Elections Is the US on the upward trend or downward?

Richmma80

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Would you say the US is getting better or worse? I'm talking about in general here spanning years or decades. If you say we're getting worse, which decade would you say is the peak USA?
 
I'd say we're about flat.

We took a hit in the 80s and effects started showing up in the 2000s. At this point, those effects are essentially stabilized both socially and economically.

We're at a bit of a tipping point though. A huge swath of the nation refuses to understand the impact of divisive economic policy and have been convinced to fight culture wars issues while being completely ignorant and indifferent to the economic issues that have created the current environment.
 
Been trending downward. Murka peaked post WW2 and best years were 1945-1980. After Reagan its been trending downwards and had been rated at the level of a developing country for a few years now.
 
Guess it all depends on what metrics you're looking at.

1. Expansion of the middle class: worse
2. Ability of the average citizen to purchase a home: worse
3. Racial tensions: worse
4. Civil Liberties: worse
5. Trust in government institutions: worse
6. Trust in the Law: worse
7. Required population growth from legal citizenry vs immigration: worse
8. Average wages relative to economic needs: worse
9. Trust in academia: worse
10. Trust in science: worse
11. National identity and cohesion: worse
 
It fluctuates, and also depends on for whom, and if it's relative to ourselves or relative to the rest of the world.

Our starting point was comfortably at the top like 60-75 years ago, and we obviously didn't widen the gap since then, at least for average people, and you could certainly argue we lost the top spot altogether for a lot of segments of society.

Luxuries are still easier to get than anywhere else, but necessities have gotten more difficult. The 50s/60s were probably the "peak", but a lot of that has to do with the fact that a lot of luxuries weren't even an option, so middle class meant the houses were smaller, cars weren't as safe or nice, phones were a shared line with a rotary phone instead of a super computer in every pocket, obviously no computer or internet in the home, no appliances, probably no TV and no cable if you did have one, eating out was a once in a while luxury




Been trending downward. Murka peaked post WW2 and best years were 1945-1980. After Reagan its been trending downwards and had been rated at the level of a developing country for a few years now.
Wait, you think the Vietnam war draft, stagflation and the biggest homicide spike on record in the decade before Reagan took office were some of "the best years"?
 
Well.......my Dad said when he grew up, he assumed he would be drafted into the army and sent to his death in Vietnam.

He wanted to control his own destiny, so when he turned 18 he enlisted into the marines and was sent to his death in Vietnam. Lucky for him, and about half of his battalion they survived and we pulled out of the war. He spent his last year of service as a nuclear guard in Jacksonville Fl.
 
IMO it's worse, but not catastrophically bad, yet. Read something the other day that 50% of people in their 20s live with their parents. Home ownership is going to be out of reach for a lot of people, I do think we're going to have an issue with people having to work to an older and older age. I still believe in upward mobility in the US as long as you're reasonably intelligent and driven, but the days of a single income family with kids in a decent area is over for the middle class.
 
There are issues, but I don't foresee it ever crashing down the way some people wish for and get off on.

It's definitely trending downwards with plenty of issues though - that is not to say it still doesn't have massive strengths and advantages over other countries, however. A lot of countries are having issues right now.
 
looks less impressive from afar.
we kinda suffered a massive "santa clause isn't real" moment when the neocons invaded iraq for no goddamn reason.
i think history will look at that moment as the one when the american symbolism in the world took a fatal hit. i for one deplore that moment.
 
both are true

we were the greatest country on earth, the last couple years has been a banana republic

They do not make that declarative in the past tense, they simultaneously call the US the greatest Country (especially when expressing xenophobia) and a banana republic.
 
Been trending downward. Murka peaked post WW2 and best years were 1945-1980. After Reagan its been trending downwards and had been rated at the level of a developing country for a few years now.
The '70s were the worst decade for America post-WWII (and all post-war decades were better than the pre-war ones). Until the 2020s, the '90s were probably the best decade. Mild recession at the end of the '90s that we had a really slow, painful recovery from, followed by the bottom dropping out in 2007, and then by 2015, we were mostly recovered from that. We recovered really quickly from the disastrous 2019-2020, and things have never been better across all areas.
 
you lost your trollability, now it just comes off as utter delusion. think the start was with inflation being trans
Not sure what you're talking about, but sorry things are so bad for you. For most Americans, now is the best time ever.

Also, if you mean transitory, the period of high inflation from a couple of years ago factually was transitory.
 
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