By now, America's leadership has proven it's worth, or lack thereof, but let's take a look back and let history speaks for itself.
When someone makes the claim or simply believes America's leadership to be great or even good, they have little (to no) data that could prove them correct. Inequality is on the rise, inflation is forcing more Americans into poverty. Homelessness is growing by leaps and bounds. Longevity is decreasing. Stress is making suicide more appealing. Pharmaceutical companies are decreasing the gap between those overdoses cause by their products and those caused by illegal street drugs. Higher education is becoming less attainable for more people. The rent's too damn high. The list goes on and on and on and is growing.
While, the problems that more Americans face every day change, and by "change", I mean worsens, the one constant in too many instances is our leadership. As for those elected to their positions in leadership, the United States has been saddled with people like Nancy Pelosi, Mitch McConnell, Chuck Schumer and others who have been in office for decades. Both Pelosi and McConnell have overseen America's decline since the 1980s. Anecdotally, America peaked in the that decade, so for me it's hard to avoid the connection between leaders like Pelosi and McConnell and the downward spiral of the American empire. And, then there are the unofficial leaders like Larry Summers, who helped wreck this nation financially for most and continues to do so in his attempts to widen the chasm that is inequality.
When you're faced with never ending wars, banks collapsing the economy, companies destroying the environment, other companies stripping this nation's resources for personal gain and an overall malaise that festers nationwide, it's easy to believe America's best days are long gone. America used to be fun. You didn't have to be rich to enjoy living here. You could support your family with a single job. You could afford to take your kids on vacation instead of trying to appease them with a staycation..
Now, I realize that many of the problems we face were created locally, which I will touch on later, but it is national leadership that sets the tone and provides the direction for the states and regional governing bodies. The corruption (whether incorrectly perceived or not) on the Federal level trickled down to the states, cities and counties in which we all live.
As a "for instance" in regards to impacts that local governmens have on our lives, I live in Miami where it feels like our city leaders charge us for the weather. I say this because as much revenue as Miami should be receiving in taxes, its leadership shows little concern for the residents here. Rent is too high, especially for new entrants into the workforce. Jobs only pay more due to the affects of COVID lockdowns, and even then, life is hard to pay for let alonepay for any activities that could be labeled as play.
Amenities that once made your time away from work in Miami enjoyable have all but disappeared: Festivals like the bed races, Calle Ohco, the Goombay festival and more are no more. They have been replaced by longer working hours and leisure activities that are too costly for most of the people that live here. While Miami has always been promoted as a tourist destination, you'd be hard-pressed to find a non-Miami American making enough money to bring their family to the sexiest city in America.
And, before anyone says "You can always move.", please provide information on which cities pay enough to, not only survive, but thrive and provide enough income for affordable and enjoyable leisure time.
As for what you can do to remedy bad leadership, visit the following website before your next visit to your local polling station. Ballotpedia.org provides information about most politicians in America. From the policies and laws they support and have supported to their net value, you can find information on national, state and local officials. Utilizing resources like this and others will help you make an informed decision and hopefully keep you from voting against your own best interests.
The Regaining American Democracy (RAD) dictionary word or phrase of the day.
Ignore Rant - noun
Any argument devoid of facts, anecdotal evidence or empirical data.
