It is a shame Americans aren’t doing a better job of looking out for each other. The amount of fear, polarization, and anger seems to be on the rise along with a willingness to judge and stereotype others. I think the degree to which we work together to counteract these trends, the better off we’ll be.
The prospects for the last several generations are worse than they were for their parents. As an example, the cost of attending a university has risen dramatically over the last couple of decades and students can acquire massive amounts of debt before they’ve gotten their first job which can be a challenge to secure. Similarly, healthcare costs over the last several decades have also risen at a much faster rate than inflation.
The effects of the global economy have been devastating to millions of Americans. There are no indications that pre-global economic opportunities will return anytime soon.
Distrust in government, the media, and corporations are extremely low. Increasingly people no longer participate in the electoral process. As others have said, people frequently struggle just to make ends meet and have little or no energy left to work on other issues.
These are just some of the complex problems with no easy solution in sight. At the very least, I hope we’ll turn the tide so we can start to identify some common ground as a basis for initiating positive change. We waste our time and resources whenever we turn upon each other without attempting to understand and negotiate our differences.
It’s always much easier to destroy than to create so it’s not difficult to understand why people are angry when they’re experiencing so much dysfunction, lack of tolerance, and frustration in their lives. If we want to move forward, we’ll need to value patience, tolerance, and a willingness to listen to and try to empathize with those we don’t agree with. While we can look to how other countries have addressed issues, it doesn’t necessarily mean their approaches will be effective here. There’s no need to agree on everything but we do need to start somewhere and sooner rather than later.