Big Majority Say the U.S. Is In Decline

[applegrove]

Big Majority Say the U.S. Is In Decline

May 18, 2026 at 11:54 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 57 Comments

https://politicalwire.com/2026/05/18/big-majority-say-the-u-s-is-in-decline/

A new Pew Research survey finds 59% of Americans say the country’s best years are behind us, while 40% say its best years are ahead.

[walkingman]

1. We have been in decline for the last 50 years in my opinion. ☮

[harumph]

8. Election of Reagan, inflection point.

In an alternate universe, Ronald Regan (that's his last name spelling in the alt. universe) slipped and fell 3 months before the election sustaining serious brain injury, and George H.W. Bush became the republican nominee and president. Alt. George Bush while a conservative, would not go on to back the kind of tax cuts for the rich that our Reagan did, because he did not believe in "voodoo economics," but even so, was not considered likeable by either moderates or useful enough to corporatists. Accordingly, the republicans were in disarray during 1984 and John Glenn would go on to win both the 1984 Democratic nomination and later the presidency. Glenn, having a visionary streak - probably because he was a former astronaut - and you know, science - saw the early promise of alternative energy and pushed for large investments in the solar and wind markets, thereby establishing the US as the world manufacturing and IP leader in alternative energy technologies. I have an alternate me living in that universe and the last thing he said to me at my high school graduation in 1981 was "Sorry, it sucks to be you - but I've gotta go."

[Irish_Dem]

9. Yep that was a date for the history books.

A big step toward US decline.

[harumph]

10. It sure was, and I was fresh out of HS and was seriously lacking in common sense.

But stupidity is relative and I've since forgiven myself. Even then, I did sense (metaphorically) that we as a country had come to a crossroads and made a deal with a demon.

[dave99]

15. It has always been the Republicans slowly destroying the US

[kimbutgar]

2. It's the worst in my lifetime

I thought bush 2 was awful but the orange piggy turd is horrendous and is destroying our reputation and environment to enrich his donors and himself.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

3. Barreling down the hill with Trump at the wheel.scotus and gop pushing from behind

[SheltieLover]

5. and pootin behind the gop pushing hard.

[Intractable]

4. The slippery race-to-the-bottom slope of late-stage capitalism.

[CousinIT]

6. OK. HOW MANY OF THEM VOTED FOR THAT? n/t

[0rganism]

7. I think it'll be a long crawl back from where we're headed

But if we do things the right way this time around, the country could come back stronger. Note that "if" and "right" do a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence. We fucked up reconstruction and we've been paying mortgage on that fuckup for 150 years. Among many other fuckups committed over the course of 2.5 centuries. Now everything about America is shitty and broken-down. We need to go through a rebuilding process, but first we need to clear the ledger to avoid a resurgence of white "Christian" nationalism. The world can't tolerate us this way.

[TheRickles]

11. Which means that 1% think that this year, 2026, is the country's best year. I'm not so sure about that....

[IronLionZion]

12. I can tell you exactly when I saw declines in America: during Trump, Bush, and Reagan

and I saw tremendous improvements during Biden, Obama, and Clinton.

[Grim Chieftain]

13. It has been bad before, but nothing like this.

We are in a death spiral.

[gilligan]

14. Wow

It would have been a good idea to invest in this Country instead of bombing things in other countries