America is just completely broken

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In America, you can't even have a kid these days and get bent over the barrel when they want to play a sport because private equity keeps getting more and more involved and is buying up fields, courts, arenas and leagues. Fees constantly go up, because this wouldn't be America unless you couldn't privatize and profit as much as you can off youth sports and activities as a PE firm. Parents who can barely afford to keep things together vecause wages never rise now have to stop signing their kids up to play sports since it is unaffordable. But yeah, let's blame those illegals.

US has declined into a cyberpunk dystopian hellscape because of greed, pure and simple.

+1 Private equity has also been buying up vet practices driving the costs up as much as 50%. Dogs and other animals can bring so much joy to ours lives but it is getting to the point people can't afford to own and properly take care of their dogs due to rising costs.

Vet costs are out of control. I’d be surprised if it were just 50%, actually. It feels like costs have tripled in the last decade.

Yes, private equity sucks. Parasitic ghouls.

Yeah, vet costs are through the roof. I was quoted $4-5000 for a procedure for my cat from a big glossy new PE practice that my regular vet can perform for $700. I’m praying they don’t get bought out.

Our family no longer skis, now that private equity firms are taking over resorts and making the sport unaffordable. In 1990, a lift ticket at Vail cost $38. Now at some of the locations it’s over $300. Even where we live, a day on the slopes including rentals would set us back about $600.

Private equity is invading every space. They’re buying up gyms and dental offices and grocery stores and nursing homes, looting them, taking the profits, and shifting the risks and the costs to consumers. It’s predatory capitalism on steroids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone feel this way? I am struggling really hard to identify ways in which my life has gotten better in the US over the last 25 years. Everything just feels like it has gotten infinitely worse in my lifetime.

Healthcare is an absolute joke and trash in the US. Premiums skyrocket while the quality of sevice seems to constantly circle the proverbial toilet. Trying to find a PCP is a maddening experience. Then dealing with insurance companies trying to weasel out of paying for a procedure or who incessantly refuse to pay for drugs prescribed....totally exhausting.

Roads, tunnels, bridges, and infrastructure falling apart everywhere. We are supposed to be first world country, yet it takes months to fix a simple pothole, and people in Flint Michigan don't even have potable water.

Constant and oppressive gun violence. It is so bad mass shootings barely crack the national media these days, because they're just routine life in America.

Insurance rates for everything else exploding. Astronomical housing costs. Out of control food prices. Unaffordable education and childcare. $52,000 "family cars". Just absurd.

Meanwhile, US is embroiled in yet another forever war costing $3B/day. We don't have money to help our citizens afford healthcare premiums yet we have infinite dollars for shooting drones down 8000 miles away. Now out country's reputation on the world stage is utter trash and in the dumpster. We are the bad guys in billions of peoples' eyes. And we continue to blow up our national debt that's going to be so bad soon that the costs to simply service our debt will eat huge amounts of our budget for future generations. Oh, and social security? Ha, good luck expecting to benefit from it in the future. They're gonna make us work until 79 before we are allowed to tap benefits.

And finally, everything seems to be ensh*ttified (ES) or on its way to being ES. Our corporate overlords now tell us we aren't allowed to own anything. Oh, you want to use the heat in your car? Pay a subscription. Oh, you want to buy a phone? Sign all of your privacy away. Buy a fridge, dryer, or washer? ES now. Can't access their features unless ypu connect it to the internet and agree to have your home streamed with infinite ads on the main screen.

Jobs? So unstable these days. Oh you want a new job? That'll take 879 applications to get an interview. Every app requiring the use of AI to get around AI screeners. Every app asking for a resume but then asking on the next screen questions that are answerable with information from your resume and they want you to type it out all over again.

Ughh, the US is just broken. Has anyone's life gotten better over the last two decades? I'm just exhausted and done. The entire country feels like a gigantic scam and hustle that benefits the few while those of us simply wanting to live a simple life are destroyed.

End rant.

Yes, it is broken. but broken for workers. college educated urban elites are quite happy.

It started with the flush of blue collar jobs to mexico and we as a culture did very little to help these US workers.
it continued with the replacement of US tech workers by H1Bs and OPTs and L1s, all to enrich big tech companies, and we as a culture ENCOURAGED THIS and did nothing to help US tech workers, especially older tech workers.
It willl continue with AI as the urban elites flush any other US worker left.

you urban elites created this mess by not caring or helping your fellow US workers.

not like this in the scandinavian countries that actually have a culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone feel this way? I am struggling really hard to identify ways in which my life has gotten better in the US over the last 25 years. Everything just feels like it has gotten infinitely worse in my lifetime.

Healthcare is an absolute joke and trash in the US. Premiums skyrocket while the quality of sevice seems to constantly circle the proverbial toilet. Trying to find a PCP is a maddening experience. Then dealing with insurance companies trying to weasel out of paying for a procedure or who incessantly refuse to pay for drugs prescribed....totally exhausting.

Roads, tunnels, bridges, and infrastructure falling apart everywhere. We are supposed to be first world country, yet it takes months to fix a simple pothole, and people in Flint Michigan don't even have potable water.

Constant and oppressive gun violence. It is so bad mass shootings barely crack the national media these days, because they're just routine life in America.

Insurance rates for everything else exploding. Astronomical housing costs. Out of control food prices. Unaffordable education and childcare. $52,000 "family cars". Just absurd.

Meanwhile, US is embroiled in yet another forever war costing $3B/day. We don't have money to help our citizens afford healthcare premiums yet we have infinite dollars for shooting drones down 8000 miles away. Now out country's reputation on the world stage is utter trash and in the dumpster. We are the bad guys in billions of peoples' eyes. And we continue to blow up our national debt that's going to be so bad soon that the costs to simply service our debt will eat huge amounts of our budget for future generations. Oh, and social security? Ha, good luck expecting to benefit from it in the future. They're gonna make us work until 79 before we are allowed to tap benefits.

And finally, everything seems to be ensh*ttified (ES) or on its way to being ES. Our corporate overlords now tell us we aren't allowed to own anything. Oh, you want to use the heat in your car? Pay a subscription. Oh, you want to buy a phone? Sign all of your privacy away. Buy a fridge, dryer, or washer? ES now. Can't access their features unless ypu connect it to the internet and agree to have your home streamed with infinite ads on the main screen.

Jobs? So unstable these days. Oh you want a new job? That'll take 879 applications to get an interview. Every app requiring the use of AI to get around AI screeners. Every app asking for a resume but then asking on the next screen questions that are answerable with information from your resume and they want you to type it out all over again.

Ughh, the US is just broken. Has anyone's life gotten better over the last two decades? I'm just exhausted and done. The entire country feels like a gigantic scam and hustle that benefits the few while those of us simply wanting to live a simple life are destroyed.

End rant.

Yes, it is broken. but broken for workers. college educated urban elites are quite happy.

It started with the flush of blue collar jobs to mexico and we as a culture did very little to help these US workers.
it continued with the replacement of US tech workers by H1Bs and OPTs and L1s, all to enrich big tech companies, and we as a culture ENCOURAGED THIS and did nothing to help US tech workers, especially older tech workers.
It willl continue with AI as the urban elites flush any other US worker left.

you urban elites created this mess by not caring or helping your fellow US workers.

not like this in the scandinavian countries that actually have a culture.

you know the "urban elites" includes Trump, right?

Also, the US does have a culture. It's a culture of capitalism, where "greed is good", and "let me find ways to make more money". Are you saying the US should be more like the socialist Scandinavian countries where they have incredibly social welfare and high taxes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone feel this way? I am struggling really hard to identify ways in which my life has gotten better in the US over the last 25 years. Everything just feels like it has gotten infinitely worse in my lifetime.

Healthcare is an absolute joke and trash in the US. Premiums skyrocket while the quality of sevice seems to constantly circle the proverbial toilet. Trying to find a PCP is a maddening experience. Then dealing with insurance companies trying to weasel out of paying for a procedure or who incessantly refuse to pay for drugs prescribed....totally exhausting.

Roads, tunnels, bridges, and infrastructure falling apart everywhere. We are supposed to be first world country, yet it takes months to fix a simple pothole, and people in Flint Michigan don't even have potable water.

Constant and oppressive gun violence. It is so bad mass shootings barely crack the national media these days, because they're just routine life in America.

Insurance rates for everything else exploding. Astronomical housing costs. Out of control food prices. Unaffordable education and childcare. $52,000 "family cars". Just absurd.

Meanwhile, US is embroiled in yet another forever war costing $3B/day. We don't have money to help our citizens afford healthcare premiums yet we have infinite dollars for shooting drones down 8000 miles away. Now out country's reputation on the world stage is utter trash and in the dumpster. We are the bad guys in billions of peoples' eyes. And we continue to blow up our national debt that's going to be so bad soon that the costs to simply service our debt will eat huge amounts of our budget for future generations. Oh, and social security? Ha, good luck expecting to benefit from it in the future. They're gonna make us work until 79 before we are allowed to tap benefits.

And finally, everything seems to be ensh*ttified (ES) or on its way to being ES. Our corporate overlords now tell us we aren't allowed to own anything. Oh, you want to use the heat in your car? Pay a subscription. Oh, you want to buy a phone? Sign all of your privacy away. Buy a fridge, dryer, or washer? ES now. Can't access their features unless ypu connect it to the internet and agree to have your home streamed with infinite ads on the main screen.

Jobs? So unstable these days. Oh you want a new job? That'll take 879 applications to get an interview. Every app requiring the use of AI to get around AI screeners. Every app asking for a resume but then asking on the next screen questions that are answerable with information from your resume and they want you to type it out all over again.

Ughh, the US is just broken. Has anyone's life gotten better over the last two decades? I'm just exhausted and done. The entire country feels like a gigantic scam and hustle that benefits the few while those of us simply wanting to live a simple life are destroyed.

End rant.

Yes, it is broken. but broken for workers. college educated urban elites are quite happy.

It started with the flush of blue collar jobs to mexico and we as a culture did very little to help these US workers.
it continued with the replacement of US tech workers by H1Bs and OPTs and L1s, all to enrich big tech companies, and we as a culture ENCOURAGED THIS and did nothing to help US tech workers, especially older tech workers.
It willl continue with AI as the urban elites flush any other US worker left.

you urban elites created this mess by not caring or helping your fellow US workers.

not like this in the scandinavian countries that actually have a culture.

More manufacturing jobs have been lost under Trump.

Farms are losing big time under Trump (high gas and fertilizer costs, not to mention a loss of workers).

Trump and his sons are big AI fans.

Trump uses H1s, and H2s visas.

Trump decimated the clean energy jobs in places like WV that Biden brought in.

Trump has exploded the deficit.

Trump has tanked the economy such that people are having a hard time even finding white collar jobs.

Trump is the urban elite that is killing the middle class.

This is all on Trump.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:America is failing its citizens. Trump has decimated jobs. He blew up the deficit. He is acting like a madman in foreign policy. All these things while also using his office to grift anyone and everyone. Meanwhile his supporters are brainwashed zombies that support and parrot anything is says or does. Truly unbelievable.

Thanks for nothing maga.

Should we just blame MAGA? Let's look ourselves in the mirror. How was it under Biden? It was not that great. Definitely better than this but it was not good and that is why Trump won.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine the possibilities if we cut Israel from our teet.

It's not just Israel. There is a global right wing authoritarian takeover happening. They all have their various scapegoats they are using to convince the ignorant masses to give them more power.

Use your brains. More hate is not and has never been a solution to anything. Immigrants are not your enemy. Muslims are not your enemy. Jews are not your enemy. Trans people are not your enemy. Our collective enemies are the ones trying to collect everything of value for themselves, leaving the rest of us to fight for scraps, while they knowingly destroy what remains of the planet.

You can decouple Jews from Israel. Jews are not our enemy. Netanyhu is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree OP. It feels like everything is falling apart and there's very little we can do to fix it. It took everyone too long to realize what was happening. I'm struggling not to resent the older generations around me who let it get this bad. I'm grieving the children I will never have because I cannot afford it and because it feels morally wrong to bring a child into this just so I can experience motherhood.

I mean this kindly:
Get a grip. Read history. Look at all of the wars, famine, disease. There is nothing new under the sun. If you want to have a kid, have one. It is no worse now than 99% of human history. It is not objectively worse to have kids now than at any other time in history except maybe the 50s but would you really want to be a woman back in the 50s?

And also with the “I can’t afford kids”. Stop being brainwashed into thinking you have to have all of your financials figured out and perfect before you have a kid. Believe me, DCUM would have judged me quite harshly for having a kid when our HHI was 45k back in 2007, with no house, a crappy old car, and not being able to afford daycare. We did it anyway, and had two. Now they are in HS. I figured out my career once the kids were school aged. We were able to buy a house and sending DC1 to college next year. It hasn’t all been perfect - they didn’t do all the fancy activities, didn’t get the fancy Disney vacations or lots of expensive toys, but I would absolutely do it again, even if it meant using welfare and food stamps and living in a tiny apartment. There is really nothing else that gives life purpose as much as having kids.

I am 57. My kids are 23 and 27. I can tell you that it is SO much more expensive now. Shockingly so. I made a decent living when they were smaller, but housing and everything else was cheaper. Homeownership felt attainable on our salaries. Daycare was attainable on our salaries. My first house in 1998 was $142,000 in DC. It sold for $895k in 2017. Salaries didn't go up that much in that timeframe. I was in law school and my husband worked. We felt fine. That does not exist anymore. Kids are so much fore expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In America, you can't even have a kid these days and get bent over the barrel when they want to play a sport because private equity keeps getting more and more involved and is buying up fields, courts, arenas and leagues. Fees constantly go up, because this wouldn't be America unless you couldn't privatize and profit as much as you can off youth sports and activities as a PE firm. Parents who can barely afford to keep things together vecause wages never rise now have to stop signing their kids up to play sports since it is unaffordable. But yeah, let's blame those illegals.

US has declined into a cyberpunk dystopian hellscape because of greed, pure and simple.

+1 Private equity has also been buying up vet practices driving the costs up as much as 50%. Dogs and other animals can bring so much joy to ours lives but it is getting to the point people can't afford to own and properly take care of their dogs due to rising costs.

Vet costs are out of control. I’d be surprised if it were just 50%, actually. It feels like costs have tripled in the last decade.

Yes, private equity sucks. Parasitic ghouls.

Yeah, vet costs are through the roof. I was quoted $4-5000 for a procedure for my cat from a big glossy new PE practice that my regular vet can perform for $700. I’m praying they don’t get bought out.

Our family no longer skis, now that private equity firms are taking over resorts and making the sport unaffordable. In 1990, a lift ticket at Vail cost $38. Now at some of the locations it’s over $300. Even where we live, a day on the slopes including rentals would set us back about $600.

Private equity is invading every space. They’re buying up gyms and dental offices and grocery stores and nursing homes, looting them, taking the profits, and shifting the risks and the costs to consumers. It’s predatory capitalism on steroids.

China: industrial capitalist
USA: financial capitalist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In America, you can't even have a kid these days and get bent over the barrel when they want to play a sport because private equity keeps getting more and more involved and is buying up fields, courts, arenas and leagues. Fees constantly go up, because this wouldn't be America unless you couldn't privatize and profit as much as you can off youth sports and activities as a PE firm. Parents who can barely afford to keep things together vecause wages never rise now have to stop signing their kids up to play sports since it is unaffordable. But yeah, let's blame those illegals.

US has declined into a cyberpunk dystopian hellscape because of greed, pure and simple.

+1 Private equity has also been buying up vet practices driving the costs up as much as 50%. Dogs and other animals can bring so much joy to ours lives but it is getting to the point people can't afford to own and properly take care of their dogs due to rising costs.

Vet costs are out of control. I’d be surprised if it were just 50%, actually. It feels like costs have tripled in the last decade.

Yes, private equity sucks. Parasitic ghouls.

Yeah, vet costs are through the roof. I was quoted $4-5000 for a procedure for my cat from a big glossy new PE practice that my regular vet can perform for $700. I’m praying they don’t get bought out.

Our family no longer skis, now that private equity firms are taking over resorts and making the sport unaffordable. In 1990, a lift ticket at Vail cost $38. Now at some of the locations it’s over $300. Even where we live, a day on the slopes including rentals would set us back about $600.

Private equity is invading every space. They’re buying up gyms and dental offices and grocery stores and nursing homes, looting them, taking the profits, and shifting the risks and the costs to consumers. It’s predatory capitalism on steroids.

American dump. What a disaster of a country. Everything sucks because of sh*tty financial engineering like PE.

Why do they make it so hard just to survive?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone feel this way? I am struggling really hard to identify ways in which my life has gotten better in the US over the last 25 years. Everything just feels like it has gotten infinitely worse in my lifetime.

Healthcare is an absolute joke and trash in the US. Premiums skyrocket while the quality of sevice seems to constantly circle the proverbial toilet. Trying to find a PCP is a maddening experience. Then dealing with insurance companies trying to weasel out of paying for a procedure or who incessantly refuse to pay for drugs prescribed....totally exhausting.

Roads, tunnels, bridges, and infrastructure falling apart everywhere. We are supposed to be first world country, yet it takes months to fix a simple pothole, and people in Flint Michigan don't even have potable water.

Constant and oppressive gun violence. It is so bad mass shootings barely crack the national media these days, because they're just routine life in America.

Insurance rates for everything else exploding. Astronomical housing costs. Out of control food prices. Unaffordable education and childcare. $52,000 "family cars". Just absurd.

Meanwhile, US is embroiled in yet another forever war costing $3B/day. We don't have money to help our citizens afford healthcare premiums yet we have infinite dollars for shooting drones down 8000 miles away. Now out country's reputation on the world stage is utter trash and in the dumpster. We are the bad guys in billions of peoples' eyes. And we continue to blow up our national debt that's going to be so bad soon that the costs to simply service our debt will eat huge amounts of our budget for future generations. Oh, and social security? Ha, good luck expecting to benefit from it in the future. They're gonna make us work until 79 before we are allowed to tap benefits.

And finally, everything seems to be ensh*ttified (ES) or on its way to being ES. Our corporate overlords now tell us we aren't allowed to own anything. Oh, you want to use the heat in your car? Pay a subscription. Oh, you want to buy a phone? Sign all of your privacy away. Buy a fridge, dryer, or washer? ES now. Can't access their features unless ypu connect it to the internet and agree to have your home streamed with infinite ads on the main screen.

Jobs? So unstable these days. Oh you want a new job? That'll take 879 applications to get an interview. Every app requiring the use of AI to get around AI screeners. Every app asking for a resume but then asking on the next screen questions that are answerable with information from your resume and they want you to type it out all over again.

Ughh, the US is just broken. Has anyone's life gotten better over the last two decades? I'm just exhausted and done. The entire country feels like a gigantic scam and hustle that benefits the few while those of us simply wanting to live a simple life are destroyed.

End rant.

Yes, it is broken. but broken for workers. college educated urban elites are quite happy.

It started with the flush of blue collar jobs to mexico and we as a culture did very little to help these US workers.
it continued with the replacement of US tech workers by H1Bs and OPTs and L1s, all to enrich big tech companies, and we as a culture ENCOURAGED THIS and did nothing to help US tech workers, especially older tech workers.
It willl continue with AI as the urban elites flush any other US worker left.

you urban elites created this mess by not caring or helping your fellow US workers.

not like this in the scandinavian countries that actually have a culture.

you know the "urban elites" includes Trump, right?

Also, the US does have a culture. It's a culture of capitalism, where "greed is good", and "let me find ways to make more money". Are you saying the US should be more like the socialist Scandinavian countries where they have incredibly social welfare and high taxes?

Why do Democrats have such a hard timing understanding who we're talking about?

Reminds me of the other thread where they tried to blame our problems on greedy people instead of immigration, but the greedy people are the ones that are pro-immigration.

I know tough concept, for you, but it's really not that hard for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone feel this way? I am struggling really hard to identify ways in which my life has gotten better in the US over the last 25 years. Everything just feels like it has gotten infinitely worse in my lifetime.

Healthcare is an absolute joke and trash in the US. Premiums skyrocket while the quality of sevice seems to constantly circle the proverbial toilet. Trying to find a PCP is a maddening experience. Then dealing with insurance companies trying to weasel out of paying for a procedure or who incessantly refuse to pay for drugs prescribed....totally exhausting.

Roads, tunnels, bridges, and infrastructure falling apart everywhere. We are supposed to be first world country, yet it takes months to fix a simple pothole, and people in Flint Michigan don't even have potable water.

Constant and oppressive gun violence. It is so bad mass shootings barely crack the national media these days, because they're just routine life in America.

Insurance rates for everything else exploding. Astronomical housing costs. Out of control food prices. Unaffordable education and childcare. $52,000 "family cars". Just absurd.

Meanwhile, US is embroiled in yet another forever war costing $3B/day. We don't have money to help our citizens afford healthcare premiums yet we have infinite dollars for shooting drones down 8000 miles away. Now out country's reputation on the world stage is utter trash and in the dumpster. We are the bad guys in billions of peoples' eyes. And we continue to blow up our national debt that's going to be so bad soon that the costs to simply service our debt will eat huge amounts of our budget for future generations. Oh, and social security? Ha, good luck expecting to benefit from it in the future. They're gonna make us work until 79 before we are allowed to tap benefits.

And finally, everything seems to be ensh*ttified (ES) or on its way to being ES. Our corporate overlords now tell us we aren't allowed to own anything. Oh, you want to use the heat in your car? Pay a subscription. Oh, you want to buy a phone? Sign all of your privacy away. Buy a fridge, dryer, or washer? ES now. Can't access their features unless ypu connect it to the internet and agree to have your home streamed with infinite ads on the main screen.

Jobs? So unstable these days. Oh you want a new job? That'll take 879 applications to get an interview. Every app requiring the use of AI to get around AI screeners. Every app asking for a resume but then asking on the next screen questions that are answerable with information from your resume and they want you to type it out all over again.

Ughh, the US is just broken. Has anyone's life gotten better over the last two decades? I'm just exhausted and done. The entire country feels like a gigantic scam and hustle that benefits the few while those of us simply wanting to live a simple life are destroyed.

End rant.

Yes, it is broken. but broken for workers. college educated urban elites are quite happy.

It started with the flush of blue collar jobs to mexico and we as a culture did very little to help these US workers.
it continued with the replacement of US tech workers by H1Bs and OPTs and L1s, all to enrich big tech companies, and we as a culture ENCOURAGED THIS and did nothing to help US tech workers, especially older tech workers.
It willl continue with AI as the urban elites flush any other US worker left.

you urban elites created this mess by not caring or helping your fellow US workers.

not like this in the scandinavian countries that actually have a culture.

you know the "urban elites" includes Trump, right?

Also, the US does have a culture. It's a culture of capitalism, where "greed is good", and "let me find ways to make more money". Are you saying the US should be more like the socialist Scandinavian countries where they have incredibly social welfare and high taxes?

yes, absolutely yes.

pay 50% taxes but get security and a decent culture.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone feel this way? I am struggling really hard to identify ways in which my life has gotten better in the US over the last 25 years. Everything just feels like it has gotten infinitely worse in my lifetime.

Healthcare is an absolute joke and trash in the US. Premiums skyrocket while the quality of sevice seems to constantly circle the proverbial toilet. Trying to find a PCP is a maddening experience. Then dealing with insurance companies trying to weasel out of paying for a procedure or who incessantly refuse to pay for drugs prescribed....totally exhausting.

Roads, tunnels, bridges, and infrastructure falling apart everywhere. We are supposed to be first world country, yet it takes months to fix a simple pothole, and people in Flint Michigan don't even have potable water.

Constant and oppressive gun violence. It is so bad mass shootings barely crack the national media these days, because they're just routine life in America.

Insurance rates for everything else exploding. Astronomical housing costs. Out of control food prices. Unaffordable education and childcare. $52,000 "family cars". Just absurd.

Meanwhile, US is embroiled in yet another forever war costing $3B/day. We don't have money to help our citizens afford healthcare premiums yet we have infinite dollars for shooting drones down 8000 miles away. Now out country's reputation on the world stage is utter trash and in the dumpster. We are the bad guys in billions of peoples' eyes. And we continue to blow up our national debt that's going to be so bad soon that the costs to simply service our debt will eat huge amounts of our budget for future generations. Oh, and social security? Ha, good luck expecting to benefit from it in the future. They're gonna make us work until 79 before we are allowed to tap benefits.

And finally, everything seems to be ensh*ttified (ES) or on its way to being ES. Our corporate overlords now tell us we aren't allowed to own anything. Oh, you want to use the heat in your car? Pay a subscription. Oh, you want to buy a phone? Sign all of your privacy away. Buy a fridge, dryer, or washer? ES now. Can't access their features unless ypu connect it to the internet and agree to have your home streamed with infinite ads on the main screen.

Jobs? So unstable these days. Oh you want a new job? That'll take 879 applications to get an interview. Every app requiring the use of AI to get around AI screeners. Every app asking for a resume but then asking on the next screen questions that are answerable with information from your resume and they want you to type it out all over again.

Ughh, the US is just broken. Has anyone's life gotten better over the last two decades? I'm just exhausted and done. The entire country feels like a gigantic scam and hustle that benefits the few while those of us simply wanting to live a simple life are destroyed.

End rant.

Yes, it is broken. but broken for workers. college educated urban elites are quite happy.

It started with the flush of blue collar jobs to mexico and we as a culture did very little to help these US workers.
it continued with the replacement of US tech workers by H1Bs and OPTs and L1s, all to enrich big tech companies, and we as a culture ENCOURAGED THIS and did nothing to help US tech workers, especially older tech workers.
It willl continue with AI as the urban elites flush any other US worker left.

you urban elites created this mess by not caring or helping your fellow US workers.

not like this in the scandinavian countries that actually have a culture.

Everyone who works for a living is a worker/working class. The middle class is a paradigm created by the ruling class that does not serve us and needlessly divides us. College educated people are ALSO struggling and are ALSO being mercilessly exploited. Turn your ire toward the people running these big companies and the ones sucking up all the money and resources for themselves, NOT the random office workers also getting shafted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Imagine the possibilities if we cut Israel from our teet.

It's not just Israel. There is a global right wing authoritarian takeover happening. They all have their various scapegoats they are using to convince the ignorant masses to give them more power.

Use your brains. More hate is not and has never been a solution to anything. Immigrants are not your enemy. Muslims are not your enemy. Jews are not your enemy. Trans people are not your enemy. Our collective enemies are the ones trying to collect everything of value for themselves, leaving the rest of us to fight for scraps, while they knowingly destroy what remains of the planet.

You can decouple Jews from Israel. Jews are not our enemy. Netanyhu is.

I thought Israel was, “the only democracy in the Middle East.”

So who elected Netanyahu over and over again?

Who supports AIPAC? Netanyahu only?

Then was is it called the “American Israeli?”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree OP. It feels like everything is falling apart and there's very little we can do to fix it. It took everyone too long to realize what was happening. I'm struggling not to resent the older generations around me who let it get this bad. I'm grieving the children I will never have because I cannot afford it and because it feels morally wrong to bring a child into this just so I can experience motherhood.

I mean this kindly:
Get a grip. Read history. Look at all of the wars, famine, disease. There is nothing new under the sun. If you want to have a kid, have one. It is no worse now than 99% of human history. It is not objectively worse to have kids now than at any other time in history except maybe the 50s but would you really want to be a woman back in the 50s?

And also with the “I can’t afford kids”. Stop being brainwashed into thinking you have to have all of your financials figured out and perfect before you have a kid. Believe me, DCUM would have judged me quite harshly for having a kid when our HHI was 45k back in 2007, with no house, a crappy old car, and not being able to afford daycare. We did it anyway, and had two. Now they are in HS. I figured out my career once the kids were school aged. We were able to buy a house and sending DC1 to college next year. It hasn’t all been perfect - they didn’t do all the fancy activities, didn’t get the fancy Disney vacations or lots of expensive toys, but I would absolutely do it again, even if it meant using welfare and food stamps and living in a tiny apartment. There is really nothing else that gives life purpose as much as having kids.

I am 57. My kids are 23 and 27. I can tell you that it is SO much more expensive now. Shockingly so. I made a decent living when they were smaller, but housing and everything else was cheaper. Homeownership felt attainable on our salaries. Daycare was attainable on our salaries. My first house in 1998 was $142,000 in DC. It sold for $895k in 2017. Salaries didn't go up that much in that timeframe. I was in law school and my husband worked. We felt fine. That does not exist anymore. Kids are so much fore expensive.

Well, the primary thing you mention is housing. Two things have changed in that timeframe: constraint of new housing being built (NIMBY and regulations) and expectations about what makes a house “good enough”.
The house my young parents bought in 1980 was a 3 bedroom ranch scarcely more than 100 sqft. That starter home option does not exist anymore at any price point, even though it is what the market sorely needs.

If remote work can be expanded that will allow families to start lives outside of oversubscribed areas.

[Anonymous]

I think the US is being stripped for parts, like we've been purchased by a private equity firm. Assume the us average citizens are going to be left with only the debt.