Voted for Afghanistan. Notwithstanding the casualty count as listed, the fact of the matter is that unlike the pandemic and even the gun violence, the danger from the situation in Afghanistan is that it will have ramifications that we cannot anticipate. This making it potentially far more dangerous than either gun violence or the pandemic.
As far as the pandemic goes, the nation has been through them before and far worse. See also the Spanish Influenza pandemic of 1919. Indeed, given that the means to "cure" this pandemic are already in hand in the form of the vaccine, it is unclear why this remains a major concern.
There are those who, for various reasons, do not wish to take the vaccine. However the tool is there, it is simply that some have chosen not to use it. That is a problem to be managed, not a crisis.
As to gun violence, certainly that is closer to home. However, that is a failure of the society to treat crime as crime. Rather, there is prattling on about police abuse and how the criminal is really the victim.
We have been here before, such as in the 1970s when crime reached such heights that in one Gallup poll 74% of ALL women and 92% of African-American women, all ages, all income levels, said that they did not feel safe walking in their neighborhoods alone at night. Suffice to say, the nation grew weary of this - a crackdown began in the 1980s and by the early 2000s crime had fallen to levels, per population, not seen since the peaceful placid 1950s.
As with the pandemic, gun violence is a problem to be managed. The difference being that, unlike the pandemic, it cannot be cured. It can only be reduced. Perfect outcomes are not given to imperfect and imperfectible beings.
Compare this to Afghanistan. This should not be the problem that it is. Withdrawal was strategically sensible. However, it has been bolixed by the Biden administration to the point where it has taken on the dimensions of a major crisis in its own right.
More to the point, it has antagonized US allies, straining those alliances when they may be needed in the future and depend upon trust in order to function going forward. This the Biden administration has forfeit and it is hard to predict what the ramifications will be going forward.
Worse still, what could have been interpreted as a strategic move by the USA is now seen as an American defeat. That is not wholly justified, however, if that sentiment takes hold in the Muslim world - particularly among Islamic radicals - the effect will be devastating.
If the goal is a world in turmoil, war and upheaval and terrorism sponsored by Islamic radicalism, let the message go out that the Taliban defeated the United States. The implications of this are dire in the extreme and how far they may go is not easily anticipated.
Bottom line, it is this uncertainty and potential for wider conflict that has made what should have been a standard military operation into a debacle. The implications of that to reverberate potentially for decades to come.
"All hope abandon, ye who enter here..." So said the inscription over the gates of Hell in Dante's "Inferno." That gate has now been opened a crack - it only remains to be seen if it will now be forced open altogether.
Right now it's Covid, but since 1999 following the Columbine high school shooting since then gun violence continues to destroy America I feel. I am not a fan of guns and I know that is not a popular decision but I would rather try to talk to someone civilly or just walk away then hold something in my hands that is very dangerous and take a life. The Taliban are just another extremist group just like how there are other extremist groups. Notice for example how Iran is demonized in western media outlets, yet Iran has not fired one missile at the US since the start of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 began. But people get super worried and annoyed by a country like Iran of what they "may" do. The US government has given money to paid mercenaries such as ISIS, Al-Qaeda and others to start wars in the Middle East.
Even western media outlets, to politicians such as Hilary Clinton to Vladimir Putin have in some way admitted that the US government has paid these terrorist groups to kill others and by others I mean mainly Muslims in Muslim countries. ISIS for example has no allegiance to Islam, if ISIS did why would they try to destroy the shrine of the Prophet's family? Why would ISIS behead other Muslims? The Taliban are a threat but it's funny how the US has been in Afghanistan for 20 years and mentions we are winning the war in Afghanistan and then all of a sudden the Taliban is winning? I thought the mighty USA had the most weapons in the world. I take international issues with a grain of salt because the US breaks international laws everyday, and that's not an exaggeration it's the truth, the main three things the US has to worry about is Covid, gun violence and domestic terrorism (ie: White supremacy as an example).
My comment is not meant to garner likes, what I posted are unpopular opinions but what I said is the truth, I'm not going to sit here and post something that everyone else does. If everyone says America is fantastic and hardcore American supporters get mad at people who question America, then how do you think Iraqi's feel when the US military kills innocent people on foreign lands.
s The easy and correct answer is covid and the vaccines and there isn't even a close second.
The next few items are partisanship and the utter lack of either side being able to work with another further demonstrated by posts within this question. It sounds like children throwing insults back and forth at each other. Did everyone forget they were supposed to be an adult?
This is followed by climate issues and finally the economy.
Climate change. All of the others are like flipping out about a hangnail when you have cancer. If we don't start taking it way more seriously, billions of people are going to die.
Opinion
64Opinion
it's gonna be massive inflation and poverty that is self inflicted with those absolutely unexcusable bullshit measures around covid. politics has massively failed the people... it's like a double whammy of completely and utterly blundering the reaction to the 2019/20 and the 2020/21 flu wave (probably even the coming one too) and fucking the own economy over, which is necessary for a country to be resilient against those things...
it's like they shot both their feet and now they're wondering why the country isn't running. and it's gonna get WAY worse. if you think corona was bad, just wait till the financial repercussions and the recession will hit the economy. if we're unlucky, this weakens western society as a whole enough for china to take a shot at a massive world war... cause technologically and ressource wise, they are in a good place for that.
if you put it in perspective: america alone has spent enough money on covid (which did evidently not kill much more people than a slightly above average regular flu wave), that with an equal amount of money, you could stop world hunger for the next 500 fucking years. and that is just the USA in just one year... it's virtually unimaginable, how much that will fuck the west as a whole.
There’s so many catastrophic issues that the US is facing it’s hard to say the order of urgency. I mean if we focus on the immediate threats which can’t be solved over night so let’s say we solve the immediate major threats like Covid, gun control/mass shootings (which I don’t agree more gun laws that keep the good guys without protection and bad guys packing all the heat is the answer), Taliban/terrorist, and a couple others even. Well guess what now our economy is so upside down we’re basically considered now a third world country and global warming is now really irreversible and the worlds drinking water supplies are looking bleak. Lakes and rivers are drying up killing fresh water fish and oceans have warmed to the point all the animals in the ocean are dying off. Which means we’re soon to be next. I think the answer to all of these issues and any others can only be solved if we all come together as one race the human and put our minds together to solve these problems. I’m a white man that is telling every race that trying to be separate and hating each other is only hurting all of us we all bleed the same and love the same. You can be you and I can be me each praying to whoever we want or not at all me and my wife him and his husband and so on it took all of us to screw everything up it’s gonna take us all to fix it. Sorry so long
Oh man, I don’t really know. There are so many issues and it’s hard to know what is the priority with just one’s sources being the news. I’d say the coronavirus situation is important, just because we seem to have a working vaccine that can save lives and hurt the virus in a significant way. The situation in Afghanistan is important, but it doesn’t really affect the lives of the average person here in the US. It is a big topic all over the news but that doesn’t mean it’s what is the most important for the US/citizenry today.
None of these are really issues right now. Gun violence is an extension of mental health. So there's not really a gun control issue.
Covid is not any more of an issue than the flu.
Afghanistan i mean seems disorganized and stupid how we left but we shouldn't have been there in the first place. So not much of an issue.
The biggest issue the US faces is a cultural degradation issue. That is fueling every other issue basically. You cannot have a society of mostly functioning individuals and allow disfunction to spread. Nor can you have a stable country when the average person is completely dysfunctional.
This is probably forgotten, but the dividing of one county into two, as far as its people, culture and politics.
And that breaks down on how divided we are on Covid, guns, politics and virtually every aspect of being an American.
There will eventually be a reckoning one day.
I would say COVID but that's quickly becoming an American social issue rather than a public health crisis (anti maskers are somehow less evil and annoying than anti vaxxers).
Afghanistan is more of a pressing issue to me at the moment. I don't believe we should head back in but it's time we isolate that nation, no trade, no entering it, no giving military or industrial or humanitarian aid. It needs to be completely surrounded and cut off.
The reality that Americans now look at each other with suspicion and often absolute hatred. Our greatest strength in the past was that we were UNITED, but that seems to have disappeared, and eventually, WE will disappear.
Covid.. But of course you got the asshat keyboard warriors crying about other things..
and to those who are insulted by this.
A Purple Heart for being ASSHURT in comments!
Mass immigration is the most important issue overall.
Gun violence and crime is mostly black americans in large cities where the local black mayor doesn't want to punish their constituents for violent crime.
Covid is over 50% asymptomatic and only really dangerous for people with a lot of preexisting conditions, and old people.
None of the above. The most important issue is political polarization. When political parties keep on undoing what the other has done. We go nowhere. We keep carrying the problems of yesterday to future. Afghanistan, Covid, gun situation... none of these are new.
National interest must come first. Remember: United comes first in USA.
You mean besides an illegitimate, incompetent president, a porous southern border, a massive invasion of people who want to kill us, and a bunch of billionaire globalists intent on destroying our entire economy and kill most of us with experimental gene therapy?
The polls on covid deaths aren't that genuine, afghanistan is a huge deal though and we could end up in a whole other war if biden does more stupid stuff. I also think we should work on the gun violence but this is not new and it should have been worked out a long time ago
Covid-19, duh. Gosh, the issue is TERRIBLE in India
1. Politicians trying to cancel the US Constitution to gain government control over people.
2. COVID.
3. Veteran homelessness.
4. Lack of common sense.
Too many people in the country. Need to remove at least 5 million people, whether it is deport them to other countries... purposely give them COVID if they are unvaccinated... remove warning labels from products so the ignorant kill themselves... or any other means necessary to thin the herd of the weak.
None of those insignificant things. Instead, censorship by the government and mainstream media and our loss of freedom by socialists want to dictators.
Was hoping there would be more choices, was going to say mass illegal immigration, many of which have covid.
Double gas prices since Biden took office is a pretty big issue too, just over 2 dollars here on his start date, and now over 4 a gallon... thanks to his thing and stopping all new leases and how futures work. It is like he doesn't understand that concept.
I would say that right now it's the loss of rights, and personal freedoms.
Covid-19 is the most important that we need to take control
I think the real answer is the lack of leadership in out govt.
You can also add your opinion below!
