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Obamacare, you cannot count things that have yet to occur. Unless of course you are
a proven prophet.
Uh my deductible has almost doubled
my prescription co pay has gone up by 20
specialty care co pay has tripled.
I just wonder if the insurance companies are to blame
at any rate
I was originally excited about the healthcare passing
but have since did a turnaround
I drank the poison bought into the dream of having children insured and the pre existing clause.
makes you wonder exactly what the root of the problem is
I thought the more people insured the better
doesnt seem to be the case anymore.
i say go back to the table with this law
or see if the insurance companies are speculating like the oil companies are on the working class
your right the worst is yet to come with this and now we will all be working just to pay for health insurance.
all while the lawmakers have exceptions to the rule in their nice little health plan.
Man, is there any way to keep political threads in the political forums? Discussing the reasons for an alleged fall of the American Empire before it happens is a political topic, not a historical one.
I mean, aren't the three or four hundred other outlets for this discussion enough?
Man, is there any way to keep political threads in the political forums? Discussing the reasons for an alleged fall of the American Empire before it happens is a political topic, not a historical one.
I mean, aren't the three or four hundred other outlets for this discussion enough?
This is a discussion about the past 50 years of *history*.
If you don't think America has fallen, make your own thread about the rise of America. Or better yet....be a cop. Get paid for telling people what to do. Arbitrarily make rules...
To find a Golden Age, all one needs to do is to select an era and cherry pick all that was good during that time while ignoring all social ills. To prove decline, one cherry picks all that is cruddy about modern life and compares that to the list of virtues from that other era. Presto...Instant Lost Golden Age.
The cruder identification of the phenomena is "YNMYDAY Syndrome."
You know....."Why in my day they didn't rush no kids off to shrinks just because..." or "Why in my day pitchers went nine innings and didn't need no...."
Your particular bias is a fairly common one. You are unhappier than you used to be and you are projecting this as a general decline of all American life. Your disposition toward this attitude is such that I do not believe that it would be worthwhile to try and persuade you otherwise. Whatever I might cite as evidence of enhanced quality, you could, and most likely would, dismiss as not your idea of an improvement. That is because I suspect that yours is a problem of the spirit rather than an evidence based assessment of the realities.
In my lifetime, I have witnessed three successful social revolutions, racial civil rights, gender equality and sexual orientation. My guess is that the members of those groups who today enjoy the fuller rights and opportunities previously denied to them, would argue that there hasn't been a dramatic decline for them, the reverse would be true.
Of course if you, JohnA, do not happen to belong to one of those three groups, then those benefits referenced flowed to others, not to you, so your personal perception remains one of decline. Perhaps that is the problem here, you are taking a narrow perspective, your personal fortunes and opinions, and judging all on that basis alone.
Finally, I'll guess that like me, and like most everyone here on this board, you are participating because you enjoy doing so, you find it a worthwhile way to pass the time. This sort of thing has only been possible for the last 15 years or so, so wouldn't that represent a positive improvement rather than a decline?
You never answered my question about the CFR.
I love buying homes for $25,000. America is doing just great.
A condo in the Dominican Republic costs five times more.
I would propose adding to the list the Watts riots of 1965. As an isolated event, the Watts riots may not have materially contributed to any decline in the quality of American life. But as a psychological event they were both a result of and a contribution towards a certain destructive attitude, namely that if you are angry about something or dissatisfied with something, then violence is ipso facto justified. Buring down your own neighborhood obviously doesn't contribute to making your life better, but it sure is nice to give vent to your frustrations. Deep down, our nation had become spoiled, and beginning approximately at the time of the Watts riots, not getting our way became the source of such intense rage that almost anything is justified. This is actually a world-wide phenomenon to some extent. In the 1970's in Japan, Italy, Germany, and other places we saw the Red Brigades and similar groups engage in acts of urban terrorism which differed from the Watts riots mainly in being planned rather than spontaneous, but which shared a common thread of pure destructiveness based on hatred and a lack of respect for society as a whole, in other words a lack of respect for other human beings in general.
I have been considering a book dealing with America's precipitous fall from #1 in almost everything to where we are now. 1960 seems to be a good starting point.
These are the benchmark events that I am considering:
1) Kennedy assassination
2) Vietnam
3) Complete removal from the gold standard under Nixon. Inflation has been horrendous since then.
4) Reaganomics
5) Clintonomics
6) Bushbarian Reign of Terror
7) Financial collapse of 2008
8) 9/11
I realize these ideas need to be fleshed out but few want to read a gargantuan post.
The Presidency of LBJ I think was the pivotable moment when this country began to go backwards.
The Immigration Act of 1965 has altered the direction of this country tremendously.
His Great Society programs have contributed to the breakdown of the Black family which remained intact after slavery and during Jim Crow. This breakdown has lead to increased incarceration, educational costs, and welfare programs.
These programs have also helped to increase illegitimacy across racial groups making our country weaker.
I can't believe no one has mentioned this specifically:
The Tonkin Gulf Resolution.
Which gave birth to the Vietnam War. Johnson went 180 degrees away from Kennedy. Kennedy was actually bringing the men home. He apparently no longer trusted the advice of the military-industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about. Especially the CIA.
Johnson also abruptly changed Kennedy's policies in Indonesia.
Looking back, I think it is safe to say that the Vietnam War was a dis-service to this country. Though I have to respect the efforts of our soldiers who, I am sure, felt they were doing the right thing.
We forced them to fight with one arm tied behind their backs.
Kennedy.......our last real President. May he RIP.
This truly was the greatest country in the world.
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Addition to the list: Watts riots of 1965
