Is the U.S. Getting Better or Worse?
Do you believe that the United States is becoming better or worse than it has in the past, and why do you believe that?
Please provide specifics and omitt rhetoric. It is your choice to determine what period of time you want to compare it to (the country's founding to now, the 1930's to now, etc).
Better, because...
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Worse, because...
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I mean, it's not really getting better just yet, but I do see that the public is more aware now than they used to be. People are questioning the government more and advocating for each other. I remember when I was in elementary school, we all had blind patriotism when we said "God Bless America" and recited the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. It's still great to be patriotic, but I can see that people are more willing to criticize the government as a whole and I can see immense change coming sooner or later. I think a huge part of this was the advent of the internet- now, we can share stories of police brutality like wildfire and campaign for leaders with debate or conversation instead of adspace on the evening news. I look forward to how things develop in the near future. Side: Better, because...
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America is now worse than it has been at any other time in its history - barring the Civil War (but hey, how much worse can it be than the killing of almost a million compatriots?) of course - and the proof is in the regression that is now occurring. After a century of progress in overcoming disenfranchisement, racism, xenophobia (fear of witches turned into fear of Catholics turned into fear of Irish turned into fear of Jews turned into fear of Communists turned into fear of xenophobia (?) turned into fear of Muslims), it is now readily apparent that all was to little avail, for such a huge division of the population is now embracing the demagogic, populist would-be politician and his divisive rhetoric. Meanwhile, looking at the last fifteen years, the greatest disappearance act in the history of American privacy and civil rights has occurred, mostly in the name of fear from terrorism and has led to wars which have only gone to radicalize the local populations and the development of fear on the parts of both the masses and their leaders against anything even slightly off-kilter. Something has to change or 1984 will look like a utopia. Side: Worse, because...
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While I agree that currently we are having a bit of a dip, I feel like it is important to look at the bigger picture. Even after the Civil War, racial minorities didn't receive full voting rights until around 45 years ago. Violence in this country is down substantially from what it was 20 years ago, poverty is down (though wealth inequality is up), overall education is up, etc. I agree that we aren't in a great position at the moment with this current election cycle, but the purpose of this debate was to try to make people think critically about all the factors that go into deciding a country's current state, particularly when it comes to the treatment of groups that a given poster isn't a part of. Side: Better, because...
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