# Do you see hope for the future in America? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 16, 2014, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-see-hope-for-the-future-in-america/690865 "2014-06-16T00:52:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-see-hope-for-the-future-in-america/690865/41 "2014-06-18T11:27:36Z")
Yes. In most ways that can be measured, things in America are better than in the past. Poverty now is bad, but poverty 50 years ago was worse. Racism now is bad, but racism 50 years ago was worse. Health care is bad (in some ways), but health care 50 years ago was worse. Religious fundamentalism is bad, but 50 years ago it was a lot worse (in the US). I am quite hopeful for the future of America. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-see-hope-for-the-future-in-america/690865/42 "2014-06-18T15:09:57Z")
It only seems terrible because we’re in it. But imagine living through slavery, Jim Crow, the Depression and WWII, HUAC witchhunts, J Edgar Hoover, stagflation, acid rain, the Civil War, or the Alien and Sedition acts, etc. (Some of those some of you _have_ lived through – but imagine living through it again.) The present always seems worse than the past, because no matter what happened in the past, we got through it. We’re here now. There’s no such guarantee we’ll be okay in the future after the problems that are facing us now. So the uncertainty of the present always makes the past look better and easier. But it wasn’t. The past was much worse, in fact, but we made it through. We’ll make it through this latest crop of problems too. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-see-hope-for-the-future-in-america/690865/43 "2014-06-18T15:39:28Z")
I think there’s plenty of hope. Maybe not hope for the US to remain some sort of hegemonic hyperpower, but that has only really been the case since 1991 anyway. Before that, we were either one of the two superpowers or one of the Great Powers. It’s not such a horrible thing to spread the responsibility around for keeping the world peaceful and safe for free trade and idea exchange. Beyond that, I think the political polarization will moderate as the demographics of a few key states change, chief among them, Texas. I mean, this sort of idiotic hyper-conservatism just can’t last. I grew up in a family that’s politically extremely conservative, and a lot of the religiously based social conservatism and plain ignorant opposition to things like global warming and cap & trade is starting to crack that. I’m liable to vote Democrat in the upcoming Texas state elections because the Republican tea-party backed candidates are SO odious. I think things are getting better overall. Sure, it may be 3 steps forward, 2 steps back in some ways, but there’s a net gain of a step. The biggest threats I see are effects of global warming, and some recognition of the US’ hard-headed role in not trying to mitigate that, and potential violence as the religious fundamentalist nut-bags eventually get marginalized. (I mean the Evangelicals and other crazy sorts, not mainstream denominations like Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, and even Baptist) I’m not so sure income inequality is such an issue, as long as income is rising. Sort of a rising tide floats all boats kind of situation. I think the bigger issue is wage stagnation and the decrease in purchasing power we’ve seen over the past decade and a half. I mean, nobody I know has made any significant increases in pay by working at the same job for any length of time since about 2001. They usually get piss-ant raises like 1% annually, and only get real changes in salary by changing jobs… if they can swing that. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-see-hope-for-the-future-in-america/690865/44 "2014-06-18T21:11:47Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > If we can get the liberals out of government, we might stand a chance. They’ve got us damn near over the edge into socialism, and socialism is a catastrophe. It works great on paper, but fails once you get more than about 100 people involved. > [@msmith537](#): > > Chance at what? Kicking out all the fags and Mexicans so we can have a God-fearing gut-tootin (toten?) nation of plutocrats? Does **Clothahump** have a record on these boards of being for “kicking out all the fags and Mexicans,” etc.? Or is this just a gross characterization of someone you disagree with? If the latter, it was ironic to read in a thread that suggests that Americans’ political polarization might tear the country apart. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-see-hope-for-the-future-in-america/690865/45 "2014-06-18T21:25:52Z")
I don’t think there’s a guarantee things will get worse for all of us. History is not a nice, tidy, linear series of good, better, best, bestest. It’s a roller coaster. But humans are resilient. Tomorrow the bottom could fall out of society, sending us crashing back to the stone age. And we’d probably still have the same proportion of happy people and grouchy people and indifferent people. We would have a tough adjustment period, sure. But it’s in our nature to acclimate and adapt. So yes, I have hope for us. Whatever happens, we’ll be okay. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-see-hope-for-the-future-in-america/690865/46 "2014-06-18T21:45:30Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > I’m assuming you mean “80%” here and your shift key slipped. > > Yeah, so? If the economy can tick along with 80% of us working jobs that don’t pay the bills, why is that such a bad thing? We’re going to eventually be forced to accept that if the economy doesn’t need you, you don’t get a job, but you still qualify as a human being. Call it Basic Income, call it End Of Days, call it what you will, but it’s cheaper than trying Luddism and being destroyed by those who embrace technology and it’s economically better than forcing the mostly-unemployed to be completely idle through perverse incentives. > > Besides, we already have this, only a backwards half-assed version of it. When full-time (as full as they can get) Walmart employees are still on government benefits, when we have a completely, forcibly idled prison population that’s larger than any other developed nation’s, we are _already_ accepting the fact that **the economy doesn’t need some people’s labor** , or at least doesn’t need it badly enough it’s capable of letting them live off of it. > > So it will be a social and attitudinal change, to where, in a few decades, the hard-nosed individualist self-reliant types will be the most anti-job, because you can’t be self-reliant if you must kowtow to the boss-man for your daily bread. 80% was intended. But Basic Income? You forget how fundamentally ruthless the Wealthy can be… ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-see-hope-for-the-future-in-america/690865/47 "2014-06-18T22:46:59Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > 80% was intended. > > But Basic Income? > You forget how fundamentally ruthless the Wealthy can be… There was push-back against child labor laws and unions and minimum wage and, Hell, wage and hours acts in general. The alternative to Basic Income is something a lot more severe, by which I mean either hard caps on technology simply to preserve no-skill and low-skill work or a social welfare plan which goes a lot farther than a guaranteed minimum income. Obamacare was the only plan that could preserve health insurance as we know it. That’s why it was created by the arch-conservatives. Similarly, Basic Income is the only plan that can preserve work as we know it, which I think bodes well for its future in this country. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-see-hope-for-the-future-in-america/690865/48 "2014-06-18T23:41:22Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > Hopefully the last gasp of the “The Selfish Generation”. Baby Boomers are now all old and pessimistic, but they still vote, watch traditional media, and have buying power. The evening news is starting to sound like a bunch of sad old men sitting around a nursing home drinking coffee and complaining. Well, I’m sure I could buy and sell you and your paintbrush, anyway, and probably not for all that much money. WTF does your comment have to do with the OP? Politics and nasty comments aside, I think the drought crisis in the West is going to spread and get far worse before it gets better. Combined with the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer, this could cause crop collapse and a population shift away from the affected areas, which would have a major economic impact on cities that are not prepared to house or support a large population influx, not to mention on the economies of the cities being vacated. Phoenix is already talking about cutting back on water usage for things like golf courses, etc., and trying to sue other states for excessive use of the Colorado River water. The federal government would be unable to stop an economic and infrastructure collapse of that magnitude. If the drought turns into a long term event, the US could collapse in another 50 years. At the present rate of use, farming in that region will peak by 2040 ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2014, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-see-hope-for-the-future-in-america/690865/49 "2014-06-19T17:13:07Z")
The question was “Do you have hope for the future of America?” I do, but look at the message that is being sent to young people. Have you seen the commercials that play during the nightly news? Levitra, Viagra, Rascal Scooters, Cash for Gold. Then look at the stories, children are fat, children are lazy, young people can’t type in complete sentences, young people are always on their phones, governments going to hell, Americas falling behind…. Traditional media and the sponsors know the demographic they are catering to. “Get off my lawn” guy, becomes “Get off my lawn” generation. The baby boomer generation is huge and has a lot of money to burn. Sponsers cater to them with stories that echo what old people have been saying for years, but on a massive scale. That feeling people get when they leave a job, they think that everything is going to go to shit once they aren’t there to hold it together. We are in the midst of that for an entire generation. A generation that has dominated the narrative from the time they were born. So what message are they sending to young people? What wisdom are they passing on? Nothing but the selfish crap they have been coating themselves in for the last 60 years. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-see-hope-for-the-future-in-america/690865/50 "2014-06-19T21:33:40Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > There was push-back against child labor laws and unions and minimum wage and, Hell, wage and hours acts in general. The alternative to Basic Income is something a lot more severe, by which I mean either hard caps on technology simply to preserve no-skill and low-skill work or a social welfare plan which goes a lot farther than a guaranteed minimum income. > > Obamacare was the only plan that could preserve health insurance as we know it. That’s why it was created by the arch-conservatives. Similarly, Basic Income is the only plan that can preserve work as we know it, which I think bodes well for its future in this country. Or, killing. And the Rich have never hesitated to kill the Poor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-see-hope-for-the-future-in-america/690865.md?page=2)