Top 5 problems in America today.

Page 6 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

OREOSpeedwagon

Diamond Member
May 30, 2001
8,485
1
81
1. No Personal Responsibility
2. Incredible amounts of debt among individuals
3. Lack of care for the environment
4. Obesity
5. Fear of Terrorism
 

saymyname

Golden Member
Jun 9, 2006
1,213
0
0
Originally posted by: 6000SUX
Originally posted by: saymyname
1. Education
2. Cost of living
3. Prostitution is illegal
4. Politics
5. Environmentalism/Alternative Energy

You really think that's one of the top 5 problems in the country? Why? I'm not ridiculing your choice, just curious.

I was listening to the news this morning on Fox and they were making a big deal about how Germany imported sex workers from Eastern Europe for the World Cup.

The only reason prostitution is illegal in this country is because of religion. We're way too religious in this country. More secular countries, or at least countries that are much better at seperating church and state than we are, don't supress the oldest profession known to man. I was trying to be subtle tieing in religion to one of the problems with this country. From abortion to prostitution the religious nutjobs continue to try to supress people's rights to do what they want with their bodies.
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: Amused
Originally posted by: spidey07
Straight truth:

1) Political correctness
2) Godlessness
3) Personal responsibility (the outcome of #1 & #2)
4) Dual income parents
5) "I deserve" mentality

Common sense and personal responsibility are NOT the exclusive domain of religion and deity belief.

Read some Ayn Rand, for fsck's sake.

I'm surprised actually. You and I agree on so many aspects of this topic for years now.

We all make choices/decisions and should reap the consequences. When you remove those consequences comes the problems. Difficult to convey my point on a forum.

aye, while I agree with some points of yours, godlessness is NOT one of them. why? why else should I believe that my not believing in a god, and a somewhat large number of people in the US, is the reason our country is bad. We don't fight wars due to religious aspects like many countries do, we don't quarrel much on the street due to opposing religious beliefs, and we certainly don't.... wait, i had another point but im falling asleep.
i personally believe that religion's time has come and gone. it is causing more harm than greater good in our society. while i personally believe god does not exist, there can easily be a god and not have a religion following him. Why must religious folk preach their word? Why must there be pain and the belief of a purpose in life other than to mate like rabbits? every other species in known existence does just that, why are we so special? Because we have a believed special existence in which we know we have this thing called a life? Can that NOT be artificially created in the mind? Maybe dolphins think the same thing as we do, and observe our behavior as peculiar. We have a bit more brain and brawn to interact with the world, but that can be meaningless in life other than being a tool to provide for ourselves and our family (offspring, the typical mate for life).

but past that, say there is something more than mating to our life. somehow, someway. i think religion had been a tool created to unite those citizens of great empires and turn them into pawns to spread a word and expand the empires. maybe it was more simple than that, or more complicated. there are many reasons to create a unifying tool.
but the fact remains that in our modern time of technology and self thinking, that it may be better off to combine ideologies rather than segregate them. if anything, unify completely. but to do that, it cannot be a religion because it has to be something that everyone can look to. religion would have to be completely erased as an idea in of itself because the segregated peoples of the world have already stuck hard to those ideas and bringing something new would be impossible and would likely end in bloodshed from the extremists of every faith. what would unite everyone, I don't know. I don't think anything can be done to oust religion of its grip on the collective human mind until we reach TRUE artificial intelligence and interact with alien beings.
sry, there's my late night human mind rant.
 

montanafan

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 1999
3,551
2
71
Pervasive sense of entitlement
Lack of personal accountability
Lack of corporate accountability
The two-party system
Pop Culture/Media
 

mchammer

Diamond Member
Dec 7, 2000
3,152
0
0
Top 5 best things in USA:
1. ATOT
2. Simpsons
3. Tivo
4. ATOTNC
5. ATOT

Top 5 worst things:
1. P&N
2. Accidentally clicking on P&N
3. People who bring P&N stuff into ATOT
4. These people not getting banned
5. P&N
 

shoRunner

Platinum Member
Nov 8, 2004
2,629
1
0
Originally posted by: spidey07
Straight truth:

1) Political correctness
2) Godlessness
3) Personal responsibility (the outcome of #1 & #2)
4) Dual income parents
5) "I deserve" mentality

i'll buy this one... i can't think of anything that annoys me more than political correctness.

one time i had a teacher(white) who corrected a black student for refering to "african american's" as black...i found this ironic
 

foghorn67

Lifer
Jan 3, 2006
11,885
53
91
1-"it's so and so's fault, not mine."
2-Education models, not the budget. Money shoveling doesn't help.
3-immigration.
4-People aligning Christians with the Pat Robertson types.
5-The Fjord of Pinky.
 

6000SUX

Golden Member
May 8, 2005
1,504
0
0
Originally posted by: Xonoahbin
Alright, I'd love to explain myself. People are ALWAYS blaming others for EVERYTHING. It's time for Americans to stop blaming everyone else and blame themselves. The only way to improve yourself, and therefore your country, is by accepting responsibility and recognizing faults. The biggest reason why America is falling behind in the world is because we don't take accountability seriously, and therefore don't improve ourselves sufficiently. A good example of this is being a student in school. You're responsible for homework, right? Well, if you always make the excuse that you didn't do your homework, let's say because Grand Theft Auto told you not to, then you won't end up doing it. If you blame yourself for it, you'll likely begin to feel guilty and improve yourself. The moral of the story is that you need to take responsibility for your own actions and not blame others for things that YOU do or that happen to YOU.

Okay, I can agree with all of that. I disagree that it's the biggest problem in America, only because in order for something to be the worst problem, it has to have the worst effects.

Litigiousness is certainly fed by lack of personal responsibility, but I disagree that this is a problem dragging the country down (more than, say, the national debt). It decreases the efficiency of our society, for sure-- and so does laziness, and other probable effects of a lack of personal responsibility. However, judged economically, they aren't dragging us down in a way that's killing us. We have one of the most robust economies in the world, even after giving away hundreds of billions (trillions?) in foreign aid with no real expectation of repayment, having one of the more screwed-up set of welfare programs in the world, screwing up education badly compared to many other countries, etc.

We certainly lack some kinds of moral fiber that we weren't lacking in, say, the first half of the 20th century. It's pretty hard to quantify the effects of this problem, but it's real.
 

UpGrD

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
1,412
0
0


5. America's Intolerance of Foreign Policies/Customs
We hate the French. We hate the Middle East. We call all Muslims terrorists. We're dead wrong. If Americans were brought up to know the TRUTH about Islam and other religions, the TRUTH about countries, and more, then we wouldn't have gone into Iraq and attacked them. Most Americans thought it was an alright idea since they opposed the Middle East. Middle Eastern people aren't necessarily bad people, they just view the world differently. We need to become more tolerant of them and many more groups, or else we'll get into BIG trouble.

Just the top five from an intelligent 16 year old American :)[/quote]

:thumbsup: to #5... that's why i'm so sick of this "patriotic" bullcrap everyone keeps throwing around.... i'm also sick of the idea that there's such thing as american culture. there isn't... there's only americanization. we try to americanize everyone and rape them of their own culture. 3 cheers to the french guy who drove his car into a mcdonald's in protest of mcdonald's even being on french soil in the first place.[/quote]

I challenge anyone to name another nation on the planet that is more open and tolerant to the beliefs of others than the U.S. The reason we (the U.S) SEEM to have more internal issues than other nations is only because we , more than any other nation, air out our dirty laundry in the open. We publicly debate our problems. Don't think for a second that Europe is the utopia that many would like to portray it being. Europe is a self oppressed society. There are many limits on what is socially acceptable to discuss openly. And if you think that we have racial issues here, spend sometime with the "normal folk" in any country is Europe. And to those that fear religious people (any mainstream religion), grow the F-up. I'm not religious in the least, but I do respect people who have the discipline to live there life with values. I try to as best I can......... There are wack-jobs in all walks of life, with or without religion.
The sad fact is that this countries media is producing a generation like Xonoahbin (no offence intended). All they see in the media is constant negativity and blame America fist. That is the real problem today!!!
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
Originally posted by: dmcowen674
Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
Ban all the republicans from government and you'll solve all of those problems.

BFT

only liberals would say that. both parties in our two-party system suck ass. republicans would say get rid of all democrats. what you'd be left with would be uglier and more corrupt than it is now. and plenty of democrats are proving their party worthy, sure... most of them are just as corrupt.
 

acole1

Golden Member
Sep 28, 2005
1,543
0
0
1) CA.
2) CA.
3) CA.
4) CA.
5) CA.

Drop this state into the ocean and every single one of the problems everyone has mentioned will instantly disappear.

It might even solve world hunger!!


On a side note, why do people always think the problem with the world is someone else? :confused:
 

aswedc

Diamond Member
Oct 25, 2000
3,543
0
76
Originally posted by: saymyname
The only reason prostitution is illegal in this country is because of religion. We're way too religious in this country. More secular countries, or at least countries that are much better at seperating church and state than we are, don't supress the oldest profession known to man. I was trying to be subtle tieing in religion to one of the problems with this country. From abortion to prostitution the religious nutjobs continue to try to supress people's rights to do what they want with their bodies.
Sorry but no. I'm not religious in the slightest but I think it is unacceptable to have abortions past the first trimester unless there is a health issue.
 

Amused

Elite Member
Apr 14, 2001
55,825
13,865
146
Originally posted by: saymyname


The only reason prostitution is illegal in this country is because of religion. We're way too religious in this country. More secular countries, or at least countries that are much better at seperating church and state than we are, don't supress the oldest profession known to man. I was trying to be subtle tieing in religion to one of the problems with this country. From abortion to prostitution the religious nutjobs continue to try to supress people's rights to do what they want with their bodies.

Actually, most bans on prostitution in the US were fueled by public health issues and human rights issues. Yes, religion had a large part of it, but prostitution and brothels were extremely common and legal in US cities prior to 1900. With urbanization and no laws protecting the rights of women, it became dangerous and out of control. Instead of dealing with it rationally, most localities simply banned it outright.

Try not having such a simplistic view of history.

And it's not just the religious right that tries controlling what people do with their own bodies. The socialist left has done more than it's fair share of that itself... and with much greater success.
 

raildogg

Lifer
Aug 24, 2004
12,648
449
126
Terrorism is a problem in America? That is not a domestic problem, yet. We could do better by protecing ourselves instead of spending that money elsewhere, i.e. war. Those things you put up there are only problems if you look at the surface. Look below it and you will see the root causes for most of them. I think ignorance, close mindedness, taking shortcuts, not thinking long term, only concentrating on a few groups and not concentrating on everybody are the main problems facing America.
 

b0mbrman

Lifer
Jun 1, 2001
29,471
1
81
Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
I would say rather than terroism being the problem, it's the fear of it. And erosion of liberty is tied into religious fundamentalism and the fear of terrorism.

Edit:
#1: Lack of personal responsibility.
#2: Eroding liberties due to various casues
#3: Lack of the importance of family
#4: Lack of the importance of education in key areas
#5: Lack of assuming risk for one's actions.

Very nice. I like #1 the most. I think #3 could be extended to include community...
 

LongCoolMother

Diamond Member
Sep 4, 2001
5,675
0
0
#1 moral/cultural decadence
#2 K-12 Education
#3 Terrorism/Security
#4 Political Corruption
#5 Illegal Immigration
 

Lithium381

Lifer
May 12, 2001
12,458
2
0
Originally posted by: Feldenak
Only 1 really sticks out to me....lack of personal responsibility

#1.......Easily lack of personal responsibility
#2 is lack of compassion for fellow human beings, and realizing you're not alone and that your actions affect other people
 

Gooberlx2

Lifer
May 4, 2001
15,381
6
91
Originally posted by: destrekor
Originally posted by: Gooberlx2
Originally posted by: iamaelephant
- Fat people
- Bush
- Disproportionate use of natural resources and emission of polution
- Fat people
- Biggotry

And the worst of all! The fat, bush supporting, biggots that use up ludicrous amounts of natural resources! :p ;)

In seriousness, my big concerns are (in no particular order):
- Healthcare costs
- Poor education
- Poor environmental planning
- Extremism in all its forms (religous, political, mountain dew, etc...)
- Erosion of civil liberties / apathy

:confused:
why you gotta pick on my mountain dew?
meh, don't worry about it, I like vault better anyway ;)


Because with mountain dew, everything's X-TREME!!!

...don't like Vault much! I do like regular ol' Red Bull though.
 

BD2003

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
16,815
1
76
1. Education
2. Education
3. Education
4. Education
5. Education

Just about every other problem listed in this thread has a lack of formal education, common sense, logical thinking skills, and/or lack of empathy as it's root cause.
 

Legend

Platinum Member
Apr 21, 2005
2,254
1
0
1. Lack of personal responsibility all over the place. Health, financials, retirement, legal, etc.
2. Entitlement/laziness. Too many people lack the drive to become Engineers, Scientists, etc. Schools won't get better until students want to get better.
3. Too much representation of corporate "entities" above citizens.
4. Corrupt bureaucracy, and all of the resulting problems it creates, like the war in Iraq.
5. Weak families. If it weren't for illegal immigration (which is another problem), we'd actually be slowly declining in population. Too few people are having children. The United States would probably run healthy at three times the population. In the next 200 years or so, the rest of the world is going to surpass us. China, India, Europe, etc is going to have so many scientists that we won't be able to stay on top. And no that doesn't mean we should ban gay marriage or some stupid sh1t.
 

palindrome

Senior member
Jan 11, 2006
942
1
81
Originally posted by: Doboji
I say

1(tied) Education
1(tied) the erosion of liberty
2 Terrorism
3 Religious Fundamentalism
4 Rising cost of Healthcare


1 - damn right, our grade schools are stupidly stupid. American's put no effort into finding the full learning potentional of young people.

1 - a.k.a. - the man getting us down. Yes the middle class is a bitch, you only have true liberty if you have money, period.

2 - Terrorism sucks, but if the US didn't have so much bureaucratic bullshit from Washington, the damn war in Iraq would have been over already... a long time ago.

3 - depending on where you live, there are some of every religion. I live in the Bible belt (oh joy...) so I hear a lot of BS from Southern Baptists, especially when the Davinci Code came out. OMG, talk about pawns, this people may as well be religious slaves who do nothing but tell you exactly what the "preacher" said in church last Sunday. BTW, for the record, the local Baptist church near me (Biltmore Baptist), the pastor drives a new Jaguar and lives in a house in a private neighborhood (entry level housing for that development is like 300k)

4 - I wish I was mexican, or adopted.... Then I'd have medicaid... We need to take a lesson from countries like Sweden and Canada....

There are so many things wrong with this country right now... and I have a feeling our choice in political candidates in the next election will be even worse than last time.... What people refuse to admit is that even if Kerry was elected, we still would have gone to war.... Replublican majority in Congress......

(ill fix spelling mistakes later)