Are our glory days behind us? Yes, I think they are.

[EastTexasRancher]

I sit here as a 55 year old person, looking at today's political, moral, and economic landscape. I truly fear that our country is in decline, and we're not far from collapse, if we're not already going down that slippery slope on a greased slide. It truly saddens me as to what I see going on today. A differing opinion has you labeled as a hater, being successful has you labeled as privileged, being a gun owner has you labeled as crazy, etc.

I think we're there: the stupid people have brought us down to their level, and are now whipping our rear with experience.

The only solace I take is that I retire here in a few short years, then will retreat to the woods where hopefully I can find refuge with like-minded folk.

My father would be exasperated if he were alive today.

[dlh]

I sit here as a 55 year old person, looking at today's political, moral, and economic landscape. I truly fear that our country is in decline, and we're not far from collapse, if we're not already going down that slippery slope on a greased slide. It truly saddens me as to what I see going on today. A differing opinion has you labeled as a hater, being successful has you labeled as privileged, being a gun owner has you labeled as crazy, etc.

I think we're there: the stupid people have brought us down to their level, and are now whipping our rear with experience.

The only solace I take is that I retire here in a few short years, then will retreat to the woods where hopefully I can find refuge with like-minded folk.

My father would be exasperated if he were alive today.

I am about ten years older than you and totally agree. I am saddened by the increased drug use (think meth and other drugs) that are destroying families. I read about terrible crimes in the newspaper and think--if only those folks had gone to Sunday School and learned some morals or had good mentors while growing up. The torch passes to the next generation---scary stuff.

[rotor]

I am 20 years older and think you may be right. I hate to say it but perhaps there may come the day we have to fight to maintain our constitution. Right now the democrats plan is open borders to Hispanics that vote pretty much in block as democrats. Therefore it is only a matter of time. I am not against Hispanics but just stating the truth that they tend to vote (as do Blacks) for democrats. Eventually it is a number game.

[crazy2medic]

I believe we are headed for a bonfire of the insanities

[EastTexasRancher]

As Alexander Fraser said:

“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury."

[philip964]

I am older and I am glad I am older, I realize I am not leaving my son a great country to live in. Trump was really our last hope. But after his election the knives came out like I had never seen before. I realized then, that unless he is successful in November, there is really no hope.

I feel in 30 years we will be a third world country. Rich and most everyone else working idle or working poor, paying all the bills.

[OneGun]

I do not know if anyone here will agree with me, but I believe social media has destroyed the fabric of our society. People have made saying vile things about other people socially acceptable. People say things they would never say face to face. In addition, people have become hyper sensitive about social causes and have abandon rational thought for pure emotional responses.

What happened to we agree yo disagree? Now it a scorched earth approach to people with opposing viewpoints.

[locke_n_load]

I'm 30. We're not lying over and dying. There are still those of us, even millennials, who hold onto traditional values. Things are changing, and not usually for the better, but the USA is still the most free country on the planet. Believe it or not, Trump is/was not our last chance. He is a businessman, and runs a good business side of the USA. But he knows nothing of the Constitution and Freedom.

Hopefully, some Supreme Court justices retire, or leave the bench otherwise, and Trump actually appoints some real conservatives or libertarians (notice I did not say Republicans - they are not true conservatives anymore).

And if our society does ever collapse, hopefully we get back to our roots - self reliance, individualism, and personal Freedom. I intend on instilling the skills in my children (and continuing to hone my skills as well) so that they and I will be there when/if the dust settles.

We also need people willing to get out there and be a voice in our state politics - how many of you have gone to a 2A rally, voiced your opinion at the capitol for bill hearings, etc.? Especially those of you that are of retirement age and don't have to miss work? State level is just, if not more, important than national politics.

Keep fighting the good fight.

[Maxwell]

I am 20 years older and think you may be right. I hate to say it but perhaps there may come the day we have to fight to maintain our constitution. Right now the democrats plan is open borders to Hispanics that vote pretty much in block as democrats. Therefore it is only a matter of time. I am not against Hispanics but just stating the truth that they tend to vote (as do Blacks) for democrats. Eventually it is a number game.

Actually I think they are voting for Socialism, though they may not realize it or care.
"In socialism, everybody would have free access to the goods and services designed to directly meet their needs and there need be no system of payment for the work that each individual contributes to producing them. All work would be on a voluntary basis." Quoted from http://www.worldsocialism.org

In other word, nobody has to work unless they want to but even if they don't work they still get all of the benefits of those that do. They just don't understand the flawed logic in that...

[jb2012]

The future sure looks pretty dark right now, hopefully it doesn’t absolutely collapse, but I know if it does I’ll be able to handle myself.

[cirus]

I think it's just a matter of time. Open borders, no national language anymore, no sense of morality, welfare abuse. Voting and protesting won't fix it. I'm afraid there's only one way to fix and it ain't at the ballot box.

[Beiruty]

Demographics is changing. Technology Vs Labor force is changing. Robots are coming. Good paying jobs are going abroad. Too much wealth in few hands (not saying I am pro communism). The disparity between rich and poor is growing wider.
All of those are social problems that need social solutions, not necessary socialism.

[Bitter Clinger]

The country is being destroyed by cultural Marxism, it is not simply entropy, it is by design. And our own prosperity helps to fuel it.

[chasfm11]

I'm 20 years older than you and have a different perspective. We are allowing ourselves to be the victims of the media and have abandoned our own history.

We have problems. I have been concerned about the takeover of the world by the Elites and the Globalists. The divide between the rich and the poor is definitely a problem. The US might, in fact, being following the Roman road to ruin. The rise of the number of people who prefer socialism over democracy is distrubing.

On the other hand, you and I live better than our parents and our grandparents. Until recently, our life expectancy was improving. We can go places and do things that our grandparents mostly dreamed about. How can we ignore the fact that one of the worst concerns with our poor is obesity?

Things are terrible? Worse that the great depression? Worse than the Civil War? Worse than WWI or WWII? I will not tell you that our country has the will to survive that it did during all of those times but I will say that the last Presidential election gave me more hope of that than I had had for 20 years before it.

Here is my prescription. Read history. Require our kids to read history, not be fed the watered down pablum that passes for history in our public schools. If we've lost our way, it is because we've abandoned our understanding of the past. Our Framers did us a wonderful favor by gathering the understanding of many of the previous documents that limited rulers - their history - and forging them into a better version. We've allowed that understanding to be replaced. It is still there, for all to see if we just work at it

My gravest concern is for our morality. I'm less concerned about our similarity to Rome and more concerned about our similarity to Sodom and Gomorrah

[Oldgringo]

For all the above reasons, I am glad to have lived in the greatest country in the world for the past 76 years. Good luck, y'all younguns'. Hope it continues to workout for you.