How has the U.S. gotten worse in your lifetime?

I was listening to a WNYC interview with a guy who was talking about the difference between U.S. prison systems and those of other countries,

It struck me as to how utterly backward the U.S. is in trying to deal with crime. In the last 30 years, we have descended into a a mindless cycle of simply arresting more and more people, and giving them longer and longer sentences, with the effect that our prison system creates criminals.

It got me to thinking about what I saw as a great progressive future in the 70's turn into a total disaster.

- the middle class has been crushed

- the poor are still being crushed

- still no national health care

- the U.S. has become more militaristic, crazily increasing it's defense budget year after year. (not counting a few dips here and there, the curve for military spending just goes up.)

- abortion rights are at their worst state in decades.

- unions have been devastated

- voting rights are on the decline

- wealth inequality has gone crazy

- our graduating students are faced with crippling amounts of debt

- our public school systems are under increasing threats

and I could go on and on.

And all of the above precedes Trump.

Does anyone else see our recent history as I do?

Are there important failings that I've missed?

How do we recover?


p.s. I don't really care about areas where we may have gotten better. The areas I've listed are pretty huge and their ill effects swamp whatever progressive gains there might have been. I mean, gay rights are great and important, but they don't make up for the general disaster we're living in.


Sigh.  Makes me sad.


So NOT the world that I thought I was growing up into...


Saddest. Thread. Ever. 

But that's a pretty good synopsis of the decline of last 40 years. I'd add a rise in mass violence and terrorism. 


I've said this to my husband a lot over the past 6 months. I always envisioned progress, but all we seem to have is regress. 

Watched Harry Nillson's The Point with my son this past week. It made me very sad as I thought of how this was story of hope and understanding of others that are different, and that's not the world we are living in.


Now I'm sorry I hit the nail on the head.

I'm depressed too.



Hahaha said:

Saddest. Thread. Ever. 

But that's a pretty good synopsis of the decline of last 40 years. I'd add a rise in mass violence and terrorism. 

terrorism was as bad if not worse 40 years ago.  It was just different groups.



ml1 said:


terrorism was as bad if not worse 40 years ago.  It was just different groups.

The OP made it clear that you are not allowed to say things like this.  Only bad stuff allowed.


The rise of box stores and the death of local retail.

The death of independent bookstores (although, thankfully, not in MW).


you asked how we recover? most of these items are self inflicted.

Individually, we shape all of these developments. 

Recover by being more active politically, and not locally. We live in a micro society here in SOMA and NJ. If we want change at a national level, Im sorry to say that means gong out to other parts of the country and changing peoples perceptions. 

it means not buying from amazon and blue apron, but buying at Kings or that tiny little old shoprite in millburn and the local butcher/farm stand/town shops or even the local mall. It means giving up convenience and disconnecting. Subscribing for news magazines and newspapers. Attending town meetings. Joining the PTA. Paying for content. Making homemade family dinners. Doing your due diligence on election choices. Standing up for your ethical beliefs and venturing out to support them in areas where its unpopular. Teaching kids to be responsible and independent. Volunteering. Cleaning up after yourself. Reducing whining and taking action.

Has the US gotten worse? I don't know, but there is a whole lot I can do about it. Thats the whole point isnt it?



ml1 said:



Hahaha said:

Saddest. Thread. Ever. 

But that's a pretty good synopsis of the decline of last 40 years. I'd add a rise in mass violence and terrorism. 

terrorism was as bad if not worse 40 years ago.  It was just different groups.

Really? I am a little over 40 so maybe I was too young to register what was on the news back then. Today it seems there's a daily terrorist attack or mass shooting. 


The Chinese food has gone downhill.


Here's a regression: when I was younger it was the old folks who complained about how things used to be better. Now it's people my own age.


there's more news than there used to be.  In the 60s and 70s we had radicals like the Weather Underground, FALN, JDL, SDS, Black Panthers and SLA in the U.S.  Internationally, the IRA, Red Brigade and PLO among others were active.  

The golden age of terrorism

Hahaha said:



ml1 said:



Hahaha said:

Saddest. Thread. Ever. 

But that's a pretty good synopsis of the decline of last 40 years. I'd add a rise in mass violence and terrorism. 

terrorism was as bad if not worse 40 years ago.  It was just different groups.

Really? I am a little over 40 so maybe I was too young to register what was on the news back then. Today it seems there's a daily terrorist attack or mass shooting. 




PVW said:

Here's a regression: when I was younger it was the old folks who complained about how things used to be better. Now it's people my own age.

Could just mean that now you ARE the old folk oh oh


That's what the kids these days call me, but that's just because no one shows the same kind of respect we did when I was younger...

ska said:



PVW said:

Here's a regression: when I was younger it was the old folks who complained about how things used to be better. Now it's people my own age.

Could just mean that now you ARE the old folk oh oh



Sorry but going out to "other parts of the country to change people's perceptions" is too little too late. Most progressives I know can't even make a dent in the beliefs of their own relatives. The gap widened long ago and now everyone has retreated to their own little camps, such as SOMA. There's even little camps within SOMA. We don't completely understand enough about our own neighbors much less other Americans.


The sad thing about all of this is that the population generally supports a far more progressive agenda than what has been inflicted upon us in the last 40 years. We've been suffering from a tyranny of the minority for some time now.

e.g. Our last two (and utterly disastrous) Republican presidents were elected with a minority of the vote.





The whole world seems worse today. That's because we hear all the news immediately. 50 years ago we heard only a piece of the news. We are so lucky to live in the USA. We just do not appreciate it.



ridski said:

The Chinese food has gone downhill.

But the Mexican food has gotten better.



ridski said:

The Chinese food has gone downhill.

How else would an egg roll?


Well, at least we don't have to breath cigarettes on the train any more, or the airport, or the airplanes, or the restaurants, or the doctor’s waiting room. So there’s that. 

Also, despite the phone zombies, I like that all my family members can call from wherever they are and use GPS in the car.

Also, although it sucks that we can still have a Charlottesville, at least it wasn’t Selma.

Also, although it sucks that we still have an Afghanistan, at least there’s no more Vietnam draft.

Also, although we now have Trump, at least I lived to see a black man able to be elected and then RE-elected President and a woman at least nominated to the top of the ticket.

Also, my gay friends have been able to get married.

I never dreamed to see any of the last three items.


Things are bad now, and likely to get worse in the near future, but I wouldn't say that everything is worse. When I was in grade school I was explicitly told to never mention at school that I had two mommies for fear of them deciding to investigate some BS child neglect charge as a ruse to look into a family with homosexual parents. Today, in our part of the county at least, gay and lesbian parents can openly be a family without fear of the authorities stepping in because of outdated views on LGBT equaling perversion.


I align more with Steel. 

Drummerboy ignores real accomplishments. I agree with all that Steel listed.

In addition:

While we may not have universal healthcare, Medicaid expansion has given a modicum of security to many who did not have it and ACH has real improvements from what was there before.

States, including NJ with its significant bail reform, are starting to respond to the need for criminal justice reform.

The fact that we are at a point where the majority supports removing Confederate monuments is a milestone, even if those who oppose do so to the point of violence.


I tend to blame everything on the internet  -  but from a work viewpoint I find that email has become a nightmare.   with "smartphones" everyone seems to want everything instantly and there is virtually no respect for religious holidays, vacations, etc as as long as you have wi-fi, you are connected to work.  

Big box stores are on the way out and pretty soon we will get everything from Amazon.  Not sure if that is better or worse.  

But on social issues, I feel like we are going in reverse (abortion, privacy, healthcare (at least for those under 65), and agree with much of the list that was posted earlier.  



Good, bad, both. Same, different, just how it goes. Planes from 30 years ago are still in service. You get divorced and it's normal. You're involved in a lawsuit. You have a dishwasher. Your dishwasher is quiet. It's a lot harder to be a drunk now. Don't have to get your car inspected every year anymore. You can get everything on the Internet. Identity theft. I can see my living room from my phone right now. So can a hacker, probably. Probably from his mother's basement. Instant communication. You can never hide. You can spend all of your time finding out what everyone else is doing with all of their time, without getting out of your pajamas. You can go to college without getting out of your pajamas. Teachers don't run school.  Parents do.  Your landscaper can't use a leaf blower. You can't have a 6ft fence. You can't cut down a maple tree without planting a new one. If you lose, just appeal. Everyone is a leader.  Or at least everyone with a resume is. Google and Wikipedia answer all of your questions. Like how to type "è". Cars use less gas. You can have an electric one without a tee time. You're not sure if you want to be male, female, both, or what bathroom you can legally use, let alone which one you want to use. No one is normal and there is a pill for it. You may have been born with a rare genetic disorder called "healthy." People hate America. America still hates America. All of your heroes have be dethroned, exposed or tarnished. Privacy is dead. There are no secrets but not you don't know which ones are true. People still need a cause.  


I'm a 1990's diversity guy, formerly with funding from a major university to travel and talk feminism, hyper-masculinity, etc. I can't tell you how dispiriting it is to see pop-culture women and most rap men fulfill the stereotypes we fought to dispel. Sheesh.

Yes, the culture has gotten worse. 

 


That I aged is the worst thing.  All of the other bad things might be remedied, however likely or unlikely that is.   



steel said:

Well, at least we don't have to breath cigarettes on the train any more, or the airport, or the airplanes, or the restaurants, or the doctor’s waiting room. So there’s that. 

Also, despite the phone zombies, I like that all my family members can call from wherever they are and use GPS in the car.

Also, although it sucks that we can still have a Charlottesville, at least it wasn’t Selma.

Also, although it sucks that we still have an Afghanistan, at least there’s no more Vietnam draft.

Also, although we now have Trump, at least I lived to see a black man able to be elected and then RE-elected President and a woman at least nominated to the top of the ticket.

Also, my gay friends have been able to get married.

I never dreamed to see any of the last three items.

Great post, steel!


Its all in your point of view. I'm sure there are many many groups of people who would rather be living now than say 50 years ago. If u r not in such a group you may tend to be more nostalgic about the past. 


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