Society Is Changing America

Society is constantly changing, and some people think it’s for the better, some think it’s for the worse. I feel that there is no question that society is changing for the worse. A Pew Research Poll taken in the spring of 2015 says that only 45% of people around the world express the view that today’s children will be better off financially than their parents. But since America has been the driving force of the world economy since the 1950’s, I think it’s important to focus on the health of the American economy to demonstrate this point of view.

We have a huge deficit in America, that is no secret. America has borrowed more than 18 trillion dollars just to keep itself going, and a lot of that is owed to China, who are not exactly our friend. The national debt owed per person as of today is over $56,000. The debt owed per household is over $146,000. Some people don’t find this to be concerning.

Social Security and Medicare in dangerous territory. The payments to Social Security and Medicare are not currently enough to pay the benefits that have been promised to those who have paid into these programs. Also, life expectancy is up, but the rates of people having babies is down. The population is aging, and the elderly are living longer. This is good news for people but bad news for the government paying out these benefits.

There have been signs of global economic struggle in the stock market over the last couple of months that show America and the rest of the world on shaky ground. In August of this year, China's Shanghai Composite plummeted 8.5%, wiping out all of its massive gains so far this year, which caused the American stock market to see its biggest drop ever, when the market opened to a 1,089 point drop. There were several other large drops and large gains in the last couple of months, which give the people of the US and the world cause for