Spiderman
Veteran Member
My Dad said when he was in elementary school in Chicago he could jump on a bus and ride through the inner city and children could play outside unattended.
There was simply far less crime in America, there didn't used to be school shootings, more families stayed together, less drug addiction, less teen suicides and unwanted pregnancies, fewer people needing to be treated for mental health issues, people matured more quickly and were more responsible etc.
22 percent of the world's prisoners are in America, yet America makes up LESS than 5% of the World's population.
62% of convicted Serial killers are/were American. That's more than the other 194 nations combined. I don't think America was that much of the serial killer Capitol back in the 1930's.
I'm from the Twin Cities which sparked global rioting over George Floyd, buildings burned down and looted in broad daylight, barbed wire around banks, tanks driving down University Ave. It just doesn't seem like we are growing, maturing, and evolving... but imploding.
Yes, I know, we have improved in some areas. I wouldn't want to live in the 30's. But is there much basis for hope that we are headed some place better, brighter, more mature, higher quality of life for the next generation?
Overall, do you think with time America is improving?
Also, kinda irrelevant, but we defeated Germany when they had better weapons, tanks, planes, rockets, and technology, and we did so in a relatively short amount of time. Granted the Russians and Allies played a huge role in that, but we had Allies in Afghanistan and best superpower military in the world, were there longer than Vietnam ( or any war in American history) , and failed to accomplish our military objectives. Taliban accomplished theirs it seems.
Afghanistan was third world in it's poverty and military abilities, we had the first-world countries helping, Northern Alliance and other Anti-Taliban Afghan groups fighting with us. We lost. Is that perhaps just another sign of us not growing and maturing and evolving in a positive direction? (I know there are many factors like not being able to impose Democracy on a country dominated by religious opinion and conviction opposed to it, but just curious if you have thoughts on that too).
Are you optimistic about the way America is headed?