Posted on 06/07/2015 4:49:24 PM PDT by Signalman
What would our founders say if they could see us now? Americans like to believe that the rest of the world looks up to us, but the truth is that the rest of the world is laughing at us. It may be very difficult for us to admit, but the reality is that America has become a nation of slobs. And I am not just talking about being overweight. Today, Americans are physical, mental, emotional, moral, financial and political slobs. We are addicted to entertainment, we are addicted to shopping, we are addicted to food, we are addicted to prescription drugs, and we are addicted to anything else that gives us the pleasure that we crave. We allow our televisions to do our thinking for us and our families are falling apart. Our lives center around pleasing ourselves, and we have become one of the most narcissistic societies in the history of the world. We are like a middle-aged man that has totally let himself go. You know the guy who shows up for an important event in sandals, sweatpants and a stained t-shirt? That is us. We are only a shadow of what we once were as a nation, and we desperately need to change course.
So what is the solution?
Well, just like any addict, the first thing that we need to do is to admit that there is a problem. Until we admit how dramatically we have fallen, we are never going to be ready to make the changes that are necessary.
And yes, we have fallen a long, long way as a country.
The following are 24 facts that prove that America is a nation of slobs .
#1 Right now, approximately 36 percent of all Americans are obese. It is being projected that number will rise to 42 percent by 2030.
#2 Back in 1962, only 13 percent of all Americans were obese.
#3 Medical costs related to obesity in the United States are estimated to be approximately $147 billion a year.
#4 All over America, our infrastructure is crumbling. For example, in the most populated county in Alabama potholes the size of pizzas now litter the roads.
#5 The average American family purchases 200 pounds of meat per family member each year.
#6 Large numbers of cows that are killed for hamburger meat in America stand ankle-deep in their own manure all day long.
#7 The average American watches 28 hours of television every week.
#8 U.S. corporations sell more fast food and more soda than anyone else in the world by a very wide margin.
#9 The average American drinks more than 600 sodas every single year. That is by far the most in the world.
#10 Of all the major industrialized nations, America is the most obese. Mexico is in second place.
#11 Americans take more prescription drugs than anyone else on the planet.
#12 The United States has the highest rate of illegal drug use in the entire world.
#13 According to the Pew Research Center, only 51 percent of all Americans that are at least 18 years old are currently married. Back in 1960, 72 percent of all U.S. adults were married.
#14 The United States has the highest divorce rate in the world by a very wide margin.
#15 According to one study, one out of every four teen girls in the United States has at least one sexually transmitted disease.
#16 The United States has the highest teen pregnancy rate on the entire globe.
#17 The United States has the highest child abuse death rate on the entire globe.
#18 The United States produces more pornography than any other nation has in the history of the world.
#19 One survey found that an astounding 30 percent of all Internet traffic now goes to pornography websites.
#20 Consumer debt in America has increased by a staggering 1700% since 1971.
#21 There is more credit card debt in America than anywhere else in the world.
#22 There is more mortgage debt in America than anywhere else in the world.
#23 There is more student loan debt in America than anywhere else in the world.
#24 Nobody in the world gets more plastic surgery done than Americans do.
Have you read enough?
For even more signs that America is becoming a nation of slobs, you can check out one of my recent articles entitled 16 Signs That People Are Becoming Stupider.
The sad truth is that this nation is a complete and total mess and the decline is accelerating.
Many want to blame our politicians for all of our problems, but replacing all of our politicians would not fix any of the things listed above.
Yes, we definitely need different leadership, but each one of us also needs to look into our own hearts.
It is not just the government that needs to change.
The American people need to change as well.
So what do you think about this article?
Am I being too harsh on the American people?
Am I not being harsh enough?
Fun is overrated and friends are evil.
I guess he doesn’t find any of those things distasteful.
No. You have a point there...
As to ‘wedges’, we’ll have to agree to disagree. I just don’t think they’re flattering. I bet they look good on you, though. How you feel has a lot to do with how you look. :)
Yes, that’s about it.
We discovered it all by accident. When I was talking with friends about the lack of decent meat at our local chain grocery stores a good many years ago they told me to buy half a cow from our local butcher and I would love it. We did! The hamburger was so lean compared to store bought you had to add grease to the pan and the burgers stayed the same size. while you cooked them.
This got me talking to the butcher and he enlightened me on the whole CAFO deal and what "Corn FED" really meant. (And FED is all caps on purpose because the FED is the one who really created this monster.)
We just will not buy grocery store beef now. If you buy meat at a chain grocery store most likely you are buying CAFO meat. Same with chicken and eggs and any dairy and especially pork. We are working our way to raising our own chickens for meat and eggs and if that works we move on to cows and pigs. The local butcher will do all the processing for us. Most restaurants serve CAFO meat and everything at fast food places is CAFO meat.
We have slowly changed our eating habits over the years first was the beef and then pork and so on and now we are eliminating processed food as much as possible because of all the sugar added. Without dieting or exercise I lost 25 pounds and it was all due to eliminating as much processed food as possible. If you want a real eye opener watch FED Up and Food Inc. and a host of other Documentaries on our food system. They are real eye openers.
#15 IS THE ONLY THING THAT CONCERNS ME
We have found work-arounds but it takes research and a good bit of effort. We grow our own green beans and tomatoes and peppers and onions and soon we will be adding lettuce and celery and carrots. Next is chicken and eggs.
Bird's Eye has had recalls from contamination in their processing plants for Ammonia and Horse meat and E-coli etc. The problem is the system is moving at such a fast pace the inspection process can't keep up and contamination happens and it spreads across the country very fast. The real scary part is the contamination that is "officially" OK with the Gub'ment.
I see it all the time on a cold subfreezing morning. The parents will drive the teens to the bus stop, even if the bus stop is pretty much the end of their driveway, and they will sit there, engine idling, waiting for the bus. Only when the bus comes to a stop will the flip-flopped teen (usually a girl) jump out of the car and dash onto the bus.
So they never really get to experience the discomfort of being shoeless on a cold day.
Why is this so appealing? They like the feeling of being able to kick off their flip-flops at anytime and instantly go barefoot. Too much hassle dealing with smelly shoes and socks.
Most of his points are irrelevant to the max! I would define slobbiness as not paying attention to politics and resultiing in $200T in debt. I would define it as the elimination of privatey property. I would define it as the destruction of communities, to the point where people dial 911 when the McDonalds is out of Mcnuggets. I would define it as killing 60M babies....
But then we all have different priorities.
Have drawers full of ribbons from the State Fair for my jellies, salsa & pickled foods. There is nothing more satisfying on earth than seeing freshly sealed jars of jelly...or zip bags of fresh veggies headed to the freezer...that you KNOW are high-quality.
I can still remember looking at my Grandma's cellar pantry in the Fall...rows and rows of jars full of the veggies and fruits that I helped to harvest.
Same with the pork of my childhood....they were more or less "free range" hogs with a huge outdoor lot...very fat and happy which made for exceptional meat; and they had antibiotic shots ONLY when they were sick (rarely). Dad sent the best ones to the local locker for our freezer stock...I lived on free pork during college...lol.
Our neighbor had the best chickens...same thing; free range and just fantastic meat.
Now, I have neither the time or money to have such luxuries...nor do most people. In a great example of irony, we productive people must now work overtime to pay for health insurance which is approaching the price of a mortgage payment. So, no time to make sure we eat well to maintain our health. No time to grow our own food; and no money to buy high quality food. Meanwhile, we also get to pay the healthcare costs for the layabouts who eat junk food purchased with their EBT cards. Lovely, isn't it?
We had a good plan on all our properties (thank God) we took no loans longer than 15 years AND we paid extra every payment and we paid them off early. Now all we have is business debt.
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