[Flipside]

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/23/poll.obama.media/index.html

To quote the article:

The survey also says that three out of four Americans are angry about the way things are going in the country. But three out of four questioned say that things are going well for them personally.

That's why I never trust statistics.

[Kosh]

 

[Rick James]

WTF @ those statistics.

Silly America. Maybe it's about time Canada annexed a b!tch.

[Blue Lion]

Things are going well for me now, but that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to think the country needs help.

The fact that apparently 1/4 of the population doesn't think things are going well for them IS why I don't like the way things are going for the country.

[Flipside]

Because, if anything, it's an indication of how the 'Doom and Gloom' attitude of the Media effects people's thinking. 'I'm fine, but I see such terrible things in the News and it makes me worry about the country in general', I can almost see people thinking that when asked this question.

[Blue Lion]

I'm failing to see how looking past your own life and being concerned about the country and economy, or... scarily enough... fellow citizens is a bad thing?

If the media wasn't reporting doom and gloom and Americans just went on buying SUVs and ipods on credit while everyone else is losing their jobs and homes, people would call us narrow minded and selfish (and rightfully so).

[Flipside]

It's not about buying SUV's and IPods etc, it's about much larger things than that, this is exactly what I mean. Whilst it's true that the exponential increase in technology was causing problems, the real problems were caused by institutions, not by items.

The whole problem is the fact that it IS about people not thinking of their fellow citizens, but instead, simply assuming everything they heard from the news is true and accurate, that the US is going to Hell in a Handbasket, which isn't actually true, a recession is bad, but America is far better equipped to survive it than most countries, and the fact is that people wouldn't buy those IPods and SUV's because they wouldn't have the money, so the problem would fix itself in that particular aspect. Yes, people will lose their jobs etc, but that goes on in the middle of a Boom as well, but whilst financially things are bad, I think 'being fearful' of the future is totally counter-productive especially when you compare the personal situations to the percieved national one.

[Polpolion]

So Americans understand that the county's welfare extends past their own homes. What's wrong with this? It's not like the current economic and political situations are anything to be pleased with.

[Flipside]

Actually, there's quite a few things to be pleased with, but they don't make the headlines as often, that's the entire point. Yes, there's bad stuff going down, but you have to look a lot harder to find the good stuff, not because it's exactly hard to find, but because it doesn't make good headlines.

[Blue Lion]

It's not about buying SUV's and IPods etc, it's about much larger things than that, this is exactly what I mean. Whilst it's true that the exponential increase in technology was causing problems, the real problems were caused by institutions, not by items.

The whole problem is the fact that it IS about people not thinking of their fellow citizens, but instead, simply assuming everything they heard from the news is true and accurate, that the US is going to Hell in a Handbasket, which isn't actually true, a recession is bad, but America is far better equipped to survive it than most countries, and the fact is that people wouldn't buy those IPods and SUV's because they wouldn't have the money, so the problem would fix itself in that particular aspect. Yes, people will lose their jobs etc, but that goes on in the middle of a Boom as well, but whilst financially things are bad, I think 'being fearful' of the future is totally counter-productive especially when you compare the personal situations to the percieved national one.

Let's count

Recession
Job Loss
Falling housing prices
2 wars
Failing banks
Failing auto industry
Possible nationalized banks

add onto that not so glamorous troubles like

outdated electrical grids
outdated telephone and internet lines
bridges, roads and highways that need maintenance
public schools is disarray almost everywhere
stalled wages
poor health care management overall

The fact that America is "better equipped" is all the more reason to be concerned. People have spent too long thinking "we're America, we'll be fine" That continued thinking will keep leading us down the same path.

What do you want the news to report on? How awesome it is that my bills are paid this month?

"In national news... two more banks fai... er... the auto industry requested 20b in.... um.... troop levels are increasing in Afgha.... huh...."

"In local news, most homeowners aren't in forclosure. Now let's check out last night's American Idol!"

What exactly needs to happen before it's cool for us to be worried about our nation?

[Blue Lion]

Actually, there's quite a few things to be pleased with, but they don't make the headlines as often, that's the entire point. Yes, there's bad stuff going down, but you have to look a lot harder to find the good stuff, not because it's exactly hard to find, but because it doesn't make good headlines.

Welcome back to... forever?

[Flipside]

More like 'Welcome to....always'. People always worry about the future, and even 20 years ago, people were saying 'Well, we're ok now, but there's trouble ahead, you just have to read the News', 20 years later and they are saying the exact same thing.

There are always problems going on, there are always Wars, and Financial Troubles and Services going out of date, the news is more widely broadcast now, thanks to the Internet etc, but to be honest, the world isn't getting worse, we're just getting more information about what it's always been like.

[Polpolion]

Actually, there's quite a few things to be pleased with, but they don't make the headlines as often, that's the entire point. Yes, there's bad stuff going down, but you have to look a lot harder to find the good stuff, not because it's exactly hard to find, but because it doesn't make good headlines.

Are you trying to say that Americans should try and make themselves happy by only looking at the good things? Even if all I have to go on is personal experience, things certainly aren't great. Gas prices are going back up, the lunch prices at school have literally tripled since I was a Freshmen, pretty much every extra-curricular activity/club I'm in at school stopped getting money from the school, my dad has had about 3 different jobs within the past 3 years... The list goes on. Sure, most of these are pretty menial, but I doubt that they're the only bad things going on.

But anyway, what exactly is going well in America that isn't making the news? I've noticed how everyone has neglected to say anything specific about it.

[Blue Lion]

More like 'Welcome to....always'. People always worry about the future, and even 20 years ago, people were saying 'Well, we're ok now, but there's trouble ahead, you just have to read the News', 20 years later and they are saying the exact same thing.

There are always problems going on, there are always Wars, and Financial Troubles and Services going out of date, the news is more widely broadcast now, thanks to the Internet etc, but to be honest, the world isn't getting worse, we're just getting more information about what it's always been like.

Who said it was worse?

Saying "They didn't know as much about stuff before, so they shouldn't be more worried about it now" is silly.

These are real problems that directly affect these people. Yes, they should be concerned about it.

I'm not really sure what point you're trying to make. People should place less emphasis on national troubles because they've become more visible?

[Flipside]

No, I didn't say anything of the sort, the increase of awareness is good, but the attitude of 'we're doomed' because of it is not., and that seems to be a growing prevalent opinion among a large number of people, that, even though they are managing ok, 'hard times are just around the corner'. Besides, this isn't simply a question of 'fear' it's a question of anger, anger at what, at whom, why?

[Polpolion]

No, I didn't say anything of the sort, the increase of awareness is good, but the attitude of 'we're doomed' because of it is not., and that seems to be a growing prevalent opinion among a large number of people, that, even though they are managing ok, 'hard times are just around the corner'. Besides, this isn't simply a question of 'fear' it's a question of anger, anger at what, at whom, why?

It's not a bad attitude if people are trying to do something to fix what's causing the attitude.

[Blue Lion]

No, I didn't say anything of the sort, the increase of awareness is good, but the attitude of 'we're doomed' because of it is not., and that seems to be a growing prevalent opinion among a large number of people, that, even though they are managing ok, 'hard times are just around the corner'. Besides, this isn't simply a question of 'fear' it's a question of anger, anger at what, at whom, why?

If we continue to let things keep slipping down then yes, we are pretty well doomed.

If we aren't doomed if we don't fix the problems, why are we fixing them?

[Blue Lion]

Besides, this isn't simply a question of 'fear' it's a question of anger, anger at what, at whom, why?

Government officials, for not watching enough to catch these things before they become problems

Business officials, for looking for more money regardless of what it did to anyone, or their companies

Me, for not watching both of these groups more closely.

*awaits rebuttal on businessmen point*

[Flipside]

No, I didn't say anything of the sort, the increase of awareness is good, but the attitude of 'we're doomed' because of it is not., and that seems to be a growing prevalent opinion among a large number of people, that, even though they are managing ok, 'hard times are just around the corner'. Besides, this isn't simply a question of 'fear' it's a question of anger, anger at what, at whom, why?

It's not a bad attitude if people are trying to do something to fix what's causing the attitude.

The people who are doing the fixing are the same people that are doing the angry, they're all Americans from all walks of life.

If we continue to let things keep slipping down then yes, we are pretty well doomed.

If we aren't doomed if we don't fix the problems, why are we fixing them?

You aren;t doomed because you are/i] fixing the problems, to a degree, but they'll never go away, everyone seems to expect some kind of Shangri-La one day where someone will turn round and say 'Right, that's the world fixed.', not going to happen.

[Flipside]

Government officials, for not watching enough to catch these things before they become problems

Business officials, for looking for more money regardless of what it did to anyone, or their companies

Me, for not watching both of these groups more closely.

*awaits rebuttal on businessmen point*

Well, I won't rebut you over the businessman point, but I will say that the Politicians themselves are probably pointless to get angry at, these days, they are mostly talking heads for corporate interests, however, the ultimate blame does lay with, as you say, the people who were willing to turn a blind eye for so long, i.e. The public, while everything was gravy, no-one asked where the gravy was coming from.

It's not even confined to the US alone, the world is suffering, so blaming anything local to the US may well be pointless in the first place. I suppose if there's any anger to go round, it would be at corporations who were struggling, but deliberately hid the fact from involved parties. But the warning signs were there for those who wanted to look.

Basically, the bottom line is, help those who need help, but don't get angry about what might happen to you, because it equally might not, if people fear the future, then prepare for it, but going round blaming faceless individuals in Washington or Corporate boardrooms for a problem such as this is only really covering half the bases.