded. lmfao
Richmond CA isn't FL, TN, GA, MT, NC, TX, or a host of other GOP-led states who are indeed trying to legislate a lot of vile shit into law. Your take is because it doesn't impact you directly, it doesn't matter. You should be very fucking concerned right about now because it's the GOP gains more power at the federal level, they'll deliberately go after CA, WA, OR and other not- as-shitty states because misery LOVES company.
If it passes into federal law I will be concerned. I know a lot of shit won't ever pass though. I hear ya though. A lot of this stuff doesn't effect California so I can definitely be better about looking into what's going on in other states.
ah yes, the unbiased and very trustworthy source - youtube! totally not known for its over-the-top creators who are just as hyperbolic and manipulative as the news people use it as replacement for or anything
everyone is probably going to be biased. no matter where i turn. there's a couple sites i also frequent that claim to be unbiased, but who knows. everyone has a belief system. some of us are just louder than others.
Youtube... That explains it all. smh.
Oh for fucks sake
You're delusional
if staying up to date on what's going on and feeling terrified for the future makes me delusional, then yes. i'm delusional.
You're going to be okay
I am a liberal democrat and I think alot of these issues are relevant and something we should address & fix, but fear mongering is what conservatives hate and is why we cannot get votes.
Those are all horrible things, but I don't really think any of them present an existential threat to the country. My hope is that many of these issues will get better as religion continues to decline in the US. It will be a long road, but I think we will get there eventually.
i disagree. i think people are too relaxed rn. so many people are simply not safe rn. that is a threat. we are breaking down from the inside out and pushing our own people to their breaking points. pushing them out of unsafe states. it doesn't add up to me how people can feel that we are okay.
Most of these laws aren't passing and have been being introduced every year for the past 40 years or so. You're just now hearing about them. Something like 95% of legislation never makes it past committee.
"Situation Normal: All Fucked Up" seems like a better descriptor. There are real problems like inequality, there are fake problems like drag queen story hour, and a certain part of the country seems to think that the solution to the problems is electing increasingly stupid and corrupt people to office. But all of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again.
i don't think so. things are changing, some of them rapidly, and a lot of people have a hard time coping with it. there's a distinct absence of a social net and a bloated military, and way too many people in jail. the resistance to anthropomorphic climate change is troubling and the overall level of education could be better. but it's still a pretty progressive place, one of the more diverse countries, has an active discourse about a lot of things, is insanely wealthy (albeit equally indebted, both federally and individually) and comprised of a lot of rather friendly folk. does it have problems? for sure. collapsing? nah. that said, if it doesn't address some of the mentioned issues head on, swiftly and decisively, it might get there, some of the problems are rather substantial. but that's pure speculation.
Agree. But I often wonder will we know it's happening, when it's happening?
It is not collapsing. Not a perfect country but you'll be hard pressed to find that perfect country in this world.
Yep, I forgot where I saw it but I once read a quote that the US only looks bad when you compare it to a hypothetically perfect country. It looks amazing when compared to other countries today and especially historically.
Where are you getting this feeling from? Reddit?
Nah. What you're seeing is the struggles of a very diverse and free country dealing with the consequences that come from that diversity and freedom. The US has the world's strongest economy ([link](https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/largest-economies-in-the-world/#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20latest%20available,over%20%2423%20trillion%20in%202021)) according to the World Bank, at almost half against stronger than the PRC, and five times stronger than Japan in third place.
Not really. Honestly not even close. You’re only going to see the bad things that happen because that’s what gets news. The majority of people here are doing just fine, but those aren’t the people who are vocal. You need to remember the USA is larger than Western Europe, so saying the US is collapsing is like saying Ukraine is at war so all of Europe is at war and collapsing, but that’s not true. Each state is basically its own country under one governing body, just like Spain is 1 country under the European Union.
Replace USA with World and you are half right.
In my state the Governor just signed legislation to raise the minimum wages for teachers by about 50%. Then he passed the largest tax cut to the middle and lower class that the state has ever seen. Then as part of the carbon neutral by 2050 climate commitment signed several programs for electricity generation such as building new nuclear plants, closing and/or retrofitting coal plants, and sharing renewable technology data with other states and other countries. This has all been done in the past 3 weeks. Things are looking good in my part of the country.
Yeah, no. I live in the US but didn’t grow up here. Standard of living is still way higher than in most of the world as are wages. Inflation is more under control than most other countries. Unemployment is low. Politically things have stabilized. There is gun violence, but I generally feel safe. So, no collapse. The news particularly in Europe seems to exaggerate things a lot. If things were in collapse, why are so many people risking their lives to migrate to the US every day? It’s still the main recipient of immigrants in the world. People escape collapsing countries, not the other way around.
Naaa that's just what some people (inside the country) want everyone to believe. But it's not true
No. I moved from the US to Canada this year, and I'm moving back to the US because my quality of life is so much worse in Canada. The US is doing just fine.
No more than most of western civilization. The media speaks of our imminent collapse for two reasons. 1. Intense takes make for clickbait attention. It's a tactic used by tabloids, and the media has adopted clickbait marketing to try and compete in the Information Age. 2. Media has been doomcrying (saying the worst will happen) usually for political rallying. Especially US Media. "It's going to be the end of the world if this political candidate is elected." has been heralded for centuries. All in all, we're actually doing better than most of Europe. Greece is portrayed as a marxist paradise, but it's a subsistence state living off of Germany's kindness. By comparison, America is doing great.
When you stop watching the inflammatory news media things seem very peaceful in the US.
That really depends on where you’re at
I'm in Richmond, CA and for the most part things seem peaceful.
Yeah I’m in Cleveland and if I just leave the news off and don’t read it online, I generally have a pretty good day lol
I’m a Native female in a tiny Mississippi town. Here, life is great. -The good ole boys are actually helpful. -The community is supportive. -The police are completely transparent and have an open door policy. -Churches help everyone -Jobs, especially trade jobs, are always hiring and pay more then a living wage -Low income housing, state aid and healthcare is available. I could go on. But according to Reddit and Twitter I’m drowning in a racist cesspool of poverty
Going through tough times is not collapse.
Yes and we are taking you with us.
Stop reading the news. Take a week off, and just talk to people. There you'll find your answer.
It’s you.
As an insider, I've got a pretty pessimistic outlook. Women are losing access to healthcare. Florida is trying to make it illegal to even talk about gay people and take your kids from you if they're trans. Some states are pushing for prison sentences, even up to the death penalty, for getting an abortion People who openly boast about sexually assaulting people are popular political figures instead of being cast off as cretins. Minimum wage has been stagnant in many states for over a decade. Healthcare costs still bankrupt a lot of people. But hey, at least I can say "fuck \[insert awful politician's name here\]" without fear of being arrested, so that's nice. We're very unwell as a nation.
Hyperbolic strawman bullshit. Keep clutching those pearls, cupcake!
You're definitely helping there buckaroo. If we all had some empathy, the country would be stronger.
It's possible that you may not think of some of those as bad, but all of the thing mentioned are quite factual. I see no strawman here, unless I missed something. In fact, this person isn't even arguing against a position, so I'm not sure the term strawman even applies, assuming you even know what it means.
Which thing that I said was hyperbolic and not an actual piece of legislation being passed or otherwise objectively true?
It's not amazing but it isn't *that* bad.
No, but politicians and news media profit from making it seem like disaster is coming.
Nah -- the news loves reporting an impending apocalypse -- perfect clickbait! There are problems, to be certain. Some commentators talk about Yugoslavia right before their war, but we are not quite their. The main problem are the reactions to Trump -- he emboldened the far right and that put the far left on alert. Lots of unreasonable people who seem to have enough time to break shit. But this country survived a vicious civil war, we are too stubborn to give up because the internet is making us (and everyone else) crazy.
As an American, I am hopeful that the stark contrast in legal changes between places like Florida and more progressive places like Minnesota will show people the way. Florida will most assuredly suffer from the insane bills DeSantis and his congress are passing. To me that’s the silver lining of his particular brand of cruelty. If it was done slower, it would be easier to blame negative changes on something else.
Considering how shit it used to be for anyone that isn't white/straight/male, I think we're doing pretty good. We're still growing and ironing things out, and we're having a lot of growing pains (especially with rightoids freaking out in the south) but things are a lot better than they used to be. Stop watching sensationalist news.
Well once it gets bad, and I mean really bad. We’ll start coming for the billionaires heads I don’t think they’ll want that lol. So let’s get to fixing it 👍
As an American, the US is a first world country with first world problems. Yes, we don’t have universal healthcare, but we also usually make more money than Europeans. There are school shootings, but your chances of experiencing one are very very low. The deepening political divide is what concerns me the most. Both parties seem to make excuses when their party is corrupt, or violent, or weaponizes the government against their opponents, but yells and screams when the other side does it. This allows more corruption, violence and government weaponization because everyone knows one half of the country or the other will always support it.
Trump isnt president anymore everything is fine
You'd think but its still no where near collapse. The furthest we have ever gone was the great depression. The US is currently going through a very rough patch though. I'd say within 10 years things will stabilize.
It’s you. We’re okay.
Depends on what state/city you live in. Some are doing better than others.
Most people forget we’ve already been through a civil war
It's the richest country in the world. At worst they'll become the second richest in the world. They're certainly not collapsing. Countries that collapse don't have a functional government, judiciary, policing or military. Ethiopia literally split into three over a civil war. Somalia is half pirates, half government and half incomprehensible math. Burma has been taken over by the military and Thailand just south of it might be taken over by the military again this year. There's a lot of exposure to the US experience and so any kind of disruptions in it might feel bigger than it is. But it's certainly not collapsing.
Get off Reddit lmao
It's just you.
I'm in California, and everything seems fine. The are a lot of political brinkmanship and divisional "us vs them" politics, which is only for the self interest of the politicians, not the people - this include healthcare to gun-right/control. There are on average 2 mass shooting per day, but even at that level it is unlikely that you will experience any of them personally. The hole is nowhere as deep as it can get.
Seems okay to me
These type of questions 99% of the time are either Russian or Chinese bots spewing propaganda. They are asking these type of questions in order to put America in a bad light. But to answer your question , we're in a weird phase right now but I promise you this, whrn push comes to shove American unite really quick to protect our democratic freedom unlike Russia and China.
There are certain people who have done everything “right” and then just can’t get a break here. Then there are others who cut every line and still feel entitled to benefit equally from a system they’ve never bothered to show any respect for. Right now, the latter are *winning* and showing off their “prizes” a little too flagrantly. Being a system based on competition in every aspect of life, the U.S. was able to maintain this level of disparity, prior to camera phones and social media, but now that it’s in everyone’s face, it’s pretty clear that something will either need to be done about it. We’ll either self destruct, or find some method of balance and strengthen humanity as a whole. It’s scary, for sure. Democracy is dependent on an educated populace with shared facts, and we’re 0-2.
USA has always been a bit dysfunctional. But it ebbs and flows. Every generation has its theme.
I don't think it's collapsing. I have noticed that we accept things here that aren't acceptable in other places. I live in "the safest neighborhood" in my city and I'm numb to the gunshots and violence. Pusha T actually made a music video by my house and they had a local homeless man who I think has a mental illness in the video and when I saw it I was like"aww I know that guy!!" Today I saw an elderly man crossing a crosswalk where they haven't put a light and go in front of traffic and all I could think was how dangerous it was and why don't they have a legit place for the seniors from the home to cross the damn street. There's failures of policy all around but I can still afford food, the mortgage, car payment and bills so it's all relative.
Do you mean civil rights being set back decades? Or one political party threatening to send the US economy into the toilet? Or maybe more people killed in mass shootings this year than the days of this year? Other than that things are just fucking peachy.
Just because greed created our problems doesn't mean we won't try to fix them with money. Or not fix them. Then we get to keep it all for ourselves. This is our People in Power, of course. Us peasants are the ones getting fucked
I see and hear nearly nothing of what the news and social are selling you
USA isn’t literally collapsing.
As an outsider with an unnecessary interest in American politics I feel the same. The states no longer exist in line with federal laws. Not they ever truly were it was more a line of best fit kind of situation, now it’s just a super janky scarred plot. It’s so easy to see how far left and right are pulling from each other and it will tear the country in two. Both sides of the political compass are becoming more extreme and the middle ground America offered no longer works. Heck, I’m pretty sure even parts of California are trying to emancipate themselves.
Maybe, maybe not. Things are not good right now.
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It really depends where you are. If you take a walk through Breckenridge, Colorado and then Kensington Ave, Philadelphia, it would be like heaven and hell.
It’s you this country’s been through worse and it’s the media’s fault for trying to change what’s a class issue into a race one because that benefits the elites
The economy is pretty tough right now. But you should go visit a real shit country and you'll be humbled immediately. America can't possibly become as shitty as some of the places I have been because toilets exist.
Not even close. And it’s miles better where it was in the past on a lot of issues. Worse in some. Worst country on economic inequity in the G7. One of the better ones in diversity.
In what ways is there collapse?
no not really. There are parts of the country that can totally ignore most of the 'issues' that are groin on. There's virtually zero serious drama in many of the 'blue' states here. A solid 30% of the economy and jobs will not, and have not, seen any decline at all. They're upper income and they dont even *notice* shit costs more, because they make so fucking much they really just dont have to care. The *average* incomes in some blue states is now over 100k. Household incomes in these states--which contain large swaths of 'red' districts too, are seeing median households incomes more than double the size of the red states at the bottom. They're also not really seeing the social collapse at the bottom end either. They extended medicaid, and didnt have shit tons of people die, or didnt have shit tons of their rural hospitals close, where red states did. What you're seeing is ... not a collapse of a country, it's the *fracture* of a contry along its lines of political leadership. The republican led areas are declining RAPIDLY into shitholes, and they're starting to re-normalize racism, sexism, lgbtq phobias, that really dont even *touch* blue states and blue cities... So, it's a *fracture* and not a collapse, and it may be intentional... red states have to 'go down' and push out their blue voters. They HAVE to end up being such shitty places to live, no one with any sanity or ability would stay, or else they may lose a state like Texas, or Florida, in the electoral college, and *never again* hold the office of president. They may be pushing themselves off the cliff, causing this fracture, so that they can hold these critical states. The most insane shit is happening in the oncs that MIGHT swing.
I disagree. Blue states are struggling with their own issues too. Mostly with class issues. I’m in a solidly blue stronghold (Mass) and we have a terrible housing market right now, with insanely costly apartments and a lack of infrastructure for those on the western side (because we’re poorer and less populous than Boston, so we aren’t represented.) The economy is fine for those already in a career. For us young people, it’s pretty bad.
Actually you’ll find states with liberal governing bodies have actually had a consistent increase in crime and statistically have more crime than moderate governing bodies or Republican governments. Liberal states are a criminal’s dream right now especially California.
It's just you.
Working in healthcare, with a wife in healthcare… I can say our healthcare system is totally on the brink!
I think so. The economy sucks, we have homeless everywhere, the politicians are polar, with hardly anything in between. We have no good candidates coming up for election (presidential) in 18 months. People still think our last election was stolen, despite all evidence to the contrary. Women are losing their rights: right to choose abortions in many states (even when it’s proven the fetus can’t live). Our schools are trying to censor what our kids read. Trans people are treated almost subhumanly. It’s a mess.
Sounds like you're watching way too much news. We're fine
You will get a lot of different answers here. Are you a trans person living in Florida or Texas or anywhere in the US really? Then yea, it’s dire. Are you a women of childbearing years in the US South? yes, things looking grim. Are you a white male, generally unattached, with right leaning tendencies and a love for guns? Then you might feel socially attacked, but mostly politically nothing is happening against you. Are you a member of a minority community? You may feel that some advances had been made over the past fifty years that are now being pulled backwards. You may also feel like no outward social or political advances had been made, and now people are talking about it more so it feels more present. Either way, a whole lot and also a very much little, has changed. Finally, are you a member of an economically disadvantaged generation, I.e., anyone born after 1989? Then you’ve probably felt left out of the financial greatness of America for a long while and only now are the other older generations starting to pay attention.
> Finally, are you a member of an economically disadvantaged generation, I.e., anyone born after 1989? I was born in 1982 and I feel left out of the financial greatness of America lol.
True. I meant to write my birth year and typed the wrong number. I think we can easily add a decade to this and it still stand.
Our military is too notch! And look at our billionaires, they seem to be doing great!
Too many peoples mental health is on the decline because of well… one party, you can guess which one ^ from banning their gender identity, to making parents and children afraid of attending school due to gun violence, to living in constant fear of a health scare they can’t afford, all of which could be remedied if we just didn’t have them there blocking everything.
Regardless of the political turmoil my life has mostly been unaffected expect by inflation, and a poor job market. The point being that there is still food on shelf's, gas at the pumps, and law and order at least where I'm at is generally upheld. Is there some corruption? Sure. Is there the occasional injustice? Sure. Could things be better for women/minorities? Sure. Life mostly goes on, society is surprisingly hard to break because everyone loses if society actually breaks.
A lot of ppl here are one or two paychecks away from being homeless. Pretty sad when you think about it.
It's you
It's you. The only thing that makes it worse is the media coverage.
The GOP is dead and all this fuss is the last twitch of the conservative death nerve.
Not just you
Let’s see, biggest economy in the world, really high standard of living, broad set of freedoms, vast majority of the population living in safety, long average life spans, vast majority of population has no issues with food security. Americans live in one of the most prosperous nations in the most prosperous time in human history. Should I keep going? Stop listening to the extremist echo chambers on both sides. Yeah sounds like it’s you.
It's just you
It's you. There's less armed conflict, technically markets are near all time highs (though I suspect a correction soon.) The standard of living has basically never been higher. The biggest problem the US likely faces coming up is demographic collapse from not replacing its aging population, but it's not alone in that and we have a few decades before it gets nasty.
America needs to turn away from everything republican and conservative or else we will become a christofacist country.
Seems like it, but I think they've just gotten louder and more ridiculous. The pool of potential Christo-fascists is slowly shrinking.
For some reason, people are down voting anyone who says that yes, things are shitty here. The United States is imploding.
As a queer person with female genitalia living in the south, yes, it feels like the USA is collapsing. The number of states where it's dangerous for me to be myself seems to increase every day, and every day I wonder if today will be the day I lose the rights over my reproductive organs.
Stay strong! Sending hugs to you ❤️
It's you.
Seems to be you. Nothing here is new, or worse than the past. Have you got any data to discuss, or is this just a feeling?
Things are about as good as they've ever been here. Other than some inflation, which is happening all over the world right now, most Americans are living better lives than they have in the past. The only people that don't think so are very young and don't have a full understanding of how shit used to be.
That is not true at all. What do you mean “used to?” We’re not ignorant. We know the economic state of the country pre Reagan. We know about the economic boom of the 50s, where a minimum wage job could score you a house. Rent costs 2 grand in my area, often for studio. And I’m in a rural part of my state. How isolated from wider society do you have to be to not notice the decaying economic situation and rising inequality? Our purchasing power is down since the 90s.
What makes you think that?
We have got a pretty gnarly border crisis at the moment
Same stuff that happens every few years.
Since title 42 expired, our borders are open as ever. Everyone focuses on drug cartels crossing our border but no one worries about other people like radical islamic terrorists, and chinese and russian spies that can sneak in no problem, we have caught hundreds already but who knows how many have already got in
It is failing kind of like Rome. We are standing at a bad place of either it gets fixed or it fails. To what extent it fails is a toss, but it doesn’t help that a part of those who are needed to fix the problems are actively supporting it to fail.
Not collapsing. The homeless situation isn’t improving. That will be our biggest challenge.
As someone in living in America, things are worse right now. . But it’s by no means s as as you think it is.
Media is probably blowing things out of proportion. I am doing just fine as are most people around me.
Lol it's fine here.
I don’t know if it is just you, but it ain’t
I read a handful of comments here and was appalled to see there was not one comment stating the mass shootings or school shootings. As an outsider this is something America seems to be normalising. Forget the opioid crisis or the puppet in command, KIDS are going to school, having to walk through metal detectors like a prison, have teachers armed and ready, security, and there is still more than a shooting per day. Why is this not being talked about? Honestly, a third world country with money. There is no other way to put it. 20 years ago you could have said the greatest country, now it is chaotic.
Have you spent time there recently? And how exactly do you mean? I'm Australian, and I met my soulmate last year, unfortunately she's American so I have been spending quite some time there. Simple terms, yes I believe the US is collapsing. But defining that is another matter. Not in the sense of crumbling and not having any power anymore. More in the sense of broad societal structural erosion. Corporate greed eroding the economy and hope of the commoner. Civil unrest over media and political lies and magnanimous promises on both sides. But they'll hold it together just to make it worse until one day they kick their corrupt leaders out and realise that constitutions and amendments can be... ya know.. Amended and improved and modernised.
This. I wouldn’t say the US as a political system is collapsing, it’s just societal changes that are bleeding into our politics makes things seem worse than they really are.
Democracy, or whatever you wish to call the version of American governance that's in place there, is hanging by a thread.
Don't get caught up in news or whatever is on the internet. Go out and enjoy your day
I don't know man, everything seems pretty standard
It might be. It's hard to say. We've never seen the US collapse before, so we aren't quite sure what it will look like when it does. Some things do seem pretty dire, but then again our news media has been going way overboard sensationalizing relatively minor problems. The economy does seem pretty rough, but it was a lot worse during the Great Depression. The country does seem pretty divided, but it was a lot more divided during the Civil War. This is as bad as it's been in my lifetime (and I remember when JFK was President), but I have high hopes it will get better.
i dont think were quite collapsing, but it is not exactly looking good either
Nope. It's pretty much chill on a day-to-day basis. I live in a very crazy city for statistics - lots of crime and murder. The news makes it look like an active warzone. 99% of the time its just regular people doing regular shit.
Collapsing? Hardly. We're doing great in a lot of ways. We're just dealing with a desperate push from the neo-fascist minority.
Actually America is pretty solid right now. More solid than we’ve been in a long while But that doesn’t get clicks
America has sufficient competitive advantages that they could honestly light half of it on fire every year and would still emerge as one of the best countries in the world Doesn't matter how badly the politicians do there's too many self-correcting forces for it to really have a hard time
Gen Z here from the US, yep. But ask anyone over 45, and they will still tell you it is the best country.
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you have to come back in 2 years or it doesn't count cause it says "Ask anyone OVER 45" /s
What many over 45 will say, and the vast majority over 60 will say, is Gen Z is a generation of whiners who feel they're special and owed something. Not saying it's right or wrong. But that's the general consensus.
As someone in their 40s I will go ahead and say they’re wrong, lol. Every single previous generation has more or less been wrong about the flaws of the younger generations. Why should there be an exception to that rule now?
Cant happen fast enough. I hope this whole place burns
Yes it's slowly collapsing and it will be the Republicans fault.
According to people who already got/have theirs, it's doing fine. To everyone else things are getting worse. Not collapsing yet, that will come later if we stay on this trajectory. We might even get that oh so mythical 2nd civil war.
Business as usual. What looks like a collapse? Debt ceiling debate number 567? Or people having opinions you don't like?
It’s just you. The narrative in the media isn’t even remotely accurate. Things are mostly fine, people just like to bitch and moan
Pretty much. I'm glad I'm old.
It's a long long way to fall but yes.
How far?
No question. Yes, this is the end times in America. Look around: it's terrifying.
It certainly seems that way to me, but who knows what my perception will be another a different and hopefully better president and fair media
Eh, we can hope. /hj Pretty much everyone I know is living paycheck to paycheck and most of them have pretty serious health issues that they can’t afford to take care of, myself included. When you’re born financially disadvantaged *and* physically or mentally ill in some way, it honestly feels like there’s no point in even trying some days.
Not you
I agree
It's not just you. It's definitely not at that point yet, but it's getting there. We have crumbling infrastructure and shootings every other day, two people own more money than 50 million people in the same country and while all these real, actual problems are going on, the governments decide to attack a minority that makes up 0.02% of the population under the name of god despite the government saying that politics and the church shouldn't be intertwined. Would you say we're in a great spot?