Parts of the US are turning into Third World conditions.

But don't tell the elite that. They're doing fine, and they have numbers that tell them how great everything is. Orwell meets pre-collapse USSR, with homages to a number of empires of yesteryear, overlaid with a Gilded Age veneer.

Something with as much momentum as the United States will not peacefully come to a full stop. It may continue to slide to a slow halt, or explosively disassemble in some fashion.

Turns out that voting against your own economic interests for a few decades has consequences.

I usually don't go in for snark but this is the hard truth that bears repeating. The same group that consistently derided the poor for being lazy and completely ignored their circumstances is now on the receiving end. The sad part is, I'm not sure this same group (which certainly includes my parents) will ever be cognizant of that irony. Essentially we've made the poor poorer so the middle class can feel superior to someone and ignore the fleecing they've been getting from the "job creators" who seem only to make jobs for overseas workers.

> I'm not sure this same group (which certainly includes my parents) will ever be cognizant of that irony.

Sadly you may be right, Exhibit A being the reelection of Sam Brownback, destroyer of worlds. The plutocrats behind the GOP curtain seem to have an unending stream of reactionary social issues to mobilize these votes.

Yeah they should have never succumbed to the inundation of propaganda and withering force of constant social and economic pressure to tow the party line. Shame on those people for exerting their natural rights and trusting people who sold them out.

I'm totally with you, the real people to blame here are the everyday rubes who knowingly gave power and money to a select few who always told the truth and never used traumatic events like 9/11 or economic collapses to consolidate power and wealth. All blame should exist on the stupid middle class who need to be controlled, patronized, and told what's best for them like 5 year old children.

Turns out if both parties in a two party system are co-opted by oligarchs then it pretty much isn't possible to vote in favor of your own economic interests.

Turns out sometimes equivalence is false.

As soon as I saw this comment, my first thought was "Holy crap. That sounds like Russia."

It's indeed very similar to the description of the contemporary rural Russia (excluding the suburbs of Moscow, and few other large cities). There's one important difference: there's no free public health care in the US. Not that it's great in Russia, but the US has none. :(

That's not entirely true. Hospitals here are not allowed to turn away those in need, even if they have no insurance. The stays usually turn into uncollectible debts for the hospitals.

With obamacare (Affordable Healthcare Act), the free options have been expanded quite a bit. In CA, the medi-cal is basically universally available to low income ($16,105 or under for 1 person, $21k or under for 2 person housefolds).

For Russia, if really depends how lucky you get with the doctors or how much you can pay. For much of the system there, people would be better off if it didn't exist. Speaking from personal experience.

"The stays usually turn into uncollectible debts for the hospitals." --> "The stays turn into bankruptcy for the patients"

Incidentally the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the US is unpayable hospital bills. For those outside the US, here is how it works: a simple visit to the doctor for antibiotics (the ER, since that becomes your only option) turns into a $1200 bill.

> a simple visit to the doctor for antibiotics (the ER, since that becomes your only option) turns into a $1200 bill.

WOW. It's like $10-$20 in private clinic here. Or free if you want to wait for a few hours.

Living in East Europe and work in IT to an abroad company (aka getting a super inflationed sallary) is the sweet spot of sustainable life quality - nowadays is probably the best you can find in the world. Be thankful.

What for do I want to receive 100K in the Bay area and pay an huge amount of money to get a decent house, health care, safety and schooling for my kids?

People in that situation rarely have assets that can be seized, so a bankruptcy is meaningless.

You also missed that Obamacare really does take care of a large chunk of the problem, as flawed as it is. The paid options with large assistance (Silver plans) are also fairly affordable. I'm not familiar with non-CA options, but can't imagine them to be that much different from CA ones.

>People in that situation rarely have assets that can be seized, so a bankruptcy is meaningless.

Until they want to purchase a home, purchase a car, pass a credit check to get a job, get a credit card, get a loan, start a business, or get a cell phone.

remember that a bankruptcy stays on your credit report for 7 years.

I would say having a job and a home are far from 'meaningless'

Emergency rooms must stabilize patients regardless of ability to pay; outside of that, outside of ERs doing stabilization, hospitals are not obligated to serve without reference to ability to pay.

And the ACA Medicaid expansion is something States can opt out of (for to a Supreme Court ruling) and several states have.

>Hospitals here are not allowed to turn away those in need, even if they have no insurance.

What about the mentally ill unable to afford any mental health treatment or prescription coverage?

What about the terminally ill who will be turned away unless they wait until they are in critical or unstable condition (costing the hospital vastly more in treatment costs and endangering lives)?

Also, please speak to the statistics that show health care as the leading cause of bankruptcies in the US. If free care is so available, is it pure ignorance that is causing 3 of every 5 bankruptcies in the US?

"free public health" also means preventative healthcare, not just ER visits.

Medicaid provides care for the poor. Thus the myth 'there is no free public healthcare' is false. Although technically, no care is free-- someone pays.

It isn't a coincidence. Post-1991 Russia and the US have shared some economic advisors (e.g. Larry Summers).

Ross Perot was right, and he was crucified for it.

It's a sad state of affairs made worse by undereducated, lazy people who blame the government and simultaneously elect politicians who promise to solve the problem for them by handing out a gift-wrapped "american dream" that everyone feels they deserve. I see this kind of self-destructive philosophy/behavior every day, and I'm getting tired of it. It's always someone else's fault, yet it seems the "progressives" in our country keep shouting that the solution lies in more government involvement, forgetting that the only way we get decent jobs and favorable social and family conditions is by letting people fulfill their own dreams through hard work and less government intervention. The american dream isn't a gift - it's the idea that through blood, sweat, and tears, we can shape our own lives.

From my perspective, the problem is a manifestation of a shift in popular ideals and a growing sense of entitlement.

This is a laughable takeaway. These white rural voters haven't voted themselves any government benefits, they've voted to dismantle the welfare state, destroy collective bargaining, increase the middle class tax burden, drastically increase mandatory prison sentences for non-violent drug crimes, a parade of trojan horse giveaways to the rich, etc. Now those chickens are increasingly coming home to roost at their doorstep.

I'm not sure exactly who you're referring to by "white rural voters", but it's probably not the same voter demographic to which I was referring. Their votes may affect the lives of middle-aged white Americans mentioned in the article, but as you know, not everyone's vote is represented by the policies that are put into action.

> the only way we get decent jobs and favorable social and family conditions is by letting people fulfill their own dreams through hard work and less government intervention

We tried that during the industrial revolution. Didn't quite work out that way…

Indeed. It's ironic how the new generation forgets that their grandparents and their grandparents' grandparents fought and bled so that we may enjoy somewhat stable and abuse-free employment today. Entrepreneurs will always complain about government intervention and will always spin dreams of better future "if only we could get that pesky government out of the way", but the truth is this future will be delivered only to few, and the rest will pay in blood and tears. We've been there. Be careful what you wish for - you may actually get it.

There's a role for government to play in ensuring public safety and transparency, in addition to providing national defense and perhaps a few fundamental infrastructure services. To function effectively in those areas, we don't need them trying to manage the finances of everyone, nor picking and choosing who should or shouldn't be deserving of tax breaks, subsidies, or any of the other countless benefit programs.

When people are out of work or large classes of people are struggling to get by, it's because we haven't provided a suitable environment in which people can thrive (and yes, most people can and will thrive through their own action in a healthy environment), not because the government has somehow failed to give people enough prosperity.

If it were a traditional business (without the ability to print money or use military force), the U.S. government would frankly be one of the most disastrous companies ever imagined - not just bankrupt (many times over), but mismanaged, fraudulent, and corrupt. A huge portion of our paychecks go to support this company today. And we want more of it?

Are you listening, or are you posting copypasta?

A constructive argument might be more appropriate than simply trying to deliver an insult in your comment.

I'm just confused, because you didn't address anything in my comment, you're just spewing right-wing propaganda. We tried "small government", it failed horribly and lead to widespread misery and avoidable deaths. How do you plan to make a "small government" without repeating past mistakes?

I did address your reference to the industrial revolution indirectly, but perhaps I didn't make myself clear. The industrial revolution had numerous positive outcomes including more jobs, increased productivity, and a strong economy. Yes, it also uncovered some serious problems, many of which were addressed by the government (e.g., child labor laws, better working conditions, etc). In my opinion, those are valid areas of government involvement (hence my point about government ensuring public safety), but that's a far cry from the kind of government intervention we're seeing today.

If we failed anything with small government as you say, those things were growing pains that we would have experienced with a government of any scale. I guess what I'm saying is that it's unfair to blame "small government" for the problems exposed during the industrial revolution.

Your statements are such a massive oversimplification of a system that is so endlessly complex and full of exploitation that I'm beginning to suspect it's a well formed parody. Only a person with little experience "on the ground" in the formerly middle class America could produce such a piece without a derisive snicker. I won't bore the audience with anecdata but sufficed to say: The idea that hard work is both necessary and suffient to shape one's own life meaningfully is six feet under everywhere between the coasts. The people are fooled no longer and we shall see next election if they're willing to vote that way.

I never said that hard work alone is sufficient to shape one's own life meaningfully, but it is necessary. The other ingredient is an environment where hard work can be rewarded.

But I think we both agree that few people still believe that anymore, and that's what worries me most about our country.

> t's the idea that through blood, sweat, and tears, we can shape our own lives.

Which is a lie.

Right. The US sold out its middle class to make peace with China, and isolate the USSR. And AI is coming. What will all the truckers do?