Things are getting better. Doomsday is not near.

Violent crime has been going down steadily since 1985. Income for all classes have risen steadily in the same time period. Reports of crimes against women are up, but that's because women feel more comfortable now reporting about domestic violence than they did before (reports are up, not incidents). Discrimination has lessened by all barometers used since the 1980s, but there has not been enough tests to measure in terms of present conditions.

Men are making wages higher now than ever (though women's wages have stayed the same since early 1990s). Children are receiving more attention to their difference now than they did 5 years ago (if they have a disability, it is more noticed and handled now).

The desire for less dependence on foreign energy resources has risen steadily since the EPA was formed in the 1960s, due in part to a free press. The EPA has evolved into more specific regulating agencies that intervene when outside interests try to turn the US into a dependent on their sources (it's not working, lately they've figured it out and stopped trying).

The jobs that have been lost in the US over the past 50 years have mostly been jobs replaced by technology or by workers in developing countries that are less costly, thus making it possible for Americans to buy stuff cheaper. That "sale" you went to at Ross is brought to you by a free press who can print out the ads and a textile retailer who can afford to give them to you cheaper than you would have paid last week.

The reason you feel so awful about everything is because you choose to feel awful about everything. It is not because everything is awful. It's because someone told you to feel like they do, so that their feelings go down in history as the right feelings. They really don't care about your feelings at all. They care about being right. They care about being important.

You are always free to turn off the radio or the TV or the computer and sit for long hours, pondering what the world would might be like if it was all your own.

Why don't you do that?

reply to post by alumnathe


Net worth for middle class Americans has dipped by about 30% in the past five years, while average wages have shifted down from 55k to 50k in the same period. The number of Americans on foodstamps today numbers roughly 1 in 6, and it seems to be rapidly approaching 1 in 5. Most of the jobs that have were lost in the recession were middle wage jobs, and most of the jobs that have been created since have been low-wage jobs.

Violent crime has begun picking up in recent years, our schools continue to sink in international rankings, our currency continues to be devalued. We rapidly approach a fiscal cliff as our politicians sit on their gold-plated seats in D.C. with their thumbs up their butts, refusing to come to any kind of compromise.

Let us not even start talking about the property bubble in China, the commodity bubbles in Australia, or the slow-sinking Titanic that is the EU at the moment.

I don't feel bad about the world because I want to. I feel bad because I smell the world for what it is rapidly going to. And guess what? That stench ain't coffee.

um, I think your post is valid, looking over history humans now have never had it this good, really. However this does not come without costs and hyper vigilance is one of them. I don't think based on what we are see around us that we should just sit there and bask in all things we do have. And there certainly is an argument for taking down the 'entitlement' attitude that we see in so many today. Life is not fair and humans everywhere seem to have this desire to set this record straight born right into them! Everyone has something to complain about and probably should. If it's too much for you I suggest not watching certain sections of ATS or the News for awhile I have found this immensely helpful to just sort of pull the plug on all the talk and find something interesting to do. Learn something new, take up a new hobby, help a neighbor, that kind of thing. It was the fact that people persisted in demanding things be better and whined about it, often with the cost of their lives, that got us into this place in history in the first place. It wasn't because somebody just rolled over. Have a great day and be blessed in it.

reply to post by alumnathe

It's all okay, fine and dandy.

No offence man, but you sound like a sheep. You sound just how the government would like you to sound.

If it's all fine and dandy and job's have been rising and so has income, then why are so many on welfare. I imagine there are some on welfare because they're lazy and don't feel like working, but that isn't the case for the larger majority.

If it's all fine and dandy, why do we owe 15+ trillion dollars? Sure the income of houses has gone up, but the worth of the dollar hasn't.

In fact, the dollar doesn't mean anything. We're told what the dollar means by people that print it. There is nothing to back it up; no gold, nothing. We were essentially robbed at gunpoint by our own government. They stole our gold and in return put a monetary system comparable to Hasbro's "Monopoly".

So sure, everything is all cool. Except a good majority of our country is on welfare, another good chunk of the country is without a job, on top of all that our money doesn't mean anything anymore, and we owe so much money to other countries that if they decided they wanted it back right now, we'd most likely end up like Germans in WW2....using our dollars as wallpaper.

Congrats, you now may forgot all of this enlightening information bestowed upon you by a random citizen and re-enter your shleep.

Any socialist knows what USA needs.
The political right in USA (be it rep. or dem.) just don't want it (to be true).
The only way for the ruling elite in USA now, the owners, is to change the rules of the game.
At some point someone is going to have to tell China USA don't owe them any money. Nope, no money at all. They (the Chinese) must have dreamt leanding USA all that money.
In the end it's the spoiled, ignorant, arrogant american who will kill USA. Reality itself has to bend to the will of these conditioned sociopaths, even though it's impossible. Brainwashed since birth into a level of nationalism (my country, right or wrong) only matched by nazi germany, indoctrinated into thinking the meaning of life is chasing money and tricked into thinking this good thing - capitalism - is the same thing as democracy. And even though political power (political capital) being transferred from father to son has been rejected (monarchy, feudalism) and money (financial/monetary capital) still being transferred that way - the only logical conclusion is that the owners has somehow earned their position is society and are entitled to their privileges. (!)
How people with different conditions in life is suppose to compete fairly isn't explained. But in not having to explain lies their power.
Control over self is freedom. Control over others is oppression.

reply to post by johnwilkesbooth


You sure you're an American?
Monopoly is made by Parker bros.
Other than that you're correct.
Dunno about the OP -
Maybe they're one of the 1%?
(having never met one personally, I wouldn't know for sure)
Shleep? Good one!