Food is also instantly pleasurable. People in financial straits will terminate retail therapy long before they’ll stop splurging on take-out, because take-out is cheaper, more “in your face”, and quickly consumed (so there’s no incriminating evidence left over to make you feel guilty for splurging). I’ve been doing my ritual of Friday night take-out since the moment I became “grown”. Even through bouts of brokeness and unemployment. But I will wear raggedy clothes even during the good times.
I don’t think we’re literally at the brink of THE END OF AMERICA but I sure as hell think that things are going to get worse this year and considerably so: more civil unrest, more shortages, more unemployment and lots more deaths from covid that’ll rival the second wave of the Spanish flu pandemic.
That’s me being optimistic. It no longer feels outside the scope of possibility that Trump might decide to “turn things around” by initiating an armed conflict with China. Or there being a lot of death and destruction around people het up about election results. Maybe Kaiju attacks late in the fall.
The only hope we have of much improvement is if the virus mutates to become a lot less severe and that doesn’t seem like it’s in the cards for 2020.
I don’t think of the end of America is necessarily a bad thing, I think how it collapses is important; if it can collapse quickly like the Soviet Union, without lashing out, it’s probably in the world’s best interest. Countries end, why should the US be any different?
I keep thinking this is one of those times like 1933 that, generations from now, people will look back and say, “How did they not see what was coming? How did they just sit back and let it happen?”
I don’t know what “it” is – some combination of everything mentioned upstream, or some metastasis that will only be obvious in hindsight – but I can’t escape the feeling that it’s going to be seismically bad. And I’m one of those bubble people whose life so far has remained relatively comfortable and stress-free.
Let’s try to remember that America is not experiencing some widespread systemic failure. The majority of our current problems can be traced back to one individual; Donald Trump. If we kick him out of office, we’ll immediately see a marked improvement in America.
Agree and disagree. I agree that removing Trump from office will be a huge improvement, but the divisiveness that allowed him to be elected has been brewing for 30+ years and won’t go away just because Biden is president.
Meanwhile, barring a happy deus ex machina, we’re stuck with Trump for at least another seven months, and anything that can possibly go wrong will be exacerbated both by his presence and the willingness of the GOP to turn any catastrophe into a partisan issue.
Imagine 1968 with Fox News and the internet, plus a global pandemic, and we’re just getting started.
well we had a moderate earthquake along with the COVID stuff and riot curfews yesterday… all were missing in the flash floods and we’ve hit ann the natural disasters in my patch of the desert
True enough, but it was far less disruptive, for reasons that should be explored in another thread.
This year’s pandemic, plus the George Floyd murder, plus the whackjob in the White House and his enablers, all feel to me like successive and recurring tremors shaking the foundations of civilization itself. I know it’s histrionic of me, but it’s like we’re in the “pre-” stage of some movie about a dystopian future.
Hope for the best—plan for the worst. Mrs. L—me. I get why people want to stay positive and optimistic if possible. But I also know why we can’t pretend everything will just take care of itself.
I’m afraid about the converging problems. Protesters get out there because of George Floyd and in so doing, more COVID spread occurs. Rioters break storefronts and it’s the coup de grace for a business and its workforce (which were teetering already). We need to stay inside but will mail in voting be accepted, fair, etc.? And that’s all domestic business, nothing about foreign issues.
No, Trump is a symptom, not the disease. Symptoms themselves can be harmful, and Trump is more cytokine storm than runny nose. But removing him from office alone won’t cure the patient. And the divisiveness hasn’t been brewing for 30 years; it’s a crack in the very foundation of this country.
No, Trump is a symptom, not the disease. Symptoms themselves can be harmful, and Trump is more cytokine storm than runny nose. But removing him from office alone won’t cure the patient. And the divisiveness hasn’t been brewing for 30 years; it’s a crack in the very foundation of this country.
I disagree, and think all turns on the upcoming election. He has been a big enough factor as to make possible many distasteful policies/actions.
We’ve been through racial unrest and health threats in the past, and have made it through. Not minimizing the threat posed currently, but they are not existential - especially when judged against the generally upward trend on so many societal fronts. Increased opportunity for health care and gay rights 2 significant themes. Hopefully younger voters are becoming more active.
Sure, there is a ton of ways to go on SO many fronts. Current income/wealth/opportunity disparity is horribly problematic, and the need for environmental changes are dire, Hopefully the American public and government will be less eager to jump into wars after the 9/11 debacle. Disenfranchisement is very problematic. And privacy will pose increasing issues. But they CAN all be addressed by just about ANY government other than the one driven by Trump and McConnell.
A single Trump term might just be a significant and troublesome step back from much progress that has been made. A second Trump term will likely make those losses more long lasting.
Over the long term, population trends will prove increasingly challenging for many intolerant “conservative” positions.
Of course they don’t magically go away if Trump loses, but removal of Trump is NECESSARY if we are going to initiate/resume progress on any number of such fronts.
Various Constitutional safeguards were put in place to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority. What we no have is close to a tyranny of the minority. The Fox base tends old, and not reproducing comparably to more enlightened persons/groups. They enjoy the influence they have now largely due to the electoral college, the makeup of the Senate, and disenfranchisement of minorities. They WILL have long term advantages from the recent judicial appointees, but their numbers are not increasing.
But when I was young in the 70s, I would have bet any money that we would NEVER have a black president, and that pot and gay marriage would NEVER be legal. US air and water are greatly cleaner than back in the 20th century. Obamacare was a hugely flawed - but nevertheless huge - step in the right direction.
Measured over a lifetime, we can still aspire to improvement. Hopefully these past few years and the current incumbent will be seen as a blip in our overall progress.
Of course, that is not guaranteed. Any person of color, and any person under 50 who does not inform themselves, vote, and be otherwise vocal and active largely deserves what they get.