America is just completely broken

[Anonymous]

MAGA is not wrong to point to out-of-control immigration. There are too many people in the U.S., and with supply and demand out of equilibrium, you have excess people chasing jobs, chasing housing, medical care, groceries, and on and on. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand a nation has to have a common culture and other commonalities or else things get chaotic. I have lived in a nation with several distinct ethnic groups. It doesn't work. It just doesn't. The Progressives sold the American people a wooden nickle, and here we are today. The Progressives not only filled the country with people from vastly different cultures, they really pushed the don't-have-children agenda to white people (and they still are pushing it). Who is targeting the brown people with media messages not to have children? Literally it is non-existent. The intent is clear. Replacement.

You know, the MAGA folks aren't stupid. They see what is happening. They elected Trump because they weren't going to vote for more Progressivism intent on destroying a traditional America. I say this as a non-MAGA centrist.

Add to that chaotic mix billionaires and monopolies, a compromised media, eroding traditional values, and here we are.

America is a hot mess. It's well on its way to joining the Ukraine, or Brazil, or Somalia in terms of stability and quality of life.

[Anonymous]

Saw a tweet the other day that said this Trump/Kushner regime is like a mafia bust out of a nation. They’re just looting us openly and shoving us into a world war for Israel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree. Europe has some problems, but quality of life there is heaps ahead of here. Though Trump is doing his best to break them too.

Not really. I travel to Europe monthly and have 25 downline in various parts of Europe. They are seeing a major decline as well; a lot of it has to do with their open-border immigration. I also have some in Canada, same issue there as well. I would rather not live outside of the US. Also, AI is decimating other offshore areas as we don't need them as much anymore.

Lots of expat Americans in Europe these days. We are thinking of moving there temporarily there, too.

You would like the UK.

85 §haria Courts and Councils!

You'll fit right in and love it!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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'm probably older than you, PP, and I agree with the first PP. Daycare and college costs have exploded, and wages have not kept up with those costs.

I have one DC about to graduate undergad and one about to go to college.

We have made six figures for a while, but we lived way below our means. And it was still expensive to send the kids to daycare and save for college. We don't drive expensive cars; we don't own name brand anything. My only expensive jewelry is my engagement ring, and a not that expensive necklace/earring set DH has bought me throughout our 20 years of marriage.

I don't blame women now a days for not wanting kids one bit.

It sounds like you have the same tunnel vision then, unable to see different possibilities and ways of doing things. Neither daycare nor college are/were the norm for 99% of human existence. But few people are willing to think outside of the box or go against the grain, which is also how we got here in the first place.

I stand by my point that if you want to be a parent, stop making excuses and don’t worry about doing it the “proper” way with a SFH, daycare, college, and expensive “family” car. Don’t let other people tell you what’s important. It sucks that there isn’t really a road map for this, but it’s doable.

Eh, yes and no. As a mom to two kids who lived much of my younger years in a sh*t 90 year old fixer upper with roaches and mice (thanks hoarding neighbor!), with a one percent down payment, in a crime ridden neighborhood where I learned to tell the difference between gunshots and fireworks....

This really ignores the issue of SUBSTANTIAL.wage suppression, explosion of housing costs making living on a single income plus a kid very difficult even in a one bedroom. Oh and at least I did have a college education that afforded me the ability to pull myself to a much higher income! In today's housing market, couldn't have done it again.

All of you are missing the point. Unless you are a 1 percenter, life is tough. Always has been. The challenges we face in 2026 are tough, but they are not uniquely awful. Most of humanity throughout history has been poor, has had to make difficult choices, has not had everything ideal. All of you seem to be under this spell where you think that there was this time in recent history where everything was great, and now it’s 100 percent horrible and will never be good again.

It may be that I think the way I do is because for me personally, even with the current events, things are still a thousand times better than when I was growing up, at least materially speaking. I went from a childhood of relative poverty to an adulthood where I worked upwards and have a great standard of living now. I can understand how downwardly mobile people might see the current situation as the worst, but they are objectively wrong.

I mean of course YOU feel fine since you just described your life trajectory and material success but why can’t you bother to see what the rest of us are trying to show you?

Do you live in/near DC?
It’s good to get outside sometimes, or talk to people in other places. It is not Armageddon everywhere.

We are dealing with a major layoff, inability to get a new job, depleting our life savings, and needing to sell our home, uprooting our kids' lives. Eff off with telling me I just need to meet someone outside of the beltway.

That sucks, it sounds like your family has been hit particularly hard.

My family got hit really hard in 2008/2009 - in the wrong place in the wrong time. It took years and some difficult moves and we crawled out of it, but that is hindsight. At the time, it looked completely hopeless for us, as it seems that way for you now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MAGA is not wrong to point to out-of-control immigration. There are too many people in the U.S., and with supply and demand out of equilibrium, you have excess people chasing jobs, chasing housing, medical care, groceries, and on and on. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand a nation has to have a common culture and other commonalities or else things get chaotic. I have lived in a nation with several distinct ethnic groups. It doesn't work. It just doesn't. The Progressives sold the American people a wooden nickle, and here we are today. The Progressives not only filled the country with people from vastly different cultures, they really pushed the don't-have-children agenda to white people (and they still are pushing it). Who is targeting the brown people with media messages not to have children? Literally it is non-existent. The intent is clear. Replacement.

You know, the MAGA folks aren't stupid. They see what is happening. They elected Trump because they weren't going to vote for more Progressivism intent on destroying a traditional America. I say this as a non-MAGA centrist.

Add to that chaotic mix billionaires and monopolies, a compromised media, eroding traditional values, and here we are.

America is a hot mess. It's well on its way to joining the Ukraine, or Brazil, or Somalia in terms of stability and quality of life.

Personally? I blame the bottomless greed of the billionaires. Take care of them and you take care of all of it.

[Anonymous]

And now our 401ks are going to be torched. Just so the Trump family could come in power and make money for themselves.

What in the third world…..!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree. Europe has some problems, but quality of life there is heaps ahead of here. Though Trump is doing his best to break them too.

Not really. I travel to Europe monthly and have 25 downline in various parts of Europe. They are seeing a major decline as well; a lot of it has to do with their open-border immigration. I also have some in Canada, same issue there as well. I would rather not live outside of the US. Also, AI is decimating other offshore areas as we don't need them as much anymore.

Lots of expat Americans in Europe these days. We are thinking of moving there temporarily there, too.

You would like the UK.

85 §haria Courts and Councils!

You'll fit right in and love it!!

MAGA loves that Trump's ICE are going around illegally arresting thousands of people, and murdering Americans. You fit right into Trump's 'Murica.

My ILs live in the UK, and they are happy there. They think our country has gone nuts. Some of our friends refuse to come here until Trump is gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MAGA is not wrong to point to out-of-control immigration. There are too many people in the U.S., and with supply and demand out of equilibrium, you have excess people chasing jobs, chasing housing, medical care, groceries, and on and on. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand a nation has to have a common culture and other commonalities or else things get chaotic. I have lived in a nation with several distinct ethnic groups. It doesn't work. It just doesn't. The Progressives sold the American people a wooden nickle, and here we are today. The Progressives not only filled the country with people from vastly different cultures, they really pushed the don't-have-children agenda to white people (and they still are pushing it). Who is targeting the brown people with media messages not to have children? Literally it is non-existent. The intent is clear. Replacement.

You know, the MAGA folks aren't stupid. They see what is happening. They elected Trump because they weren't going to vote for more Progressivism intent on destroying a traditional America. I say this as a non-MAGA centrist.

Add to that chaotic mix billionaires and monopolies, a compromised media, eroding traditional values, and here we are.

America is a hot mess. It's well on its way to joining the Ukraine, or Brazil, or Somalia in terms of stability and quality of life.

Personally? I blame the bottomless greed of the billionaires. Take care of them and you take care of all of it.

like Trump

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MAGA is not wrong to point to out-of-control immigration. There are too many people in the U.S., and with supply and demand out of equilibrium, you have excess people chasing jobs, chasing housing, medical care, groceries, and on and on. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand a nation has to have a common culture and other commonalities or else things get chaotic. I have lived in a nation with several distinct ethnic groups. It doesn't work. It just doesn't. The Progressives sold the American people a wooden nickle, and here we are today. The Progressives not only filled the country with people from vastly different cultures, they really pushed the don't-have-children agenda to white people (and they still are pushing it). Who is targeting the brown people with media messages not to have children? Literally it is non-existent. The intent is clear. Replacement.

You know, the MAGA folks aren't stupid. They see what is happening. They elected Trump because they weren't going to vote for more Progressivism intent on destroying a traditional America. I say this as a non-MAGA centrist.

Add to that chaotic mix billionaires and monopolies, a compromised media, eroding traditional values, and here we are.

America is a hot mess. It's well on its way to joining the Ukraine, or Brazil, or Somalia in terms of stability and quality of life.

First of all, a lot of the jobs immigrants take are the back breaking work like roofing, farming, meat packing...

Secondly, there would be more jobs had Trump not tanked our economy. The job market and stock market were on the upswing before Trump f*it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And now our 401ks are going to be torched. Just so the Trump family could come in power and make money for themselves.

What in the third world…..!

The irony is that the stock market no longer seems tied to the US economy. So even though it looks like a recession is coming, stocks will likely be fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To many immigrants that have failed to assimilate. Responsible for the dissolution of the work ethic and values that made America great up until the mid 1980s. The rapid decline started in 2000 and continues until today.

people like you have been saying this exact same BS for 200 years. Just stop with the racism and xenophobia.

the decline came with Newt Gungrich breaking Congress and the W breaking the debt with two needless wars.

[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 don't think it's right to "give my life purpose" by having kids, knowing full well that I can't keep them safe in this country, that I will not be able to afford a quality education, that they will have to fight and struggle to get a job or afford anything, that climate disasters will get worse and displace more people, that water and food scarcity will increase, etc. This isn't about being able to afford freaking Disney. You need to get a grip and open your eyes to reality. Previous generations at least at the hope that the future would be better for their kids. I do not have that hope. And so I will not be having kids.

I hear you OP. My kids are in elementary school and bring me more joy than anything else in my life, and while I don’t regret having them I do feel guilty about it. Like I’ve done them a terrible disservice, bringing them into this world where there isn’t a clear path forward for them and there is very little hope for a better future for them. We’re doing the best we can to save and prepare and hoping for the best. But it certainly feels futile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a global decline, not just America. I have travelled around the world, and everything is declining, and even at a more rapid pace outside the US. I think its a combo of things globally such as AI and open immigration policies

No, it is neither AI nor open immigration policies. It is autocrats in Russia, China and Saudi Arabia poisoning every democracy in the world, from the US to Israel and on down the line. The right wing in every country appears to have been bought and are fomenting lies and creating havoc everywhere. Take out Putin and netanyahu and you have NONE of what is happening in the US, Ukraine or Middle east right now. None of it.

Yes, those same right wingers have created conditions for AI, un-regulated, to be put out on the markets and those same right wingers have created the famine, wars and conditions to force people to move to different climates and political conditions. Look at the root cause and stop blaming "immigrants"

Israel has never been a real democracy. GTFFOH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. My spouse is from Europe, has lived here for 30 years, and said they no longer recognize the once great US. And I have to agree.

We are looking at our options for the future. Thankfully, kids have dual citizenship.

People who say shit like this should just leave. Seriously, go already. It's showing over and over again that dual citizenship and America are incompatible.

you're just jealous that you don't have an off-ramp option.

DP and I am and it’s not my fault. And it’s not the fault of most of us. Just STFU.

[Anonymous]

Late stage capitalism. Greedy corps sucked the country dry.