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Is America growing, maturing, evolving, imploding, destructing, other?

Is America overall improving and heading in a good direction? (Choose best answer)

  • Yes in my opinion

    Votes: 2 20.0%
  • No, in my opinion

    Votes: 8 80.0%

  • Total voters
    10

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?
 

PoetPhilosopher

Veteran Member
I say that generally things have to get even worse before there can be a sort of Golden Age or revival.

There's also the chance, however, that the status quo is maintained, instead.
 

metis

aged ecumenical anthropologist
I checked "no", and I believe the biggest problem by far that we face is the bitterness between groups and people, which was predicted by anthropologist Desmond Morris back in the early 1970's. And we need to remember that most empires collapsed from within before being defeated by others.
 

Jeremiah Ames

Well-Known Member
I cast a “yes” vote, because, although we’re in a dark era, I feel the trend is positive.
No longer is racism, misogyny, sexual abuse, and other evils being tolerated and swept under the rug.
Also, the majority are seeing the wisdom of being more inclusive, and discarding stone age views.
 

mangalavara

सो ऽहम्
Premium Member
Are you optimistic about the way America is headed?

No, not really. A friend of mine who is a Political Science major and Social Studies teacher mentioned to me lately that the latest census reveals that more Americans have been racially segregating themselves by moving to different locations so that they may live among people of the same racial identity. This is related to something else he explained to me: in order for there to be unity and the continuance of America, Americans have to identify with a common culture and favor the same political system. Presently, from what I heard from him, lots of people in the US are identifying more with cultures that are not a common culture and lots of them want a different political system than the one we have now. Both of us are sure that the US will eventually balkanize. In my case, it is just a feeling.
 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
Not in the least -- quite the contrary, actually.

Just watch the political wrangling -- not just the left versus the right (will we ever see bipartisan bills again?), but the factions in either of those sides. You can see it now, as the Democrats fight each other in the House, progressives versus moderates, on how to get infrastructure and finance bills passed.

If you really look at it, all of those sides would prefer that nothing at all is ever achieved than that they shouldn't get pretty much everything they want. And that is the perfect recipe for total political failure.
 
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