Why is society disintegrating?

    The Intercept recently ran an article, https://theintercept.com/2020/08/28/the-social-fabric-of-the-u-s-is-fraying-severely-if-not-unravelling/ ,which addresses this issue.

     They state: 

"One questions posed by researchers was whether someone has “seriously considered suicide in the past 30 days”— not fleetingly considered it as a momentary fantasy nor thought about it ever in their lifetime, but seriously considered suicide at least once in the past 30 days. The results are staggering."

"For Americans between 18-24 years old, 25.5 percent — just over 1 out of every 4 young Americans — said they had. For the much larger group of Americans ages 25-44, the percentage was somewhat lower but still extremely alarming: 16 percent." 

    They compare this time with the disorders of the 1960's and conclude this is much worse. Having lived through the 1960's, I am not sure that is true, but they are right that what is happening now is happening at a much faster tempo. I graduated college in 1970 and was blessed enough (though it didn't seem so at the time), not to be able to get a job in the USA in the field I had trained for. Back then you couldn't just "live off the government" like today and, having student loans coming due, I broadened my job search and ended up leaving the country to get employment. This provided me with an income to support my growing family and a welcome break from the continual uproar in the States.

    Today's continual uproar seems to be much more damaging. https://theintercept.imgix.net/wp-uploads/sites/1/2020/08/combine_images-24.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&q=90 . 

    Part of the problem is the multitude of problems and the pace they are striking at.

    Another is that today's generation has grown up with unusual expectations. I didn't expect to start out married life with all and more than my parents had accumulated over their entire lifetimes, like today's young people do. We didn't even dream about spending 5 or 6 figures on a wedding. We lived for years in mobile homes, drafty apartments, and employer-provided housing. We drove old automobiles, seldom paying more than 2 or 3 hundred dollars. I am not bragging, but pointing out how different expectations are today. 

    A third problem is the electronic age. My wife and I can remember how exciting it was to first connect over the Internet (with text only) over a 2400 baud modem on a noisy and expensive phone line. (For much of our early married life we didn't even have a phone). Today the Web is most people's main means of communication. It is true that more information is available at your fingertips, but so is more false and misleading propaganda. It also has cut everyone off from each other. Unlike the old days, when we lived in communities, we now don't have to put up with people who think differently than we do. We can form our own "communities" of like-minded folks online and "unfriend" anyone who differs with us. So today's young people have never learned the necessity of getting along with those who differ, and as a result demand everyone think like they do. Amusingly, they prattle about "tolerance" while being totally intolerant themselves. They also have cut themselves off from the sort of support a real community of people can provide - their "friend" in England or California isn't likely to come to their aid when they get laid off! 

    The Pandemic is an entirely new thing in the lives of most alive today, the last real pandemic being in 1918/19. It has unexpectedly severed our last connections to others in many cases and has us visualizing other humans as threats. Even when we go out, we have to stay as far as possible from others. The ever-present anger and violent reactions to what would ordinarily be trivial events make us all afraid of each other.

    The young have reacted to economic stagnation with frustration, demonstrations, riots, and looting. This isn't the 1960's, and with the "baby bust" the young are a declining minority, although the media still seems to think this is the 1960's, Version 2.0.  Young people are idealistic, impatient, ignorant of human nature, and foolishly believe government and laws will change what hasn't changed in recorded history (human nature). On the other hand, without their idealism and enthusiasm nothing ever would change. Their energy needs to be channeled into something productive, not destructive, and tempered with the wisdom of the aged.

    The current economic stagnation is largely a PRODUCT of the baby bust. An aging population costs more and consumes less. This is going to continue into the foreseeable future. Economic disparity does have to be addressed, but taking from the rich to support the poor is a losing game. The money will soon be gone, like yesterday's lottery winnings. The rich will stop investing, leave the country,  and the economy will continue to decline. Making more and more people into government dependents won't give them happiness and the satisfaction that they are valuable and contributing members of society. They will still be disaffected, unhappy, and bitter - more especially as the currency that is debased by unrestrained borrowing and the runaway creation of un-backed currency makes their government benefits worth less and less.

    Avoid slavish devotion to ANY economic theory. All of them were devised at the beginning of the industrial revolution, none never really worked, and all are obsolete today. Totalitarianism does not work, neither does anarchy. The republic is the best form of government man has ever devised, but it is far from perfect. Nothing lasts forever. The average lifespan of the world's greatest civilizations has been about 200 years. The nation-state cannot escape human nature any more than the individual can.

    What is the solution? We have become more and more reliant on the Federal Government, which is rapidly proving to be leaning on a broken reed.  State governments are not much better and have few resources. Local institutions have shriveled away as we have become more and more centralized. Social clubs and organizations have dried up and largely failed. Churches sit mostly empty. God has been changed from "Lord of Lords and King of Kings" to a genie in a bottle sitting on a forgotten shelf, whom we go to as a last result, blow off the dust, and demand our wishes be granted, then walk away in anger if they aren't. 

    Perhaps we should, as the epidemic allows, start getting to know our neighbors, join local organizations, form new local communities, stop insisting on "our way or the highway", take jobs rather than government assistance even if it pays less, insist on reform of education so it provides useful knowledge and skills, and critical thinking rather than blindly accepting propaganda and commonly accepted popular culture. Be concerned with improving and strengthening the small and local rather than increasingly centralizing everything. Be willing to be different. Following the herd will take you off the cliff with the other lemmings. Buy locally when possible and support the businesses of your neighbors. This isn't always possible as much we need is no longer produced locally, but do it when you can. Buy only what you need and can afford, or what can be used to provide you with more income. Take care of your local environment. Avoid debt if at all possible. The Bible is very true when it states that the debtor is slave to the lender. Seek not to become either! Find your way back to God, the real God, not the hollow mockery of the "Prosperity Gospel". There is someone in control, someone much greater than yourself or any level of government. Become part of a local church, one in your own community if possible. That doesn't mean bad things will never happen or evil times will never touch you. That is no reason to despair.

    Stay informed about world events, new inventions and developments, but don't obsess over them. Keep abreast of science, but understand that like anything else it makes mistakes, is often wrong, and is subject to greed, power-seeking and all the other evils of human nature. It is a way of observing things, not a god to be worshiped.

    Realize that most "others" are folks like you, not evil villains involved in some ancient and continuing conspiracy theory. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt, think good of them until and unless it is proven otherwise.