How should I react to America's grim future?

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Goodbye America, it's been great while it lasted.

I'm more often given grim prospects for the future of America, and I don't want to have a part in anything so horrible. I have thoughts of emigrating, but considering that most countries I hear discriminate against expats based on mental or social behavior, it gives me the double fear of being "left behind" to suffer the continued decline of America.

I think we'll have to work harder to keep it together. In general, no other country wants immigrants. I can't say I blame Germany for not wanting any more either. Yea our debt is enormous, our political system is dysfunctional, and upward mobility seems harder to achieve. I think the only thing we can do is try anyway, and vote.

Buy lots of those emergency food kits for just $499 (plus tax, shipping and handling) ?

In all seriousness, America's future may not be so grim. It's fairly likely that we are heading into a period of upheaval. And the "America" that emerges may look nothing like the one before.

It probably won't be the English-Spanish-French based America of the 1700's.
Or the misogynistic 1800's.
Nor the black & white, black vs white, binary, nationalistic 1900's.
The economy isn't likely to be plantation based.
I doubt it'll be factory based.
Probably won't be a toy of the Robber-barons, Military-Industrialists or even Wall Street Financiers, either.

The way I see it,

we're either headed toward a de facto or de jur conservative theocratic corporatocracy
or,
something socialistic, but not in the forms we've seen before nor the ones that conservatives seem to fear - nor the ones progressives want.

It sorta depends on how equal all people are under the law - and what form that takes, and whether corporations are included as 'people'.

...and whether our current form of capitalism collapses, grows or is forced into something else...

Really, the future is probably no more or less dire than at any other point in our history; we are just informed in very different ways and the latest methods of manipulation are new enough to be highly effective for a while until the generation that is growing up with them comes to adulthood and power.

Last edited by Edenthiel on 28 Feb 2016, 11:57 pm, edited 3 times in total.

About black vs. white, if everyone had the same skin color and features, we would be a boring species. It's not really an extremist nationalist argument, but a biological one.

If Cruz get elected in November, I'm liquidating everything I can before January, taking off for the UK and demanding political asylum from Great Britain, of which I've already taken Oaths of Allegiance to a very long time ago.

If any of the current crop of GOP candidates wins the White House *and* Republicans maintain the House and make almost any gains in the Senate...well, it's really going to hurt our little rainbow family in so many ways.

Not only has each of the candidates made a big show proclaiming loudly that they are more against the very existence of our family than the next candidate, they've promised to do everything they can once in office to make our lives miserable. As have GOP candidates for offices down to & including state level positions. The Party itself quietly released a referendum last month imploring all Republican politicians and candidates do the same. There will be certain legal moves we can do to somewhat protect ourselves and especially our daughter, but they'll only go so far and won't help against new hate-fueled laws. If they win, I have no doubt they'll carry through on their promises. And if they fill one, two or three SCOTUS seats her adult life in America will be unjust and unhappy indeed.

What's so grim about it?

Be realistic.

you're so lucky to be able to do that. I am envious.

realistic, eh? for a start, how 'bout-
*almost no upward mobility for anybody not already gifted and middle-class, compared to most other western nations-
*no affordable health care under any GOP administration
*decaying infrastructure [flint was just ONE example out of many!] with no PTB willing to pay for repairs
*massive unemployment due to technological obsolescence/traitorous CEOs shipping jobs overseas
*increasingly authoritarian PTB, further reduction of democratic levers of power for anybody not middle/upper-class
*increasing scapegoating of minorities/poor
*practically no efforts at insulating the utility grid against a "WHEN not IF" terrorist attack or x-flare
*increasing financial instability
*systemic corruption [top to bottom] at unsustainable levels
*exponentially increasing gap between rich and everybody else.

-It's always been that way in the US; in reality, the middle class is being eroded and people are being thrown down to lower classes with the very wealthy staying very wealthy in the cities. This is more a leftist outcome with the latter
-How much is health insurance there? It's like 80 buckaroos a fortnight here for middle of the road coverage. If similar, then pretty much everyone can afford that in the US. I think Trump supports universal social healthcare, but I'd have to verify that
-Trump wants to bring back "made in America" rather than "in China"; that should fix the infrastructure and jobs if people are willing to give up their cheap Chinese stuff and do some manual labor; he wants to tax Chinese imports to make it cheaper for "made in America"; I think he's the only one that can really help the infrastructure and job markets in the US. Everyone else wants to do the same old
-I don't see minorities or the poor being scapegoated at this time; rather, constant attacks on the middle class that so happens to be white with constant racist attacks of "white privilege" and "blaming white people for all ills"; this is from my observations as an outsider. It's the opposite as far as I can tell, and minorities are getting inordinate amounts of excuses. Case in point: Mike Brown and the whole BLM movement that started over that
-Valid point, though it's the same everywhere; I doubt terrorists could really damage power infrastructure to a serious extent. Besides, people can live with power going out for a week or so. It's fun
-Financial problems don't really exist in the first world (coming from someone that's very, very poor), but instability is always there and always will be; I don't see them getting worst or better if nothing changes
-Citation of corruption
-That's because the middle class is being eroded in the US. When you make it harder to be the middle class for everyone, you end up with the common man and the wealthy. More of "your" leftist policies won't help this. You need decent labor jobs in manufacturing local products that give a decent wage for decent work. Relying on China for cheap stuff is one reason this is happening

You guys need a "working class" that gives hard work for decent money. So, nearly everyone is able to hit that middle of the road class. It also provides a feeling of achievement, accomplishment and pride.

for somebody of my vintage and pre-existing medical conditions, a bare-bones comprehensive plan is about $1000 per month. here, the older one is, the steeper the premiums. then there is the issue of deductles/copays also, a plan like that is the minimum that doesn't sock you for $5000 + per major procedure/$50 per visit, which ALL the cheaper plans do at a minimum.

also wants to do away with the minimum wage [presently $7.25/hr. which will no longer pay for a flophouse rental in most parts of the nation and leave enough left over for anything else including health care and food and utilities. btw most landlords will not rent to anybody who makes less than the amount necessary for the rent to take more than 35% of one's paycheck after all expenses, considered poor risk tenants. multiple tenants in one rental unit are also frowned upon. with this in mind, many capitalists want to be able to get away with paying as little as possible, many restaurants pay as little as $2 per hour for their waitstaff, counting on tips to make up the rest, but for the dirty/factory jobs they want this to be the standard all around, tips or no tips.

sir, you simply are not paying attention - granted, our lamestream media fall down on the job regarding the reporting of anything of concern below the middle class, but what leaks through is sufficient to tell you entire towns are punishing their poor residents, like ferguson MO for example which is being sued by uncle sam for their refusal to cut out the disenfranchising practices of financially preying upon their poor citizens. instead of taxing their middle and upper classes they fine the hell out of the poor for picayune stuff, those who can least afford to pay. people don't riot at routine racism but they will riot if they keep getting the crap kicked out of them via the new jim crow tactics of revenue collection in ferguson.

fun?? TBH, that is cold and unmirthful and also ignores the real threat of north korea [enabled by china et al] with their missiles which eventually can reach us and launch an EMP attack and basically send us back to the 1800s for a very long time. this is NOT imaginary.

and aside from The Rump*, no GOP candidate is even paying lip service to such.
*only lip service, no substantial policy proposals.

Well I have already come to terms that I won't be moving out of the country, should things continue their decline. For one yes there is the aspergers/other mental conditions that could be problematic for emigrating...also I'm an american I don't see the rest of the world opening their arms up to an influx of american immigrants based on the somewhat negative image this country has.

But I have been thinking about different survival senerios and what not...and how to survive them.

Trump has his clothing lines manufactured by cheap labor in china and mexico, and he's going to bring 'made in america back?

How will Cruz have a chance?

It's not just America, so moving won't help.

a probable brokered convention will install the ooze as the GOP candidate, with Rubio as VP, via the expected GOP skullduggery [widespread voter disenfranchisement in GOP states, including vote machine hacking, harassment of voters, closure of polling places in minority/poor neighborhoods, misleading mailers like the ones cruz sent to voters in Iowa during the primary season there, the usual evils], all of which will insure the ooze and his stooge are elected with a comfortable margin. I will call those two "the terrible two."