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Yes, things are improving on a global scale, but that doesn't mean that the sense of unease within the United States is baseless. Quality of life for the lower

Yes, things are improving on a global scale, but that doesn't mean that the sense of unease within the United States is baseless. Quality of life for the lower and lower-middle classes has been declining, particularly in rural areas. Medical, educational, and housing costs have been increasing far faster than inflation. Social media combined with legalized bribery and gerrymandering threaten or have destroyed our democracy, with social media in particular amplifying everyone's us-vs-them mentality to the point that everyone feels persecuted. Anxiety, depression, and suicide rates are up. Economic growth is mostly limited to a handful of large cities with high costs of living that complain of labor shortages, yet more affordable rural areas continue to suffer from work shortages. Global growth and improvement is great, but if pockets of instability don't get addressed and corrected, those trends may change.

diggan 9y ago
Now I'm writing this comment on a website hosted in the US, about a article from a US newspaper, to a person who probably live in the US. And I'm not from the US. But I think the point of the article is to point out: sure, the US is getting worse and worse (maybe) but you can't just throw up your hands in the air and say "the world is going to shit!" as the world isn't going to shit. Most of the world is improving, but it's hard for the US media to present that view (maybe because good news doesn't sell? I don't know). The author points out that news focuses on bad news, and in the US, probably on US news. But there are other places in this world too. I frequently see people from the US claim that the world improvements will end, because the US is getting worse. But the good news is, the world is in fact getting better, even though the US might not be improving a lot currently. > Global growth and improvement is great, but if pockets of instability [in the US] don't get addressed and corrected, those trends may change. I've added the text in the brackets. If I understand your message correct, you're saying that if for example housing costs in the US doesn't improve, global growth and improvement might slow down? I'm sorry but that seems small-sighted and exactly what I'm writing about above. Edit: fun thing to do, search for "world worse" on Twitter or social media of your choice, and see how many people are writing about how the world/everything is getting worse, on a article about something US specific that won't impact anything outside the US borders.
- TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
  > I frequently see people from the US claim that the world improvements will end, because the US is getting worse... But the good news is, the world is in fact getting better, even though the US might not be improving a lot currently. > If I understand your message correct, you're saying that if for example housing costs in the US doesn't improve, global growth and improvement might slow down? I believe that if the US doesn't improve, global growth would slow, yes. In the US, our "economy" is growing because globalization has lowered operating costs while spreading wealth to poorer nations. This is the absolutely largest reason that global poverty has declined. However, because the US has such a high quality of life, our lower class cannot compete. I believe that if this trend continues, the US will reach a tipping point where people revolt. Because the US is the largest economy in the world, globalization would slow down or reverse for a bit, reversing the positive global trend. I'm not saying that the world wouldn't adapt and overcome. The world doesn't need the US in the long-term. But it would be rough for a while. If you disagree, I would love to know why.
  - tonyedgecombe 9y ago
    I suppose the ultimate conclusion of globalisation is a levelling out of living standards around the world. Whether this means Western nations becoming less well off is an interesting question. I'm not sure the US is as important as you think now, there is an inertia in developing nations that might slow but is probably quite hard to stop.
- ataturk 9y ago
  The US Media is total shit from top to bottom. They are not in the business of being objective or reporting events dispassionately. They serve their corporate and institutional masters or are mere infotainment noise.
ekianjo 9y ago
> that doesn't mean that the sense of unease within the United States is baseless Nothing prevents from moving to a different country. Just like the immigrants fled the UK in the first place for various reasons.
- klez 9y ago
  A number of things prevents from moving to different countries. Immigration laws for that other country, language barriers, the fact the your professionality/education won't be valued in another country, the fact that you may not even have the money to move in the first place...
  - cobbzilla 9y ago
    None of these are problems that a sufficient amount of desperation will not overcome. See: refugees, illegal immigration. When life sucks enough where you are, lots of people decide to get the heck out, and figure out the plan as they go.
    - watwut 9y ago
      Even Nazi Germany had some Jews stay, often because wanting something does not always makes it feasible. People die while attempting to become refugees. They might have plan, but they don't get to live to see it successful. And once they are in refugee camps and their children unhappy due to no future available to them, will you tell them they should have stayed at home? Illegal immigrants are getting deported, like today.
      - cobbzilla 9y ago
        agreed, different people reach the tipping point of desperation at the different times, and sometimes not at all, and sometimes the decision to (or not to) migrate is a bad one, or even a fatal one. History is replete with stories of refugees who have succeeded in their quest for a better life. Yes, survivorship bias says that for every success there are many failures. I'm not judging but merely observing facts: lots of people do in fact migrate despite the many daunting problems they face in doing so, because they believe it is the best possible option for themselves and their families. No one can presume to judge what is best for them but themselves.
bryananderson 9y ago
I cannot understand for the life of me why this is being downvoted. We all agree that the macro trends are positive, but you don’t have to look that far back in history to find times that were really good but clearly (in hindsight) contained the seeds of their own demise. Inequality and polarization are completely reasonable things to worry about. We are fools if we think that nothing could upset this wonderful apple cart.

diggan 9y ago

Now I'm writing this comment on a website hosted in the US, about a article from a US newspaper, to a person who probably live in the US. And I'm not from the US. But I think the point of the article is to point out: sure, the US is getting worse and worse (maybe) but you can't just throw up your hands in the air and say "the world is going to shit!" as the world isn't going to shit. Most of the world is improving, but it's hard for the US media to present that view (maybe because good news doesn't sell? I don't know). The author points out that news focuses on bad news, and in the US, probably on US news. But there are other places in this world too. I frequently see people from the US claim that the world improvements will end, because the US is getting worse. But the good news is, the world is in fact getting better, even though the US might not be improving a lot currently. > Global growth and improvement is great, but if pockets of instability [in the US] don't get addressed and corrected, those trends may change. I've added the text in the brackets. If I understand your message correct, you're saying that if for example housing costs in the US doesn't improve, global growth and improvement might slow down? I'm sorry but that seems small-sighted and exactly what I'm writing about above. Edit: fun thing to do, search for "world worse" on Twitter or social media of your choice, and see how many people are writing about how the world/everything is getting worse, on a article about something US specific that won't impact anything outside the US borders.

TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
> I frequently see people from the US claim that the world improvements will end, because the US is getting worse... But the good news is, the world is in fact getting better, even though the US might not be improving a lot currently. > If I understand your message correct, you're saying that if for example housing costs in the US doesn't improve, global growth and improvement might slow down? I believe that if the US doesn't improve, global growth would slow, yes. In the US, our "economy" is growing because globalization has lowered operating costs while spreading wealth to poorer nations. This is the absolutely largest reason that global poverty has declined. However, because the US has such a high quality of life, our lower class cannot compete. I believe that if this trend continues, the US will reach a tipping point where people revolt. Because the US is the largest economy in the world, globalization would slow down or reverse for a bit, reversing the positive global trend. I'm not saying that the world wouldn't adapt and overcome. The world doesn't need the US in the long-term. But it would be rough for a while. If you disagree, I would love to know why.
- tonyedgecombe 9y ago
  I suppose the ultimate conclusion of globalisation is a levelling out of living standards around the world. Whether this means Western nations becoming less well off is an interesting question. I'm not sure the US is as important as you think now, there is an inertia in developing nations that might slow but is probably quite hard to stop.
ataturk 9y ago
The US Media is total shit from top to bottom. They are not in the business of being objective or reporting events dispassionately. They serve their corporate and institutional masters or are mere infotainment noise.

ekianjo 9y ago

> that doesn't mean that the sense of unease within the United States is baseless Nothing prevents from moving to a different country. Just like the immigrants fled the UK in the first place for various reasons.

klez 9y ago
A number of things prevents from moving to different countries. Immigration laws for that other country, language barriers, the fact the your professionality/education won't be valued in another country, the fact that you may not even have the money to move in the first place...
- cobbzilla 9y ago
  None of these are problems that a sufficient amount of desperation will not overcome. See: refugees, illegal immigration. When life sucks enough where you are, lots of people decide to get the heck out, and figure out the plan as they go.
  - watwut 9y ago
    Even Nazi Germany had some Jews stay, often because wanting something does not always makes it feasible. People die while attempting to become refugees. They might have plan, but they don't get to live to see it successful. And once they are in refugee camps and their children unhappy due to no future available to them, will you tell them they should have stayed at home? Illegal immigrants are getting deported, like today.
    - cobbzilla 9y ago
      agreed, different people reach the tipping point of desperation at the different times, and sometimes not at all, and sometimes the decision to (or not to) migrate is a bad one, or even a fatal one. History is replete with stories of refugees who have succeeded in their quest for a better life. Yes, survivorship bias says that for every success there are many failures. I'm not judging but merely observing facts: lots of people do in fact migrate despite the many daunting problems they face in doing so, because they believe it is the best possible option for themselves and their families. No one can presume to judge what is best for them but themselves.

bryananderson 9y ago

I cannot understand for the life of me why this is being downvoted. We all agree that the macro trends are positive, but you don’t have to look that far back in history to find times that were really good but clearly (in hindsight) contained the seeds of their own demise. Inequality and polarization are completely reasonable things to worry about. We are fools if we think that nothing could upset this wonderful apple cart.