It's interesting that right now always seems terrible. Go back to the teens. People thought it was the end of the world when the Great War came along. Intellectuals like Eliot wrote as if civilization itself was ending. In the 60s, everyone was convinced this was the worst of all possible timelines, with the war and domestic terrorism. I look back on the 80s with fondness since that was my childhood, but older folks talk about how scary the times were.
I think it will be the same for now. In twenty years we will look back and laugh, reminiscing about how carefree the 2020s were as oppose to how terrible things are right now in the future. Everything looks more rosy in hindsight.
That's not to dismiss the bad things happening right now. The two old men fighting, one of whom has been setting some precedents that could be very dangerous to the republic down the line. Congress is perhaps even more corrupt than in even the gilded age when everyone knew who the real bosses were:
Money is king more than ever before, most easily seen in healthcare, where hospitals are making billions a year, yet raising prices so much that even the middle class can't even afford treatment anymore. Even in the 40s when FDR tried and failed to introduce socialized healthcare to America, the industry at large still viewed it as a human right and didn't price the poor out as they do now.
I agree with you, I do see a large change coming. Young people are more active and more involved already than anyone in my generation ever was. The fact that there is talk in many right-wing circles of trying to raise the voting age tells you all you need to know about that. There will be change and it will happen soon.
The suck doesn't last forever
Oh yes, I agree that the past always seems like it was better. Previous generations dealt with change and innovation but just not as much of it or as quickly as what we're exposed to today. Speaking of Congressional corruption...there's an account on X (Twitter) called Quiver Quantitative, it tracks the personal investments of members of Congress. Many of these people sit on committees that are privy to lots of information that the general public doesn't and they're using this to make winning stock trades and get insanely wealthy. Insider trading in every sense of the word.
I really try to stay off Twitter these days. It's just constant fighting on there. Mastodon is a much more mild environment. That said, I followed that account—thanks for suggesting it. I am in total agreement with AOC on this issue—Congressmen should not be allowed to hold any stock. You want to be elected to Congress? You sell your holdings first and if you are caught trading with any secret accounts or through spouses, you are booted out of Congress. Unfortunately as things stand, that will never pass, but I hope she keeps bringing it up.
You're welcome. I couldn't agree more, there's a huge conflict of interest involved with letting lawmakers invest in companies they're regulating or doing business with. That's just one of many things that need to change about our government but it's a big one.