Anonymous wrote:America is past it's peak.

This.

It’s been taken over by people who only care about themselves. Not the nation as a whole and a better future for their progeny.

Anonymous wrote:America is past it's peak.

*Its

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.

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.

Well put.

Stop blaming "the other" and focus the ire on the billionaires who are hording EVERYTHING for themselves.

America is past it's peak.

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.

Imagine the possibilities if we cut Israel from our teet.

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

The problem is not open immigration. The problem is greed. Greed is driving the inequities. Greed is driving the collapse of infrastructure. Greed is driving our headfirst dive into a climate catastrophe. And that climate catastrophe and greed is driving the wars and destabilization of the global south, and those people have to go somewhere.

Things will only continue to get worse if we continue to allow the greediest most ruthless people run our countries.

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

Actually no. Many things are much nicer and work!! in other countries.

But as to OP’s point, yes. America is falling apart. Biden was doing a good job focusing on doing things to improve the lives of Americans, including healthcare, manufacturing, infrastructure. But no. MAGA wanted to focus on boys on softball teams and here we are. At the hands of a demented dying man who is determined to kill us all. ETTD.

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"

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 agree. Things were not great but had potential until last year. Now it’s completely hopeless. With the destruction of energy infrastructure, I foresee global recession.

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

+1

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.