National Crisis

Noting a nearly 30 percent increase in suicides in the U.S. from 1999-2001 to 2014-2016, Monica Swahn takes a close look at features of American culture that could be driving this.

[I]t seems that the majority of our U.S. population is currently under the influence of some form of psychoactive substance or drug, whether prescribed or not, or whether legally used or not, that changes brain function, mood, consciousness and behavior.

I believe it’s worth considering whether higher levels of stress are driving more Americans to take psychoactive substances and, in extreme cases, take their own lives. Last year, 8 in 10 U.S. adults reported feeling stressed during their day, and 44 percent reported that their stress levels had increased over the past five years. Most people state their stress is due to concerns about the future, money, work, the political climate, and violence and crime.

Americans stand out from people in other countries with respect to their focus on individualism. Americans believe that success is determined by our own control and that it is very important to work hard to get ahead in life. Perhaps it is this focus on our own achievements, successes and work culture that have created an environment that is no longer sustainable – it has become too stressful.

I would agree that political economy underscores a lot of our distress. Ariän Taher writes about the evolution of the American system.

[T]oday’s version of capitalism — which favors archaic industries, corporate behemoths and big banks — has been the US economic system since its inception.

Hamilton’s system has emerged the US as a world superpower, but it has inextricably given rise to massive unconscionable inequality, inequity and iniquity, both at home and abroad.

Much of our difficulty pre-dates the current administration, but C.J. Polychroniou finds the nation at a crossroad.

The United States has moved unmistakably toward a novel form of fascism that exclusively serves corporate interests and the military, while promoting at the same time a highly reactionary social agenda infused with religious and crude nationalistic overtones, all with an uncanny touch of political showmanship.

Polychroniou interviews Noam Chomsky who notes our Republican leadership has essentially abandoned reality.

Such destructive responses tend to break through the surface during periods of distress and fear, very widespread feelings today, for good reason: A generation of neoliberal policies has sharply concentrated wealth and power while leaving the rest to stagnate or decline, often joining the growing precariat. In the US, the richest country in history with unparalleled advantages, over 40 percent of the population don’t earn enough to afford a monthly budget that includes housing, food, child care, health care, transportation and a cell phone. And this is happening in what’s called a “booming economy.”

Distress is so severe that among white middle-aged Americans, mortality is actually increasing, something unheard of in functioning societies apart from war or pestilence.

Policies are generally in support of private wealth and corporate power, but

Then comes the task of controlling the so-called “populist” base: the angry, frightened, disillusioned white population, primarily males. Since there is no way for [von Clownstick]ism to deal with their economic concerns, which are actually being exacerbated by current policy-formation, it’s necessary to posture heroically as “standing up” for them against “malevolent forces” and to cater to the anti-social impulses that tend to surface when people are left to face difficult circumstances alone, without institutions and organizations to support them in their struggles.

What's next?

[T]he centrist political institutions in the United States, which have long been in the driver’s seat, are in decline. The reasons are not obscure. People who have endured the rigors of the neoliberal assault ... recognize that the institutions are working for others, not for them. In the US, people do not have to read academic political science to know that a large majority, those who are not near the top of the income scale, are effectively disenfranchised, in that their own representatives pay little attention to their views, hearkening rather to the voices of the rich, the donor class.

If the Democratic Party cannot overcome its deep internal problems and the slow expansion of the economy under Obama and [Dear Leader] continues without disruption or disaster, the Republican wrecking ball may be swinging away at the foundations of a decent society, and at the prospects for survival, for a long time.

Update (June 22):  Edward Curtin writes about "slow suicide".

An unconscious despair rumbles beneath the frenetic surface of American society today. ... Most people will tell you they are stressed and depressed, but will often add – “who wouldn’t be with the state of the world” – ignoring their complicity through the way they have chosen compromised, conventional lives devoid of the spirit of rebellion.