Americans are dying from despair

[angeltrue]

I read alarming statistics that Americans are dying at a young age due to financial strain. I can attest to the strain; I've lived it and am watching my adult children live it.

It's unconscionable that our legislators are keeping our borders open while black tar heroin from Mexico and South America is flooding in. Approximately 50,000 young adults died last year from heroin overdose and our borders are still unsecured, as huge stashes of heroin are seized from those trying to smuggle it into the country. It's insanity.

Don't you think it's time we all email our legislators and demand the border be secured? Can you each do that? Our pastor has.

The unsecured border is also letting the country be flooded with cheap labor which keeps American salaries down when they have to compete with immigrants.

Blacks are disproportionately affected by mass immigration. We have nice young black men whose futures and dreams are being stolen by legislators who are beholden to farmers and agricultural lobbyists as well as Mark Zuckerberg. Mark Zuckerberg, a billionaire, funded Fwd.us, an activist group fighting for open borders. Zuckerberg doesn't care if your child or you can't find a job or be paid a decent wage, all he cares about is getting immigrants to work at FaceBook cheap to make him richer.

Americans are dying from financial strain yet immigrants come to the country and are taken care of. Americans are being turned away and immigrants taking away from Americans. (See link below) This is an outrage.

This country is coming apart at the seams. Americans are coming apart at the seams. We have serious problems to deal with and all leftist legislators care about are illegal immigrants, not Americans whose life expectancy is terrible, not veterans who deserve special attention, not giving a break to struggling young Americans. They have their priorities screwed up.

Please email your legislators and tell them to prioritize the young adults dying of heroin. Tell them to prioritize the young blacks and whites in inner-cities being pushed out of the labor market due to an influx of immigrants. Tell them to prioritize helping struggling Americans.

The insanity pushed by Durbin and Schumer must end. America isn't doing well.

The Social Contract - The Effects of Immigration on Welfare Programs

Middle-Aged White Americans Are Dying of Despair

 

[Halbhh]

Imagine if we really could stop all narcotics coming into the country over our borders. Entirely.

Would that help? Yes, some.

But not enough.

We'd make more here.

Because the problem is a deeper one. Inside us.

American culture makes it worse, in our fancier and fancier homes and cars, that cost so much money. Huge amounts of money.

But even that living-death of materialism is itself only a symptom of the real disease, underneath.

It's a lack of Christ Jesus, the only hope. The only One Who can really rescue us.

 

[angeltrue]

Imagine if we really could stop all narcotics coming into the country over our borders. Entirely.

Would that help? Yes, some.

But not enough.

We'd make more here.

Because the problem is a deeper one. Inside us.

American culture makes it worse, in our fancier and fancier homes and cars, that cost so much money. Huge amounts of money.

But even that living-death of materialism is itself only a symptom of the real disease, underneath.

It's a lack of Christ Jesus, the only hope. The only One Who can really rescue us.

You're exactly right. But how can we reach all these young Americans who are getting caught in the tentacles of drug use - we MUST stop the drug flow FIRST, so we can reach their hearts.

My associates and I have studied the drug epidemic and are going to compile a report to send to the President. I would appreciate any suggestions.

 

[Macril]

There is an example of truly isolated wonder state. No immigrants charging over their borders, no narcotics smuggled in, no foreigners taking their jobs, no bad leftist left. Order, security, devotion.

US could really model themselves after North Korea to truly enjoy the fruits of protectionism.

 

[majj27]

There is an example of truly isolated wonder state. No immigrants charging over their borders, no narcotics smuggled in, no foreigners taking their jobs, no bad leftist left. Order, security, devotion.

US could really model themselves after North Korea to truly enjoy the fruits of protectionism.

OH SNAP.

 

[Halbhh]

You're exactly right. But how can we reach all these young Americans who are getting caught in the tentacles of drug use - we MUST stop the drug flow FIRST, so we can reach their hearts.

My associates and I have studied the drug epidemic and are going to compile a report to send to the President. I would appreciate any suggestions.

I think there's no way to remove all possible highly addictive substances/drugs first and then address demand 2nd, because the urge and thus the demand is so strong. Stopping one or 3 sources just leaves new ones arising to meet the demand. Instead, the key thing is to address the root of the demand. At least at the same time. As the way to achieve the goal. We have to address the fundamental sickness in the culture. To overcome addictions effectively people need God first (for example AA uses the 12 steps which are about relying on God). The most powerful way to God is through Christ. But government could support AA. Still the biggest work is for Christians themselves that truly rely on Christ to bring the Good News to the lost. See, AA is like a bridge (if a person has faith!). An aid for those with faith. Only if the person truly changes can they resist the urge over long times.

Update: here is a key thing to understand -- addiction is about trying to feel better, because one is disconnected in a fundamental way:

Johann Hari: Does Stigmatizing Addiction Perpetuate It?
RAZ: That's - well, that's what we all assume, right? You take heroin for 20 days, you're probably going to be addicted.

HARI: Exactly. And I only began to understand what's really going on and, in fact, what had gone on in my family when I went and met an incredible professor called Bruce Alexander in Vancouver. And Professor Alexander explained to me, this theory of addiction that I had in my head - that it's caused by the chemical hooks - comes from a series of experiments that were done earlier in the 20th century. You take a rat, and you put it in a cage, and you give it two water bottles. One is just water. The other is water laced with either heroin or cocaine. If you do that, the rat will almost always prefer the drugged water and almost always kill itself quite quickly. But Professor Alexander was looking at these experiments in the '70s, and he had this kind of realization. Wait a minute. We put the rat alone in an empty cage. It's got nothing to do except take these drugs.

RAZ: Yeah.

HARI: What would happen, he thought, if we did this differently? So he built a cage that he called Rat Park, and it's basically heaven for rats, right? They've got loads of friends. They got loads of grain. They got loads of tunnels to scamper around. They can have lots of sex. And they've got both the water bottles - the normal water and the drugged water. But this is the fascinating thing. In Rat Park, they don't like the drugged water. None of them ever used it compulsively. None of them ever overdosed. So you go from almost 100 percent compulsive use of overdose when their lives are bad to none when their lives are good and they have the things that make life meaningful for rats.

 

[mala]

I read alarming statistics that Americans are dying at a young age due to financial strain. I can attest to the strain; I've lived it and am watching my adult children live it.

It's unconscionable that our legislators are keeping our borders open while black tar heroin from Mexico and South America is flooding in. Approximately 50,000 young adults died last year from heroin overdose and our borders are still unsecured, as huge stashes of heroin are seized from those trying to smuggle it into the country. It's insanity.

Don't you think it's time we all email our legislators and demand the border be secured? Can you each do that? Our pastor has.

The unsecured border is also letting the country be flooded with cheap labor which keeps American salaries down when they have to compete with immigrants.

Blacks are disproportionately affected by mass immigration. We have nice young black men whose futures and dreams are being stolen by legislators who are beholden to farmers and agricultural lobbyists as well as Mark Zuckerberg. Mark Zuckerberg, a billionaire, funded Fwd.us, an activist group fighting for open borders. Zuckerberg doesn't care if your child or you can't find a job or be paid a decent wage, all he cares about is getting immigrants to work at FaceBook cheap to make him richer.

Americans are dying from financial strain yet immigrants come to the country and are taken care of. Americans are being turned away and immigrants taking away from Americans. (See link below) This is an outrage.

This country is coming apart at the seams. Americans are coming apart at the seams. We have serious problems to deal with and all leftist legislators care about are illegal immigrants, not Americans whose life expectancy is terrible, not veterans who deserve special attention, not giving a break to struggling young Americans. They have their priorities screwed up.

Please email your legislators and tell them to prioritize the young adults dying of heroin. Tell them to prioritize the young blacks and whites in inner-cities being pushed out of the labor market due to an influx of immigrants. Tell them to prioritize helping struggling Americans.

The insanity pushed by Durbin and Schumer must end. America isn't doing well.

The Social Contract - The Effects of Immigration on Welfare Programs

Middle-Aged White Americans Are Dying of Despair

this entire post is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to hoist all your problems and failures on others instead of being an adult and accepting responsibility for your own problems.
it is also an insult towards people who suffer from actual mental disorders whose symptoms do not ever include "immigrants."

 

[Nithavela]

OH SNAP.

 

[SolomonVII]

Despair is not a political problem, it is a spiritual problem.

Politicians are not gods. They do not have the power to fix despair.

Despair is an imminently reasonable response to a life lived without God.

 

[ViaCrucis]

Imagine if instead of having our legislators waste tax payer dollars building walls, we instead put that money into addressing the opioid epidemic itself; the fact that doctors are way too willing to proscribe opioids, instead of other forms of pain control; or how about funding rehab programs, or improve our healthcare system by moving into the 21st century like the rest of the industrialized world.

Yes, certainly, address security issues on our borders to try and address the criminal element coming into the country; but don't punish everyone, and don't demonize people by buying into the idea that "bad hombres" are flooding in across the border, because the overwhelming number of people who are here illegally either:

A) Came here legally in the first place or
B) Came here to provide for their family through honest hard work which they weren't getting where they came from.

What Trump and others are doing is called scapegoating. And anyone with even a passing knowledge of 20th century history should know precisely why scapegoating is incredibly dangerous.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Ana the Ist]

I read alarming statistics that Americans are dying at a young age due to financial strain. I can attest to the strain; I've lived it and am watching my adult children live it.

It's unconscionable that our legislators are keeping our borders open while black tar heroin from Mexico and South America is flooding in. Approximately 50,000 young adults died last year from heroin overdose and our borders are still unsecured, as huge stashes of heroin are seized from those trying to smuggle it into the country. It's insanity.

Don't you think it's time we all email our legislators and demand the border be secured? Can you each do that? Our pastor has.

The unsecured border is also letting the country be flooded with cheap labor which keeps American salaries down when they have to compete with immigrants.

Blacks are disproportionately affected by mass immigration. We have nice young black men whose futures and dreams are being stolen by legislators who are beholden to farmers and agricultural lobbyists as well as Mark Zuckerberg. Mark Zuckerberg, a billionaire, funded Fwd.us, an activist group fighting for open borders. Zuckerberg doesn't care if your child or you can't find a job or be paid a decent wage, all he cares about is getting immigrants to work at FaceBook cheap to make him richer.

Americans are dying from financial strain yet immigrants come to the country and are taken care of. Americans are being turned away and immigrants taking away from Americans. (See link below) This is an outrage.

This country is coming apart at the seams. Americans are coming apart at the seams. We have serious problems to deal with and all leftist legislators care about are illegal immigrants, not Americans whose life expectancy is terrible, not veterans who deserve special attention, not giving a break to struggling young Americans. They have their priorities screwed up.

Please email your legislators and tell them to prioritize the young adults dying of heroin. Tell them to prioritize the young blacks and whites in inner-cities being pushed out of the labor market due to an influx of immigrants. Tell them to prioritize helping struggling Americans.

The insanity pushed by Durbin and Schumer must end. America isn't doing well.

The Social Contract - The Effects of Immigration on Welfare Programs

Middle-Aged White Americans Are Dying of Despair

Thanks for posting this...your first link is a great article about how illegals and immigrants "game" our welfare system. It's worth pointing out that unless there's widespread reform, this will only get worse. It's also worth pointing out that the way they manipulate the system to get benefits isn't something that the costs of can be easily measured. In all likelihood, we're paying hundreds of millions if not billions in welfare to illegals and poor, uneducated immigrants regardless of how long they've been in the nation. There's a lot of myths surrounding illegal immigrants/immigrants and one of the common myths is that they're "just looking for work"....many come here looking for a handout.

I'm less concerned about the ones who do work, pay taxes, and make an effort to integrate. I haven't seen any hard data showing that they steal jobs from minorities.
There are some very real problems with our welfare and immigration system that need unbiased bi-partisan efforts to fix. The left needs to stop looking at them as new votes, and the right needs to stop looking at them as just another issue to run on and actually do something instead.

 

[Ana the Ist]

A) Came here legally in the first place or
B) Came here to provide for their family through honest hard work which they weren't getting where they came from.

Did you read the first link? Illegals shouldn't be able to access welfare systems created for citizens at all. Legal immigrants shouldn't be sponsoring elderly relatives that they cannot support.

We can't even figure out the full cost of these things.

 

[Liza B.]

this entire post is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to hoist all your problems and failures on others instead of being an adult and accepting responsibility for your own problems.
it is also an insult towards people who suffer from actual mental disorders whose symptoms do not ever include "immigrants."

True mental disorders are a real problem. Immigration is also a real problem. Both are true.

In the schools we have not even begun to see the fallout from the opioid epidemic yet. When we do, the teacher shortage will get even worse. Things from here are certainly not going to get better, count on that.

 

[Goatee]

Not just America. Lots of Countries here in Europe are the same.

 

[angeltrue]

Imagine if we really could stop all narcotics coming into the country over our borders. Entirely.

Would that help? Yes, some.

But not enough.

We'd make more here.

Because the problem is a deeper one. Inside us.

American culture makes it worse, in our fancier and fancier homes and cars, that cost so much money. Huge amounts of money.

But even that living-death of materialism is itself only a symptom of the real disease, underneath.

It's a lack of Christ Jesus, the only hope. The only One Who can really rescue us.

I agree American culture is bad - we have to change it however we can because we're rotting from within like Rome.

I can't say that we have "huge amounts of money" - we don't. We have one car and a modest home that we don't even own. We have to spend money sparingly. None of our children own a home. Children usually do better than parents.

I order salvation pamphlets and leave them around everywhere - this is something we all can do.

 

[angeltrue]

There is an example of truly isolated wonder state. No immigrants charging over their borders, no narcotics smuggled in, no foreigners taking their jobs, no bad leftist left. Order, security, devotion.

US could really model themselves after North Korea to truly enjoy the fruits of protectionism.

No not N. Korea, but the America our parents knew - no drugs, predictability, sanity.

 

[angeltrue]

I think there's no way to remove all possible highly addictive substances/drugs first and then address demand 2nd, because the urge and thus the demand is so strong. Stopping one or 3 sources just leaves new ones arising to meet the demand. Instead, the key thing is to address the root of the demand. At least at the same time. As the way to achieve the goal. We have to address the fundamental sickness in the culture. To overcome addictions effectively people need God first (for example AA uses the 12 steps which are about relying on God). The most powerful way to God is through Christ. But government could support AA. Still the biggest work is for Christians themselves that truly rely on Christ to bring the Good News to the lost. See, AA is like a bridge. An effective temporary cure. Only if the person truly changes can they resist the urge over long times.

Why do you feel the demand is so strong now? I look back to my parents day and they didn't have drugs flowing through communities like they do now - what changed? I'm working with others on this and it's interesting to see the Christian vs the secular beliefs as to what changed.

 

[angeltrue]

Despair is not a political problem, it is a spiritual problem.

Politicians are not gods. They do not have the power to fix despair.

Despair is an imminently reasonable response to a life lived without God.

Why do you think there is such despair that is driving American youth into drugs?

 

[angeltrue]

Imagine if instead of having our legislators waste tax payer dollars building walls, we instead put that money into addressing the opioid epidemic itself; the fact that doctors are way too willing to proscribe opioids, instead of other forms of pain control; or how about funding rehab programs, or improve our healthcare system by moving into the 21st century like the rest of the industrialized world.

Yes, certainly, address security issues on our borders to try and address the criminal element coming into the country; but don't punish everyone, and don't demonize people by buying into the idea that "bad hombres" are flooding in across the border, because the overwhelming number of people who are here illegally either:

A) Came here legally in the first place or
B) Came here to provide for their family through honest hard work which they weren't getting where they came from.

What Trump and others are doing is called scapegoating. And anyone with even a passing knowledge of 20th century history should know precisely why scapegoating is incredibly dangerous.

-CryptoLutheran

My associates and I studied the drug epidemic - our mathematician worked the numbers and said the opioid epidemic is not being driven by doctors and teens raiding grandma's medicine cabinet - there was some drug diversion and rogue doctors - but the majority of the illicit drugs are coming in from China and the unsecured border. I know people in the medical field and doctors under prescribe now, leaving patients in agony due to the heavy new CDC rules. You'll find that out if you're ever injured. Post surgery doctors are giving an ice pack. I went to the ER for an emergency and was in terrible pain and was given nothing - so it's gotten dangerous. I know chronic pain patients who are being left with no relief.

There is a right way to immigrate to the United States. If someone wants to come here they can and should go through the legal process. I know someone who works in a hospital who is caring for illegals with TB, meningitis, and other communicable diseases. Some leave the hospital and go out into the public against medical advice. That's a recipe for a pandemic - I'm waiting for one to erupt - they have had TB epidemics across the US from it. Meningitis usually kills before you know you have it.

Our laws are meant to protect us but what is going on is lawlessness - our borders are being ignored and this is dangerous. Democrats don't care about "Dreamers" - they are political props for Democrats because immigrants vote Democrat and Democrats want control of the country - that's why they want mass immigration.

There is an organization called "The Remembrance Project" - people who were killed by illegal immigrants coming here. Would you feel the same way of being lax about our borders if your daughter, wife, sister, or mother was raped by an entirely preventable crime by illegal aliens? My husband warned me they worked on his job and he said they don't know what they're doing and be careful around trucks they load - people hire them because they work cheap. One was driving a truck and struck a pastor and his family killing about 4 or 5 of his kids. I don't believe we should just look the other way when they come here to find work - they should come in through the legal way.

The other problem is Americans are then forced to compete with them and it drives down wages. I see it in our city - they young blacks are edged out because our area is flooded with illegals who work for low wages.

I'm concerned about the mass drug epidemic and why it can't be controlled. Billions have been spent on the war on drugs and it failed miserably.

 

[Halbhh]

Why do you feel the demand is so strong now? I look back to my parents day and they didn't have drugs flowing through communities like they do now - what changed? I'm working with others on this and it's interesting to see the Christian vs the secular beliefs as to what changed.

Materialism -- "mammon" -- has become more powerful in our culture.

As a metaphor -- a kind of living deadness. Those under it are like 'living dead' -- metaphorically like zombies or vampires, which is why those metaphors became so popular in fiction.

This situation:
Ephesians 2 NIV