Has the United States turned to sh*t?

[Fox]

"Bettereveryday" > write most negative and defeatist thread ever


Future thread ideas:

- The weather this year is sh*t
- 2017 was sh*t
- Is money even real and sh*t?

Unplug you TV, get offline, go meet real people > America is still great and any change starts with yourself

Blocked.

 

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[Vigilante]

"Bettereveryday" > write most negative and defeatist thread ever
View attachment 16844

Future thread ideas:

- The weather this year is sh*t
- 2017 was sh*t
- Is money even real and sh*t?

Unplug you TV, get offline, go meet real people > America is still great and any change starts with yourself

Blocked.

I would have liked to post more introspectively on this thread but I was too busy building and selling a company in the United States to speculate on how my life might have been better in some 3rd world country.

The American dream is still very tangible, very achievable, and very real.

I have an opus X cigar that I bought for a special occasion but time came and went and I never smoked it on that special occasion. When I get back to Tampa today, I think I will light it up on my patio under my palm tree sitting next to my fire table with a drink in hand as I count my blessings for living in a country that you can still become something.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile you might miss it.

 

[JAJT]

If you want the government to look after you while you live a normal life on auto-pilot like pretty much everyone else - then you're right. There's a lot of shit that needs to be improved in the "do nothing and still get ahead" department of the US Government.

If you have ambition and a strong internal locus of control - then you live in one of the best places on earth and it's pretty F*cking hard to deny that.

You live in a place that is better than many, many, many other places on earth, objectively speaking. Everything is so damn good that you have to complain about things that basically boil down to nit-picking on the grand scheme of things. Even the bloody homeless in North America live better than many other parts of the world.

Your government isn't stealing or destroying your homes, your police aren't demanding bribes to get out of made up charges, you aren't starving in the street, you are a country with a damn near fully educated population, you have the ability to vote and that vote means something instead of being tossed out the window while whoever is in charge proclaims another "glorious democratic victory" for themselves for the 10th, 15th, 20th year in a row. The military is organized and isn't a rogue faction hiding out in the hills waiting to descend upon your towns, nor is it a direct arm of your president to be used however he damn well feels like it. You have free speech. You can be a public nuisance and nuisance to your government without being killed for it. You have human rights - that's more than a lot of places can say. You have access to insurance for when your house accidentally burns down or your car gets t-boned by some jackass. You have legal recourse to just about every wrong that can come your way.

Call the US 'not perfect', and that would be correct but holy hell I could write all the "positives" of your country all damn day.

Put down the news and start placing your energy and effort in things you CAN control. Because you live in one of the best places on earth to exert that control.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Everything is designed to prevent upwards mobility in society

LOL, did you learn that at a Bernie Sanders rally?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Lets just say everything you say is TRUE.

Now what?

Sit around and complain more?

What exactly do you get for being right? An excuse not to work or better yourself? A comfortable crutch to lean on?

What's your goal in this conversation? To enlighten us? Or to make yourself feel better about not building a life you're proud of? I'm genuinely curious.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

You basically put words to this...

[GALLERY=media, 79]Economic Slavery Explained by MJ DeMarco posted Oct 9, 2017 at 7:13 PM[/GALLERY]

 

[C-Jay]

The USA has it's issues, and it certainly can't be called the greatest country in the world anymore, but it's still very much a land of opportunity with a ton to offer. I mean, you could do a whole hell of a lot worse.

Rather than creating a thread complaining about every bit of unfairness, why not do your small part in improving it? Or just move?

 

[Fox]

I would have liked to post more introspectively on this thread but I was too busy building and selling a company in the United States to speculate on how my life might have been better in some 3rd world country.

The American dream is still very tangible, very achievable, and very real.

I have an opus X cigar that I bought for a special occasion but time came and went and I never smoked it on that special occasion. When I get back to Tampa today, I think I will light it up on my patio under my palm tree sitting next to my fire table with a drink in hand as I count my blessings for living in a country that you can still become something.

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile you might miss it.

Vigilante I missed that call - I was traveling all day. Enjoy that smoke though buddy!

I always loved my time in the states - everyone is super friendly, you can taste the opportunity in the air, and you can easily reinvent yourself and go chase your dream.

It is a very easy time to hate on America right now. You can pick and choose from dozens of options and have all the data you need to back you up. But it is just as easy to see it as the best time ever in the most free country on the planet (and in history).

It is all about perspective. Everyday you decide what to focus on.

 

[G-Man]

@bettereveryday I decided to try to not be as dismissive of you here. My knee-jerk reaction to complaining is to either ignore it, or get hostile. What you may not know is why: I used to be a giant complainer. I used to think the US was shit, that nobody can get ahead anymore, and all that jazz, because, frankly, as @JAJT pointed out, I felt entitled to live my life on auto-pilot.

I get hostile to this, because it makes me think about the years of opportunity and youth I wasted not doing what I could have done. Sure, I saved money and went to work, but there was no point in making any kind of extraordinary effort because "they" keep "us" down, and the best days are in the past, blah, blah blah.

There's a dude by the name of Thomas Sowell whose books you should read. He introduced me to the concept of "Compared to what?"

Education is pure sh*t. Degrees usually cost a high 5 figures, 6 figures even, and it does very little to prepare you for the modern day job market, which has become the Wild Wild West.

Compared to what? My library card was free. I went to college for free. My great grandparents were illiterate.

Healthcare is sh*t. Costs are ridiculous, the system is broken, doctors and pharmaceutical companies are in bed together to get as much money possible from patients, and the quality of care is pure sh*t.

Compared to what? My grandpa died of something that can be fixed with a quick operation now,... an operation that even poor people can get because it's covered by Medicaid. A few generations before that, you could be a billionaire and get polio. When's the last time you saw somebody with polio?

Politics is as decisive as ever. I feel like people don't even care about what policy is most reasonable and beneficial to the country as a whole, they just wanna impose their ideological views and spew out rhetoric. Washington has become a sh*t show man.

Compared to what? We literally had a civil war at one point.

Capitalism and free enterprise has essentially become corporatism and a bunch of wealthy people (the elites as they say), in bed with politicians, doing whatever they can to rig the system and sustain their power.

Compared to what? You can file for an LLC in a few minutes, and have instant access to hundreds of millions of potential customers all over the world via the internet. Not that long ago, you needed major capital to have access to more than a few thousand potential customers.

Turn off the news.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I love my country.
I hate my government and the media that serves it.
Politicians are the scum of the earth, and it doesn't matter if there's a (D) or an (R) next to their name.

For the machine to work, it needs conflict.

CNN/MSM is in the business of conflict, and it's not a true representation of America. That was seen on the streets of Houston in the aftermath of the hurricane. Peace and harmony doesn't sell tickets, clicks, comments, viewers, or ratings.

 

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[CareCPA]

Dude, things are just different, on all fronts. People are afraid more than ever, you can just sense the fear, it doesn't help that this fear is being perpetuated by the news, social media, entertainment, etc.

Corruption is rampant and now visible, people are seeing how fu*cked everything is. All these leaks, all these scandals, it's crazy.

Culturally and morally, I don't wanna get too deep into this one because I might have some controversial opinions. But just look at the entertainment industry, the music industry, what kind of values and lifestyles are being promoted to the youth, it certainly isn't positive or constructive. It was never this bad.

Wars. Man, how long have we been in war? It's become completely normalized, we're used to it, we're just like "oh yeah we've been at war for nearly 2 decades, it is what it is".

Technology and entrepreneuralism is literally all that's left, but like I said earlier, the environment doesn't foster an entrepreneurial mindset. You're penalized for taking risks more than ever, everything is designed to push you towards debt. Technology is advancing at rates mankind can't keep up with.

Education and healthcare, well those speak for themselves.

It's not even depressing, I'm embracing all this, life is still beautiful. But sh*t, the future is gonna be crazy man lol

I'm going to gently make a recommendation, and then bow out of the thread - this is a little more negative than I like to interact with.
I think you should strongly consider a news/media purge.

 

[StevieB]

This thread reminds me of "longing for the good ol days".

Turn off the TV. Stop reading the news. Get off Facebook and start talking to real people everyday.

This perception of "the world (or US) is turning to shit" is fueled by the media.

It's designed (the mainstream media) to trigger emotions using partial truths and semi-real life drama's based on their (usually political) agenda, because that's what get's viewership and sells more advertisements. When I read the news, I ask myself before reading -- so what's selling ads today? -- Then there's social media. Just a bunch of people in their own bubbles and when an outsider does come in, typically just get's shouted out of the room.

People in real life don't talk to each other like that typically like they do online. The online world has simply brought out a different type of communication that we are detached completely from the other person so treat them much differently.


Don't get me wrong the US has it's issues. I completely agree with health care costs and tuition costs are spiraling out of control and the culture is turning into 'scripted dogma'.

However you're incredibly "lucky" to be born in a modern country that your basic living necessities are easy to meet.

Stay in your lane. Stay focused. Cut out the noise. Turn off the TV. Play with your spouse / kids / family / friends. Remember you don't have to be chained to a 9-5 even if you currently work one. Stay focused and remove the noise from your radar. The US is a million times better than 90% of the countries out there still as far as opportunity goes.

 

[Fox]

If you want the government to look after you while you live a normal life on auto-pilot like pretty much everyone else - then you're right. There's a lot of shit that needs to be improved in the "do nothing and still get ahead" department of the US Government.

If you have ambition and a strong internal locus of control - then you live in one of the best places on earth and it's pretty F*cking hard to deny that.

You live in a place that is better than many, many, many other places on earth, objectively speaking. Everything is so damn good that you have to complain about things that basically boil down to nit-picking on the grand scheme of things. Even the bloody homeless in North America live better than many other parts of the world.

Your government isn't stealing or destroying your homes, your police aren't demanding bribes to get out of made up charges, you aren't starving in the street, you are a country with a damn near fully educated population, you have the ability to vote and that vote means something instead of being tossed out the window while whoever is in charge proclaims another "glorious democratic victory" for themselves for the 10th, 15th, 20th year in a row. The military is organized and isn't a rogue faction hiding out in the hills waiting to descend upon your towns, nor is it a direct arm of your president to be used however he damn well feels like it. You have free speech. You can be a public nuisance and nuisance to your government without being killed for it. You have human rights - that's more than a lot of places can say. You have access to insurance for when your house accidentally burns down or your car gets t-boned by some jackass. You have legal recourse to just about every wrong that can come your way.

Call the US 'not perfect', and that would be correct but holy hell I could write all the "positives" of your country all damn day.

Put down the news and start placing your energy and effort in things you CAN control. Because you live in one of the best places on earth to exert that control.

Should contain trigger warning for OP.

 

[MidwestLandlord]

Dude, things are just different, on all fronts. People are afraid more than ever, you can just sense the fear, it doesn't help that this fear is being perpetuated by the news, social media, entertainment, etc.

Corruption is rampant and now visible, people are seeing how fu*cked everything is. All these leaks, all these scandals, it's crazy.

Culturally and morally, I don't wanna get too deep into this one because I might have some controversial opinions. But just look at the entertainment industry, the music industry, what kind of values and lifestyles are being promoted to the youth, it certainly isn't positive or constructive. It was never this bad.

I haven't been involved in a political debate online for awhile, I'm a little rusty, is this the point where I scream "MAGA!" ??

In all seriousness,

"It was never this bad"

Yes, yes it was.

The difference is now, thanks to creative entrepreneurs, you know about it thanks to the internet, social media, and citizen journalists.

I agree a lot with you, some things are bad. But some things have always been bad. Always. That's just the way the world works (as I say to my kids repeatedly)

Before current tech, we were just more ignorant to what goes on around us.

And anyone that doesn't believe Hollywood and politics haven't always been that f*cked up is choosing to be naive and ignorant. (I get it though, ignorance is much more comfortable than the truth)

 

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[G-Man]

Wow. I ignore the forum for one evening, wake up, and it’s become the comments section at CNN.

Normally, I at least have to drive into the office before I’m blessed with this kind of bitching.

#landfill

 

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[Scot]

It’s almost like OP didn’t read the book this forum is based on...

Don’t seriously see how you can complain about the economy and the gubment keeping me down on a forum full of entrepreneurs and millionaires.

Agreed with @G-Man

#landfill this dumpster fire.

 

[eliquid]

The USA has it's issues, and it certainly can't be called the greatest country in the world anymore, but it's still very much a land of opportunity with a ton to offer. I mean, you could do a whole hell of a lot worse.

Rather than creating a thread complaining about every bit of unfairness, why not do your small part in improving it? Or just move?

Oh enlightened one, I do not possess the intellect, self-restraint, and selflessness that you do, please teach me your ways. Aren't you just the modern day Gandhi/Henry Ford?

On a real note, the United States was founded on a bunch of smart motherf*ckers COMPLAINING about the British and their ways of governing.

This is my home, why would I just leave it, even if it turning to sh*t? Plus it's not that easy, what a dumb comment. I hate people when make that "why don't you just move" remark.

What if the Founding Fathers said f*ck it and decided to go to Mexico

@bettereveryday , that isnt the point of @C-Jay 's thread.

Let's turn this around from "US is shit, oh no's" to a more focused topic like "My job is shit, oh no's"

If you would have came in here and mentioned your job is shit and all the various reasons why ( like you did about the USA ), you would have got the same remarks and advice. You know, stuff like:

AppleBees's has it's issues, and it certainly can't be called the greatest diner in the world anymore, but it's still very much a place of opportunity with a ton to offer. I mean, you could do a whole hell of a lot worse ( like McDonalds ).

Rather than creating a thread complaining about every bit of unfairness, why not do your small part in improving it? Or just move to another job?

This isn't a clap back at you. When you look at it as a third party objectively, you can see where I am going here.

No one giving you advice has to live in the USA or work at AppleBee's to be right.

If you don't like your job, situation, country, wife, baseball team.. instead of complaining and doing nothing.... how about making active change that suits you better like getting a different job, changing the situation, moving, divorcing, or changing over to the Yankees?

.

 

[ZCP]

We have a young staff at the office, I am involved in the local scout troop, and I coach a LOT of kids in basketball...... I am nothing but encouraged with the group coming behind us. They live within their means, know there is no 'gold pocket watch' out there, and want to do something that makes a difference. They are connected to each other and to any information they need.

Their only downfall will be people like yourself telling them how horrible everything is and how horrible they are.....

Encourage, build, make better....... create and show a better way......

 

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[c_morris]

I think this thread is toeing the line here.

 

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[Raoul Duke]

This thread needs a bit of sprucing up.... I know! I have just the thing.

 

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[G-Man]

First of all, congrats, I genuinely mean that. That's a level I strive to reach and beat one day.

But you basically refuted my statements on the State of our Nation by talking about your personal achievements. There's more people who live in this Country other than you lol, and financial success is only one small aspect of a person's life, or a Country's state. Actually financial success is a big aspect of a Country's state, but it's one of many variables.

This is solipsism at its best lol

Dude, no one here is denying there's problems in the world. @Hyrum is just giving an example of taking action to make try to make the world better instead of complaining.

I'm guessing by the mis-use of the concept of solipsism, you probably ingest a lot of "manosphere" "decline of western civilization" type content. It's not that those guys don't have valid things to say, but you really can't take in too much of that toxic shit, or it will plunge you into doom & gloom learned helplessness just as fast as a Bernie Sanders rally will.

You got a lot of people that are trying to encourage you here, but if you get defensive, it doesn't hurt me or anyone else here. It only holds you back.

 

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[Vigilante]

thanks

i sent you all my money

because you american guys are just retarde teenagers in this world

i don't care about moderators because i live this forum

so anyway this is my last post

you guys will be destroyed by the elite of the earth

nightmares are coming

good luck

Don't let the door hit you in the a$$ on the way out.

 

[CareCPA]

Can we agree this has turned political and #landfill this @MJ DeMarco ?

 

[lowtek]

+1 for policing the content you consume. You don't have to put your head into the sand, but focusing on the negative in the world just leads to compulsively negative thinking. No good comes of it.

Keep your nose down and on your own business. Be a beacon of light for those around you. It's hard to be a beacon when you're busy listening to the doom and gloom crowd.

 

[lowtek]

Yeah, tons from my poor euro country. Tons. And what about it? I could go on and on about politics, extermination of the indigenous and external policies of some Euro and American countries, even my own country is the pure definition of f*cked up corruption. but i don't give many F*cks anymore. I bet you don't too, and i rarely ever post on forums

You rarely post on forums, but when you do... you make sure to be a ray of F*cking sunshine.

It's not that the criticisms of the state of the States are invalid... it's not that the United States hasn't strayed from the ideals of personal liberty and minarchy, it's that whining about it is completely and absolutely counter productive.

Look folks, you can be a force for change in the world, a beacon in the darkness... or you be someone who spews venom on the internet.

You can't be both.

Choose carefully.

 

[Almantas]

If you took one-tenth the energy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you'd be surprised by how well things can work out... Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won't make us happier.

 

[Hyrum]

Three years ago I was finishing up my very expensive degree, my wife and two kids were living with me in my parents basement (it is a very nice basement). Graduation quickly approaching, and I was looking forward to living the SCRIPT-ed dream! New car, new house, new 401K, all the pieces were falling into place.
Then I read a book, took a risk, and my (non-Fastlane) business is heading towards 2m in revenue in 2017 (will probably be a little short, my rolling 12 month is sitting at 1.87m with 6 weeks left FY2017). Just think about how much more I could have accomplished had I been in a non-shitty country, right?

Yes, this country still has its problems. I'm even on a non-profit legislative committee to help review state-level legislation for my industry. There are some large issues we are trying to tackle, but politics and government moves so slow it may be a few more years before it gets to a vote. So instead of waiting for the government to fix the problem, I'm in the process of building a solution myself. I suppose I could just wait until all my problems are fixed by the powers-that-be, but I'm just too damn impatient.

 

[C-Jay]

thanks

i sent you all my money

because you american guys are just retarde teenagers in this world

i don't care about moderators because i live this forum

so anyway this is my last post

you guys will be destroyed by the elite of the earth

nightmares are coming

good luck

This guy is cool; doesn't even look at explosions

 

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[G-Man]

i view the US as the biggest dumbed down country in this world.

-He thought smugly to himself, while typing on a device invented by Americans, on an internet created by Americans, in a room climate controlled by a device invented in the US.

#landfill

 

[Raoul Duke]

What happened to your 3 million a month affiliate business?

You must be up to a few 100 million by now


Also let me know which country you think is so much better...