General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The real truth is that people across the planet are fed up of [View all]George Eliot
(701 posts)because we had low unemployment, high taxes on rich, and were ready to go through of strife to make the gains of the sixties and beyond doable. Can you say the same about today?
Civil rights on the decline. Trade unions almost decimated. Voter suppression. Abortion rights. Political churches. Evangelicals. Soldiers Underpaid women. Education degraded, polarized and expensive. Privatization over public good. Bought-and-paid-for congress. Minority/white economic disparity on the rise. Impoverishment. Homelessness. Jobs sent overseas or temporary worker visas replacing jobs in US. Gerrymandered districts for permanent voting blocks. Message control by corporations which is now global. A whole cable news network supported one candidate and censored news. And it wasn't Fox. Fox had a circus of idiots and yet they did not campaign for one over the other. Trump simply made himself available to all. Controlled media. Even the internet. And Climate change which is the final unaddressed straw.
How do these things bode well for a positive outlook on the future? Everyone has lost so much of what was gained. And there is no common support to get them back. DU is populated by people who are politically interested. Even here you see more and less informed people. I learn things here all the time. And still I am surprised how at little good liberals are often willing to accept.
But the fifties were a time when people felt they could change the country and a strong middle class emerged that responded. King demanded and drew crowds. Feminism arose and made strides. The ADA became law. Everyone was included. Today, everyone is fighting to survive. I don't have a positive outlook anymore.
Maybe we really are on the verge of another mass extinction. And maybe it is a good thing.