America has the same issues as many other developed nations: the difficulty balancing selfish interests vs. the well-being of society. The high standard of living overall, growth-focused mindset, and individual interests have made the notion of sacrifice and consequences very difficult to stomach.
Take, for example, student loans. Over time, people didn't want to pay state taxes and with states facing shortfalls (and public universities needing to compete with private ones), the government began backing loans. But what outcome was this going to lead to? People back then wanted to simultaneously pay less in taxes, want schools to be competitive, and want more people to have access to college. Well, in the real world, that unicorn doesn't exist, so we have a massive amount in student loans. The thing is, it's basically baked into tuition, expenses, etc. To truly change the system, we need to address many facets:
-The role of public vs. private institutions: can public universities keep up if we impose limitations on their budget in exchange for lower tuition?
-The role of public and private lenders: how should loans be treated? Can we push students towards cheaper in-state tuition? Can we make loans based on majors?
-The role of university administration: can this bureaucracy be trimmed down?
-The role of university departments: should universities re-evaluate all the departments they have? Can we focus on departments that can lead to better job prospects for those who take loans?
-The role of the state and taxpayers: how much more should taxpayers contribute to in-state schools?
In the end, it's multi-faceted and complicated. We got here through decades of issues. It's not one quick fix. But any comprehensive reform is difficult because:
-State universities have oversight at state levels
-All stakeholders have their own vested interests
-Plans will take many years to implement
-Sacrifices and limitations of choice will have to be made.
Will Americans accept that? Not a chance. Politicians know that, which is why they try to think of short-term solutions and try their best to ignore long-term effects, knowing that the public focuses on the short-term.
Pretty much every problem in America is the result of many years of actions and policies (supported by voters and politicians alike). Yet, there's very little stomach for long-term planning. Take the concept of a "business-friendly mayor" or "business-friendly governor:"
-Tax breaks for corporations to invest
-Keep taxes low even as population grows and need for additional investments increases
-Ignore bourgeoning issues and champion growth only
-Leave office with high approval rating and run for higher office
That city down the road will have $4,000 studio apartments next to homeless tents. It's an incentive problem. It is easier to be popular as a politician to not make major decisions that piss people off. People in America are generally well-off, and growth cities even more so. Why raise taxes or force infrastructure upgrades (or increase budget for services) when you can just ride the status quo to higher office? The people that vote in officials obviously love jobs and tax cuts. But of course, people will complain about the lack of public transit or affordability down the road. Some of those are the same people (who will blame budget problems on others) while other people that weren't responsible for past actions are upset they now have to shoulder the burden. Well, the people and politicians over the years chose not to have a strong foundation, so there are your consequences. If you built the necessary foundations earlier, it'd be cheaper and more sustainable, but no one is incentivized to behave this way. In fact, once the city's many issues are exposed, some will actually reminisce about how great it was in the past (without the realization that "how great it was" came at the detriment of sustainability).
It's like a person eating a lot of junk food and not exercising much for decades and then being told by a doctor to eat healthy foods and workout. You'd probably hate it while at the same time reminisce about the good times (well it's the "good times" that got you here).
Actions have consequences, and it's something Americans cannot fathom to a degree.
We can look at:
-Jobs: globalization and automation means new opportunities for growth and a whole of great news for many Americans. But at the same time, if your industry offshores a lot of the work you do or your city of Flint Michigan loses the GM plant employing tens of thousands, you're in trouble. At the same time, tech and finance is booming (just not in your industry nor your city). Whose fault is it that we have a major wealth gap and dying towns and less mobility? It's Americans and the politicians they elected.
-Housing: draconian zoning laws, supply constraints, and cheap rates have fueled real estate as a "safe" investment, leading to more investors and even corporations partaking in single-family homes. We essentially have baked in increases in housing prices due to this environment. About 2/3rds of Americans own homes. So if you're an older homeowner, this is great news as prices are going up, which is great for when you want to sell and retire. Politicians know who their base is (hint: it's not disaffected non-home owning millennials). At this point, you can't survive a housing crash (or a stock market crash) as a politician. We can build more houses, but often in less accessible areas, which requires more infrastructure spending (and maybe higher taxes? Uh oh). So ultimately, people are worried about home ownership? Whose fault is that? It's fellow Americans and the politicians they elected over the years.
Ultimately, America is responsible for America. Otherwise, it's not a representative democracy. The people have spoken, and they have chosen to try to have their cake and eat it. The UK has a similar trend. For example, someone in the climate thread posted that the majority of people in the UK are willing to eat less meat and travel less to combat climate change, but that reverses drastically when asked if they were willing to take a financial hit to combat climate change. That's also America in a nutshell. I want my own selfish interests (aka less taxes, continued growth in assets) but also simultaneously want more infrastructure and better government services. I also want specific needs (e.g. health) when it suits me. How do you satisfy those hundreds of millions of people? Well, you don't. And reform ends up getting kicked down the road.
There are tradeoffs and long-term consequences to consider, but America hasn't really cared about this. Any politician that tries on a grand scale is asking for trouble. It's a feedback loop between voters and politicians.
Politicians have instead resorted to the age-old blame game. "Immigrants took your jobs. China/India stole your jobs. The Chinese are buying up all your houses." Do you guys remember when the Indian/Chinese military showed up and forced American businesses to give up jobs? Yea, me neither.
American companies supported globalization for more efficient deployment of capital.
American cities are the ones with zoning restrictions.
Americans are the ones who voted in politicians that didn't address climate, job-training, welfare, etc.
Americans have the power to tell representatives to enact legislation to ban foreign ownership (ask real estate developers, homeowners in wealthy areas, etc if they want this).
In the end, America is responsible for America. Politicians will blame anyone else but themselves, and it's led to the hyper-partisanship, which makes it even easier too (it's not just the foreigners fault but Obama's too!).
Politicians know that the problems facing the country would take long-term planning and cooperation to solve along with individual sacrifice. They also know that that is increasingly unlikely. So kicking the can down the road becomes the norm. Republican policy is rooted in not straying from the path we're on. It's also why their most popular federal policy is tax cuts because that is the most popular, short-term action you can take to keep voters happy. Of course, what about consequences of these actions? Well....
Climate, mental health/homelessness, gun violence, racism, lack of economic opportunity, etc are long-term problems that require long-term solutions. But if you're not keen on changing the system, then pointing fingers and playing the blame game is the perfect stalling tactic. Once you layer in self-interest of voters (many of whom say they care about the issues but do not want to be financially impacted), it is difficult to address things. Progress gets made in some places, but in others, it is harder to move.
Ultimately, the concept of the individual is fully ingrained in America to the extent it could be detrimental to the country as a whole (the pandemic highlights this perfectly). But the individual, when it comes to concepts such as freedom, only care about it from a myopic point of view ("Me, me, me"). What about other people's right to exercise their rights (voting, protesting, court actions, etc)? Even taking into account those who do champion personal liberties (not the hypocritical ones), you still have a problem with consequences. You can protest at January 6, but even if you can't get arrested under the 1st amendment, you could lose your job. I've seen comments online from cases in the past where people use "freedom of speech" as a defense even when in the case of employment.
What if the only way to solve America's issues were to make sacrifices? The actions were taken for many years, but the consequences will have to be dealt with now. Can people come together to realize that America's problem is Americans and that the only people that can solve it are Americans? Or will we continue to live in denial about the work we have, kick the can down the road, and waste more time and resources not addressing issues?
The older generation talk about how great things were (without realizing their growth was to the detriment of future). The younger generation have to make sacrifices, but find it unfair (why do I have to shoulder the burden).
Only way the change things is to work together, but there are plenty of Americans that don't want that change (and that's how we get gridlock and hyper-partisanship). After all, throughout most of their lives, everything only goes up and growth is the only answer. We made our bed, and now we have to lie in it.
