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And I don't mean in economic or military might, I mean in social and political infrastructure. I actually am a little scared for the US in the sense that it really has revealed some big issues that have just been swept over for decades, that everyone know about, but no one is doing anything about it. The pandemic has put a spotlight on:
-How our healthcare system is flawed and failing the poor.
-How expensive higher education is (hitting students hard on what they are paying for an online education)
-How divided we are. If you look at the blue states vs. red states there is a difference in the attitude of how they handled the pandemic. Add to that the protests. It really shows we are pretty divided. Also, each state doing their own thing shows we are more fragmented than anything else.
-How it's too much of a dog eat dog country. My cousin who owns a small business was saying how hard it was to get help from the government during this time, yet small businesses in Canada are getting government money to help fund them for 70% of their expenses.
It just seems like this pandemic has put the spotlight on some of the US weaknesses that has been affecting our society. I know no country is perfect, and this is an unprecedented event, but it's really sad to see how our country has taken a hit in quality of life and how we have been exposed during this pandemic. I blame both parties for getting us here and I also blame many citizens of this great country whom only think of themselves and not their community.
More people care about sharing and talking about Tiger King than they do about their communities.
How has the healthcare system failed to treat low income Coronavirus patients?
Sure, there are a handful of sensationalized, overblown fake-news media tales about one or two people...
But do you have anything of substance to back up this claim of our healthcare system supposedly breaking down and killing penniless folks with Coronavirus?
Or are you just parroting what you saw on Facebook and heard on cnn?
This country has been just barely sliding under the fence for decades, unprepared in the least for a national emergency. Well, now the chickens have come home to roost and America ends up with egg all over its face in front of the entire world. American history will have a new designation for eras, especially if Trump wins 2020: BT and AT--before Trump and After Trump. BT will look like the good ol' days. AT will look to historians as the period when America fell to the lowest depths it possibly could. I foresee a time when Americans will start invading Central America and Canada in search of a better life.
Last edited by thrillobyte; 05-05-2020 at 02:38 PM..
-How divided we are. If you look at the blue states vs. red states there is a difference in the attitude of how they handled the pandemic. Add to that the protests. It really shows we are pretty divided. Also, each state doing their own thing shows we are more fragmented than anything else.
Actually I think the above is a positive thing (and is somewhat reflective of both a strength and weakness of today's America). With states (and even counties/cities within those states) taking differing approaches, it allows us to actually observe and evaluate which methodologies were more or less effective. This type of information is invaluable and would be lost if we took a one size fits all approach. Obviously the downside is that such decisions will have negative implications when the wrong approach was utilized, but as a society we are all better off for it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thrillobyte
Well, now the chickens have come home to roost and America ends up with egg all over its face in front of the entire world.
Well that's the way it's being portrayed, but the reality is that the vast majority of the US is handling things just fine.
We are seeing a lot of layoffs, indicative of a malfunctioning and precarious economy. If the precariousness of the economy is applied to housing, it is precisely why renting makes more sense than buying and putting down roots.
The problems that we are seeing in housing, whether renting or owning, are just mere symptoms of a larger disease of a malfunctioning culture.
The key word forthcoming is transience. With jobs and romantic relationships extremely transient in the current era, it does not make sense to own a home. Home ownership is based upon stability for an extended period of time. When home ownership makes less sense, renting is a more viable option.
One of the lessons of Coronavirus should be how jobs can disappear in an instant. I work in a field that is very layoff prone, even in good times. Why should anyone commit to a mortgage and all the other pitfalls of ownership with a transient job market? Let's say someone buys a home, gets laid off, and the next job that they get is not within commutable distance of that home. Now someone has to sell a home, which is somewhat challenging even in a good market.
Romantic relationships are about as unstable as jobs. Marriages break up at the drop of a hat. Many romantic relationships don't last long enough to get to the point where marriage is a feasible option. Given the probability of divorce in one's lifetime, it doesn't make a lot of sense to marry in this era. Also, Coronavirus will up the incidence of divorce in the short to medium term.
Stable romantic relationships and stable jobs are prerequisites for home ownership. They don't exist anymore.
Stable relationships and jobs enable wealth building and savings to weather economic recessions, either as a renter or a homeowner. This is part of why there are problems with renters now and there were problems with homeowners in the 2008 downturn.
I can't complete this line of thought without discussing high consumer debt loads and high corporate debt loads, which are making the current downturn even more painful and necessitating drastic governmental stimulus measures.
After World War II, the U.S. became more suburban in nature. Much of the suburban model is unsustainable and fueled upon consumer debt. As the United States economy has changed from a greater emphasis upon manufacturing and production to professional business services, the basis of getting money has changed. Feminism has brought more women in the labor pool, and with an increased pool of labor, the salary for each individual act of labor has diminished. In white collar office settings, employers in the professional business services realm ask for more and more from employees while paying them less. This encourages the amount of household debt to increase in order to keep up appearances. Additionally, when you have two adults in a household working soul killing white collar jobs, their general happiness diminishes. If they are not disciplined enough to be committed to fitness, which can help marginally with getting through the soul killing job, they will become more obese, which will also contribute to their unhappiness. Two people working soul killing jobs and not nurturing their own relationships will lead to a divorce. The probability of divorce for those who get married is as high as ever.
In both the cities and the suburbs, the main reason for flashiness is the transience of relationships. People either need to attract new relationships or keep current ones alive. Everyone is in hardcore sales mode at all times because few relationships are actually safe.
Coronavirus exposed a lot of cultural decay that was beneath the surface.
And I don't mean in economic or military might, I mean in social and political infrastructure. I actually am a little scared for the US in the sense that it really has revealed some big issues that have just been swept over for decades, that everyone know about, but no one is doing anything about it. The pandemic has put a spotlight on:
-How our healthcare system is flawed and failing the poor.
-How expensive higher education is (hitting students hard on what they are paying for an online education)
-How divided we are. If you look at the blue states vs. red states there is a difference in the attitude of how they handled the pandemic. Add to that the protests. It really shows we are pretty divided. Also, each state doing their own thing shows we are more fragmented than anything else.
-How it's too much of a dog eat dog country. My cousin who owns a small business was saying how hard it was to get help from the government during this time, yet small businesses in Canada are getting government money to help fund them for 70% of their expenses.
It just seems like this pandemic has put the spotlight on some of the US weaknesses that has been affecting our society. I know no country is perfect, and this is an unprecedented event, but it's really sad to see how our country has taken a hit in quality of life and how we have been exposed during this pandemic. I blame both parties for getting us here and I also blame many citizens of this great country whom only think of themselves and not their community.
More people care about sharing and talking about Tiger King than they do about their communities.
Seflishness, Sociopathic behavior (And reward for sociopathic behavior) and Greed have over the past few decades have ran this country into the toilet This pandemic did indeed expose all the underlying issues that have been decimating the country for years, that people turned their heads to . There was a time America was legitimately the Greatest Country in the World. Its borderline top 7-8 at this point. Straddling the top 10
How has the healthcare system failed to treat low income Coronavirus patients?
Sure, there are a handful of sensationalized, overblown fake-news media tales about one or two people...
But do you have anything of substance to back up this claim of our healthcare system supposedly breaking down and killing penniless folks with Coronavirus?
Or are you just parroting what you saw on Facebook and heard on cnn?
Where did I say its killing penniless folks? I think YOU are the one overblowing what I said. Show me where I said that. Please quote where I said it's killing penniless folks.
The point I am making with it, if you think about low income essential workers, most of those don't have healthcare insurance. So in a time of crisis, those low income essential workers are being exposed the most day in and day out, are the most vulnerable to catching it, yet if they do they don't have healthcare.
It's not even in the low-income folks though. My brother-in-law lost his job in January. My sister and her daughter were on his insurance plan which was now lost because he lost his job. My sister is a small business owner. So on one income she was paying close to $1k a month to over them all. That was okay because his unemployment would be temporary and they figured by March or April he would get a new job. Well the pandemic hit and guess what? Her business has tanked, he can't get a job because the economy has tanked, so now her and him are uninsured to save money, and they are making sure to keep my niece with insurance that cost $500 a month. How is that feasible for anyone especially during a time like this? There should be some type of public healthcare insurance that is made affordable even free for those who are struggling.
Last edited by thinkertinker; 05-05-2020 at 02:43 PM..
How has the healthcare system failed to treat low income Coronavirus patients?
Sure, there are a handful of sensationalized, overblown fake-news media tales about one or two people...
But do you have anything of substance to back up this claim of our healthcare system supposedly breaking down and killing penniless folks with Coronavirus?
Or are you just parroting what you saw on Facebook and heard on cnn?
It’s funny. Whenever I read “fake news” I just tune out. Maybe you were getting at something in your post, but I suppose I never know because you lost me at the “fake news” knee-jerk, non-thought sloganeering. Hopefully, more people will just tune out the name-callers and the non-thinking slogan-spouters.
It’s funny. Whenever I read “fake news” I just tune out. Maybe you were getting at something in your post, but I suppose I never know because you lost me at the “fake news” knee-jerk, non-thought sloganeering. Hopefully, more people will just tune out the name-callers and the non-thinking slogan-spouters.
Yawn. Nothing to see here ....
I ignore people who aren’t intelligent enough to recognize bias and dishonesty in the media.
Fake news is real and so is your condition known as TDS.
I’m well rested so won’t bother with ending this with a yawn.....
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