On a scale of 1 (hell on earth) to 10 (these are the good old days), how do you rate

[branders seine]

Poll question: On a scale of 1 (hell on earth) to 10 (these are the good old days), how do you rate

life in the USA this July of 2010?

[branders seine]

1. people seriously believe this point in time merits a 9 or 10?

un-fucking-believable.

[RC]

9. That depends on how you want to read the question.

There are those that are still working to knock the props out from under whats left of the middle class.

[ProSense]

11. Maybe some of them

grew up in the projects during the 70s and 80s.

Ever seen hell?

[rzemanfl]

35. Us old folks will tell you that the downhill journey began around

when "at this point in time" came into common use, meaning "this is today's version of true."

[branders seine]

45. I'm pretty "old folks"

you whippersnapper.

We are afflicted with "today's version of true" though, aren't we?

[rzemanfl]

51. I'm thinking that term started to be used back during Nixon.

Or was it earlier?

[branders seine]

64. I feel guilty of having committed the crime of wordiness.

It's just bureaucratic/politician wordy construction for "now."

My bad.

I'm not sure when I first heard it, but I do recall its use during Iran-Contra, along with "I have no recollection." It may have been a Nixonian or Watergate utterance, but I'd have to look for a transcript. I don't remember it from back then.

[rzemanfl]

66. In another thread last night someone called me "asswipe." I

now feel like one for making you feel guilty.

[stray cat]

38. What in the world do you consider hell on earth - use your imagination!

[branders seine]

67. dead oceans,

a tiny ruling elite with all the power and all the wealth

no democracy

permanent war

permanent underemployment



all those are hell-like.

[wtmusic]

2. In the course of human events

it may not get any better than this.

[Curmudgeoness]

5. I sure hope you are wrong. nt

[RKP5637]

7. That's a scary thought, but very perceptive.

[branders seine]

8. 25% underemployment (with no sign of improving)

the worst ecological disaster in human history unfolding

global warming already too far gone to slow down

a government that is utterly incapable of serving any but the ruling elite

and it's not going to get any better than this?

holy fuck!

[wtmusic]

16. There is certainly room for improvement

but I think a few of the 3-raters might benefit from a stint in the Peace Corps for perspective.

Living in Iraq or Somalia would rank in the 1-3 range.

[branders seine]

19. your subject line made me smiledespite my own cynical self.

It's like something my grandmother might have said. I sure miss her.

[wtmusic]

22. Heh, yes that wouldn't be something I'd have said

20 years ago. Trying to not get so angry anymore, it doesn't seem to help much.

[pscot]

23. Anyone who think this is as bad as it gets

really isn't using their imagination.

[corpseratemedia]

43. I do worry about us being in a position and being so passive as a society that we will or could

become a country with third-world conditions over a period of 20 or so years. With the attitudes of those in power now, we may head that way.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. Voted 5 because on a personal level, things are still ok for me---

for now. But I have ulcers worrying about how much longer I will have luck. But I also know that much is wrong now and many people are hurting---bad, so I can't say it is higher.

[mdmc]

4. I can still afford food and rent

energy, transportation, and medical treatment are out of my range, but I guess life is good.

[tnlurker]

6. This is a 9 or 10

For those under 20. This is the best that the younger crowd will ever see. It is only going to go down from here.

I don't think my children will have it near as good as I have it now or as I have seen America in the past.

[Lost4words]

+1 nt

[EFerrari]

10. I voted a 3 because the three of us here are on the brink of losing everything

we've worked for for the last 50 years. I should say "will lose" but that's not a viewpoint I can hold and keep going.

Things are not good.

[branders seine]

15. I've lost everything twice now

once my fault, once the rapublicans'. both times I lost about 100 times more than what I have now.


endure. love one another. :grouphug:

[EFerrari]

21. That's right. Stay together. Laugh when you can.

:grouphug:

[NC_Nurse]

12. Well, if we don't change our ways we are headed to a Hell on Earth future and

these WILL be the good old days.

[Warpy]

13. It only looks terrible because of what we've lost

since the late 60s when we still had much of the New Deal propping up the middle class and we were starting to take care of all the lousy social problems we'd been stuck with for so long.

However, when we compare this to third world slums, we've still got a pretty good deal unless we've already fallen into homelessness. Then we're about an 8.

[EFerrari]

27. I know you've struggled in your life, Warpy.

And knowing that, I'll only say, my mother has lived in "third world slums" and she's scared right now.

[Warpy]

57. Anyone who has escaped it doesn't want to repeat it

and anyone who has escaped it knows we could easily go that way in this country.

I share her fear.

[sandnsea]

14. I can afford the basics

don't have any real debt, get medical care with subsidized insurance, kids all have jobs, so I'm a 7.

If I could get my income over $4,000 a month, I'd be in clover.

[howaboutme]

17. If you are rich and politically connected

the times couldn't be better. Taxpayers have been forced to enhance your wealth.

If you are just an average American trying to improve your lot and your families then the struggle is much more difficult than ever expected. The USA of a generation ago expected each generation to do better. The generation of today expects to do worse. It comes down to a country where politicians, corporations and bankers have all sold out and exploited 300 million American citizens just so the elitist few can add a couple of decimal points, from millions to billions, to their net worth.

[RKP5637]

18. I gave it a 6 for right now. I'm just keeping my head above water, treading away. It could

be a lot worse for me and I certainly recognize that. Anyway, I gave it a 6 because I could go downhill a lot and damn well know that for sure.

[FirstLight]

20. hard to say..

It's so relative... but really, there's no way we as a nation are above a 5, even on a good day.

Personally, i've "learned to live in poverty" to some extent. Can't miss what you never had. Never had a job with benefits, never made more than 17K a year (single mom with 3 kids), and haven't worked a 'real job' since 2007...and have never owned a home, bought a new car, or even furniture and electronics - usually hand me downs or thrift stores for me.
though I know others have it 'worse' than us, and that some have lost much more, and that the pinch of poverty would be far worse if we lived in a urban area instead of a rural one... it still seems pretty sucky. and I hate having to decide whether to pay the electric bill, the gas or the phone - because I can never pay all three in one month.

Has it gotten worse? well, i don't see finding a job a reality anytime soon...but i guess we can just continue to subsist as we always have. Benefits from tanf or foodstamps are not reliable either, so hopefully my extended family could take us in if the shit *really* hit the fan...

[sandnsea]

24. I can't tell you it gets better

I can tell you when the kids are grown and ok, the relief in not worrying about them makes the "scraping by" feel like utopia. My car is paid for and runs well, as does the tv. I have clothes that are 5 years old and still some of the nicer ones I own. Of course, I live in an ocean town so I can feel like I'm on vacation in about 2 minutes. When it gets down to it, in the end, none of that other "stuff" really matters anyway. Hang in there! :hug:

[FirstLight]

28. thanks

I gave up trying to be like everyone else a LONG time ago...the corporate sellout never made sense to me for the cost of a car.maybe it is my fault for not 'trying hard enough'

scary stuff is that my oldest just turned 18, and even though he still lives at home, he is no longer counted as a member of the family...
tanf went down from 780 to 600
foodstamps from 500 to 385

we are gonna have to tighten belts for the next year
I am trying to find somekind of job...but still need flexible hours, etc because i have 2 school age kids and day care is more than 1/4 of income or more, with no subsidy available.
I know my parents will help where they can, and i don;t think it is welfare fraud for them to bring me groceries sometimes at the end of the month...

but it is still a bit scary

and ya, i live somewhere beautiful, that is one of the only things that makes it bearable on a personal level. at least my kids have a place to ride their bikes, and we can hike in the woods or play in the Lake, that kind of stuff is free!

[branders seine]

30. god bless the usa

and the change for which we still hope.

[FirstLight]

32. Did you know that stupid welfare rule?

If someone buys me a gallon of milk, diapers, anything...I am actually supposed to claim it?

that is such bullshit and totally makes it impossible for anyone to get a leg up, and discourages others from helping those in need....


oh, yes...i am a welfare queen and just LOOOOVE living like this!!!!

[branders seine]

39. best of luck to you.

do you qualify for any programs in your county or state that can help with daycare?

[FirstLight]

42. not in CA

arnold insured that Choices for Children got cut and the waiting list is about 2 years long... baaaad juju


ya, maybe a 3 is about right on your scale...

[Turborama]

25. If you asked someone from a country that has an average salary...

...of ≤$5 a day to look at this poll, they'd be surprised to see these results.

[EFerrari]

26. Not really. We have people here from those places and they know

the situation is dire. There's a huge immigrant community here in San Jose and we're plugged in to it. No one is brushing this off.

[Turborama]

29. To clarify: When I said "from a country" I meant living outside the US in those countries. n/t

Additionally, the example you give doesn't definitively prove anything.

[EFerrari]

31. We have NAFTA refugees here. They come from hunger.

And suddenly being here is a lot like being there. No work, struggling every day to eat and heat and stay clean. Nothing "extra" to send anyone. The days of more work than you needed are long gone for these people, at any price.

Living in those countries isn't very different than living in this country for a lot of people.

[Turborama]

34. So your saying that the US is now a 3rd world country?

Sounds like they made a bad choice when they moved to San Jose.

[EFerrari]

37. You know what, for some people, it definitely is.

The first time I heard Thom Hartmann say that, I thought he was over the top.

Not any more. :(

[Turborama]

41. Well, at least you have got electricity, drinking water on tap and don't have open sewers

(ETA Plus public schools, food banks, some kind of social safety net and emergency rooms)

I agree that for some people life in the US might feel like living in a 3rd world country, but "feeling like" living in a 3rd world country isn't the same as actually living in a 3rd world country. I should know, I live in one.

FWIW I actually don't like the phrases "1st" and "3rd" world (it seems so class oriented and colonial) and prefer "developing", which still seems wrong.

[EFerrari]

46. You assume a lot.

One or more of our utilities (that we had to dig the trenches for, put up the poles for, etc), are out every month and there's no guarantee for next month. We're about as far away from "flip the switch" living in America as you can get. And there *are* no sewers here.

This is not your beautiful suburban house. When I say, this is like being in a third world nation, I mean this is like being in a third world nation. Maybe that's just too much to take in.

I don't like any of those terms either. They are increasingly meaningless.

[branders seine]

47. even with utilities, our grid is circa-1960's,

our investment in technology infrastructure is entirely privatized, and therefore could go away tomorrow.

our roads and bridges have not been properly maintained since the 1970's.

our sewer systems in most cities are circa-1960's or older.

our water, air and food are polluted and/or poisonous.

[Turborama]

48. I didn't mean you as in you personally

I meant you in general.

And, no, it's not too much to take in. Saying it's like living in a 3rd world nation only means something if you have lived in a 3rd world nation and can accurately compare the 2. If you have, your analogy has a lot of weight. If you haven't, maybe try living in a 3rd world nation for a year or so and experience the difference 1st hand.

And BTW your personal expeirience does not mean you are living in a 3rd world nation, it means your lifestyle and where you live is similar to living in a 3rd world nation.

[EFerrari]

60. I've lived in El Salvador and not in the upper class cages, either. n/t

[Democrats_win]

33. 10. Might as well be happy because it isn't going to get any better.

It sure could be a lot worse and besides, Republicans get paranoid when the see people smiling. What the heck: it's a 10!

[stray cat]

36. so on a scale of getting stoned by your family, rotting in a SA jail dying of TB with maggots

crawling in your food versus living in Costa Rica?

[NYC_SKP]

40. Might have gone with nine but today was a good day so I voted "Ten".

:toast:

[Morning Dew]

44. feels 5 ish to me now

somewhere down the road it may feel like a 10 and that's scary.

[branders seine]

49. 10PM Eastern, 70% of DUers (Democratic base, que no?)

rate things 5 or worse.

Nearly a majority rate things 3 or worse.

Shouldn't we all be happier? "We" "control" Congress and the White House.

[scheming daemons]

53. Extremists of either party are NEVER happy.... ever. Else, they wouldn't be extremists.

...

[Radical Activist]

50. I live in the most privileged country on earth

and more people have more freedoms today than at any time in American history. I'm not dismissing the serious problems we have, but it's important to keep that in perspective.

[branders seine]

52. 'more people have more freedoms today than at any time in American history'

I do not believe that to be factually correct. The PATRIOT Act makes that assertion absurd on its face, never mind the obvious lack of economic freedom most Americans have today.

[Radical Activist]

56. Name the decade when we had more freedoms.

In the 70's when we had COINTELPRO that was far, far worse than the PATRIOT ACT? Anytime before that is disqualified due to racial discrimination.
I guess you could make a case for the 90's, but most existing laws protecting GLBT rights hadn't passed yet. So, I keep things in perspective.

[Orangepeel]

54. So, hell on earth is like Somalia, right? A 2 is like medieval Europe?

I know that there are times when fewer people have been hurting economically. But otherwise, there isn't a better time period. There's not another time & place that I'd rather live in, so I had to rate it highly.

It's far from perfect, of course, so I didn't give it a 10.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

55. You're doing it wrong.

You're supposed to give up all sense of reason and think this is the worst place in the history of the universe.

[Skip Intro]

58. I gave it a 4 even though I'm unemployed and facing foreclosure.

Am I optimistic or what?

[lpbk2713]

59. Three

I don't see much of a future for my grandchildren. And the RWingnuts oppose every effort to make things any better.

[DevonRex]

61. This is a 10. I have a roof over my head, food to eat, my husband is

employed. I had to quit work because of health issues (again). But compared to the horrors around the world how on earth can I complain? Good lord.

[old mark]

62. 7. Very very good, going on great, but still room for improvement.

This is very subjective for me - I'm not trying to rate the life of everyone in the US, just ME.

It would be an 8 if I could find a really nice old Eldorado Cadillac for a good price....

mark

[blueworld]

63. Even a runaway train creates a nice breeze for someone. n/t

[SkyDaddy7]

65. I voted 7 because I know...

Hell on Earth is coming when the Republicans take back control of the Government in 2011 and 2013...Then many here on DU will get a sharp reminder of what life was like under REAL Right Wing GOP domination! Many here who say the Dems are right wing and Obama is corporatist will get exactly what they want by not voting, right?

...A True Right Wing Government that could care less about anyone but Corporations and stacking the courts with Christians!

That will be a RETURN to HELL on EARTH!