American society has gone completely off the rails!

[ParanoiD84]

I'm sure they are doing just fine, America is huge after all.

[Guchie]

There has been a massive loss in trust between the public and government. There has been a huge decline in civility. A decent chunk of eligible voters don't vote. The left and right sees themselves as enemies. We have thousands maybe millions of angry young men.

When we consider the other side "mentally ill" just because they have an opposing view then something has gone wrong!

There must be a light at the end of the tunnel somewhere in all of this!

The country kicked off by starting a war against their government, we then celebrate that every year and you think its weird we as a nation distrust our government?

I also dont think the other side is mentally ill, sometimes they can be, but for the most part I think they are well intended in their ideas but the execution is really dumb or the outcome will be.

[Omega10]

Guy is literally talking about wanting to see Americans die but you criticize me? Should I congratulate him on his insightful nation bashing? I'll surely build up a good report with him once I explain that the US is worthy of not being destroyed. One can only hope I learn to be as magnanimous as I'm obligated to pretend he is. Thank you for the insight.

Note the difference between this response and your first one.

The first one is just an attack on China that does not address his horrid line about wanting the US to have a destructive civil war.
The second one addresses this issue.

Your attack on China actually allows his civil war comment to go basically uncontested. And then, since you basically just traded his insult for yours - well there is not much more to add.

US politics has degenerated into exactly the kind of exchange you had with XangXu. He insults us, you insult him back, nothing ever gets accomplished, and everyone goes away angry. Since this type of dialogue fills a huge majority of our political discussion, and has for quite a while, well our problems get worse and new ones crop up and mostly don't get resolved.

[zenkai]

American society as a whole, has never lived in a better time than the present.

Yup, there is a reason people risk their lives to get here.
"When people come here they are hoping for an improvement. There's never a family in Connecticut pitching an ironing board in the Atlantic sailing away" - Richard Jeni

[arandomuser]

There has been a massive loss in trust between the public and government. There has been a huge decline in civility. A decent chunk of eligible voters don't vote. The left and right sees themselves as enemies. We have thousands maybe millions of angry young men.

When we consider the other side "mentally ill" just because they have an opposing view then something has gone wrong!

There must be a light at the end of the tunnel somewhere in all of this!

Were a dying republic, and just like the romans, we should divide ourselfs, the people who want an ethnostate ran by a dictator can join their own union of states, lets call it " the confederacy" and the people with 80% of the gdp in new york city in california can form our own government where we have democracy, and basic human rights for all people. Lets see how it plays out.

- - - Updated - - -

American society as a whole, has never lived in a better time than the present.

Then why are young white men going into wal marts mosques and black churches and massacring people the president says are "LOW IQ INVADERS" There has to be something wrong in society

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

Hopefully the next American civil war will thin the numbers..

You're honestly hoping for more American/people to die. How do you not see this is insanely fucked up to wish for more deaths?

[Pony Soldier]

Good. Let the world drown in chaos!

[jeezusisacasual]

The entire talk of a Civil War is stupid. I am shocked it has gotten this far to be honest as the US forces would obliterate any white trash ISIS group that even attempts this. Another thing is that for a civil war to happen another competing government would have to be set up which again in a era in which information travels instantly impossible to happen. The logistics of them feeding their populace is again insane given the current climate. Stop with this nonsense.

[PC2]

Hopefully the next American civil war will thin the numbers.

Guy is literally talking about wanting to see Americans die but you criticize me?

@Dendrek, good point.

Also, i'm not sure why people who promote and endorse violence aren't permabanned. People have been for banned for a lot less.

And slowly and steadily, we are destroying the wealth and prosperity and power and success that we built up in the 1950s and 1960s.

Based on what metrics?

[Ghostpanther]

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Then why are young white men going into wal marts mosques and black churches and massacring people the president says are "LOW IQ INVADERS" There has to be something wrong in society

Because you have always had some scums in human society. The homicide and crime rate is close to half what it use to be. Ever heard of the Valentine Day's Massacre Or the Great depression? Or how about the Twin Towers? Just to name a few tragic events.

[Queen of Hamsters]

I don't buy it.
Seems like some excellent rhetoric for the right-wing fear mongering and propaganda-machine to me, a scared population is easy to manipulate and 2020 is fast approaching.

[Omega10]

@Dendrek, good point.

Also, i'm not sure why people who promote and endorse violence aren't permabanned. People have been for banned for a lot less.


Based on what metrics?

I agree with the first statement.

As far as the follow up question???

Buying power of adult white males.

1970s: Adult white males without a college education could buy a single family home and support a wife and 4 children. And this could be done without working more than 40 hours a week, and with a good amount of vacation time for the family.

This is not possible in the US anymore. The mancession that happened at the end of George Bush's second term sort of locked in the losses of the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, and as many republicans and left wing democrats said during Obama's two terms - the low unemployment rate during his Presidency most definitely did NOT result in wage increases sufficient to increase the standard of living for adult white males (or any other Americans). So the losses that adult white males suffered at the end of George Bush's second term have not been recovered.

And since the actual costs of things that we pay for stuff is quite a bit more than what the official inflation rate would indicate, I would argue that during Obama's two terms the standard of living for adult white males (and any other American) actually decreased somewhat.

This lowering of the unemployment rate coinciding with standard of living decreases has continued throughout the Trump term. As much as Trump tries to sell himself as the "anti-Obama" President, he mostly has continued pretty much everything that Obama did. Even Obamacare is still in place.

One of the recent headlines in the financial section is: GE freezes employee pensions. That is a lot of money that will NOT be going to adult white males that otherwise would have. Just one more case of adult white males (as well as other Americans) seeing their standard of living decrease.

Did I mention that life expectancy in the US is starting to decrease? Or that suicide rates of adult white males has been steadily increasing?

[Shadowferal]

hmm...

[Dadwen]

Ya because things were never a train wreck in the past lol...

Will Rogers :

Just a few.. from the 1930's

"Politics pretty quiet over the week-end. Democrats are attacking and the Republicans are defending. All the Democrats have to do is promise "what they would do if they got in." But the Republicans have to promise "what they would do" and then explain why they haven't already "done it."

"This country has gotten where it is in spite of politics, not by the aid of it. That we have carried as much political bunk as we have and still survived shows we are a super nation." DT #1948, Nov. 1, 1932

"The Democrats and the Republicans are equally corrupt where money is concerned. It's only in the amount where the Republicans excel."

"It's getting so if a man wants to stand well socially, he can't afford to be seen with either the Democrats or the Republicans."

"There is something about a Republican that you can only stand him just so long; and on the other hand, there is something about a Democrat that you can't stand him quite that long."

"Everything is changing. People are taking their comedians seriously, and the politicians as a joke, when it used to be vice versa."

[Shadowferal]

Will Rogers. “I am not a member of any organized political party, I am a Democrat.”

[Dadwen]

Will Rogers. “I am not a member of any organized political party, I am a Democrat.”

more things change the more some things stay the same lol....

*we just have better and faster ways to bitch about it to more people now....

[GreenJesus]

You haven't looked at historical voting turnout %, have you?

I'd guess it would be about 3/5 of what it is today.

[PC2]

I agree with the first statement.

As far as the follow up question???

Buying power of adult white males.

1970s: Adult white males without a college education could buy a single family home and support a wife and 4 children. And this could be done without working more than 40 hours a week, and with a good amount of vacation time for the family.

This is not possible in the US anymore. The mancession that happened at the end of George Bush's second term sort of locked in the losses of the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s, and as many republicans and left wing democrats said during Obama's two terms - the low unemployment rate during his Presidency most definitely did NOT result in wage increases sufficient to increase the standard of living for adult white males (or any other Americans). So the losses that adult white males suffered at the end of George Bush's second term have not been recovered.

And since the actual costs of things that we pay for stuff is quite a bit more than what the official inflation rate would indicate, I would argue that during Obama's two terms the standard of living for adult white males (and any other American) actually decreased somewhat.

This lowering of the unemployment rate coinciding with standard of living decreases has continued throughout the Trump term. As much as Trump tries to sell himself as the "anti-Obama" President, he mostly has continued pretty much everything that Obama did. Even Obamacare is still in place.

One of the recent headlines in the financial section is: GE freezes employee pensions. That is a lot of money that will NOT be going to adult white males that otherwise would have. Just one more case of adult white males (as well as other Americans) seeing their standard of living decrease.

A good metric will be about *all* people of a country, not just about a tribal identity like sex and race.

As for "standard of living" i'm not sure if that's a real metric, it seems kind of like "quality of life" in the sense that you have to take qualitative improvements into account. Especially as it relates to innovations that didn't even exist 50 years ago.

Did I mention that life expectancy in the US is starting to decrease? Or that suicide rates of adult white males has been steadily increasing?

Those numbers are so low I doubt it would have any noticeable effect on a country's wealth/prosperity/power.

[Ivanstone]

And since the actual costs of things that we pay for stuff is quite a bit more than what the official inflation rate would indicate, I would argue that during Obama's two terms the standard of living for adult white males (and any other American) actually decreased somewhat.

Wages haven't really kept pace with inflation which is bad. On the other hand some of the shit we have is way fucking cooler than we used to have. I remember having a $400 Colecovision when I was a teen. It was fucking awesome. I paid more for my Ipad Mini 5 but its somewhat more capable than the Colecovision.

In some ways society continually improves but sometimes there are setbacks and there's a tendency to assume that setback eclipses everything. Things have generally gotten better since the '70's for the average person.

[Shadowferal]

Dental medicine has definitely improved.

Expensive gadgets that are in essence distractions...? I suppose they have, in that they are definitely distracting.

It used to take only one person...buy the house, car, raise kids, save a bit for their college, and still have enough left over for play. And retire with a full pension.
Now it takes two people...at least. And that's just to keep their heads above water...the monthly bills paid. Soon enough a family will have to start pimping their children.