STATE OF AMERICA 2021

OVER 500,000 AMERICANS GOT KILLED BY THE CORONAVIRUS

AND MORE THAN HALF OF AMERICANS ARE IN POVERTY

The Coronavirus disaster is not an accident. Experts have warned about this for years. It is a very logical result of America having a government that refuses to provide universal health care for all. Every other modern nation considers healthcare to be a right. Most nations have free healthcare services and sick leave because they don't want disease spreading through their society.

Over 500,000 Americans have been killed by the Coronavirus. Millions have been ruined financially. Thousands are dying everyday.

The pandemic has also escalated already existing economic issues in America. Even before the pandemic started, the working class in America was already in a state of crisis. Half of all Americans were in poverty. Wages had stagnated and were back to where they were in the 1960s. Half of Americans didn't have the money to pay for an emergency. Record numbers of people, including young people, were dying from drug overdose and stress related illnesses.

So now with this virus on top of all these pre-existing issues, the outlook for the working class is grim. How are they supposed to handle getting the virus when they don't have adequate health care? When they don't even have the money to pay for an emergency? Or sick leave? Or day care?

Do we have the right priorities as a country? Should we be spending more on war than the next seven nations combined when we can't even defend our own people against a virus? Should we be spending trillions on wars over seas when half of the American people are broke?

It's time to focus on real priorities. Priorities of life and death. Below we have included some key reports and news stories to show the state of where we're at in America. It's time for change. It's time to focus on policies that will actually help the working class.

THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS    HEALTH CARE    DEATH OF THE MIDDLE CLASS      DEBT CRISIS

LIFE AND DEATH IN AMERICA

OVER 500,000 DEAD FROM THE CORONAVIRUS

COVID 19 DEATH RATES AROUND THE WORLD

Resources

COVID Money Tracker

COVID-19 deaths per capita by country (Statista)

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Deaths - Statistics and Research (Our World in Data)

Government Reaction to Pandemic

Rescue Package Includes $86 Billion Bailout for Failing Pensions (New York Times, 3-7-21)

Hospitals and nursing homes look to Senate after being left out of House stimulus (CNN Politics, 3-2-21)

8 Ways Big Government Botched the COVID Pandemic (FEE, 2-28-21)

New Lancet Report: 40 Percent of US COVID Deaths Could Have Been Avoided (Truth-Out, 2-11-21) Report

Nursing Homes in Crisis

Andrew Cuomo Shielded Killer Nursing Home Executives From Justice (Jacobin Magazine, 3-2021)

Nursing home deaths spike after private equity acquisitions, study finds  (Vox, 2-22-21)

Nursing Home Deflects Covid-19 Scrutiny With Lobbying (The Intercept, 2-20-21)

Lacking Resources For Kids in Pandemic

Attending school at a fast-food spot: 12 million US students lack internet a year into pandemic (The Guardian, 12-15-21)

THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS    HEALTH CARE    DEATH OF THE MIDDLE CLASS      DEBT CRISIS

THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS    HEALTH CARE    DEATH OF THE MIDDLE CLASS      DEBT CRISIS

THE AMERICAN HEALTH CARE CRISIS

A majority of Modern states in the world use Single Payer Health Insurance - except for America. This is a social program that even Imperial Germany had, 100 years ago. It is a system with one payer - the government. In the United States of America, many of the great institutions that we take for granted are kept afloat by government funding: education, police force, firefighters, military, etc. Yet one of the most important institutions of American society, our physicians and health providers, do not receive this same treatment. Instead we have a rube goldberg machine of a system with an interconnected mess of competing health insurance companies and government bureaucracies.

MILLIONS OF AMERICANS STILL UNINSURED

Facts About the Uninsured (Policy Advice, 2-14-21)

In 2019 it was found that health insurance is not owned by 44 million U.S. adults and that 38 million do not have adequate coverage.

SINGLE PAYER

Single Payer Health Insurance Plan, The Only Effective Option For Keeping America Healthy (World Future Fund Report)

Single-Payer Is Worth Fighting For (US News, 1-21-16)

Beyond the Spin, Some Facts About the Affordable Care Act (Aljazeera, 10-14-13)

UNDERINSURED AMERICANS

The Problem of Underinsurance and How Rising Deductibles Will Make It Worse (Common Wealth Fund, 5-20-15)
Now even with the Americans who do have insurance, many of them are underinsured. Which means that many of them have very high deductibles relative to their income. Nearly half of these adults will not get the care they need due to high costs. Not to mention that half of underinsured adults have debt loads around $4,000 or more.

TOXIC CHEMICALS IN THE BLOOD OF AMERICANS

Failure of U.S. Chemical Testing: Poison in The Blood(World Future Fund)
America's track record on testing poisonous chemicals has been one of complete neglect to public health and safety. Most Americans assume that chemicals in everyday products such as shampoos and detergents have been tested. In this assumption, they are dead wrong. In its entire history, the Environmental Protection Agency has only succeeded in banning five substances (New York Times). America clearly does not take the regulation of hazardous chemicals very seriously.

EPA and EU Sites Concerning Chemicals and Human Health (World Future Fund)

Chemicals and Health Organizations (World Future Fund)

Toxic Chemicals In 99% Of Americans’ Blood (Clean Technica, 10-19-19)

THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS    HEALTH CARE    DEATH OF THE MIDDLE CLASS      DEBT CRISIS

AMERICA'S MIDDLE CLASS, SINKING INTO POVERTY AND DESPAIR

Today, the American middle and lower classes are in the their worst crisis since the Great Depression.  Wages are back to where they were in the 1960's.   Debts have soared. 

America and Poverty A Sorry Record (WFF Chart)

The Real Economy: Some Charts (WFF Chart)

Opinion | 2021 Update: Half of America In or Near Poverty (Common Dreams, 2-22-21)

The decline in U.S. life expectancy is unlike anything we've seen in a century (Popular Science, 11-29-18) (CDC Report PDF)

DESPAIR AND DEATH IN AMERICA

Deaths from despair are at record high levels.

More Americans are dying "in the prime of their lives,"  (CNN, 3-2-21)

Americans are dying of despair. COVID’s to blame, and Biden’s administration must address it | Opinion (Miami Herald, 2-26-21)

More Millennials Are Dying 'Deaths of Despair,' as Overdose and Suicide Rates Climb (TIME, 6-13-19)

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE MIDDLE CLASS

America's Middle Class Is Losing Ground Financially (Investopedia, 8-9-20)

Federal survey shows nearly half of adults can’t cover a $400 emergency expense or save for retirement (CNBC, 5-22-18) Federal Reserve Report

Not only do half of all Americans not have enough for an emergency, but among those with retirement savings, less than 40 percent think they actually have enough, and 25 percent have nothing saved at all.

More Evidence That Half of America Is In Or Near Poverty (Truth Out, 3-24-14) There are more Americans living in poverty than what the official numbers indicate. The official poverty threshold reflects living standards that prevailed in the mid-1950's. It needs to be adjusted for the current day standard of living. Food costs have doubled since the 1980's, housing has tripled, medical costs are six times higher and college tuition is eleven times higher. Not to mention that half of Americans own NOTHING. 47% of Americans on the bottom own 1.1% of America's net wealth. What all this means is that HALF of Americans are in poverty!

AMERICA'S DECLINING WAGES
American minimum wages (adjusted for inflation) are back to where they were in the 1960's. It peaked in 1968 and hasn't recovered since. Studies show that if minimum wage kept up with productivity, it would be $21.72 an hour.

What’s Causing Wage Stagnation in America? (Kellog Insight, 12-2-19)

Why Wages Aren’t Growing in America (Harvard Business Review, 10-24-17)

Minimum wage would be $21.72 if it kept pace with increase in productivity (Huffington Post, 2-13-13)

PUBLIC HOUSING

Fixing Public Housing: A Day Inside a $32 Billion Problem (New York Times, 7-26-18)

CHILD POVERTY

America and Poverty A Sorry Record (World Future Fund Chart)

Facts About Child Poverty In America - 1 in 6 Children Are Living in Poverty (Children International, 2020)

OVERWORKED

The U.S. is the Most Overworked Developed Nation in the World (20 Something Finance, 1-13-20)

UNEMPLOYMENT

Unemployment Statistics (The Bureau of Labor Statistics, 3-5-21) PDF

CHRIS HEDGES ARTICLES ON THE STATE OF AMERICA

Bandaging the corpse (RT, 3-12-21)

The Great Unraveling (Truth Dig, 8-30-15)

The Real Enemy Is Within (Truth Dig, 9-6-15)

MASS INCARCERATION: THE NEW SLAVERY

The Sentencing Project
This website offers data on the mass incarceration of America's population. One in nine men can expect to be jailed in their lifetime. The rate of incarceration is the highest for America's black males: one in three black males can be expected to be jailed in their lifetime. Compare this to white males who experience an incarceration rate of one in seventeen. America's jail system has experienced a 500% increase over the past 30 years. There are now 2 million Americans in prison, yet this mass incarceration has not done much to improve public safety overall. While the United States has 5% of the world's population, we house 25% of the world's prisoners.

LACK OF VOTING RIGHTS FOR PEOPLE IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL

D.C. Residents Don’t Have a Vote. That Makes a Big Difference Wherever You Live (Institute for Policy Studies, 10-26-18)

Our government would look a lot different if the 4.5 million Americans in non-voting territories like D.C. and Puerto Rico has a voice.

THE DEBT CRISIS - AMERICA IS MORE THAN 10 TRILLION DOLLARS IN NET DEBT

In a sick society problems are solved by debt. Now debt itself is not an evil, debt used for investment is very important, a necessary tool for progress. However in sick societies, debt is used to pay for consumption. It's used to pay for things for which the money has not been produced. Is this a long-term solution? No, it is not.

One of the claims of the former president, Donald Trump, is that he would improve America's record on trade. However, the data above shows that this is definitely not the case and that the trade deficit under Trump only got worse.

KEY WORLD FUTURE FUND CHARTS AND REPORTS

Global Debt
After the global economic bubble burst in 2008, levels of global debt have skyrocketed, and only continue to grow larger with each passing year.

Money Printing
The current "recovery" is a result of money printing to bail out the rich while neglecting the needy.

Wall Street House of Cards
Is the U.S. economy truly on the road to recovery? The practice of stock repurchasing (stock buy backs) is inflating the value of today's stocks, while a dire lack of funds are being allocated towards things that actually improve economic growth - such as job creation, economic development and research.

Collapse of America's International Investment Position  
America today is the world's largest debtor.

Debt to GDP Ratio Historical Chart

TAXES

Taxes and Deficit  (World Future Fund)
Shows need to raise taxes.

ARTICLES

National Debt of the United States (Wikipedia)

Trump’s most enduring legacy could be the historic rise in the national debt (Washington Post, 1-14-21)

It rose almost $7.8 trillion during his time in the White House — approaching World War II levels, relative to the size of the economy. This time around, it will be much harder to dig ourselves out.

5 Countries That Own the Most U.S. Debt (Investopedia, 4-27-20)