I don't check "best" very often. I also don't spend much time on the front page. I check "comments" and "new" and "ask" a lot more. I stopped watching the News years ago. It's mostly sex and violence -- ie "eye candy"/sensationalism of some sort. I think part of your problem is that you hang out on "best". "Popular" stuff is often sensationalistic in the worst possible way.
Ask HN: Is it just me or does the US look really broken?
11–18 of 18 posts
Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or does the US look really broken?
#12For perspective, here's the most popular recent articles on China: http://searchyc.com/china?sort=by_points Companies pulling out, being blocked, hacking, plagiarism, human rights violations, book banning, even making T-shirts there seems to be a bad idea due to rising labour costs and a shortage of yarn... positives: a pretty cool but unworkable giant tram concept Doubt things are going too badly for you in Shanghai…
Things in Shanghai aren't anywhere near as good as my memory of the States, but I'm concerned that either 1) my memory isn't serving me correctly and/or 2) the US has deteriorated since I left.
Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or does the US look really broken?
#13Great suggestions guys, thanks for putting things in perspective and glad to hear fellow Americans are still loving it in the motherland.
Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or does the US look really broken?
#14As cliche as it may sound, the key to America's success is the "American Dream." As long as the dream is alive, the US will be OK. My parents immigrated in 1992 with 2 small kids, little to no English and no money. Fast forward to today- they own a business, 3 homes, have put both kids through undergrad (I've gone on to complete a masters) and have achieved a fairly comfortable upper middle class lifestyle.
Why am I telling you this? As long as "the little guy" believes that if you're intelligent and willing to work hard, you can achieve great things in America (in many places around the world this is not always the case), this country has a future. I for one, believe in the American dream and am willing to work hard to live it and preserve it for generations to come.
Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or does the US look really broken?
#15For perspective, here's the most popular recent articles on China: http://searchyc.com/china?sort=by_points Companies pulling out, being blocked, hacking, plagiarism, human rights violations, book banning, even making T-shirts there seems to be a bad idea due to rising labour costs and a shortage of yarn... positives: a pretty cool but unworkable giant tram concept Doubt things are going too badly for you in Shanghai…
Things in Shanghai aren't anywhere near as good as my memory of the States, but I'm concerned that either 1) my memory isn't serving me correctly and/or 2) the US has deteriorated since I left.
Reading content on user-submitted-news websites can be very similar to looking at the world through poo-colored glasses.
Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or does the US look really broken?
#16I just took a walk on a sunny day to the bookstore to browse the magazine rack, stopped by the coffee shop to get a Latte and bought a cupcake at the new bakeshop. Things are pretty awesome in the U.S. of A as far as I'm concerned. Oh and last year I attended John Stewart's Restore Sanity gathering at the mall (and I wasn't shot at!)
You may not have been shot, but beyond a few 100's of thousands of people being a bit happier, absolutely nothing was accomplished. Nada. Zip. Zero.
Last year, 2010, 3 million homes received a note that they were in some stage of foreclosure. 1 million homes were repossessed by lenders.
Granted all those homes may not be occupied, but most likely were. Think about what a million families actually look like... homeless, in motels, in cars, at in-laws.
US citizens need to start addressing some of these issues.
Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or does the US look really broken?
#17I just took a walk on a sunny day to the bookstore to browse the magazine rack, stopped by the coffee shop to get a Latte and bought a cupcake at the new bakeshop. Things are pretty awesome in the U.S. of A as far as I'm concerned. Oh and last year I attended John Stewart's Restore Sanity gathering at the mall (and I wasn't shot at!)
You may not have been shot, but beyond a few 100's of thousands of people being a bit happier, absolutely nothing was accomplished. Nada. Zip. Zero. Last year, 2010, 3 million homes received a note that they were in some stage of foreclosure. 1 million homes were repossessed by lenders. Granted all those homes may not be occupied, but most likely were. Think about what a million families actually look like... homeles…
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Re: Ask HN: Is it just me or does the US look really broken?
#18I just took a walk on a sunny day to the bookstore to browse the magazine rack, stopped by the coffee shop to get a Latte and bought a cupcake at the new bakeshop. Things are pretty awesome in the U.S. of A as far as I'm concerned. Oh and last year I attended John Stewart's Restore Sanity gathering at the mall (and I wasn't shot at!)
You may not have been shot, but beyond a few 100's of thousands of people being a bit happier, absolutely nothing was accomplished. Nada. Zip. Zero. Last year, 2010, 3 million homes received a note that they were in some stage of foreclosure. 1 million homes were repossessed by lenders. Granted all those homes may not be occupied, but most likely were. Think about what a million families actually look like... homeles…
I rent. There's no shame in renting. Most people whose home was repossed aren't homeless - they went back to renting.
I didn't buy a house because I educated myself about the 3X rule. You should only buy a house that is worth 3X your income.
Did Wall Street screw a lot of vulnerable people? Yes. But people like Elizabeth Warren, who leads the new Consumer Protection Bureau are making substantive improvements to the system.