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I think there’s something more fundamental going on in the US. First, I’d want to say that we as humans love to simplify complex things. There are large macroe

I think there’s something more fundamental going on in the US. First, I’d want to say that we as humans love to simplify complex things. There are large macroeconomic trends at play that are boring or hard to explain, and it’s easier to blame immigrants, social media, or blame <X> because that gives us an outlet to make sense out of complexity. For politicians, depending on their political leanings, it gives them a way to avoid any form of accountability or responsibility. Regardless of party affiliations, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi - some of the leaders across both parties have been in power longer than I’ve been alive. They can blame Facebook or Twitter for what’s happening in the country, but in my mind, these “excuses” are an indictment of out of touch, entitled “leadership”. America is facing a reality where the rest of the world is catching up. In chase of endless profits, we stopped producing things at home. And frankly, our standards of living or at least the expectations have risen - everyone wants <Y> now, without patience, and they need it delivered now or within two days. They want a standard of living that requires competitiveness globally, but in this country, we no longer want to work for it. On one hand, we have homelessness, housing shortages, issues with getting access to healthcare. On the other hand, we’ve sold the promise of America and glamorized it so strongly that so many people want to come here, when we cannot even take care of folks that are already here. We’re getting lazier, more entitled, and under delusions of a God complex. In every Hollywood film, we continue to be the good guys that save the world. On one hand, we have zero trust in our politicians. On the other hand, the notion that perhaps we’re not really “good” guys in some international conflict - that it’s not so black and white - is simply incomprehensible. The last part of my rant is on the rising intolerance. There is now only one opinion, it is the truth, and anyone willing to step outside this narrow circle is a racist, bigot, etc. Worst of all, the people pushing this narrative are the loudest voices in the room, and our corporate interests are happy to assist and provide these people the megaphones they need, on their quest for endless profits and infinite growth.

epicureanideal 4y ago
> They want a standard of living that requires competitiveness globally, but in this country, we no longer want to work for it. That’s not what I see at all. Most working people in the current generation are working more hours, at more skilled jobs, with more education than their parents, and yet the lifestyle they can afford (aside from tech gadgets) is worse and less secure than their parents. I’m pessimistic about more young people studying subjects that are not useful, but I think in general this generation has gotten a bad (financial) deal in comparison.
- rabuse 4y ago
  This just doesn't seem to be the case with the peers I know, and covid made everything worse for morale. Nobody really wants to work anymore, service speed has fallen off a cliff in my area (South Florida), staff shortages are still in effect, nobody wants to have kids/get married, etc.
  - shagie 4y ago
    > Nobody really wants to work anymore In many parts of jobs that have public facing people, the perceived increase in the lack of civility has made those jobs much more difficult to accept for any length of time. The combination of job loss, retraining for jobs that don't deal with the public, and acceptance of austerity (including moving back in with one's parents in some cases) to have an extended duration of no income means that you don't need to accept a job that pays poorly or deals with uncivil people. I'm going to point to https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate that shows the unemployment rate equal to what it was in December 2019. People want to work and are working - they've just changed what they're working. If one wants to place blame on the "no one wants to work" I would suggest reading https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2022/03/03/are-boomers-the-answer-to-the-great-resignation/?sh=5ee0aa0644b6 https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2022/03/03/are-boom... and https://wapo.st/39vvXxP https://wapo.st/39vvXxP > service speed has fallen off a cliff This has resulted in a reduction of capacity in many parts of the service industry. > staff shortages are still in effect A lot of people upskilled in the past two years and those staff shortages will remain until a new cohort of workers exists in that area that lack the skills to get the better paying jobs that don't interact with the public. > nobody wants to have kids/get married While the marriage rate has dropped precariously, I'll point to https://www.statista.com/statistics/195951/marriage-rate-in-the-united-states-since-1990/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/195951/marriage-rate-in-... and point out that the chart ends in 2020 and that weddings weren't things that were easily held in the past two years either. However, the trend that is shown in that graph is one that has lasted for three decades - not three years. However, https://www.statista.com/statistics/183663/number-of-married-couples-in-the-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/183663/number-of-married... also shows an interesting chart where the number of married people has increased fairly consistently though the recessions are evident in there - I suspect we'll see another one. The "no one wants to have kids" needs to also be put into context of the percent of the cost of raising a child against the income and wealth for the generational cohort. https://money.cnn.com/2011/09/21/pf/cost_raising_child/index.htm https://money.cnn.com/2011/09/21/pf/cost_raising_child/index... shows a substantial increase in cost in the 2000 to 2010 timeframe. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-cost-of-child-care-might-not-be-skyrocketing/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-cost-of-child-care-... puts it in a different light. Still, if one is paying off their own college loans it is difficult to think of adding to that putting away money for a child's college costs. If a household is living pretty much paycheck to paycheck or has significant debt that they're paying down for whatever reason, having a child with an additional amount of cost would be considered to be unwise for people who have a fiscally responsible mind.
CaptArmchair 4y ago
Well, the US is a nation of some 330 million individuals. It's the 3rd most populous nation after China and India. The US is also the 4th largest country by land mass. It's actually tied with China in that regard. Why is that important? Because at those scales, a population isn't remotely homogeneous. On the contrary. The US is a massively complex nation with many complex histories, cultures, economies, politics and belief systems. Languages spoken in the US are a massive topic in their own regard. American linguistics is a huge field. The thing is that all that complexity gets hidden by a few dominant narratives. Noam Chomsky has been instrumental in pointing that out through his career. [1] Even so, the role of the media is just the top of the iceberg. Far more interesting is digging into deeply ingrained belief systems and the formation of identities throughout the history of the US from when settlers first arrived until the present day. One can never really fully escape one's own past, and this rings very true for collective histories. I wouldn't characterize the US population as collectively having become "lazier" or "more entitled". I think that's short selling a national identity. However, one narrative is that the US fully became a global empire after World War II. The effects of those 5 years, and the preceding decades, from 1918 onwards, have profoundly transformed not only the US but also the world as a whole. Global economic prosperity up to the 1970s (in France, they are called the "Thirty Glorious Years") and it's subsequent decline over the past 50 years are ripples of a turbulent first half of the 20th century. The fact of the matter is that the US - just like the rest of the world - is facing a new, challenging future with many new, potential and real, fault lines that might give rise to conflict and tension. Many of which still being rooted in historical differences. It's easy to see how that breeds uncertainty and a sense of "everything is falling apart". Old certainties, dynamics and beliefs that have dominated the thinking of billions for the past 80 to 100 years are now being challenged. The question is how the US, this complex nation such as it is, is going to rise towards the occasion. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky#News_media_and_propaganda https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky#News_media_and_pr...
giantg2 4y ago
"There are large macroeconomic trends at play that are boring or hard to explain, and it’s easier to blame immigrants, social media, or blame <X> because that gives us an outlet to make sense out of complexity." Very true. So many people rate the president based on how the economy or market is doing, yet they have very little influence over it. "we no longer want to work for it. ... The last part of my rant is on the rising intolerance." If we're not busy working or "building" something, then the other thing people tend to engage in is tearing things down.

epicureanideal 4y ago

> They want a standard of living that requires competitiveness globally, but in this country, we no longer want to work for it. That’s not what I see at all. Most working people in the current generation are working more hours, at more skilled jobs, with more education than their parents, and yet the lifestyle they can afford (aside from tech gadgets) is worse and less secure than their parents. I’m pessimistic about more young people studying subjects that are not useful, but I think in general this generation has gotten a bad (financial) deal in comparison.

rabuse 4y ago
This just doesn't seem to be the case with the peers I know, and covid made everything worse for morale. Nobody really wants to work anymore, service speed has fallen off a cliff in my area (South Florida), staff shortages are still in effect, nobody wants to have kids/get married, etc.
- shagie 4y ago
  > Nobody really wants to work anymore In many parts of jobs that have public facing people, the perceived increase in the lack of civility has made those jobs much more difficult to accept for any length of time. The combination of job loss, retraining for jobs that don't deal with the public, and acceptance of austerity (including moving back in with one's parents in some cases) to have an extended duration of no income means that you don't need to accept a job that pays poorly or deals with uncivil people. I'm going to point to https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate that shows the unemployment rate equal to what it was in December 2019. People want to work and are working - they've just changed what they're working. If one wants to place blame on the "no one wants to work" I would suggest reading https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2022/03/03/are-boomers-the-answer-to-the-great-resignation/?sh=5ee0aa0644b6 https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2022/03/03/are-boom... and https://wapo.st/39vvXxP https://wapo.st/39vvXxP > service speed has fallen off a cliff This has resulted in a reduction of capacity in many parts of the service industry. > staff shortages are still in effect A lot of people upskilled in the past two years and those staff shortages will remain until a new cohort of workers exists in that area that lack the skills to get the better paying jobs that don't interact with the public. > nobody wants to have kids/get married While the marriage rate has dropped precariously, I'll point to https://www.statista.com/statistics/195951/marriage-rate-in-the-united-states-since-1990/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/195951/marriage-rate-in-... and point out that the chart ends in 2020 and that weddings weren't things that were easily held in the past two years either. However, the trend that is shown in that graph is one that has lasted for three decades - not three years. However, https://www.statista.com/statistics/183663/number-of-married-couples-in-the-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/183663/number-of-married... also shows an interesting chart where the number of married people has increased fairly consistently though the recessions are evident in there - I suspect we'll see another one. The "no one wants to have kids" needs to also be put into context of the percent of the cost of raising a child against the income and wealth for the generational cohort. https://money.cnn.com/2011/09/21/pf/cost_raising_child/index.htm https://money.cnn.com/2011/09/21/pf/cost_raising_child/index... shows a substantial increase in cost in the 2000 to 2010 timeframe. https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-cost-of-child-care-might-not-be-skyrocketing/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-cost-of-child-care-... puts it in a different light. Still, if one is paying off their own college loans it is difficult to think of adding to that putting away money for a child's college costs. If a household is living pretty much paycheck to paycheck or has significant debt that they're paying down for whatever reason, having a child with an additional amount of cost would be considered to be unwise for people who have a fiscally responsible mind.

CaptArmchair 4y ago

Well, the US is a nation of some 330 million individuals. It's the 3rd most populous nation after China and India. The US is also the 4th largest country by land mass. It's actually tied with China in that regard. Why is that important? Because at those scales, a population isn't remotely homogeneous. On the contrary. The US is a massively complex nation with many complex histories, cultures, economies, politics and belief systems. Languages spoken in the US are a massive topic in their own regard. American linguistics is a huge field. The thing is that all that complexity gets hidden by a few dominant narratives. Noam Chomsky has been instrumental in pointing that out through his career. [1] Even so, the role of the media is just the top of the iceberg. Far more interesting is digging into deeply ingrained belief systems and the formation of identities throughout the history of the US from when settlers first arrived until the present day. One can never really fully escape one's own past, and this rings very true for collective histories. I wouldn't characterize the US population as collectively having become "lazier" or "more entitled". I think that's short selling a national identity. However, one narrative is that the US fully became a global empire after World War II. The effects of those 5 years, and the preceding decades, from 1918 onwards, have profoundly transformed not only the US but also the world as a whole. Global economic prosperity up to the 1970s (in France, they are called the "Thirty Glorious Years") and it's subsequent decline over the past 50 years are ripples of a turbulent first half of the 20th century. The fact of the matter is that the US - just like the rest of the world - is facing a new, challenging future with many new, potential and real, fault lines that might give rise to conflict and tension. Many of which still being rooted in historical differences. It's easy to see how that breeds uncertainty and a sense of "everything is falling apart". Old certainties, dynamics and beliefs that have dominated the thinking of billions for the past 80 to 100 years are now being challenged. The question is how the US, this complex nation such as it is, is going to rise towards the occasion. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky#News_media_and_propaganda https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky#News_media_and_pr...

giantg2 4y ago

"There are large macroeconomic trends at play that are boring or hard to explain, and it’s easier to blame immigrants, social media, or blame <X> because that gives us an outlet to make sense out of complexity." Very true. So many people rate the president based on how the economy or market is doing, yet they have very little influence over it. "we no longer want to work for it. ... The last part of my rant is on the rising intolerance." If we're not busy working or "building" something, then the other thing people tend to engage in is tearing things down.