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So many social issues we’re seeing in the US that have flared up since the pandemic keep being swept under the rug as “mental issues during the pandemic/trauma”

So many social issues we’re seeing in the US that have flared up since the pandemic keep being swept under the rug as “mental issues during the pandemic/trauma”. But that raises a very obvious counterpoint. Why aren’t we seeing the same issues flare worsen in the same way in other countries? The entire globe went through the pandemic. And other countries actually had real lockdowns unlike what the US had, which was suggestions at best. It’s reasonable that the pandemic might have exacerbated existing issues, but the fact that we are seeing so many of these issues being exacerbated only in the US indicates that it’s really a U.S. problem, and not a pandemic problem (examples include the rise of gun violence, the rise of vehicular violence, the rise of homelessness, the rise of shoplifting, bad behavior by passengers in airplanes, and as in this article the rise of violence against teachers). It’s a bit of a stretch and looks very much like a hammer and nail situation (although it should still be researched), but at least the chief police officer blaming it on a loss of respect for authority because of the protests has the advantage of explaining why these issues are appearing pretty much in the US only.

a_bonobo 3y ago
IMHO, the pandemic has ripped off the mask of living in the US; those in power would see you rather die (from Covid) rather than risk losing a dollar. Other countries have not been as harsh, yes long lockdowns, but also social support and money. Once people saw that those in power would rather see you die than inconvenience them, an entire generation stopped believing in the social contract. After that things fall apart.
- astrange 3y ago
  This is almost entirely false, since the US had more generous support during COVID than any other country and nobody "in power" wanted you to die except maybe Andrew Cuomo, but instead worked on vaccine acceleration. It's easy to spot incoherent politics since those afflicted just say "people in power", don't say who they mean, and it always turns out to be something the average voter supports. (The average voter doesn't particularly care if you're alive or not.)
  - a_bonobo 3y ago
    If your reply were correct, then why did so many millions of Americans die? You've about a million Covid deaths, and about a hundred million cases. By number of deaths the US is number 1 by far (https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/worldwide-graphs/ https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/worldwide-graphs/). The internet is full of stories were working class people got Covid because they had no other choice, here's a random citation: >Californians in manual labor and in-person service occupations experienced disproportionate COVID-19 mortality, with the highest rates observed among male, Latino, and Black workers; these occupational group should be prioritized for prevention. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0266058 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal... If US support was so amazing as you claim, why do these numbers exist? Why are they so much higher than other countries?
    - astrange 3y ago
      Cause there was a pandemic. Nobody dying is not a possibility. The best you can do is protect 80+ people, who are far more at risk than anyone else. Staying home is a middle class fantasy though. You can't just keep the entire country home or you'll run out of food and the sewers will fail in a week. Not to mention many people don't want to do that and would rather take the death. Nevertheless, the US gave out approx $2400/month in CARES Act unemployment support, which is more than anyone else.
s1artibartfast 3y ago
Lockdowns in the US were both less effective and more destructive. I agree that lockdowns aren't primary driver in this case, but nearly every Western Country decided that in person education was an essential service and one of the most important things to lock down to preserve. If I were to Hazard a guess at the primary cause, it would be the normalization of physical violence and property destruction a legitimate mean of protest or expressing one's anger. Despite the enormous gains of the Civil Right Movement, nonviolent protests and Democratic action are now commonly believed to be a futile because they did not result in a completely egalitarian society. Without faith in shared institutions, there is no Civil Society.
throwserbian11 3y ago
I don't think other countries don't have the same problem. For example, people I know in Serbia who work in education complain about kids being worse every year and not being able to do anything about it. Kids hitting teachers and such. I think similar policies are in place there as well, it's very hard to put any kind of disciplinary action against kids. I've also heard from friends in Netherlands who complained about slow decline of the education system. Now, these are all anecdotal, so maybe it is all middle age people complaining about new generations, but I sort of doubt it. Btw, I don't think the pandemic is a cause of it, to me it's social media. I think pandemic just accelerated how much social media is central to kids' lives.
rdtsc 3y ago
There may be a few reasons - US just happens to be the center of attention, both good and bad. Who know, maybe others countries with similar lockdown policies had worse results. The media might not report on it, though. Is it the case that kids in other countries don’t want to hit teachers because they are raised better, or they would like to hit them, but they know the punishment they’re getting is not talking with Care Solace, “a company that uses an online portal and phone line to link students, parents and staff” but a more severe punishment. US is a big country with large cities and rural areas. Maybe it got worse in Nevada but better in rural Montana. But reduced violence somewhere makes for an extremely boring headline. So we would not be discussing it at all.
mstipetic 3y ago
Because you put personal “freedoms” above everything else and are more and more losing the concept of a collective and a shared set of norms that come with it. The concept of free speech and all that is meant to say - the people will take the personal responsibility to participate in decision making without the government interfering, and now it has devolved so much that you lost any collective substrate and any idiot has a right to an opinion without being called out for it

a_bonobo 3y ago

IMHO, the pandemic has ripped off the mask of living in the US; those in power would see you rather die (from Covid) rather than risk losing a dollar. Other countries have not been as harsh, yes long lockdowns, but also social support and money. Once people saw that those in power would rather see you die than inconvenience them, an entire generation stopped believing in the social contract. After that things fall apart.

astrange 3y ago
This is almost entirely false, since the US had more generous support during COVID than any other country and nobody "in power" wanted you to die except maybe Andrew Cuomo, but instead worked on vaccine acceleration. It's easy to spot incoherent politics since those afflicted just say "people in power", don't say who they mean, and it always turns out to be something the average voter supports. (The average voter doesn't particularly care if you're alive or not.)
- a_bonobo 3y ago
  If your reply were correct, then why did so many millions of Americans die? You've about a million Covid deaths, and about a hundred million cases. By number of deaths the US is number 1 by far (https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/worldwide-graphs/ https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/worldwide-graphs/). The internet is full of stories were working class people got Covid because they had no other choice, here's a random citation: >Californians in manual labor and in-person service occupations experienced disproportionate COVID-19 mortality, with the highest rates observed among male, Latino, and Black workers; these occupational group should be prioritized for prevention. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0266058 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal... If US support was so amazing as you claim, why do these numbers exist? Why are they so much higher than other countries?
  - astrange 3y ago
    Cause there was a pandemic. Nobody dying is not a possibility. The best you can do is protect 80+ people, who are far more at risk than anyone else. Staying home is a middle class fantasy though. You can't just keep the entire country home or you'll run out of food and the sewers will fail in a week. Not to mention many people don't want to do that and would rather take the death. Nevertheless, the US gave out approx $2400/month in CARES Act unemployment support, which is more than anyone else.

s1artibartfast 3y ago

Lockdowns in the US were both less effective and more destructive. I agree that lockdowns aren't primary driver in this case, but nearly every Western Country decided that in person education was an essential service and one of the most important things to lock down to preserve. If I were to Hazard a guess at the primary cause, it would be the normalization of physical violence and property destruction a legitimate mean of protest or expressing one's anger. Despite the enormous gains of the Civil Right Movement, nonviolent protests and Democratic action are now commonly believed to be a futile because they did not result in a completely egalitarian society. Without faith in shared institutions, there is no Civil Society.

throwserbian11 3y ago

I don't think other countries don't have the same problem. For example, people I know in Serbia who work in education complain about kids being worse every year and not being able to do anything about it. Kids hitting teachers and such. I think similar policies are in place there as well, it's very hard to put any kind of disciplinary action against kids. I've also heard from friends in Netherlands who complained about slow decline of the education system. Now, these are all anecdotal, so maybe it is all middle age people complaining about new generations, but I sort of doubt it. Btw, I don't think the pandemic is a cause of it, to me it's social media. I think pandemic just accelerated how much social media is central to kids' lives.

rdtsc 3y ago

There may be a few reasons - US just happens to be the center of attention, both good and bad. Who know, maybe others countries with similar lockdown policies had worse results. The media might not report on it, though. Is it the case that kids in other countries don’t want to hit teachers because they are raised better, or they would like to hit them, but they know the punishment they’re getting is not talking with Care Solace, “a company that uses an online portal and phone line to link students, parents and staff” but a more severe punishment. US is a big country with large cities and rural areas. Maybe it got worse in Nevada but better in rural Montana. But reduced violence somewhere makes for an extremely boring headline. So we would not be discussing it at all.

mstipetic 3y ago

Because you put personal “freedoms” above everything else and are more and more losing the concept of a collective and a shared set of norms that come with it. The concept of free speech and all that is meant to say - the people will take the personal responsibility to participate in decision making without the government interfering, and now it has devolved so much that you lost any collective substrate and any idiot has a right to an opinion without being called out for it