2023 In Review: Americans Have Become Hungrier, Lonelier And More Desperate
By Michael Snyder/Economic Collapse Blog December 27, 2023
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The ominous trends that we see all around us are taking us somewhere. Needless to say, 2023 was not a good year for our country. Hunger and homelessness have been absolutely exploding, the suicide rate just continues to go even higher, and there is chaos in the streets on an almost nightly basis.
It is in this environment that the election of 2024 will happen. I expect election season to add an additional level of strain to our society, and I don't think that our society will be able to handle it. We are headed for a nightmare, and at this point everyone should be able to see that.
When conditions deteriorate, it is often those at the bottom of the economic food chain that feel it first.
And right now food banks all over the nation are dealing with a tsunami of hunger...
Food bank leaders from all corners of the country tell USA TODAY their neighborhood pantries are serving more people while using less resources, as economic pressures continue to ravage the budgets of low-income Americans and service providers alike.
Since pandemic-era boosts to government food aid ended earlier this year in many states, families are turning to food banks to close a gap in need that feels like it has no end in sight.
Susannah Morgan, the president of Oregon Food Bank, says that she is literally witnessing "the worst rate of hunger in my career"...
"This is the worst rate of hunger in my career," said Morgan, who has worked at food banks in Boston, San Francisco and Anchorage, Alaska. "It's so large, it's hard to wrap your head around."
I don't know what I have to do to convince some people that things really are this bad.
I keep sharing fact after fact in my articles, but some people out there are just not convinced.
One out of every five children in the U.S. does not have enough food to eat, but the reality of the suffering that is now taking place just isn't sinking in for many of those that are still living the high life.
Meanwhile, homelessness in the U.S. is increasing at the fastest rate ever recorded...
The United States experienced a dramatic 12 percent increase in homelessness as soaring rents and a decline in coronavirus pandemic assistance combined to put housing out of reach for more Americans, federal officials said Friday.
About 653,000 people were experiencing homelessness during the January snapshot. That's the highest number since the country began using the yearly point-in-time survey in 2007 to count the homeless population.
There are many out there that feel that such people need to "get a job" or "work harder", but the truth is that most Americans are living on the verge of economic disaster because most Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.
At the same time, Americans continue to get even lonelier.
According to USA Today, "Americans are lonely and it's killing them", and at this point things are so bad that this crisis is being called "a new epidemic"...
America has a new epidemic. It can't be treated using traditional therapies even though it has debilitating and even deadly consequences.
The problem seeping in at the corners of our communities is loneliness and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy is hoping to generate awareness and offer remedies before it claims more lives.
"Most of us probably think of loneliness as just a bad feeling," he told USA TODAY. "It turns out that loneliness has far greater implications for our health when we struggle with a sense of social disconnection, being lonely or isolated."
It is especially bad during this time of the year.
There are so many people out there that are deeply, deeply hurting because they are so lonely.
They are trying their best to face a world that has gone completely mad, but that can be really difficult to do when you don't have anyone to lean on for support.
Speaking of a world gone mad, retail theft has absolutely skyrocketed in many of our largest cities since 2019...
Crime-ridden New York City has seen the biggest impact with a 64 percent increase in retail theft, followed by Los Angeles with a 61 percent jump and Virginia Beach, Virginia, which has seen a 44 percent rise.
Each month, more Americans are descending into poverty and more Americans are turning to crime.
And it certainly doesn't help that vast hordes of illegal immigrants are constantly being added to the mix.
Chaos in the streets has become an almost constant state of affairs in this country, and this year in Oakland there was even rioting on Christmas Eve.
Of course our leaders continue to exist in a bubble where none of these problems constitutes a serious crisis.
To them, everything must be just fine because they are doing such a wonderful job.
When he was recently confronted about the reality of the economic crisis that we are now facing, Joe Biden bluntly told the press to "start reporting it the right way"...
President Biden criticized news coverage of the U.S. economy as he faces growing backlash from voters over his handling of inflation.
In brief remarks Saturday before boarding the presidential helicopter, Biden expressed confidence in the economy and ripped the reporters for the way it has been portrayed.
"All good. Take a look. Start reporting it the right way," Biden said when asked about his economic outlook for 2024, according to a transcript released Sunday by the White House.
He wants the press to continue to spin things in a way that will make him look good as they always have done in the past.
But we have reached a stage where all of the charades are finally crumbling.
Conditions are bad now, and they are going to get even worse in 2024.
So brace yourself for what is ahead, because we are going to experience so much chaos during the year that is in front of us.
Originally published at Economic Collapse Blog - reposted with permission.
