[Dem_Boys]

I too feel every ounce of this. It's in the air. As a data oriented person I'm uncomfortable relying on "feels like" and "intuition" but that's all I have.

The best way I can describe it is "societal rot". Just 10 years ago there was optimism in the air. Now every damn day I see SEVERELY mentally ill people losing their shit in the streets and there's more and more of them each month (I live in a medium sized US city). There's human shit all over the sidewalks. Nudity in front of children. Are we supposed to think this is ok?

I recently ordered food delivery and the girl delivery driver passionately thanked me for a $9 tip. The desperation and despair in her eyes was disturbing. I see this same look in too many people. It's not normal. People seem to be struggling in a way that I've never seen in my life (I'm 34).

Also its difficult to find hope. It's no longer easy to support yourself with a high school education. In response to that more people got educated. Great! We currently have the most educated population in the history of the United States. But oh no we now have an AI rat race where the main monetization strategy is replacing those white collar jobs with AI. People can only take so much.

BTW I'm a typically very positive person (based on feedback from peers and co workers)