And it may very will be a quick fall. A lot depends on the November election. If Donald Trump and most Republicans are not replaced, then, quite frankly we are all doomed and our entire way of life will quickly disappear. If Democrats are elected, if people come together to help each other out -- as they are already doing, which gives me a lot of hope -- then there's a chance.
But in the long run, this country will not be on top forever. That's just not the way it works. We reached our high point on November 21, 1963. From there it's been all downhill. Well, not exactly. We plateaued for a long time, until about 1980. With Ronald Reagan the downward slide clearly began.
Right now we are in a Crisis that will change everything. I urge everyone to read The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe. It came out in 1997, so there's a lot of guesswork, but some if it is jaw-droppingly prescient.
Essentially everything will be different once we are through this Crisis. It's my considered opinion that we'll come out with some kind of universal health care, possibly a universal basic income, perhaps SNAP (otherwise known as food stamps) for all, reduced student debt and greatly decreased costs to attend a public college or university. For the next couple of decades there will be a sense of cohesion, a sense that we are all in this together and we must help each other out. Taxes for the very rich will be raised. Even moderately higher income people may well pay higher taxes. But for the most part we will all be okay with that, because we will all understand how vital it is to rebuild, to give everyone a chance, to make sure that no one starves or is homeless.
It won't be a perfect world (a perfect world can't exist here; it might possibly exist in some other plane of existence, but that's not the topic of discussion here) but it will be a better world.
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