General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAre you better off today than you were 4 years ago?
I'll let you know when I am allowed to leave my house without a face mask, disinfectant wipes, hand sanitizer, when I don't have to stand 6-feet away from everyone I meet in public, when I can see my family again, when I don't have to wash my hands 50 times a day, and when I actually have a job to leave the house for.
The one thing I can tell you is that I will leave my house on Tuesday, November 3rd come hell or high water to make sure the next 4 years don't resemble that last 4 years.
uponit7771
(90,364 posts)... hate to even address this question.
The TO lasted an hour but it sure was interesting
Ilsa
(61,698 posts)Four years ago, I was only scared that trump might win.
at140
(6,110 posts)which had free use of gym and pool and I have taken advantage of those amenities. My health is significantly better compared to 4 years ago.
Goodheart
(5,345 posts)Initech
(100,104 posts)The pandemic has completely wrecked my emotional well being to the point where I definitely need to seek treatment for it.
I want to be able to go outside again and do all the things I used to do before this shithead virus came along. I want to see my friends and family again. I want to go to concerts, sports and movies again. Visit my favorite restaurants and breweries without being socially distant. I want to enjoy life again.
I want a president who listens to experts and not to his favorite fucking TV show. I want a president who will unite the country and not divide it.
kimbutgar
(21,209 posts)both my jobs are gone. no substitute teaching nor assisting seniors in moving to new living situations. Luckily Ive always been a frugal person and have no credit card debt. my husband is still working but he got his hours cut to 30 instead of 40.
it didnt have to be so bad if we had had a good leader who recognized early the CV was deadly. I would bet Hillary would have stepped up and handled things a lot better!
Ferrets are Cool
(21,110 posts)because 3 years ago, I started my own business and it has thrived. As for other issues, it's a mixed bag.
SCantiGOP
(13,874 posts)There was one anecdotal point that was almost surreal, but proved that our system was superior to the other side: People in the Soviet Union had trouble getting enough toilet paper.
(Apparently, when God sent trump into the White House, Obama had let our strategic toilet paper reserve disappear.)
RainCaster
(10,923 posts)I'm still waiting for my 2019 tax return deposit. No chance of getting a useful response from the IRS.
We have a blathering idiot in the White House, and his whole family of imbeciles helping to keep the top 1% free of those pesky taxes.
Newest Reality
(12,712 posts)I don't make the comparison anymore, but I get what you are getting at.
I do my best not to compare myself to others, (unless I am learning something significant from a teacher providing a good model). In that light, things change, so do I. Making a comparison now with what was or will be is relative to how my view itself has changed. It seems that a depression is the past and anxiety in the future and that's where making comparisons gets very tricky, thorny and turns into a vicious circle of torment cycles.
That might be called a reformed comparitivist. I only use comparisons when necessary or appropriate to the circumstances.
sarisataka
(18,779 posts)So what should I do about it?
samnsara
(17,640 posts)...hubby had cancer so NO..trumps prez so NO...the only good thing to happen were the stocks were very good to us. More money to move to Canada with!
Tree-Hugger
(3,370 posts)There's a lot at play in my life that isn't Trump's fault. I've been struggling in an abusive marriage for years and there is a lot more that weighs against me and my family. That said, I was in a much better financial position 4 years ago. I had gotten my family off SNAP and Medicaid. We even took a family vacation to another state. I was rebuilding my credit (my debt is all student loans and medical).
Now, I'm unemployed and don't know if I'll even get my job back. I was forced to renew my lease when this was the year I was going to finally get out of this shitty slumhole. I was denied unemployment benefits because I didn't make enough in 2018 and 2019. My husband was fired ( raised coronavirus safety concerns )in April and we still have no word on unemployment for him. I tried so hard to fight it, but I ended up applying for SNAP and Medicaid. We were approved just recently, but I am still waiting to get a SNAP card. I swore up and down that we would never ever be on SNAP and Medicaid again, so I am gutted that I had to apply.
You know what pisses me off? My apartment complex doesn't budge on rent relief ( they just hold off on evictions for now) and won't allow for delays with the lease renewal. This place is a shithole. My floors shake when anyone walks across them, even if it's just a cat jumping. Maybe I overreact, but I constantly worry that my floors will give way. There's a lot of broken floorboards under the carpet in some spots. They did a foundation raising and re-leveling a few years back. The floors were already uneven before that, but they are worse now. But supposedly safer. Anyway, this place is run by a multi BILLION dollar national company that I believe is also publicly traded. How much do you want to bet that they benefited from a few million in stimulus from Trump? Yet, they won't help their residents out. We get constantly reminders that rent is due the 1st of the month.
I'm so sick of people claiming they just want to reopen because they are "So worried about poor people who need to work" and they are "so worried about people in domestic violence situations." Bullshit. These people voted AGAINST better domestic violence legislation. The agencies in my area do wonderful work (I receive counseling through them), but they are unable to meet the needs of all of their victims. They just can't. And the same people vote against minimum wage legislation. They claim they are worried about mental health. Bullshit. These same people vote against legislation to expand mental health services. They just want to be served while still denying rights and basic needs.
I'm poor and in an abuse situation and I am not exactly in a rush for my job, if it will still exist. It's not that I don't WANT to work. I have a mild heart condition and it potentially increases my risk with Covid. I don't trust that my job will be safe. I do high contact work with children and with seniors. Kids coughing in my face is a routine part of my job. It's very high touch and there's a lot of equipment involved that is not easy to keep constantly *sanitized.* I don't want to be someone's guinea pig. I don't want to be sacrificed. So, I am stuck in this weird mental place where I am scared of getting sick and where I am also ashamed of myself for it - ashamed to be hesitant to get back to work. I am it for my kids. If anything happens to me, my husband wouldn't be good for them and I don't have much in the way of capable extended family. I feel so much anxiety and desperation. It doesn't help that so many people are triggered by kindness and the idea of wearing masks so you don't sicken your fellow human. And these assholes say that people like me with any risk should just "stay home." Like they're going to pay my rent? I'm so tired of these stay at home parents whining that they need everything to open because they can't handle their own kids. They can afford to be stay at home parents and they have partners who are still employed, but they are bored and can't stand kids so us poor folk need to get our asses back to work so they can sip wine while their kids are entertained.
I am pissed at Trump. It's not his fault that this virus happened. It's not his fault that it got to America. It's definitely his fault that it spread as bad as it did. It's his fault that we have a 100,000 death rate. There are less that 400,000 deaths in the entire world and America owns 100,000 of them. It's his fault that he couldn't figure out a proper economic stimulus that helped PEOPLE and not his corporation friends. It's his fault that he strangles aid to certain states. I live in PA and I'm not 100% pleased with my governor, either, but he also isn't get much help from Trump. I am pissed that Trump is pandering to these mask sissies who have made Covid into some sort of freedom fight. We could have lessened the stranglehold this virus had on us, but Trump let it go. Trump is prolonging it. Trump is letting his own people die.
Sorry to jump off of your post and rant.
lostnfound
(16,191 posts)Right now there is an 80-something person that I worry about a lot and cant go visit
And my 25 year career is gone
And I miss the relatives that used to visit.
But I am very, very fortunate
And I will be voting absentee.
Amishman
(5,559 posts)I've been successful professionally and am a happy husband and father. What I have gained I worked hard to achieve.