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"It's a mix of a pretty good cataloguing of disparate bad-sounding stats and figures about the US, many bad/misleading instances of same (any time there's a bad

"It's a mix of a pretty good cataloguing of disparate bad-sounding stats and figures about the US, many bad/misleading instances of same (any time there's a bad-sounding—or good-sounding, for that matter—stat missing any frame of reference, I get twitchy, and this has plenty), some dull and overstated predictions about the future, and some lazy narrative-building." I see what you're saying. To me, this article is not about building a case for America's failed state. It's an argument for the perceived loss of American leadership around the world. Given that conclusion, the stats he chooses are exactly the ones on people's minds around the world. Talking to my friends in China and Singapore, the George Floyd protests often come up as the US descending into chaos. There are comparisons to Hong Kong. Regardless of the faulty perception outside of the US, that perception shapes our leadership abilities. This article perfectly reflects what I've been hearing from overseas.

zepto 6y ago
That’s fair, but I personally lived for more than 30 years overseas before moving to the US, and am in contact with plenty of people outside the US. My experience has been that people’s perceptions are mostly reflective of what they read in the press. They were grossly inaccurate and misleading when the US was perceived as a magnificent success - most of the problems we have now were already apparent then. But they are also grossly misleading when representing the US relative to other states now. There are ‘failed states’ inside the European Union for example, and pretty much every one of the problems the US has are reflected elsewhere too. It is obvious that things are a lot worse, and that serious problems have gone unresolved, etc. I live in the East Bay and stores were looted only a few blocks from here. Similar things happened during the riots over Oscar grant at when I lived in another part of the East Bay. There is no descent into chaos. It’s not surprising that it seems like that if you live in China or Singapore, where the penalties for rioting are draconian. You can make argument either way as to whether the riots represent something healthy or unhealthy. But it is simply not true that US is descending into chaos. It’s not even true that this is some new thing. But of course if the media present it that way, then people will think that.
zepto 6y ago
It’s also worth pointing something out: I personally think ‘defunding the police’ is a mistake - I think we need more training and less stress for our police and I think that means more funds and not less. However I’m also a strong believer in violence intervention, restorative justice and other community methods. But guess what - it seems like we’re actually going to try some of these experiments in response to the protests. That’s about as far from a failed state as I can imagine living in.

zepto 6y ago

That’s fair, but I personally lived for more than 30 years overseas before moving to the US, and am in contact with plenty of people outside the US. My experience has been that people’s perceptions are mostly reflective of what they read in the press. They were grossly inaccurate and misleading when the US was perceived as a magnificent success - most of the problems we have now were already apparent then. But they are also grossly misleading when representing the US relative to other states now. There are ‘failed states’ inside the European Union for example, and pretty much every one of the problems the US has are reflected elsewhere too. It is obvious that things are a lot worse, and that serious problems have gone unresolved, etc. I live in the East Bay and stores were looted only a few blocks from here. Similar things happened during the riots over Oscar grant at when I lived in another part of the East Bay. There is no descent into chaos. It’s not surprising that it seems like that if you live in China or Singapore, where the penalties for rioting are draconian. You can make argument either way as to whether the riots represent something healthy or unhealthy. But it is simply not true that US is descending into chaos. It’s not even true that this is some new thing. But of course if the media present it that way, then people will think that.

zepto 6y ago

It’s also worth pointing something out: I personally think ‘defunding the police’ is a mistake - I think we need more training and less stress for our police and I think that means more funds and not less. However I’m also a strong believer in violence intervention, restorative justice and other community methods. But guess what - it seems like we’re actually going to try some of these experiments in response to the protests. That’s about as far from a failed state as I can imagine living in.