The United States is so unhappy now, it’s not the same anymore

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been all over the place from East to west coast. Everywhere seems depressed and dead. I keep asking everyone where the people are. Last week I was in New Orleans and there were barely any people out in the French quarter. I asked a waiter at cafe du monde what’s up (I know summers there are slow but not this slow) and he said he’s never seen it so bad. I tipped him a $20 on a $7 bill and he nearly cried. A month before I was in San Francisco and it was the same thing. Dead streets and the tourists that line up to watch the sea lions at the pier were non existent. I asked an uber driver what’s going on and he basically they said the foreign tourists didn’t come this year and everyone was hurting plus people who left during covid didn’t come back. Everyone seems depressed and hopeless. I am not pinning it squarely on Trump though. Things are not the same since Covid and this country feels like it’s never going to be the same again.

I mean.... what do you expect? The libs are out there telling foreign tourists its unsafe to come here. Of course they won't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been all over the place from East to west coast. Everywhere seems depressed and dead. I keep asking everyone where the people are. Last week I was in New Orleans and there were barely any people out in the French quarter. I asked a waiter at cafe du monde what’s up (I know summers there are slow but not this slow) and he said he’s never seen it so bad. I tipped him a $20 on a $7 bill and he nearly cried. A month before I was in San Francisco and it was the same thing. Dead streets and the tourists that line up to watch the sea lions at the pier were non existent. I asked an uber driver what’s going on and he basically they said the foreign tourists didn’t come this year and everyone was hurting plus people who left during covid didn’t come back. Everyone seems depressed and hopeless. I am not pinning it squarely on Trump though. Things are not the same since Covid and this country feels like it’s never going to be the same again.

I mean.... what do you expect? The libs are out there telling foreign tourists its unsafe to come here. Of course they won't.

Wake up you twit. This isn't "the libs" making the US look bad. It's Trump and everyone who supports him.

The foreign tourists are seeing for themselves that the US is no longer a safe place to come to. Like this mom from New Zealand and her 6 year old son who were legally in the US but were snatched by ICE, sent to a detention camp in Texas and held for 3 weeks. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/13/new-zealand-woman-six-year-old-son-ice-detention-us-ntwnfb

This is not about "the libs" - it's about Trump's shitty policies. When you have to deflect with "the libs" your argument has failed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been all over the place from East to west coast. Everywhere seems depressed and dead. I keep asking everyone where the people are. Last week I was in New Orleans and there were barely any people out in the French quarter. I asked a waiter at cafe du monde what’s up (I know summers there are slow but not this slow) and he said he’s never seen it so bad. I tipped him a $20 on a $7 bill and he nearly cried. A month before I was in San Francisco and it was the same thing. Dead streets and the tourists that line up to watch the sea lions at the pier were non existent. I asked an uber driver what’s going on and he basically they said the foreign tourists didn’t come this year and everyone was hurting plus people who left during covid didn’t come back. Everyone seems depressed and hopeless. I am not pinning it squarely on Trump though. Things are not the same since Covid and this country feels like it’s never going to be the same again.

I mean.... what do you expect? The libs are out there telling foreign tourists its unsafe to come here. Of course they won't.

Right here is an example of why this country will break apart. He wants to dictate what everyone should think or say. If not he he wants everyone arrest, beaten and killed. Psychopath.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been all over the place from East to west coast. Everywhere seems depressed and dead. I keep asking everyone where the people are. Last week I was in New Orleans and there were barely any people out in the French quarter. I asked a waiter at cafe du monde what’s up (I know summers there are slow but not this slow) and he said he’s never seen it so bad. I tipped him a $20 on a $7 bill and he nearly cried. A month before I was in San Francisco and it was the same thing. Dead streets and the tourists that line up to watch the sea lions at the pier were non existent. I asked an uber driver what’s going on and he basically they said the foreign tourists didn’t come this year and everyone was hurting plus people who left during covid didn’t come back. Everyone seems depressed and hopeless. I am not pinning it squarely on Trump though. Things are not the same since Covid and this country feels like it’s never going to be the same again.

I mean.... what do you expect? The libs are out there telling foreign tourists its unsafe to come here. Of course they won't.

Right here is an example of why this country will break apart. He wants to dictate what everyone should think or say. If not he he wants everyone arrest, beaten and killed. Psychopath.

The tables have turned. Boo Hoo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s always been sad in the US. We are overworked. You go to Europe and they have month long vacations for 4-6 weeks during the summer.

Europe's average GDP growth over the past decade is almost half of the US's. All that vacation has a cost.

Maybe GDP is not actually a very helpful measure?

Europeans generally have less stuff and smaller houses, but they have more leisure time and don’t have to worry about bankruptcy because of a health event or obtaining an education.

Trump is forcing them to pay for their defense and equalize tariffs

They're screwed

I doubt it. But that’s not a thoughtful response to the value of measuring wealth by GDP. That’s just baby talk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s always been sad in the US. We are overworked. You go to Europe and they have month long vacations for 4-6 weeks during the summer.

Europe's average GDP growth over the past decade is almost half of the US's. All that vacation has a cost.

Maybe GDP is not actually a very helpful measure?

Europeans generally have less stuff and smaller houses, but they have more leisure time and don’t have to worry about bankruptcy because of a health event or obtaining an education.

Trump is forcing them to pay for their defense and equalize tariffs

They're screwed

I doubt it. But that’s not a thoughtful response to the value of measuring wealth by GDP. That’s just baby talk.

Please use adult talk to compare the relative wealth of Europe to the US.

[Anonymous]

When the youth of any nations lose hope and disengage from civic life then that nation will see a rise in radical/populist/nationalistic rhetoric.

That will lead to destructive behavior that will destroy the nation from within.

[Anonymous]

A few vocally unhappy people don't make for a population which is universally unhappy. I don't recognize anything like this where I live or have travelled, probably because the vast majority of people are fine, are patient, and voted for what they have now over what they had previously.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The game in the U.S. is to stir hate and discontent to the point where nothing gets done.

I can only give one piece of advice. Go to other countries, walk around and observe. Don't go with a tour group. Get out and see the people, take in their news and views.

+1,000 Nobody in other countries cares about what’s happening here except to laugh at us. It’s very refreshing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A few vocally unhappy people don't make for a population which is universally unhappy. I don't recognize anything like this where I live or have travelled, probably because the vast majority of people are fine, are patient, and voted for what they have now over what they had previously.

It's not a few. You need to visit places that aren't wealthy enclaves. MOST Americans are struggling to make ends meet, their wages have stagnated while their housing, food and utility expenses and everything else have increased, most barely have any meaningful amount of money in their savings accounts, or are buried in debt. And "being patient" isn't going to solve any of it. Trump is not bringing any real solutions for that stuff, despite his promises. Tariffs come out of the pockets of consumers, passed along from importers to wholesalers to retailers and so on. Trump isn't bringing costs down. Trump isn't boosting wages up. MOST Americans aren't able to sit back like you and say "hey things are great, my brokerage account is going up" because they don't even have the luxury of being able to invest. You are woefully out of touch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The game in the U.S. is to stir hate and discontent to the point where nothing gets done.

I can only give one piece of advice. Go to other countries, walk around and observe. Don't go with a tour group. Get out and see the people, take in their news and views.

+1,000 Nobody in other countries cares about what’s happening here except to laugh at us. It’s very refreshing.

Yes they do care. Because if our country isn't doing well, many of theirs will struggle as well. The only people who think this is all good and funny are those who think the future should be the "multipolar BRICS world"

Frankly I do not believe you are posting in good faith. Perhaps YOU don't care about the wellbeing of the US, and here you are cheeering on how Trump is undermining the US. You aren't MAGA, nor are you liberal, because your position makes sense to neither. You are just trolling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A few vocally unhappy people don't make for a population which is universally unhappy. I don't recognize anything like this where I live or have travelled, probably because the vast majority of people are fine, are patient, and voted for what they have now over what they had previously.

It's not a few. You need to visit places that aren't wealthy enclaves. MOST Americans are struggling to make ends meet, their wages have stagnated while their housing, food and utility expenses and everything else have increased, most barely have any meaningful amount of money in their savings accounts, or are buried in debt. And "being patient" isn't going to solve any of it. Trump is not bringing any real solutions for that stuff, despite his promises. Tariffs come out of the pockets of consumers, passed along from importers to wholesalers to retailers and so on. Trump isn't bringing costs down. Trump isn't boosting wages up. MOST Americans aren't able to sit back like you and say "hey things are great, my brokerage account is going up" because they don't even have the luxury of being able to invest. You are woefully out of touch.

This doesn't make any sense. You guys constantly tell us that only poor people like Trump, and that Trump supporters are entirely uncritical of him or his policies. You need to find a story and stick to it. I'm a Trump supporter and I'm thrilled with his policies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s always been sad in the US. We are overworked. You go to Europe and they have month long vacations for 4-6 weeks during the summer.

Europe's average GDP growth over the past decade is almost half of the US's. All that vacation has a cost.

Maybe GDP is not actually a very helpful measure?

Europeans generally have less stuff and smaller houses, but they have more leisure time and don’t have to worry about bankruptcy because of a health event or obtaining an education.

Trump is forcing them to pay for their defense and equalize tariffs

They're screwed

All these people who are trying to exit to Europe are going to miss out on the biggest wealth gain in American history, based on an illusion of what Europe is like. Americans are so propagandized that they don't realize that Europeans are dramatically poorer. And when they get a serious illness, they are more likely to die because their healthcare is worse.

Only if you have health insurance in the US. Millions are going to be losing their insurance very soon and the level of care available to the uninsured is far below European standards.

Free insurance is available to our poor, so this is a much smaller problem in reality than as a talking point. In reality, we provide medical care to everyone. And we have much better medical care for many reasons, but a huge one is that we have more imaging than they do. If you're French and find a lump in your breast, you'll wait twice as long for an MRI vs a US person in the same predicament.

If getting maximum vacation is fine for you and you're willing to scale down your possessions and spend half of your income, you can just work less and live in the US. It's intellectually dishonest to compare the US and Europe on these issues without pointing out that they have incomes like people in Arkansas and Healthcare wait times that would shock Americans. Or that they are 10% more likely to die when diagnosed with cancer. These are very relevant facts when comparing quality of life. I would be able to move to Europe and get citizenship very easily and choose not to for quality of life reasons.

That's funny. I have a friend in NC. She'd had breast cancer, surgery, remission (it was stage 2 that time). 7 years later she has breast cancer again, stage 4. But her insurance grumbled about the chest x-ray she had (symptom was a nagging cough), refused MRI for 2 months, then refused a PET scan altogether (had something to do with identifying the cancer type as I recall). Luckily she got 9into a study and has been doing very, very well for a few years now.

But . . . polls in at least some red states show that MAGA is (so far) pretty happy over Trump's handling of tariffs. Basically they like politics been handled like pro wrestling I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s always been sad in the US. We are overworked. You go to Europe and they have month long vacations for 4-6 weeks during the summer.

Europe's average GDP growth over the past decade is almost half of the US's. All that vacation has a cost.

Maybe GDP is not actually a very helpful measure?

Europeans generally have less stuff and smaller houses, but they have more leisure time and don’t have to worry about bankruptcy because of a health event or obtaining an education.

Trump is forcing them to pay for their defense and equalize tariffs

They're screwed

All these people who are trying to exit to Europe are going to miss out on the biggest wealth gain in American history, based on an illusion of what Europe is like. Americans are so propagandized that they don't realize that Europeans are dramatically poorer. And when they get a serious illness, they are more likely to die because their healthcare is worse.

Only if you have health insurance in the US. Millions are going to be losing their insurance very soon and the level of care available to the uninsured is far below European standards.

Free insurance is available to our poor, so this is a much smaller problem in reality than as a talking point. In reality, we provide medical care to everyone. And we have much better medical care for many reasons, but a huge one is that we have more imaging than they do. If you're French and find a lump in your breast, you'll wait twice as long for an MRI vs a US person in the same predicament.

If getting maximum vacation is fine for you and you're willing to scale down your possessions and spend half of your income, you can just work less and live in the US. It's intellectually dishonest to compare the US and Europe on these issues without pointing out that they have incomes like people in Arkansas and Healthcare wait times that would shock Americans. Or that they are 10% more likely to die when diagnosed with cancer. These are very relevant facts when comparing quality of life. I would be able to move to Europe and get citizenship very easily and choose not to for quality of life reasons.

Only for certain poor. If you are a childless adult in a non-expansion state you're SOL. Plus Medicaid restrictions, which were loosened for Covid, have been rolled back. Plus a lot of people like, oh, servers whose tips are not taxed now but wouldn't make much tax on their tips anyway because of subminimum wage laws who get marketplace coverage usually can't afford anything with a deductible less than $7000, so effectively they have no coverage unless they have a major health crisis.

And gutting the federal agencies that provide guidelines for preventive screenings, etc as well as gutting research and healthcare financial assistance it's hard to say how long the statistical advantage for US cancer patients will hold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A few vocally unhappy people don't make for a population which is universally unhappy. I don't recognize anything like this where I live or have travelled, probably because the vast majority of people are fine, are patient, and voted for what they have now over what they had previously.

Vast majority voted for what we have now? lol. The Dems had an unprecedented 2024 election failure with the incumbent backing out of the race for a second term just a few weeks before the party convention and 3 months prior to election day. The VP of the unpopular incumbent was then the only option for replacement on the ticket essentially giving the incumbent party zero chance of winning. In a situation where any normal or average opposition nominee would have won 60% of the popular vote and 500 electoral votes, Trump managed only 50% of the popular vote and only 312 electoral votes.

You're correct about the vast majority of people in this country being fine relative to people in most parts of the world but make no mistake about it, the vast majority didn't vote for what we have now and don't support the continued weak and misguided leadership from The White House.