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While I broadly empathize with what you're saying here, this:

> No one that believes in their country becomes a criminal.

seems completely indefensible. There are all kinds of criminals who see it as a legitimate way to exist and thrive within society. There are also many different kinds of crime, including white collar. Particularly when you live in a "got to get ahead" society, pretty much anything that can you help you "get ahead" ends up feeling legitimate.

The law is supposed to be the sacred foundation upon which a nation is built. Perhaps this view of law has been forgotten, which further emphasises my point about corruption.

Breaking the law, in a serious way--I'm not talking about jaywalking--shows contempt for the foundational order of a nation.

When I was younger, boy scout and all, I truly believed breaking the law was the worst thing one could possibly do. I was told how important the law is and that it deserves our utmost respect. From this mindset, breaking the law and becoming a criminal is percieved as a monstrous act-- inexusable. That's how I saw things when I believed in America.

Things have certainly changed, as your comment demonstrates. People now think it's more important to make money than abide by the law. The law is just seen as a referee, something to get around, not a noble set of rules that are laid down to govern our conduct for the good of us all.

> Things have certainly changed

It's hard to take this seriously. Crime as a way of life has a history dating back centuries, even millenia.

That's not true! Poor people can escape if they live perfectly and don't make a single mistake and don't get unlucky. /S

(Unlucky = health emergency, family emergency, wrong place wrong time, etc - advantaged people have accidents and mistakes but they have money and safety nets that catch them)

The number one cause of bankruptcy in the U.S. is healthcare costs. The horror stories I've personally witnessed are shocking. At the bottom of society, where I have dwelled, there's a whole undulating sea of broken toys. Ex engineers, disgraced financiers, all sorts of people that once were somebody in society, but fell down somehow into the land of the living dead; where there's no hope and mostly a silent endurance until we die in complete isolation.

>We're living in an utterly corrupt society. I know the middle class types on here don't like to hear it, but it's true. At the bottom of society, one can see clearly how bad it is. In the middle, you are insulated in your little suburban homes with your inflated sense of self-worth

It's a fairly accurate representation of the way things are, as I see it.

>This can't last forever.

I think this was the way it was since time immemorial. Probably worse.

How many civilizations have lasted since time immemorial? You could have said this in Rome and you would have been right. You could have said this as a slave to the pharos and you would have been right.

It never lasts forever.

Ok, you are correct, to state it more accurately as long as civilizations ( in it's current form) exist, there have been slaves, and all indications are that it will not change. Unless somehow each individual somehow become physically powerful enough to stand up to large a collective of the 'enemy', slavery in some form will always exist.

Is there a country outside of the US that does not have some of the corrupt aspects you mention? Does this corruption pervade only at a national level or also at state and town and community layers?

The U.S. is a special case because of it's grandiose claims. We are supposed to be a nation by the people and for the people, a nation that is supposed to be a bastion of liberty against the dark tyrannical forces of the world that routinely attempt to enslave man.

Corruption in this context is more severe than equivalent corruption in countries differently constituted.

It's like a catholic priest who has sex with women on the side. Many men do that, but a priest is supposed to be held to a divine standard. Therefore the priest's actions are interpreted as a severe form of corruption,whereas the actions of a common man doing the same thing are perhaps not even seen as a bad thing.

America is like a high priest of liberty. When there is corruption here, it's even worse than equivalent corruption elsewhere.

Practicality speaking now, this is a huge problem because many people still believe that America is still abiding by its high ideals. This has the effect of making people blind to corruption. "That could never happen in America," is the attitude of a lot of people who still believe in the premise of this nation.

I'll admit that these are difficult questions. I don't necessarily have the best answers. All I can really say is that there's a spiritual sickness here eating away at us that undoubtedly comes from a long accumulation of lies and betrayals that undermine our collective faith in the nation.

The mysterious spiritual sickness is just the expected arrival of weaker souls: they have the right to live too, but they won't be able to uphold the standards set by their greater ancestors.