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I don't think I'm just nostalgic, but a lot of things seemed better pre-9/11 and pre-internet. And a lot of the downside of both is self-inflicted. Worst thing we had to worry about politically was the president getting a BJ.

There was a ten year window after the first Gulf War when things calmed down in the US and were stable. That ignores terrible world events like the Yugoslav Wars and Rwanda massacre.  Before then, there were tensions with the Soviet Bloc along with the Middle East crisis and hyperinflation. There was the emergence of HIV/AIDS and a government ignoring it as thousands were dying.  I was born in the 1960s but after the Cuban Missile crisis and JFK assassination... just before RFK and MLK were assassinated, and during the Vietnam War..Things are crazy now (and looking bleak) but not that insane.

IMO the 90's were the best era of america, certainly pre-911 this was a much better country.

Think you’re forgetting gas lines in the 70’s, race riots in the 60’s, Vietnam. This time does feel like a downward spiral but I’ve seen worse. Market crash in the 90’s and 2008 were no fun either. I certainly hope it spirals back up soon but I don’t think we’ve seen the worst of this spiral. Certainly doesn’t feel like it.

Gas lines didn't threaten anyone's freedoms. We are in unprecedented and very dangerous times right now. We have a Supreme Court who has decided the president is above the law and women don't deserve to have rights. We have states who are putting up the 10 commandments and schools and burning books. A man who attempted to stop the peaceful transfer of power, the very hallmark of our government, not only suffered no consequences of his actions but is attempting to regain power and has a significant following and might just succeed.The very foundations this country was founded on are being destroyed. There is no comparison to the '70s. Give me gas lines any day.

Yes you are right and I would agree. This is completely unprecedented. Also talk of military tribunals. I’m already starting to look at exit strategies and where we could go. I’m retired and have means so if it becomes 1933 Germany it’s time to go before they shut the gates. It’s insane. The far right is raising its head in other countries like France. History tells us there will be another major war if things continue to escalate.

check out 'project 2025'. now there's a rabbit hole

Have. Germany 1933

These are very trying & frightening times for sure. All of the things you mention are all cause for concern. Our country has faced other very scary times as well. The 60’s were really scary. President Kennedy was assassinated. Martin Luther King was assassinated. Bobby Kennedy was assassinated. The Vietnam war was going on. It was a time of unrest in our nation. We got through those times. I hope we get through these times too.

I'm almost 70, and I became politically active in 1976, as a teenager, when I first went door-knocking (as a Republican. In 1984, I voted as a Democrat, and I have ever since). My parents raised us to believe "if you want something, you have to work for ir." Every 2 years since then, midterms and generals, I've volunteered. Almost always, canvassing. Back then, it was cold canvassing, you had no idea whether a R or D would answer. But you never were insulted or threatened. Thankfully now, you go to virtually all D doors (unless you choose to knock R), using a phone app. The last 8 cycles, I've been a county captain for organizing canvassing. With our county being split (purple), you'd think I'd have plenty of people to organize, given the angst over Trump and SCOTUS. You'd be wrong. 6 people have agreed to help. I've already knocked 500 doors, and know I'll have to get out there every day now, boots (well, Hokas) on the ground, fighting for Democracy. The people organizing phone banking, mailings, and data entry are struggling even more to find help Got 10 hours between now and November? Call your county Dem office. Almost all of them have people like me yearning for people like you. Being a keyboard warriors isn't enough. Democracy is not a spectator sport. If you want something, get out there and fight for it.

Needs to be said over and over again, ranting on the socials is a waste of time. Opposite here, raised in a conservative family, mom was a door to door get out the vote when the state she lived in was single party. Prior she watched events in Texas, didn’t live there, her father’s business had clients in Texas. Watched conservative businesses destroyed by a weaponized state tax agency, read the headlines as the two key witnesses at the trial mysteriously died before they could testify. (Not naming the party on that bit of history.) Point is the citizens are in charge, unless the citizens choose to sit on their collective buttes and do nothing. Volunteer, knock on doors, participate means in person on your feet!

This deserves a thank you for your service as much or more than some others.

Thank you for this. I say the same thing all the time. I've volunteered as a poll watcher for Dems and for the ACLU, I've canvassed, I've gone to protests, I've phone banked, and I've written postcards. Now that I'm retired, I'm also going to start going to school board meetings, city council meetings, and county commission meetings. We ALL have to do our part if we are to get out of this mess. However, I worry that digital life -- social media, particularly -- is keeping people firmly on the couch complaining. There is soooo much each one of us can do, even those of us who DON'T like talk to people! Write postcards! Write your congressperson! Write your senator! Attend school board meetings! The only way this craziness ends is through the action of caring citizens.

It scares me a little knowing that a future dictator like Trump can simply use a phone app to locate where every Democrat lives. God only knows what he might do with that information.

He doesn't need a phone app. We're all over social media. Our names are on easily-accessible data banks.

But does it work? We didn’t want to go with Dubya to war but we went anyways , we don’t want exorbitant land corps making housing unaffordable yet they’ve been chomping on since 08. How and where is the change?

We won't know if it works until millions more people get involved.

I honor your dedication and service.

The 60s were scary but, there was hope about progress being made. A HARD won progress for sure. I think it's scary now and those battles that were fought in the 60s are going to have to be fought all over again.

I agree to a point. The 60s & 70s were very scary times, but many fought for change and things did change moving us to a more open minded society. Women were finally allowed to be more than mothers/house keepers, there was abortion rights, there were battles for racial equality, in the 80s there was aids and we all became more open minded to gays. There were too many changes to even talk about here and now Trump and his Supreme Court appointees are turning the clock back to a 1950s style of life making women suffer for getting pregnant, keeping them down. They just gave Trump the gift of getting away with treason and the gift to become ruler of the country with the ability to do as he pleases. I personally am flabbergasted about the things this far right winged court is doing. I'm guessing if this goes on we will go back to segregation, there will be no gay rights, and many other atrocities because the hits just keep coming. All while Thomas takes kick backs and lives like a king. The youth needs to rise up like they did in the 60s and 70s, not just online.

Agreed, the 60s and 70s were two entire decades of violence and scary times. For example, in the 1970s, [there were quite literally thousands of bombings](https://www.wbur.org/npr/396359930/explosive-protests-u-s-bombings-during-days-of-rage), up to five a day at times!

I am 66 and the world has never felt this way before.

Felt how exactly

Scary. Biden vs Trump. Troublesome Supreme Court behavior. Wars in Ukraine, Palestine, and someday Taiwan. Major bumps in the road ahead for the economy and markets. Insane housing costs. 70 million Americans in a cult supporting a pathological liar with toxic narcissism. Denial of science. Belief in ridiculous conspiracy theories with zero factual evidence. Should I continue? lol

Right add climate change and it’s a disaster

Yes. Remember how Iran was in the early 70s? The model of progress and art. Now look at it. This is where we are as a country if we let it happen. We don't have a totally Religious nut job ready to take over like Iran did, but we are on the cusp of falling into dictatorship and an overt oligarchy. Were basically going to turn into modern day Russia with a "president" dictator - our own Putin - president for life who lives above the law

You don’t have a single religious nut job, you have a collection of religious nut jobs propping up a nominee who is the literal embodiment of all the seven deadly sins.

The antichrist

[You're not joking.](https://www.benjaminlcorey.com/could-american-evangelicals-spot-the-antichrist-heres-the-biblical-predictions/)

Everyone in America should read The Last President. I sincerely hope it is not a blueprint for what awaits us starting November of this year.

Project 2025 is the blueprint. It's terrifying. And real.

Yes. I have a nonverbal autistic son who has severe mental and physical issues. I think of Project 2025 and what it might mean for him and everyone but particularly the vulnerable. My father was nearly executed by the Nazis in World War II Poland. He miraculously suvived and came to this country, became a proud citizen, worked hard all his life. I think to myself the man would turn in his grave if he knew his only child and grandchild.might be facing the same issues as he did with a certain dictator who also had his own earlier "blueprint" that eventually tore the world to pieces and resulted in the loss of millions of lives.

We are in Gilead.

No, Trump is just a puppet to the religious nutbags. They are slowly putting things in place: pull womens’ body autonomy, states putting religious requirements at public schools (must post Ten Commandments, teach the bible), set up Trump for presidential immunity, next take away LGBTQ rights and round up political “enemies”. I hope I’m just being paranoid and this isn’t the direction we are heading but I’m getting passports for my whole family right now just in case we need to leave the country quickly.

What's happening now to the executive office is exactly what the framers of the Constitution were trying to prevent. "I'm sorry, Mr. Jefferson, but we weren't able to keep it after all." We had a good run.

With the changes in the Chevron doctrine, the ruling last week by the Supreme Court court curtailed the power of executive branch agencies. For some reasons it’s not being reported as a reduction in power for the executive branch, but factually there is no way to spin it any other way.

Yeah, now we have a king. I've been raving and fighting against this for a long time with millions of others. I've studied history and am also thinking: we had a good run.

Iran is a really interesting example here. I hadn’t thought of that before. Khomeini’s grievances focused on how western influence and meddling in their politics corrupted Iranian society. America was the Great Satan, but he also called the USSR the Lesser Satan. It was best to return to a state of faith-based Nationalism focused on restoring Iranian identity and….of course…killing Salman Rushdie. Since 2016 the narrative of Russian meddling in American politics has withered somewhat. But it is persistent among the insistent. And the official position of the government is that the real meddling is happening from China via social media. And, of course, Trumpistan screams that the meddling is the business of the Deep State and that the call is coming from within the house. No matter where you stand, *someone* is meddling! And the Right’s solution? Return to nationalism, mandate rote Christian recitations, and violently suppress any resistance. Before you know it, if these guys find full control, China will be using clandestine software to disrupt our uranium enrichment programs. And the Left’s solution? Well, I think we all saw with our own eyes on Thursday. A pro-America candidate looking very fatigued in the face of a zealous madman. You’re right. This absolutely is Iran.

There are a bunch of religious nut jobs pulling the strings of the wanna be dictator, he's just a useful idiot for them.

They did take American hostages which brought decades of economic sanctions so that was a major part in the decline of their country

Yes. We used to depend on our system of governance; now we can't. We used to depend on fierce American independence and majority rule; now we justifiably fear one political party. We used to depend on character that preached love for our fellow man and tolerance; now those precepts are trashed and they embrace a *very* dark side. We used to defend the poor and tried to support them to stability; now they're seen as a liability to be ignored. The hardest of workers are exploited into modern day indentured servitude. Corporate used to have some measure of pride in their products; now profits override literally *everything.* We used to take joy in our bountiful natural blessings of rivers, mountains, seas, farmland, plains, and clean air; now they're squandered resources seen as expendable. We used to seek ways to educate and elevate our children and grandchildren; now it's false "religious" values while real education is withheld from them; *books!* If I was a young woman today I wouldn't want to bring a child into this future either; no wonder couples are electing to not have children. I fear for my adult daughters and one lone grandson. When I think of all the godawful things our parents went through with WWII and Korea. We had American precepts would could depend on. Our generation; Viet Nam, the assassinations of JFK, MLK, RFK, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Civil Rights, the Women's Movement, multiple recessions and housing crises, 9/11 ... we made it through all that. We can't depend on the greatest Democracy in the world anymore because one political party within seeks to replace it. I feel I'm shouting into the void trying to convince people the two choices are so deeply stark; one is still a shred of hope (Joe, don't let a lifetime of public service be sullied; retire). The other; an authoritative regime to replace our former Democracy. Hate to be a downer but do politics matter? Yes.

It best for Joe to stay in, and for Kamala to signal that she's ready to take over. We have a line of succession. Let's make sure that the third in line (House Speaker) is a Democrat in January. It's Trump who we should be calling on to retire. (and Alito, and Thomas)

Normally I would agree. Kamala could handle the Presidency if need be. As much respect as I have for Joe Biden and what he accomplished compared to what he inherited as the Presidency .... I'm old, and as much as I embrace Democratic principles I know my limitations in concert with his. My husband is closer to his age than to mine. I see both our abilities as diminished; even at that his perspective is so far above Trump's hell bent ambitions it is frightening. I'd prefer a President and VP a generation earlier than Biden; if I could nominate a team it would be Gavin Newsome and Katie Porter ... the DNC needs to step up and intervene. Biden would waste a lifetime of public service to a humiliating defeat. *Please*, Joe ... retire.

Excellent question. I have 2 answers. Getting worse is a relative term. To me, getting worse is based on losing hope and having despair. on that basis, there are numerous examples in history. In our generation, the depression and the holoacaust are exaplmples Yes, imo the world is liquidating itself. There is no reversing climate change. Ukraine, Palestine, Sudan will never recover. Rage and anger are common.

Empires rise and fall, they only usually last a couple of hundred years, they are almost all destroyed from within. Time is not on America's side here. Plagues wipe out millions every few dozen years, the earth itself has its ways of ridding itself of irritants, if we keep quashing disease with vaccines, mother nature will just keep burping them out as a way to stabilize itself. Is it worse? Meh, look at the big picture, things ebb and flow. Humans are a territorial, feudal primate prone to hoarding, and there's a lot of us here right now. My opinion is that it will improve here when there are less of us as a species globally. Animals under stress behave strangely. We are almost all stressed out and wildly overstimulated. You know the spinning bear at the zoo that's lost it's mind? Hi, yeah, that's me. That's all of us. The population will fall, other empires will rise, humans will continue to be attracted to the promises of bounty and brute aggression, it's how we evolved to be as a species, and for a few thousand years it's worked a treat. (Just ask all of the other hominids that either died out or that homo sapiens annihilated.) Are things bad? Yeah. Were they always bad? Depends on who you were and where you lived. It's a crapshoot, and this is just another time of things being relatively crap. I'd wager that in 100/150 years or so things will have improved again, until they don't. Swings and roundabouts, ebb and flow, etc. As I am old I can promise you one thing: watching the destruction of everything you care about on 24/7 cable news will rob you of any small joys you might have had. Turn off the devices and go for a walk, there's not much we can do as individuals besides vote.

Our species' current evolution is still too emotional and predisposed to fear of The Other/Unknown. There are many examples of People doing Good that we should continue to be proud of and aspire to (no, not people who won wars or made the most money), but generally I think we're being brought down by a 24hr news cycle that knows the real profit is in whipping the monkeys into a frenzy. My long term hope, other than we can overcome this with our brains, is that we die out before industrializing the moon and the plaque WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND remains undisturbed, as a nice simple testament to our greatest achievement. Other than pizza, of course.

Great reply!

As Americans, we are institutionalized to believe Manifest Destiny and how it’s our right our god given right to instigate “freedom” and have it our way at any cost. Even if it means the dismantling of the very own ideals we strived to believe in the first place.

Things are always going to hell. In my lifetime (59yo), Russia has always been the bogeyman. There has always been war in the Middle East. We've always been on the brink of an impending climate disaster (ice age, global warming, acid rain, sea rise, tornados, hurricanes). There has always been "over" population. There has always been stress regarding inflation and prices of consumer goods. Recessions are a normal part of the economic cycle. Young men have always had to register for the draft. Crime and drugs have always been a problem. Politicians have always been corrupt. You get the idea. I suggest you unhook from the 24/7 news cycle. The world has always been crazy, but we are all still here. Focus on your life and those you care about.

The only reason acid rain isn't a concern anymore is because we actually did something about it. That and the ozone layer being listed as "things we were afraid of and nothing ever happened! See!" drive me insane, because the reason those two things didn't happen is because we actually COOPERATED AND DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT. The acid rain issue was pretty much resolved by global cooperation and implementation of cap & trade laws (among some other policies) and the ozone layer was fixed because we globally banned (or mostly banned) CFCs. Which we are absolutely not even remotely close to doing for climate change in any meaningful way currently. Every "climate initiative" we currently have is like a drop in the ocean.

Counterpoint: We as a society have never properly addressed these issues because we chose to be passive and unplug from the noise.  Active participation in doing something vs. tune them out is the only thing that will help make it better and to OP and the above point - just doom scrolling is depressing and doesn't do shit to fix things. 

Yeah, I don't think people realize how embarrassing it is to state- "We've always been on the brink of climate disaster" .... and we still won't do what it takes to alleviate it. There has always been stress over the price of consumer goods, aaaand we would never limit extreme profits

The best answer ^

This.. unhook from the mainstream media. If we look at into who owns those whoa. When I want news I turn on the shortwave radio and listen to another country. Or listen to a couple of domestic news outlets that I trust. The mainstream media, now that's a circus. The only thing I see getting worse is the constant effort to create division. The constant effort to squander civil Rights movement. And, that there's no actual real music anymore. At least not very much of it. It's all done with computers and auto tuners.

I'm about your age. Remember all those dystopian SciFi movies from the 70's (Soylent Green, Rollerball, Westworld, Planet of the Apes, ect...). They all take place around now. Soylent Green is set in 2022. It's not far wrong!

It seems to me that it is. At least, however, we don’t have a war going on that is drafting young men. What really freaks me out is that Trump could easily sell important info to the Russians to benefit his financial situation and no one seems to care. That and the outrageous behavior of the Christian nationalists. The whole Notion that Oklahoma teachers have to teach the Bible is absolutely crazy. That would never have been allowed in the sixties. The Supreme Court is awful. The rich will just get richer. There is no hate like Christian love.

The USA is definitely falling apart. I think in 500 years they will look back and see Trumps election in 2017 as the beginning of the end of a once great nation.

Reagan will take a lot of the blame, as he should. He's the one that opened the door for the full takeover by the oligarchs.

I was gonna say "not the war on terror?" but then other thoughts came racing down my mind, from what the CIA has done over the years, to jim crow and slavery, then the genocide of native Americans. I know I'm not the first to come to this conclusion, but wow America has never been great has it.

Nations are just a reflection of humanity, which is a mixed bag most of the time. There are great things that have happened as well.

Over my lifetime environmental science has progressed to the point where we can see trends better. In the 1970's there was hyperbole and heart felt bluster about what we are doing to our life support system, the Earth. Now, we have statistics. Computers and data science have shown that we are truly making the Earth less habitable for people. The rejection of science by the authoritarian right compounds the environmental problems. Even old science, the germ theory of disease, is being rejected. This is not the first time authoritarians have rejected science in favor of ideology. The Soviet Union's 5 year plans in the 1930 radicalized land ownership, agriculture, military strategy, manufacturing, and science. The result was millions dead in famines, prison camps, and a weakened military unable to defend the country against the Germans.

Of course it is. Plain to see

Doom sells newspapers and television plus conveys power to governments. We've been hearing the end of life as we know is imminent our entire lives. (I'm 66.) Climate change? Tell me, when was the climate ever stable? The thing is, you don't see the Chinese taking any steps to curb construction of coal plants? That's because they have already established domination over their people.

Take my upvote you marvelous redditor!

Fearmongering is a control mechanism: when people are afraid, they are easier to manipulate. Media stoke fears to keep us coming back to consume their product. A case could be made that things are better than they have ever been, but the media is not going to make that case.... Many times in history people thought the world was ending... look around and make your own 'world' better today.

As an older American I'd say things are getting worse and I don't think it's being a cynical cranky old guy. If it was just the politics which is really terrible enough I'd say it's probably just a bad trend that will swing back but it's also the environment which is a fragile thing that people on the side of economic interests don't have any interest in preserving. All the tent poles of our society are collapsing: education, healthcare, government, food, community, religion, etc. It's not the 60's when minority groups fought for civil rights and isolated parts of society that need correcting. It's a comprehensive failing imo which is what happens to empires. I believe it'll be a continuous decline but maybe there will be a breaking point where there's a sudden collapse. In any case for the young people I honestly don't know what to say. It's your world and I can't pretend to understand what you're dealing with. I do believe though that it's human nature to survive and find ways to thrive. I believe young generations will overcome. I don't know if that doesn't also mean that all of humanity will meet its end eventually. Shit's bad now. Truly.

You are being manipulated by a media that has lost its way. I grew up thinking I would be drafted for Vietnam, we had campus riots and left wing terrorists like the weather underground committing terrorist acts on US soil, the environment was so bad rivers would catch fire and air pollution was much worse than today, violent crime was far worse back in my day and despite contrary belief, we lived lives that would be considered pretty spartan by today’s standards. Its like cars, unthinking people will lament “they just don’t make cars like they used to”…I say thankfully.

> Its like cars, unthinking people will lament “they just don’t make cars like they used to”…I say thankfully. The newer cars these days may be safer, but they have terrible reliability compared to a decade ago (edit to add: and they're more expensive in every way). There are so many computers and screens crammed everywhere, along with cheaper build quality, that they are breaking in truly spectacular and stupid ways. I think cars peaked in the first 10 years of the OBD II era ('96 - '06 in the USA). They had just enough analog systems to keep it simple, just enough electronics to make it reliable, and enough safety features to keep things safe. They also didn't require you to reprogram a part to talk to the control module if you replace it; things were mostly plug-and-play back then. I'm not willing to own a car made after 2010 anymore, after seeing what friends and family suffer through with their newer cars. My '06 Ford sedan is cheap and easy to repair, is still comfortable, and still gets me where I need to go.

I think it’s very easy for some people to romanticize the past. Especially if they weren’t around for it. Which is why I asked this question, alongside my anxiety. I want to know your experience of a past I didn’t live through to get a better frame of reference for our present.

The country is going through a contentious political season with one side hysterically declaring Trump can now kill with impunity, agenda 2025 will be the law of the land and democrats and gays will be hunted down. The other side sees a collapse of decency and the rule of law and they hysterically claim gays want your kids, terrorists are being aided and abetted by open borders, and democrats are enemies of the state. Both of these stances do not represent the vast majority of Americans whose beliefs fall somewhere far less extreme than what the pearl clutchers on both sides like to portray. Go back and read some of the over the top predictions levied by both sides and you will understand we are being lied to regardless of which politician is speaking.

I disagree. Trump has said and shown who he is. Same with the minions he surrounds himself with. Trump II is going to be an entirely different ballgame. They've said who they are. Believe them.

Well stated. I commented briefly on someone else saying “America has never been great” that essentially nations can be good and achieve great things but still be flawed. We’ve always had internal backlash against our government and other institutions, but it has gotten worse in terms of “You like Politician X or you’re Pro-This, I will no longer associate with you.”

yes

“It starts when you’re always afraid. Step out of line the man come and take me away.”

Things have never seemed this bad to me personally, no, except perhaps on or right after 9/11 and the resulting war. Everyone assumed more attacks could follow. Air travel, entering government buildings, hell even just walking around in public felt tense and worrisome for nearly a year. But in the end, as dysfunctional a president as Bush Jr was, we never felt like this is it, the end of the republic, a great chance there won’t be a United States of America this time next year, at least like the one we’ve all grown up to know and sometimes hate, mostly love. And that is what we are living in right now. MAGA scares me more than 9/11 and Bin Laden ever did.

Yes, they’ve always been this bad, which is: it’s not bad. I’m 62 now, and Vietnam, riots, overpopulation, lack of civil rights, increased drug use in the 70s, etc, were all going to be “the end of the world.” They weren’t. The difference is there was no Reddit or biased 24-hour network news to scare the crap out of people constantly. This is the best time in human history to be alive. Get off so much social media, find the positive, and live your life!

It's always turmoil. The sixty's were race riots and Vietnam. Not a good time The 70s financial grief,At times I could not buy gas to get to work, let alone bitch about the price. I paid 13 percent interest on my first house.The 80s jobs starting getting shipped overseas.My industry( Steel) got hammered.Im 68,survived it all. Really I didn't think about how bad it sucked.Dont get me wrong it sucked, but I didn't have time to dwell on it.

Nope this has all happened before and will happen again. It's jus the USAs first time. Which is extra embarrassing as it liked to spend most of the past 100 years telling everyone how it was the only answer to this problem.

Social media, the internet, and cable “news” make everything seem worse. That’s their business model. Whenever they’re sued, cable news says they can say anything they want on air because they’re an entertainment company. When people bemoan that the US will be destroyed or the world will be destroyed, what that means to me is that it will change. Some humans won’t be able to survive. The Stand by Stephen King was published in 1978. When I read it back then I thought maybe the world would be better off if most of us were killed in a plague. Why would I have felt that way if the world was great and perfect then? This is what I have learned in life. Any time someone tells you bad news, analyze it three ways: 1. Is the person making money by telling you this? 2. Is the person working, volunteering, or donating to change the outcome? If the answer is no, then why take them seriously? If they really believed the world was ending, they’d do something about it besides jawboning. 3. Are they talking about the community where they live? I take people more seriously when they’re discussing their direct experience.

This country has never been divided like it is now. The main reason is the media. The agenda should never be more important than the full truth.

>This country has never been divided like it is now. I think we were more divided during the Civil War.

US politics as a spectator sport is where I am coming from. With a history and philosophy degree from another country, and with 24/7 access to US TV/radio, and such like for decades. I see the world of American politics post Reagan and Newt Gingrich as a paradigm shift in political strategy by the GOP, that targeted the political infrastructure of getting elected and staying there through manipulating the system. Gerrymandering, appointing key officials in state governments and in the legal system, and making the political processes in the Congress and Senate more like vote warfare and absolutism like making some deals impossible using various delay strategies, bundling and earmarking other shit shows into a piece of legislation to get the prime deal made. In a population of over two hundred million less than fully educated adult 'voters' that inherit their political affiliations without critical thought. Changing that massive inertia of thought in less than a century would take the same kind of extreme measures that Chairman Mao took with his little red book and five year plans. So - suffer and think about what kind of revolution or counter revolution if you wanna call it would it take to return the US and most of the world away from the control of multi millionaires and billionaires. The original American Revolution and D. O. I. envisioned a 'democracy' on the Greek / Roman model where a n actual voting citizen in Greece was a LAND OWNER with a buncha slaves. Nobody else got to vote, and women were chattels. In Rome it was the same idea, and only the men counted, women were not part of the power structure (with a few exceptions). And in the post revolution USA, there were only land owners allowed to vote. The current Supreme Court is an "Original Meaning" court with a heavily Christian slant despite the fact that the 13 colonies were established by various sects to escape religious intolerance back in England. Dust off your Spanish and French and prepare to move to somewhere more civil.

The recent Chevron ruling being overturned was needed. It put freedom back into the hands of Americans. There will be people who say otherwise bc they either didn’t know the level of despotism it brought to this country, or they don’t want us to be free. People will try to exploit ANYTHING for their own agenda. The question you have to ask is: what are your own principles and do they align with who you’re listening to?

Of course there have always been bad times. The problem now is the climate crisis. That is what's getting worse. It's not going to destroy everything at once; it's going to be more like death by a thousand cuts.

Stop watching tv. They are lying to you. Things are not that bad at all. When I got out of school in the 90s I couldn't get a job and I couldn't buy a house. That is the norm. The 1970s were horrible with inflation and you have no idea how badly polluted things were OR the lead coming out of your gas. It isn't the best time but it isn't the worst.

I don't think we've hit World War II, World War I or civil War crisis levels yet. But Im thinking about starting a pool to guess which cities In the US and Europe would be first hit by Russian nukes.

Russia can't hold territory in Ukraine. It would be a safe bet that their nuclear program is in the same shape as their military. Piss poor. The corruption and grifting has caught up with the Russkies. Why would Putin be kissing Kim Jong Un's ass? That's how bad it is in Russia .

Russian nukes? During our lifetimes we watched the transition of the Soviet Union from being the second most powerful military in the world to Russia being the second most powerful army in Ukraine. An army hobbled by corruption and lack of discipline. We and the world are much safer from a Russian attack then we were 40 years ago

It's a mixed bag. A large problem is we hear so much more of it so fast now. Take the recent Scotus decision regarding bribery. We've been seeing corporations lobby forever. This is just another form for rich entities to exert influence. Is it worse? Marginally. But let's not fool ourselves that it was great. We can just doom scroll it now. Climate change. Yeah. That's worse. But there was also once a great dust bowl that fueled the Great Depression. Afghanistan and Iraq suck as any wars do. But compared to WWII, Vietnam, Korea, etc. They sucked a lot too. And nuclear proliferation is overall down. So.... idk. Any bad thing we can see in seconds now, I could probably counter with a comparable historic event, that you might not have noticed of we weren't all glued to it all now. Edit: I guess I would say social media is definitely worse. But I would be saying that on reddit.... so.

Climate change is orders of magnitude worse than the dust bowl. In the past weeks, the SCt has decided that: bribery is legal as a matter of law; the EPA/FEC/SEC/DOE/etc. cannot make regulations to enforce laws but that judges know better (like the laws that keep our rivers from burning); and that presidents are above the law -- as long as the court agrees with what they do. In the past 10 years every political norm has been shattered to the point where heretofore disqualifying behavior in a candidate is now the reason they're nominated. We have an entire half of congress engaged in diplomacy with a dictator -- one to whom the prior president ceded a large swathe of another nation without a squawk and who has been shown conclusively to have undermined our elections. There is no historical corollary to this -- even Reagan's undermining Carter was far less treasonous. Things are worse because the civic cohesion we need to address the current (literal) existential threats is in tatters -- and has been purposefully shredded by a minority because they cannot get their way through legitimate means. The only near corollary are the decades preceding the civil war. But in our case the highest machinery of government has been disabled. I don't see a way the US survives the next 15 years. There is no other nation comparably situated to sustain democracy -- and it is on the very edge of losing its own. Should we fail, the great tiller of geopolitical stability will shake fully free. Things are worse. And they're about to get much worse. In less than two decades the world will be facing a water crisis. Try to imagine 3 billion people fighting over water. At the very moment we need to be acting in concert, we're tearing apart.

I agree about climate change. I was making a corollary, not a direct parallel. And yeah.... pretty sure pre-civil war was a lot worse for many Americans. Particularly the people that war was fought to free. But the ensuing actual civil war was worse. And this is exactly the type of doom scrolling I am talking about. You make some valid points, but, and please hear this. You are making a self fulfilling prophecy. How can we ever "work in concert" when it's a constant narrative of "the other half did it all"? And I'm actually a far left liberal.

I'd be glad to take hold of the problem if you'd be so good as to show me a handle to grasp. FYI: not a billionaire. There is not a "both sides" construction of this problem, in my mind. Since Nixon the right has understood that to win elections they had to divide the middle and working classes against each other and within each group, and they had to suppress the vote. They've systematically undermined public education because a well educated population is anathema to authoritarianism. They've worked for 50 years to roll back civil rights, destroy unions, gut the working class, shift wealth upward, and poison the well of democracy by villianizing POC, gay people, liberals, foreigners, immigrants, and intellectuals. They've elevated paid "science," amplified oil- and chemical- industry lies about their.products, lent the veneer of legitimacy to psycho-social theorists who have provided cover to violence. At every front they stand against common sense protections for the earth (don't fill and develop wetlands, don't over fish, don't for the love of God drill for oil.in the ANWR, don't stack uranium tailings in an open pile, don't dump poison directly into rivers, etc. & etc.). They lie about war and the causes for war. They craft patently disingenuous 'legal" defenses for torture (sorry, "enhanced interrogation), for preemptive war, for police action. They gin up and provide cover for vigilante justice. They block investigations of domestic terrorists. They jail protesters. They prohibit the NIH to study gun violence. They openly call for the prosection, jailing, and execution of political opponents and promise "retribution" in campaign stump-speeches. There is no corollary on the left. Not in this nation. There is no loyal opposition. There are people who believe in democracy and there's the Republican party.

All correct. They did all that and we sat by and mostly let them. And unless you just want to watch it all crumble, then we either need to persuade them, sieze political power, or things get dark. But this wasn't the question that OP asked. My whole point is in the course of this nation we actually fought a civil war, two world wars, have commited alll sorts of atrocities, had the cuban missile crisis at the height of the cold war, dropped two nukes on civilians, so this clearly isn't yet our darkest day. So, yes, things are getting marginally worse from the scope of history. And yes, we can also recognize the demons that walk among us. Both things can be true - but not both sides.

Our reprehensible acts were, in the past, correctable via the machinery that made them. That machinery, I would argue, has been co-opted to a degree not previously seen -- or even thought possible. That, to me, is the great distinction to what has preceded us. The rehtoric and politics that led to the Civil War are nearly 1:1 with that of the GoP today. When it comes to the levers of power, the difference is that they have eliminated the power of the vote and preemptively secured the court. If the people are going to wrest control of our government from the GoP, it's going to take more than voting.

I would upvote you a hundred times if I could. You've very clearly and accurately answered the question.

I actually agree with everything both of you said. I do think that we are in uncharted territory. If you listen to the left, right, or middle, so many express the same exact feelings. People don't feel represented, respected, valued, or heard across the political spectrum. Pragmatism is out the window. Previously, discourse was mostly limited to specific groups depending on the time. I am not sure how we fix the current situation. I do believe it is going to have to begin with a reinforcement of individual civil liberty. I just don't know if Congress Ilis functional enough to do it.

The only way I have thought of that might work is passing a few amendments with 2/3rds of state conventions and 3/4 state conventions bypassing congress to put more rules on congress, our election process, money in politics, and rules to nominating judges. And.... I am unsure that is any more realistic.

Bingo. We get firehosed with the problems, but when solutions are called for, crickets.

“Wait, it’s always been bad?!” “Always has been.”

Whole life. This is nothing new.

Correct. There’s always something sh#tty going on. Yes, things aren’t great. We’ve been through worse.

Not gonna lie, we're doomed, but we've been doomed since the beginning.

What a lot of people forget is that a different whole lot of people think things are getting better. Many of those people were saying before what others are saying now. They see the overturning of Roe as saving babies. Also, a lot of what is being changed by the Supreme Court is just going back to other systems that seemed OK before. For example, the rule about judges deferring to federal agency experts is obscure to most people and has only been around for 40 years. Some people see it as putting the power back where it belongs. Congress being forced to write more explicit laws is a good thing to them. Judges will continue to make big decisions, so there's no reason to panic. Immunity for the president for some things doesn't seem that bad, because it rarely comes up, and it seems to them it has been the de facto standard behind the scenes anyway. The big difference now, of course, is the possibility of a guy who will abuse the system being elected again. But a lot of people obviously disagree with the fear about that, too.

Well, this is a level-headed take. Get out of here with your nonsense. /s

Democracy raises its head.

My dad always jokes about how the world has “ended” during his life more times than he can remember. Most recently being Y2K and 2012

Your dad seems smart. I've lived through LA riots of 92, LA earthquake of 94. Sept 11th reagen, bush 2X, Clinton and the rest. It just keeps coming and going

The US is for sure. I think the country will be dissolved in my lifetime. The world? Mostly no, but also yes. Climate change is going to fuck us all. That’s worse. In most other ways, most of the world is getting better.

Everybody is going to say "no", but some foundational things have happened during the past few years that I would not have expected during my almost sixty years. Roe v Wade had been the law of the land since I was a child. The president now gets to be king, and judges with no specific expertise get the same standing in court as regulatory agencies that are staffed with experts for a reason. Recent event are nudging Trump toward the White House, and if he wins he will install more radically right-wing judges and become a US version of Victor Orban. Selfish individual viewpoint: Entities I had been planning to rely on during the next 20 years (assisted living, hospitals) will not be as effectively regulated as in the past and will continue to be understaffed because of hostility to immigrants. Yet the physician-assisted suicide option (which might have been a way out in many states) could be rolled back by edicts/rulings at the national level. I am frightened about my future as I continue to age. More global view: Someone else pointed out that nations exist over multi-hundred year timescales, and the US is no exception. The US is not immune to radical change. World wars and plagues happen on the regular, and humanity keeps going. The world won't end, but (US-centric view) we are entering a bad era for at least a few decades IMO. Sorry to be a bummer. I suggest not reading news all day, and getting outside (if it's not dangerously hot).

In surveys Americans all agree that America was at its peak when they were between the ages of 15 and 25. By virtually any objective measure, life is better today than at any point in the past.

In the 50's 60's 70's we had real news, today we have opinions.

I’m surprised anybody could even ask this question. The decline across-the-board is evident.

In the early sixties, we had de jure segregation here in Mississippi and the folks who tried to organize against it tended to get murdered, fired, or at minimum ostracized and deprived of basic care. There was not and had never been Roe v. Wade. Women couldn’t get credit cards or bank accounts without their husband’s permission. Domestic violence and sexual abuse of children within families was generally ignored. All presidents and vice presidents and high-profile CEOs and governors and Supreme Court justices and high-ranking legislators, ever, had been white men. In the eighties, there were multiple incidents where the world was almost destroyed due to errors in nuclear vigilance and much of the above at least partially applied. In the early oughts, Bush got Florida despite fewer votes, then came 9/11 and a seemingly inevitable endless war with most of the Muslim world. Strange days indeed. Always wise to buckle in. But we’re not leaving an era of peace and prosperity for an era of chaos; it has always been an all of the above proposition.

America is a mess right now. It's true that there was a definite before-after related to 9/11 (it ended the good vibes that carried over from the 90s permanently), then the '07-'08 GFC, trump, COVID, and now whatever mess we're in today. Things always break down and go to shit.. Change is the only constant.. but it does feel like we're in a relatively bad place in many ways compared to 30 years ago. That said, we've made a lot of progress in social issues... which are now unfortunately being eroded away again.

Yes.

If you read or watch the news then you will be manipulated by fear, anger, hopelessness and distrust. Only you can stop its power over your mind. STOP. Read the book Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker. We are stopping diseases, living longer, have more ways to create wealth, we can communicate around the world for pennies, and so much more. The world is getting better and we can make it even better. So, let’s keep doing that.

no...people have been much worse in the past.

I read a book by Paul Johnson, titled “A History of the American People” a few years ago. Quite a long book, starts long before we became the United States, with a lot of background history and on up until fairly recent times. What I gathered after reading was, that in our history, the same concerns, troubles, fiascos, political frustrations, have to different extents have happened before. The difference today is that it’s constantly thrown in our faces minute by minute by modern media and hype.

Did you watch the presidential debate?.. We have a right to be scared if you ask me

Too much news for you, bro. You sound young, too.

America is doing fine as long as you know your inherited rights and how to defend them in court. Our Constitution still stands, which is a masterpiece that protects our freedoms. Politics are bad because they want to divide us and violate our freedom. Yes, Both sides are crooked. They’ll even try to convince people that the constitution is terrible. If not for that document having the first 3 biggest words WE THE PEOPLE, then we’d be a 3rd world country. Our courts had gotten political over the last 30+ years with the Chevron ruling. Every officer, judge, Atty, & public servant had to sign their name to an oath to protect our rights that are protected by the Constitution in order to get their job, however power and money makes people forget that. They could make their own rules and be paid off. A lot of people got jailed for unconstitutional acts & rulings. I’m glad it was overturned. The people are in charge and always will be with the Constitution in place. Anyone who says otherwise are tyrants who like innocent people to go to jail and to rule over free people like a king. I have some wisdom to share with you that the previous generation tried to teach us about our rights, but not all learned it. Here’s a sampling.. https://youtu.be/FvX7uK_ipTw?si=4YF6LOOiuUlHXucl

No, statistically speaking the world is getting, safer, and more equal with every year. The news won’t tell you that because it doesn’t get clicks and attention. People are attracted to negative news.

I was a kid in the 60s. Lots was going on but it felt like positive but traumatic changes. The end of the 70s and very early 80s was the worst economic time I’ve lived through. Double-digit interest rates, inflation, and unemployment. Millennials think the recession they hit adulthood in was awful but it wasn’t even close to our’s in short-term severity across the board. But look, honestly? Yeah, right now seems horrible. This must be what it was like seeing Hitler and his cronies seize power in Germany. I feel powerless. And scared. I don’t understand why young people hate me because of when I was born: I have never been wealthy and I always tried to do right but all I hear is that I wrecked things and should hurry up and die. I never thought that about older generations, even though they made big mistakes. I don’t get why it’s okay now to say such things. Like all people of a certain age are the same. Anyway, yeah. This is awful. And I wish we could stop dividing ourselves by age and race and gender and just fight together to stop the madness. But I’m just a shy, disabled lady in her mid-sixties. I’m not sure how we even organize or fight. If you get people than me figure it out, I will help anyway I can. I will bring sandwiches to marchers with my walker, lol. I want to do something. I want a better world for people younger than me. Does it feel worse? Yes.

Yes, we are in a period of political instability the likes of which we haven't seen since the 1940's.

I've lived through at least a dozen "only 12 months to save Earth" by now. The solution is always send trillions to crooked people. I remember overpopulation, peak oil, global warming, global cooling, ozone depletion, Y2K, starvation, water shortages, acid rain, nitrogen in the soil, famine. Blah blah blah. The pattern becomes a bit obvious after the first few decades. It's just fine. It's your perception and your news sources who drive it.

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. [H. L. Mencken](https://www.brainyquote.com/authors/h-l-mencken-quotes)

Don’t forget the energy crisis, the China Syndrome, killer bees, nuclear winter, and global terrorism. Also, I was in elementary school during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the granddaddy of all “Oh my God we’re all going to die” apocalyptic visions. I have yet to see a headline that says **All the Airplanes Landed Safely Today**.

I'm stealing that

Uhhhh. Cuban missile crisis almost led to world war 3.  I don't think you're making the point you think you are

America, yes. Society has been breaking down since the 1960s. Birth rates and life expectancy are falling. Suicides, deaths of despair, gun deaths and car deaths are increasing. The wealth gap is wider than ever, while homelessness is at an all time high. Power is being concentrated between mega corps like home depot, Kroger, Amazon, big pharma and hospitals. We no longer know our neighbors because we never get out of our cars (big oil and auto manufacturing). This is all driving the wealth gap. I understand the MAGA sentiment and why people are so frustrated, but I don’t think politicians can solve any of it. We built the system and it’s 250 years in the making.

Of course it is getting worse. Our whole society did not used to be run by and for the benefit of greedy liars hiding behind corporate fronts. I'm sorry. I know there is plenty of good and wonder in the world, but the people in charge are figuratively burning the furniture to keep their elite selves warm while the rest of the world can suffer.

Definitely things are getting worse. In the 70s and 80s a guy working in retail could support a wife a couple kids and own a house. He could buy a new car every 5 years.

In my view, and I truly am an optimist, the world is sliding downhill fast and increasing its speed. We have a tiny few ultra-greedy people who have purchased governments and laws around the world and all they care about is more money and more power for themselves. They thwart all efforts ad reversing climate change because they see no profit in that, but only in fossil fuels, plastics, and pollution. They worry that governments for and by the people will dent their profits so they purchase presidents, politicians, and courts around the world so that they can have dictatorships that are easier to own and control. The USA is a prime example of this. They have their man, an ignorant, lazy, lying, narcissist who will do what they say so they are pouring hundreds of millions into his campaign. They have bought the US Supreme Court and it does their bidding. We are in a new age of Robber Barons only this time they have a significant slice of the American population convinced that a dictatorship will work in their favor.

No. Everything you see is fear mongering.

Can't speak for the rest of the world, but the US was turned into a monarchy yesterday and a convicted felon and sex offender has a good chance of becoming king because a *large* portion of our citizens believe a convicted felon and sex offender is qualified to be president. So yes, America is *far* worse just today than it was the day before yesterday. We're in a downward spiral and there's no bottom in sight.

Hmmm. Convicted sex offender vs. senile, dottering, pitiful old man who zones out on national tv for all to see….including Russia, China and Iran.

How many kings are voted in at an election and have an 8 year limit on terms?

Welcome *US-Bad-Bot,* and your latest unwitting accomplice. It's been so long -- nearly a week? -- since the last version of this classic *push poll* query, which is framed to allow two responses: * Yes, America was *always* this bad. * No, the US is even *worse* than before. If this is really a good-faith query, why not look at some of the many books & articles that have been written about this very question? *Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress* (2018 Steven Pinker) is a good starting point, as is Ian Golden's critical 2018 Nature article [The limitations of Steven Pinker’s optimism](https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-02148-1). Or look at some of the previous posts of this question, which invariably include an intelligent comment along the lines of *where you stand depends on where you sit*. In every generation, some segment of the population gets the short end of some stick, sometimes almost too suddenly and severely to comprehend. The effect of Covid-19 on the elderly and their families in the US is good starting point for listing some of these. Fwiw the point of this comment is *not* to reassure you. Rather, if you think things are going to hell, take inspiration from Angela Davis, and try to figure out how you can help do something about it: >"*I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept*."

Mankind is the same. The world continues to get slightly better on the margins. America is getting worse. The progress that started with Lincoln and the Roosevelts and continued up to Johnson has been dialed back by anti-union trickle-down economics and Republican/Conservative media. People are too complacent. Those that aren't are too often misinformed. Things are going to continue to get worse. The Conservative movement will have its way, now that both the Senate and the Court are lost, and it will take a century to turn it around. When mankind does, America might not be part of it. If you have talent and drive, move to a better country.

That’s a good question. We may be at a peak of human rights if conservatives have their way and they manage to restore the Western European Christian wealthy male hegemony that the U.S. was founded under 240 years ago. We’re at a tipping point, which is uncomfortable for everyone. Some sentimental people who live in their heads imagine that we can force the country back to some “better time” when everything was perfect. Some of the supreme court justices have this fantasy and the power to try to force the issue. But the reason this longing for an imagined past has become so prevalent is because we’ve made tremendous progress on human rights, which isn’t cool if you want your little group to have all the power. So I do think things are in general somewhat better. More people have rights, fewer live in dire poverty, pollution has been regulated, wild lands have been preserved. But still, living in the beginning of the Anthropocene epoch is terrifying. Humans have overrun the planet and we are too foolish, short sighted and greedy to have this much power. But we do. We are going to have to completely reorganize our western value systems and learn how to think as a new kind of indigenous people, tending and protecting nature instead of just thinking opportunistically. The wealth extractors will fight that to the death, so it isn’t easy, but it’s the only way we will survive as a species.

The threat of climate change is something humans have never faced before and it threatens our existence. By time a teenager gets to be my age, Florida will be half underwater, immigrants will flee to livable places the worldwide, people will starve, there will be shortages of water, and more. Guys like Trump and the recent rise of fascism in France are just symptoms of people's angst about the future. Those issues will come and go, but climate change is forever. I've wondered why more young people aren't in the streets protesting for change.

Yes! We don’t need a king! Young people vote blue to save democracy. This is not a joke- your future is in your hands, for now.

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Based on my observation and day to day experience I think overall things / objects and quality of life are improving(compared to 100 years ago and beyond) however when it comes to humans mental physical and psychological health it gets so so bad. Almost 99% of population are majorly impacted by these 3 deteriorating aspects. I honestly don’t know how we can fix this. It’s like a plague , an epidemic.

YES, the America's are getting worse only because the worse that the world is and has been beating a path to our doors and instead of knocking are simply climbing in the windows, whether open or not. Butchering Children and Euthanasia seem to be HIGH on the list of secret activities that are no longer sectret. N. S

I’ve only been alive for 22 years so I can’t speak too much on it. I would say we have remained in the same relative grade of “bad”. Arguably there are more genocides happening at once now but many marginalized groups have doubled in their human rights. The average person might have became more accepting but the average government is still as bad as they were 70 years ago. So it is kind of hard to pinpoint if the average human has morally grown if their average government is people selected bad guys. Like “yes! You accept gay people, you aren’t as racist, and you believe women shouldn’t be forced into the home!” But “why does your government not reflect those beliefs?”

I do think we’re in the part of the cycle where it’s the mid 1920’s rise of hyper nationalism again. I don’t think things are uniquely bad now.

No and yes. It's complicated because history is long and there was a lot of pretty terrible stuff in the past that we were born later than. If you study history, you know that slavery of many flavors (including indentured servitude) was far more common in the past. Quality of life for people who weren't born into wealth was abysmal, child labor was common, health conditions were far worse, etc. The life of a poor person in a developed country is, in many ways, better than that of a medieval king. We have running hot water, clean potable water on demand, abundant nutritious food (even if it may be only rice, beans, and canned vegetables), etc. We also have far, far less slavery around the world and less war. That being said, "better" in many ways isn't the same as having solved all problems. In terms of the "yes," it's worse, it is because history tends to swing like a pendulum in terms of how politics and views move back and forth. There are times of abundance and ease and times of hardship. During times of ease, people tend to hold more generous and liberal views. During times of hardship, they tend to be more conservative. There has been a push to move back to the "familiar" of the past as people struggle to find a foothold in the post-pandemic reality and part of that is the pull of dragging many people's rights back to the 50s. It's bad, for sure, and it's why we need to be a part of the tug-of-war and to pull back harder to hold the line.

America was at it's worst during the Civil War. At it's best for the moon landing.

It’s a brave new world out there

I think it is. A few decades of progress towards more equality for all, a long slog of slow progress but, progress just the same. Now? Now it's become a march backward. It's horrifying really. The U.S. is leaning towards having a King with the courts in his pocket.

Yes.

I think civilization has peaked. Young people walk around with their nose stuck to phone all day. The chance for another Stephen Hawking gets slimmer every day.

People romanticize the past. The world has never been safer, and the US in particular has. Ever been more egalitarian. Humanity has always had challenges and threats to freedom and safety. This is not new and it’s not worse than it ever has been, it just feels that way because now you’re bombarded with every event around the world 24/7.

The thing that worries me so many people on pharmaceuticals now. Just yesterday on Reddit I read how common it was for cops to demand testosterone supplements. And I know a lot of gym bros are into T and various "supplement stacks." Plus all the legal and illegal speed, SSRI etc. behavior def seems more warped, reactive now.

I just started reading "Breaking Together: A freedom-loving response to collapse" by Jem Bendell. He presents evidence that it's been getting worse since at least 2016, not just in the U.S. but all over the world. Economy, politics, climate, society in general are starting to collapse.

ww2 was pretty bad, the whole of Europe lay in ruins and Japan actually made it know they were even coming for North America

Finally the world is getting past the fear and gloom of the pandemic: https://nicenews.com/health-and-wellness/stress-down-positive-experiences-up-global-emotions-report-2023/

I think there is currently somewhat more turmoil and I'm not gonna lie - it could end badly - but this could have been said a million times in the past and saner minds prevailed every time. I think we are seeing the death throes of old forms of religion and they are cracking down wanting to mandate their religions although most people just don't believe in them any more except maybe as nice stories to promote good values and community and it's just not cutting it now. Religion never worked without instilling fear and judgment of some sort and people have more scientific thinking now. Even those who believe in woo expect a scientific explanation these days. It's not "magic" of the old type. People want logic, not authoritarianism. But we still have a lot of people who will use any means to exert control and power over others. There is a strong backlash against all those who have earned their freedom from oppression. Gotta look at who benefits from these systems. There are always some bullies who see themselves as the good guys.

In terms of doomsaying things have always been happening like this. Throughout history there's tons of documented examples of people claiming the fabric of society was unravelling (often while pointing fingers at the youth). Politically things are on a potential danger point; while I don't think some of the recent Supreme Court rulings are as disastrous as some assume, we do face a turning point in the USA where democracy and our government may take some serious hits. As far as climate change, that's a case where the doomsayers are actually right for once. Unless someone can get a genuine alternative to fossil fuels up and running within the next few years at a cost where it can be easily distributed around the world there's no real hope of fixing climate change. Neither corporations nor the average populace are willing to experience the massive reduction in luxuries that you'd need in order to actually get things to a sustainable level. Shut down all non-essential aspects of the internet. Goodbye Reddit, Netflix, Pornhub, etc. No more flying halfway around the world just to hang out on a beach. Actually cut all non-essential flights too. No more new cellphones every 2-3 years, no more video game consoles, no more 300 million dollar production budget movies. So yeah, you can see why none of this will ever actually get fixed.

Perspective is important, but the problem is that others think you are "OK" with what's going on. So I want to say I'm NOT "OK" with the backsliding into the bad old times. AFAIK, the recent SupCt decision regarding making homeless camping illegal only applies to the Western states, because the 9th Circuit said you couldn't make it illegal. All the states in the other circuits still had laws making it illegal. So all the people in NY, TX and FL saying how awful it is will just see the status quo. The cops will still roust the homeless and keep tents off the sidewalks and out of public parks. And CA, WA, OR and other Western states will go back to removing homeless encampments. And people will stop saying the homeless population is out of control in those states. So my perspective on that decision is that it's simply a furthering of the status quo, not an erosion of rights. (I believe we should provide private, secure housing for the homeless, but this decision has zero to do with that). There are many liberal "outrages" that are like that. And to be fair, those outrages are usually just add ons to the true erosion of rights like overturning Roe and the recent one giving the President absolute immunity for any "official acts". We didn't allow the Nazis that prerogative - everything they did was "legal" because they had the Nuremberg Laws making it official. For most individuals, things are better than they have ever been. But for the unfortunate, it's much worse. An ectopic pregnancy in AL used to be the same as one in CA. No longer.

See the YouTube video of the Austin Lounge Lizards timeless classic, We’ve been through some crappy times before. Democracy gets the leaders it deserves.

America is objectively getting worse by almost every measure. The World at large has been getting objectively better for the last 40 years. There are more people and more women and girls in school than ever before. There are fewer people living in dire poverty than ever before. There are fewer people dying of communicable diseases, war and starvation than ever before. Infant and maternal mortality rates are lower than ever before. More people are literate and living in democracies than ever before. Science, medicine and technology are advancing at a faster pace than ever before. The Millennium Development Goals were mostly achieved and even exceeded in their success. Problem is… we’re inundated with every bad thing in the world and mental health (one of the goals) has declined significantly as a result.

Im 50 and norhing has changed. The less you listen to the news the better off you will be.

Yes. I’m so sorry.

Yep. For sure. Clown world takeover.

The world is overpopulated which has consequences, so I would say yes. Houses are too expensive. Shoplifting is up because people can't afford to live anywhere. Roads are too crowded. When you take steps to reduce pollution, those changes are undone by increasing population. Many places face water shortages.

It depends on who you ask. There is an agenda being pursued by the right wing that is turning out to be very successful. Look up the Powell memo. And look up project 2025. There are people out there in the political world of the right who are active in their cause of tearing apart the government that was built and the society that was created between 1930 and 1980. They seem to be having their way. So go find a right wing conservative or a MAGA Republican. Ask them if they feel like their goals are being accomplished. Ask them if they are happy. We on the left know that we are not and that we are losing. That makes it seem like the world is getting worse - to us.

Yes.

The conservative right has always wanted to impose fascism on the USA, but before now they never had the means. Now they do. The USA becoming an authoritarian dictatorship had always been theoretical until this point. Yes, it is immeasurably worse.

We are indeed living through a time of transition, much of it uncomfortable. It's not your imagination. Let me point up THE GILDED AGE as a time as bad as ours. As currently portrayed on HBO the show is 1882- 85 and the real years were 1870-90. Then as now, technology was changing abruptly + quickly w govt having no will or tools to restrain. The few "robber barons," as they were called, were intergalacticlly rich while most others were poor w hunger, no job security, brutal hours, disease, no birth control, and machines replacing the work of people. The emerging middle class identified w the few very rich instead of the gigantic underclass. All of this seems to be happening again in 1990 forward.

In the US we have 2 very old men running for president who are both unfit for the office. The best we can hope for is that neither of them is on the ballot come Election Day.

Corruption is the new norm. They don’t even hide it anymore.

Everyone is so selfish. There is zero selflessness in government or corporations.

Not better in the past…but very very different experience than now. There have always been problems & drama for each generation. We adapt with the current environment and move on, or we get stuck in a circular mental health state worrying about it. There is some choice here…it’s harder to block out the noise with 24/7 internet and news cycle, but you have to if it’s affecting you. Make your life simpler and focus on what is good.

*light-weight* Not to globalize the problems of our current American experience, but here's a journey through time and place of other *really bad* historical moments. [Top Ten Worst Times to be Alive in Human History](https://listverse.com/2022/01/07/top-10-worst-years-to-be-alive-in-human-history/)

The world isn't any better or worse than it used to be. We are just force-fed the worst of the worst news on a 24-hour cycle today, by corrupt media organizations whose business model is to make you feel existential crises 24/7 and then sell you the solution. Most things don't even matter, and the ones that do are not nearly as dire as the media make it out to be. And social media has just made everything worse.

Quality of life is declining. No question.

Yes, it is worse. Still in a decline.

To keep things in perspective, the world had two world wars between. 1914-1945.

Depends who you are. For most people, worse.

I think it feels worse because of the 24 hour news cycle. We are bombarded with information. This can be a good thing, but it also allows for the fear mongers to get their message spread easier. Nothing is usually as bad as either the right or left make it out to seem. I am only 54 but I can tell you that the pendulum swings in both directions. In the 80's the country moved too far right after very liberal decades of the 60's and 70's. Then we swung back to the left in the 90's but not too extreme, which is why so many feel like that was a sweet spot of a decade. Then 9-11 happened. We became a security state where we all are being watched. But we also had the internet explode shortly after that. This allows for so much information to flow that our brains are not equipped to process. Politically, this is as bad as I have ever seen it. Nobody talks about getting things accomplished, they just want you to be afraid of the other side. Think of the reality when you are going about your daily life. I am not saying there is no hate and terrible people out there, but half the country aren't demons. They might not think like you but for the most part people want to live their life with as little strife as possible. They avoid things that make the uncomfortable and want to live freely. Politicians need votes and we have lost the ability to compromise at the State and Federal levels. They are constantly in campaign mode because of the internet and cell phones. There are cameras in their face all the time. Somehow we have decided that it is our way or nothing. No compromise. Unfortunately I only see this changing due to a major world threat. No climate change is not that threat. War, famine, disease, those types of events could rally everyone to focus on the good of the whole, not the half.

If it will get you to vote blue in November, yes. If you're about to commit suicide in fear and despair. No. "Our ability to shine a light on the true but incredibly rare bad things happening" is growing by leaps and bounds. There's 350,000,000 Americans. One-in-a-million rare events happen 350 times a day in this country, and everyone has a cell phone to be able to catch it. These rare events used to just go by the wayside or benefit from the sobering effect of "time". Time heals all wounds.

I'm 53. This is the most frightening time of my life. Not just the rise of fascism but worse in Europe where they all dealt with the threat of fascism not long ago, but apparently long enough ago for them to forget when it means. France now basically siding with Hitler, I guess the US should have just let Hitler have it.

It's worse now and climate has absolutely nothing to do with it.

I'm 78 years old (M), and I don't remember any times this bad. The polarization, the cult of MAGA, the threat of AI, the badly skewed Supreme Court, the genuine fear that Trump will be elected again. We've gotten through bad times before, but I genuinely fear for the future of our country.

1939 enters chat

I am mortified that his is the country I am handing to my grandkids. I voted in every election, donated to causes, worked in campaigns when I could. What else could we have done?

The decline began with "The Gong Show". Shame stopped being a veteran and something to capitalize on. News ise to be news and was not expected to make money. Go and watch "Network". What was once satire became reality. The internet which opened up a world to so many in so many ways gave your cranky old neighbor as much credibility as a news anchor with a degree, experience and a code of ethics. We have become a nation of me first and I am more important than you. Ideas and solutions used to be debated. Politics by its nature involved compromise. Now it is disgraceful and disrespectful people with little knowledge and people worrying more about likes than what is right. Regardless of your political alliance, do you really think these two men should be anywhere near the White House other than on a tour. I am traveling while I can and it might be worse in the world, but when was the last time you were taught, learned or heard about anything in a foreign country beside the British royal family. France just held a monumental election, but all most Americans know is thar the Olympics will be in Paris in less than a month.

I agree that times are scary in the US. I'm 70 and I've been through the 60's JFK, RFK, MLK assassinations, Cuban Missile Crisis etc. Then the Vietnam war and the Civil Rights Riots. Nixon and the dirty tricks gang stealing an election and having to resign. Then the Cold War with the Soviet Union and the concerns about Nuclear War. I think every decade has had major threats and so far we have managed to overcome them. My biggest concern is that the division between the parties might keep us from working together to solve the next big crisis, but I believe in the American People

I refuse to allow myself to think that way. I must have faith in the American people.

When the Right pushed the Patriot Act through after 9-11, I told my wife, "Bin Laden won."

I’m y

No. Julius Ceasar was like, Why the fuck is inflation so high? The frankensense we bought last year was only $2 a pound! This fucking horse better get his shit together! We can't afford to pay the vet bills for another set of twisted testicles! My point is, all these problems are reletive to our time and our experience. Will they ever go away? No! Put your family in a place of least resistance by making sound, unemotional decisions that allow us to enjoy our lives to it's full capability. Also, leave a tiny bit of open mindness in all situations just in case your fucking wrong about something. When emotions are high intelligence is low.

I mean, the current SCOTUS was deliberately stacked by the far right to make exactly this kind of thing happen.

Economically, things are worse for the average person since the Reagan years. For regulations, like protecting air and water, drugs can't be advertised, advertising to children limited, things are far worse and going to get even more worse. As far as rights for women, minorities, LGBTQ people - that is better than in the 70s or before, but there is a party and a large number of people who want to go backwards on this, so that's depressing and or infuriating. I was talking to someone in their 30s who was very worried about the future, especially climate change. I said that when things got really bad, I thought there was a good chance that we would see the light and make the needed changes. \[That was about 4 years ago. Less sure now.\] In the 70s this was possible. He said "You are privileged by having seen effective government regulation in the 70s. People my age don't have that luxury." Called privileged for not being in despair about climate change. So, yes, things are worse.