Are things really worse?

Some people think that the conditions in the U.S. are about the same, other than we hear more bad things than we used to.  Others think that things are definitely worse.

Where do you stand?

I guess I think that things are worse.  Why do I believe that to be true?

1. Crime might be down overall but the severity of crime seems to be up.
2. Kids are getting into trouble at younger and younger ages.
3. More girls/women are getting into trouble and are jailed or imprisoned.
4. Some young people seem so starved for attention that they are willing to do almost anything to get it.  Some are terribly disturbed; the school shooters come to mind on this.
5. Social media blow up and exacerbate relationships or the lack of them.  It's easy to fire off a few words and then regret it several minutes later -- but way too late.
6. Teens have been fed a lot of "bad news" over their lifetimes, whether it's at school with an emphasis on pollution.  Kind of a doomsday sort of approach.  This makes them jaded at an early age.
7. Teens seem to be having a tougher time growing up.  The girls are maturing earlier than ever and no one knows why and the boys seem caught in their adolescence for way too long.
8. Sacrificing for something that you want to accomplish seems harder for kids today.
9. Parents don't always seem to want to be parents.  They want to be fancy free too often, and aren't there for the children.
10. There's not enough talking and there is too much disruption, noise and confusion in families today.  Not enough quiet time, not enough prayer, not enough God.

Today I heard that there are villages in Central and South America that are emptying out.  Where are they going?  To the U.S.  And what have the authorities been doing with the influx of these aliens?  They've been putting them on buses to Maryland and other states with no money, no jobs, nothing.  Why do they think they ought to come here?  Because they believe that they ought to get in before the amnesty is granted they've been hearing about.

And here's one element of the story that should make one pause.  The people from the other countries are sending their children across the border without them.  More and more unaccompanied minors are arriving, some as little as three years old.  What is going on?

I'm all for helping people but I believe that people from other countries should come here the legal way.  We're going to be getting into some real trouble here.  We're sending all kinds of foreign aid to countries but it doesn't get to the citizens who need it.  They see the U.S. as the answer to all of their problems, but they don't understand that we are tapped out.  We've got problems here that aren't getting fixed as it is.  We are short on money.  A smaller and smaller portion of the population is paying for more and more assistance to our own citizens.  And too many people look at the government for a hand out beyond emergency help.  Entitlements have burgeoned.

Where will all of this end?  I don't know but it really bothers me. 

I think maybe it's time for "no news" in my life for a while.  More praying, less stewing.