The Current Election is Evidence That The United States is Crumbling

So first of all, I should like to sincerely apologize to Con for saying 'she' instead of 'he'. My fault and I apologize sincerely.Second, Con, could you be so kind as to post a link to the speech you quoted from in your first post here? I would just like to see the full thing.So on to the debate...I was reading over our argument and see that it reads more like a debate about whether the observer should vote for Trump or Clinton, and I never meant it to be like that. I should very much like to debate that, but perhaps after this debate if the election is not over yet......So, my main point, which I appear to have distracted this debate from, is that American Society is crumbling. The cartoonish nature of the current election is not the cause, but the symptom of the social rot. So let us use them as evidence. First, we must strip both candidates of all things associated with them. We should not consider party or theory about them. Whether you wish to call Trump a racist or Clinton a criminal, for now, leave that behind. Whether you think mass deportation is unconstitutional or think, if Clinton should win, there will be an end to the Second Amendment, forget that as well. To understand why American Society is ill we must examine just two promises from each candidate. ACACall it Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, a government power grab, boondoggle for the insurance companies, or the greatest piece of legislation since the Civil Rights Act, the current President's signature piece of legislation is a major point of contention this election, more so than it was in 2012. The reasons for this are as such: when the law went into effect in 2014, twenty five million people lost insurance coverage due to it(1). More recently, Pinal County, in Arizona, has no insurers and thus no one is covered there(2). Also, premiums are going to spike by 25%(3). Both Candidates have proposed measures to fix these flaws.Clinton claims that although the law is at its core a brilliant piece of legislation, there are some major problems with it that were previously unforseen. In her words, she plans to revise it. She does not want to repeal it, as some Conservatives do, or replace it, as Trump promises to do. Her plan is improvement(4).Trump wants to repeal and replace the bill. He recognizes that the need for some kind of Nationalized healthcare system exists, but also believes that the current Affordable Care Act is little more than a classic example of corporate cronyism; insurance companies lobbying for a law that restricts competition and divides the country into vulnerable sectors where only one ore two companies can sell a government mandated product. Instead, he proposes to force health care companies to compete across state lines. He also proposes that HSAs, essentially emergency bank accounts meant to pay for hospital bills, be granted to every American and those funds be untaxable. He also wants to make it so healthcare related costs, if paid by an individual, are considered tax deductable expenses(5). However, the need for such legislation, whether it be an improved ACA or a usurping one, is an example of the illness of decline in American society. The people have lost a sense of National identity and with it, an urge to care for their fellow countrymen. As campy as it may seem to be, the old black and white movie "It's a Wonderful Life" depicts such a society, with community members rushing to aid a fellow man in need(6). Although this is an extreme example, there was a time when neighbors would help each other out of the kindness of their hearts. Although modern Americans might donate a good deal to charities in the third world, when a neighbor is evicted or forclosed upon, they merely gossip and say each man gets what he deserves. There is a great lack of National charity, and without it, there is a lack of a sense of duty that a Society needs if it is to continue existing.This is a kind of deviation of "The Tragedy of the Commons"(7). Each individual is depending upon other individuals to take care of those in need. Usually, they expect that person to rely on various charities or the Welfare system to take care of them. However, corruption in some of these charites(8) tends to render them skeptical, and the Welfare system is commonly referred to as the "Nanny State"(9). However, this does not at all make the modern American open his own wallet to those in need, much less his door. He is capable of seeing the man in need only as a scam artist trying to make an extra buck or a potential criminal trying to take advantage of human sympathy to gain access to a home. He is unable to view that man in need as a fellow American. (PLEASE NOTE: I am not advocating for people to open their doors to complete strangers).That is the one cause of this illness: a lack of a sense of duty towards one another.College/OutsourcingClinton, now that the race has reached a National level and she no longer has to contend with Senator Sanders, has capitalized on the plight of many younger Americans struggling to repay student loan debt.(10) Trump made his campaign about the outsourcing of jobs (And the insourcing, the H1B visas mentioned earlier).(11)There are many on the Right who wish to paint those calling for college to be debt free as stupid socialist kids who don't want to work for a living. There are some, both Right and Left, who consider the unemployment and disenfranchisement of lesser skilled laborers as the Natural order of things, an event which is inevitable given economic improvement. However, it has not been asked (or it has not been asked by the right people) as to whether or not the banks are practicing usury, or whether it is philosophically moral (not economical, but fundamentally moral) for American businesses to ship labor overseas. However, these are questions for another debate.What these two groups have in common, despite the vast amount of students opting to vote Democrat and the large swathes of unemployed laborers, primarily factory workers, who have pledged their support for the Donald, is that they both are demanding the right to produce. Students want to get a well-paying job so they can contribute some of their income back into Society, whether through spending or investing, and not simply repaying banks a good chunk of their income. Disenfranchised factory workers want almost the exact same thing. They want to be gainfully employed, earning their money, instead of having to swallow their pride, take a massive cut to their personal finances (much like the students saddled with debt) and come crawling to the welfare system for help. However, what cause of social illness both of these two groups are showing is a lack of the same rugged individualism that built the United States. The original American settlers in the West went out, claiming plots of land and built their own houses, creating their own opportunities. I am not claiming that they should all go rough it in the wilderness Manifest Destiny style, but there are other options. To gain money for school, students could save every penny they earn at various jobs to help pay, while striving for scholarships. There is also the military option, i.e. the GI Bill for those who are qualified. Plenty of businesses offer work for school programs. Better yet, studying on one's own, learning as much as one can from books and free online sources can replace the need for a college education. Although there is no degree, one could still prove their mastery of the material. Likewise, the unemployed factory workers can still sell their abilities; they still possess a great of mechanical skill. They can form their own companies, producing goods using the same skills they utilized in the employment of larger corporations. Both the indebted students and the laid-off workers both have the same illness: they expect others to create their opportunities instead of creating their own. And it can be done. Let's not forget a certain college dropout who developed a product that revolutionized the world and has turned him into a billionaire(12). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Perhaps the greatest problem of all is that people no longer talk about serious issues with one another. Instead, everything is expected to be small talk. People engage in meaningless discussions about the weather or sports, instead of issues of policy or politics. As a result, the country, and the Society, has become more and more polarized. So people instead view others who have opposing points of view as either unintelligent or radical. Instead of meaningful dialogue (dialogue as such as here on this site:) ) they opt to avoid people who want to discuss possibly touchy subjects.So this disconnect between people, a lack of a sense of duty, and an expectation for the provision of opportunities are all why our Society is on decline.