> Now imagine you asked an American this question 30 years ago. How would they have responded? No one would have even talked about it with you. Every American citizen was, first and foremost, a patriot of their country and firmly believed that Americans are the greatest nation at the peak of its powers with a great future ahead.
1995 was smack in the middle of the rise of gangs and deterioration in many inner city environments. If people would not have talked about it with you, it's because they were preoccupied with other things.
> Patriotism is falling, public attitudes are deteriorating, and confidence in the future is waning. Yet, despite these gloomy sentiments, according to major economic indicators, America continues to prosper. It’s a paradox
It's not a paradox. Non-rich people do not really care about major economic indicators, they care about the specific particular economic indicator of their paycheck and what their paycheck can buy. That's taken a serious hit in the last 10 years and a giant hit in the last 4. Show me all the bar charts you want, they don't matter if half my check goes to food, if I can't afford a house and won't realistically be able to afford one in 10 years.
This article is like a clueless company that is making profit at the moment that will buy employees pizza but refuse to understand that low paychecks are the reason they can't get people to stay. Seriously the article explores almost every possible avenue of dissatisfaction but that, it's almost comical.