What are your thoughts regarding the future of the United States?

[Bad Things]

I posed this question in another thread, but thought it should be the subject of a new thread.

 

In short, I was born and raised in the USA, but moved away to New Zealand in 2005.

In the 17 years since I've been away, I've kept up with the news coming out of there, while also staying in touch with family and friends and hearing their opinions.

 

Needless to say, there seems to be more and more bad news coming out of the US, especially over the last 6 years. 

It's now gotten to where I hear people in America openly believing that the country is heading towards civil war.

 

That said, I'd really like to know how you all view the future of the country and what you expect will happen in the coming years.

 

For what it's worth, I obviously wish you ALL nothing but the best.

 

 

 

Let's go, Buffalo.

[Boatdrinks]

Civil war wouldn’t surprise me. I used to laugh at such statements but not anymore. Liberals have gone off the deep end and despise all that made America great in the first place. If I know someone is a liberal or I suspect they are due to statements they’ve made I will not engage them in conversation beyond rote pleasantries. I’m still optimistic. However I’m worried at the same time that they are growing in number , and that’s both sad and concerning. 

[ChiGoose]

We have to find a way to turn down the temperature. Americans increasingly see each other as the enemy and silo themselves from anything that contradicts their own personal beliefs.

 

We have always had problems with polarization due to a first-past-the-post election system, but the advent of social media, a fractured news environment, and the computing power to pull off severe gerrymandering have accelerated our issues and polarization. 

 

The thing that worries me is that we don’t even agree on facts anymore. How can we find a compromise on how to fix this if we can’t even agree on what reality is? I’m not sure how we come back from that and it really worries me. 

[Andy1]

The media likes to push the division between the left and right in America. Emphasizing the division helps sell and keeps people glued to the tube. 
 

At this time, the Supreme Court is dominated by conservative justices whose views are not supported by a majority of Americans. It appears that they are on the path of overturning laws that were previously considered settled law. Gay marriage rights may be next to fall. They seem to be sending the issues back to the states or congress for resolution through legislation. What we may end up with is a bunch of issues that are patchwork of laws, differing widely by state. Where you live may have a great impact on what rights you enjoy. 

On the personal level, lots of Americans need to go back to school and take civics classes to learn how to disagree without insulting each other. People need to talk with those who are different from them. When you are laying in a hospital bed, you don’t care if your doc or nurse is liberal or conservative, or white, black, Hispanic or Asian. When you get to know other people, we all have a lot in common. 
 

Talk is cheap. Anyone talking of civil war has no idea what war is about. What the hell would we be fighting about anyway? Gay marriage? Abortion? Tax policy? Signs on bathrooms? 

Edited July 6, 2022 by Andy1

[Boatdrinks]

The fighting would be about somebody else telling you how to live: i.e you must wear a mask, celebrate lbgtq “ lifestyles “ while denouncing the Police and American Institutions. Etc etc.  Part of the problem is the media to be sure, but also a lack of understanding about our Country and its system of government. The Supreme Court is not about “ views” or whether or not other Americans agree with them. It is about the United States Constitution and its amendments. The ultimate law of the land. That doesn’t waver with the political winds or popular culture of the day. The Court does not make law, but  overturning a ruling on itself is not uncommon. We are a republic of 50 States and major differences from other States can exist within their borders. 

[Big Blitz]

It's future and the security of its freedoms are in red states and their voters. 

 

 

Red States Are Winning the Post-Pandemic Economy

 

By many measures, red states—those that lean Republican—have recovered faster economically than Democratic-leaning blue ones, with workers and employers moving from the coasts to the middle of the country and Florida.

 

Since February 2020, the month before the pandemic began, the share of all U.S. jobs located in red states has grown by more than half a percentage point, according to an analysis of Labor Department data by the Brookings Institution think tank. Red states have added 341,000 jobs over that time, while blue states were still short 1.3 million jobs as of May.

 

Behind those differences is mass migration. Forty-six million people moved to a different ZIP Code in the year through February 2022, the most in any 12-month period in records going back to 2010, according to a Moody’s analysis of Equifax Inc. consumer-credit reports.

 

The states that gained the most, led by Florida, Texas and North Carolina, are almost all red, as defined by the Cook Political Report based on how states voted in the past two presidential elections. The states that lost the most residents are almost all blue, led by California, New York and Illinois.

 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/red-states-winning-post-pandemic-economy-migration-11657030536?mod=djemalertNEWS

 

 

Blue states are a lost cause pending an inner Democrat party revolution....until then....

 

Never vote Democrat.  

 

The country can be saved.

[Niagara Bill]

5 hours ago, Boatdrinks said:

The fighting would be about somebody else telling you how to live: i.e you must wear a mask, celebrate lbgtq “ lifestyles “ while denouncing the Police and American Institutions. Etc etc.  Part of the problem is the media to be sure, but also a lack of understanding about our Country and its system of government. The Supreme Court is not about “ views” or whether or not other Americans agree with them. It is about the United States Constitution and its amendments. The ultimate law of the land. That doesn’t waver with the political winds or popular culture of the day. The Court does not make law, but  overturning a ruling on itself is not uncommon. We are a republic of 50 States and major differences from other States can exist within their borders. 

But the SC has become a political weapon and does not make neutral rulings.

[Orlando Buffalo]

8 minutes ago, Niagara Bill said:

But the SC has become a political weapon and does not make neutral rulings.

The SC has a job of interpreting what is in the constitution and deciding if it is being applied through the law that is being presented to them. The fact that so many people think the SC should be deciding law on basically any other standard shows the lack of understanding of the role of the SC in the US. 

[Andy1]

The SC interprets the Constitution based upon the justices political philosophy. This is why there is an epic political battle for who gets on the court. It is also why rulings are overturned. The founding fathers had could not foresee many of the issues the court must decide today.

[All_Pro_Bills]

21 minutes ago, Andy1 said:

The SC interprets the Constitution based upon the justices political philosophy. This is why there is an epic political battle for who gets on the court. It is also why rulings are overturned. The founding fathers had could not foresee many of the issues the court must decide today.

Agreed.  My interpretation of SCOTUS rulings of late is they have almost nothing to do with the merits or legality of the specific issue or contention and everything to do with ruling against encroachments by the judicial and executive branches on the powers of the legislature granted in Article I of the US Constitution.  Simply, not the rule but who has the authority under the system to make it.  

[Niagara Bill]

57 minutes ago, Buffalo Timmy said:

The SC has a job of interpreting what is in the constitution and deciding if it is being applied through the law that is being presented to them. The fact that so many people think the SC should be deciding law on basically any other standard shows the lack of understanding of the role of the SC in the US. 

You are correct, but they are used as a political weapon, every post election sole the intended role and modern role are different. If there was a left leaning court the gun issue may be different. I understand it is a republic, but the court has increasingly been political. If the present court decision on RvW is correct then previous decisions were wrong and should never have been made.

[SoCal Deek]

27 minutes ago, Andy1 said:

The SC interprets the Constitution based upon the justices political philosophy. This is why there is an epic political battle for who gets on the court. It is also why rulings are overturned. The founding fathers had could not foresee many of the issues the court must decide today.

Andy, the Supreme Court is not there to make decisions based on what is popular with Americans. In fact, there job is the exact opposite. They're the branch that stands in the way of tyranny of the majority. It is the Legislative Branch that is rightfully concerned about the 'will of the people'....which is why they are called "representatives".  And this is exactly the reason why the Founding Fathers set the system up the way they did. The problem is not the Court. The problem is that the Legislature has gotten so concerned with getting re-elected that they keep kicking the can over to the Judiciary to make the tough decisions. The current Court is trying to fix that. To use a biblical reference, this is like Pilate and Herrod not wanting the make a judgement on the fate of Jesus.  Make sense?

[snafu]

1 hour ago, Niagara Bill said:

But the SC has become a political weapon and does not make neutral rulings.

Has become?

 

 

[BillsFanNC]

7 minutes ago, SoCal Deek said:

Andy, the Supreme Court is not there to make decisions based on what is popular with Americans. In fact, there job is the exact opposite. They're the branch that stands in the way of tyranny of the majority. It is the Legislative Branch that is rightfully concerned about the 'will of the people'....which is why they are called "representatives".  And this is exactly the reason why the Founding Fathers set the system up the way they did. The problem is not the Court. The problem is that the Legislature has gotten so concerned with getting re-elected that they keep kicking the can over to the Judiciary to make the tough decisions. The current Court is trying to fix that. To use a biblical reference, this is like Pilate and Herrod not wanting the make a judgement on the fate of Jesus.  Make sense?

 

Yep.

 

 

[SoCal Deek]

I should also add that the Supreme Court isn’t called that because they’re a really, really, really good court. Their job is to take cases that require an interpretation of the Constitution. Everyone on here is somewhat correct….but the problem is not the Court! If you want to change the Constitution the Founding Fathers set up a process to do that, and that process has been used many times throughout our history. Once again, the problem is with the spineless, corrupted Legislative branch….on both sides of the aisle. 

[Tiberius]

12 hours ago, Boatdrinks said:

Civil war wouldn’t surprise me. I used to laugh at such statements but not anymore. Liberals have gone off the deep end and despise all that made America great in the first place. If I know someone is a liberal or I suspect they are due to statements they’ve made I will not engage them in conversation beyond rote pleasantries. I’m still optimistic. However I’m worried at the same time that they are growing in number , and that’s both sad and concerning. 

Seems Liberals are fighting hard to make sure democracy works. Voting rights, fighting racism, what do you mean they despise America? Liberals are the true Americans 

7 hours ago, Boatdrinks said:

The fighting would be about somebody else telling you how to live: i.e you must wear a mask, celebrate lbgtq “ lifestyles “ while denouncing the Police and American Institutions. Etc etc.  Part of the problem is the media to be sure, but also a lack of understanding about our Country and its system of government. The Supreme Court is not about “ views” or whether or not other Americans agree with them. It is about the United States Constitution and its amendments. The ultimate law of the land. That doesn’t waver with the political winds or popular culture of the day. The Court does not make law, but  overturning a ruling on itself is not uncommon. We are a republic of 50 States and major differences from other States can exist within their borders. 

They lied to get on the court and then made very partisan rulings. They are a joke. They are not following the constitution but their own biased views

[Niagara Bill]

1 minute ago, Tiberius said:

Seems Liberals are fighting hard to make sure democracy works. Voting rights, fighting racism, what do you mean they despise America? Liberals are the true Americans 

Libs would never fight a civil war. Their main objective is redistribution of wealth, war does not allow that. 

So your take is that fiscal conservatives are not real Americans, 

[Tiberius]

2 minutes ago, Niagara Bill said:

Libs would never fight a civil war. Their main objective is redistribution of wealth, war does not allow that. 

So your take is that fiscal conservatives are not real Americans, 

Oh, we will fight! You guys are just full of soft targets to eliminate with extreme prejudice. You think those motorcycle gangs are going to be able to drive around if any sort of violence begins? LOL, those are big fat soft targets. There are many other easy targets. There won;t be a civil war, but if they is don't think for a second you guys will have it easy, you won't. 

 

I don't think there are "fiscal conservatives." How many of the so-called fiscal Conservatives are not supporters of flooding the country with guns and controlling women's reproductive rights? Not many 

[All_Pro_Bills]

6 minutes ago, Tiberius said:

Oh, we will fight! You guys are just full of soft targets to eliminate with extreme prejudice. You think those motorcycle gangs are going to be able to drive around if any sort of violence begins? LOL, those are big fat soft targets. There are many other easy targets. There won;t be a civil war, but if they is don't think for a second you guys will have it easy, you won't. 

 

I don't think there are "fiscal conservatives." How many of the so-called fiscal Conservatives are not supporters of flooding the country with guns and controlling women's reproductive rights? Not many 

I expect what you envision when you say liberals will fight is that they'll use the force and power of government agents, law enforcement, and the military to do the fighting for them.  

[Tiberius]

1 minute ago, All_Pro_Bills said:

I expect what you envision when you say liberals will fight is that they'll use the force and power of government agents, law enforcement, and the military to do the fighting for them.  

I think we can rely on that for the most part, but Liberals are also smart and calculating. Like the North in the Civil War, or the USA in WW2, we are slow to anger, but when we are pushed we will move with the steady momentum of a mighty avalanche.