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Throughout the years, Americans have been one of the proudest nations in the world. The U.S. has dominated popular culture since the 20th century, remained the economic and military superpower, and has generally been referred to as the land of dreams. In recent years, that has changed. According to Gallup, Americans' pride in being American dipped to a historic low in 2025.
Some might even say that there is a cultural decline in the U.S. happening right in front of our eyes. Bored Panda has searched the Internet for the most relevant and poignant posts about what it's like to live in the United States of America at the moment. Is the U.S. still the land of the free? Scroll and see for yourselves!
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#1
Even German Patriotism Is Superior
Roman Arendt 5 hours ago
If only. That's how it should be, but it couldn't be further from the truth.
RELATED:
#3
The People Are Tired
If you think the people who posted these entries are just critical doomsayers, you'd be wrong. Other people online with some expertise are pointing out that the 2020s might be the worst decade for American popular culture, for example. Music critic and historian Ted Gioia has declared on his Substack, The Honest Broker, that America no longer has any "creative energy."
In an interview with The Atlantic, Gioia said that nowadays, everything seems like a regurgitation of something from the past. Countless reboots and revivals of movies and TV shows, the unwillingness of entertainment companies to take risks, and social media algorithms that show us "slight variations of our favorite things" are all part of a plan by mysterious forces to impose stagnation on us, according to Gioia.
#4
Governments Can Help Their People; It's A Matter Of Priorities
SM 4 hours ago (edited)
America is a capitalistic country where a good number of the people don't know how to compare costs or will take the most expensive alternative just to spite people that have fallen on bad times. Ideas like it is better to have people line up at the emergency room instead of providing preventative care.
#5
Meanwhile, The Us Is Rolling Back Child Labor Laws!!!
#6
And Somehow Americans Can't Connect The Dots For Why It Isn't Working
Take a moment to think about your tastes, Pandas. When you think about the movies, books, and music that you enjoy and watch/read/listen to and come back to repeatedly, what decade are they from? Are you a fan of contemporary entertainment, or do you find yourself thinking, "It was better in the old days"?
Evidence would suggest that the latter is truer. In 2024, for example, people listened to more music that was released in the years before than to newly released music. There is also a trend that every year, "catalog music" (18 months or older) takes up a greater percentage of the albums people stream online.
#7
Rent Doubled. Pay Didn’t. Now What
Laszlo Larthlanc 5 hours ago
Amen. My first apartment was a furnished studio apartment that went for $115 USD in 1974. I was paying $185 a month for a one bedroom apartment in 1986. I moved to a different county that had no rent control and I couldn't get a room in someone's house for less than $400 a month. I wound up living in a $200 a month 18 foot trailer in someone's back yard for 10 years. Today, apartments are no less than $1600 a month, and houses regularly rent for over $4000 a month. I've really had to cut back on my avocado toast /s
In 2024, 72.6% of total album-equivalent music consumption in the United States was catalog music. In 2025, that share was even higher. Only 24.2% of new ("current") music accounted for streams in the U.S., while 75.8% were of "old," catalog music. While not particularly alarming, it still signals a trend that people might not be interested in music that comes out nowadays.
#10
Israelis Get Free College And Healthcare Though 👍
Colleen Glim 1 hour ago
Been saying this for years and I’m not even American. If the US spent a quarter of their military budget on healthcare, they’d have healthier people and one of the best healthcare systems in the world. But they insist on winning a pissing contest and sacrificing their citizens
It's not just music: people think that movies, fashion, TV, and sports have all gotten worse in the 2020s. In fact, in YouGov's 2024 poll about the best and worst decades, Americans named the 2020s as the worst of the last century. There is, however, a certain amount of bias when it comes to these types of polls. People have a tendency to remember the decades when they were children as the best and perceive the current times as the worst.
#14
College In The U.S. Is Priced Like A Luxury, Sold Like A Necessity
#15
Girl Thinks America Hasn’t Won A War Since Ww2
For example, many Americans think this is the worst decade for the economy. But when we look at the Great Depression (when unemployment exceeded even the biggest numbers we saw during the lockdown in 2020), it can give us perspective. Still, almost anything related to politics can be explained by which party is in the government. "People whose party is in the White House always have more favorable sentiment than people who don't," director of the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers Joanne Hsu told WaPo. "And this has widened over time."
#16
We’re Paying More, Getting Less, And Quality Is Worse
Touhou Youyoumu 5 hours ago (edited)
This pisses me off, more and more as companies give less and less, keep same price.
#17
Monetizing Survival And Calling It Freedom
Callum Young 3 hours ago
Basic capitalism. Start moving to cooperative economic/lifestyle options.
What the YouGov researchers have also found in their 2024 survey is that despite thinking that the many things that made the U.S. great are gone, this decade is still the one they would rather live in. Experts say that this is a natural part of "declinism," the belief that the world is getting worse. Even when we're on vacation, we often don't enjoy the trip to the fullest during it and focus on our lost luggage and the annoying mosquito bites. When we get home and a few days pass, though, the trip doesn't seem that bad, and we would actually gladly do it all over again.
#19
We Live In A World Where You Can Pay For Insurance And Still Not Afford Care
#20
Want Kids? Cool.. Can You Afford Them?
What do you think about the current state of the U.S., Pandas? Do you buy into the declinist view that everything in America is going down the toilet? Or do you think it's just doomsayers blowing it out of proportion? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! And be sure to check out some things that are normal to Americans but that the non-American mind cannot comprehend.
#22
Us Healthcare Strikes Again
#24
Rejected Their "Generous" Unpaid One Week Trial
#25
The American Mind Can't Comprehend
#26
How It Works
#27
Experience Requirements Are Getting Ridiculous
Callum Young 3 hours ago
Use your creativity. Use the global market available to everyone. Start or use co-ops. Look for opportunities to cooperate with each other. It's small, and it takes effort, but at least it's a step in a constructive direction.
#28
Americans Can’t Handle Nudity
The_Nicest_Misanthrope 3 hours ago
Dunno what that has to do with American's. I think it's unnecessary and tacky AF too.
#30
The American Government Blaming Their Own Population For Their Suffering Rather Than Helping Them
#31
Corporate Greed In Numbers
️Rando Panda 1 hour ago
Shop & cook for myself/brown bag my lunch. Take the bus or buy an EV. Make my own coffee. This is not a jarring change for me. They will have to be greedy without me.
#33
Time To Pack Your Bags!
#34
What Do You Think About This?
#37
Wait Till They Figure Out Americans Use The Word Autumn Too
#38
The United States Is A Failed State
Laszlo Larthlanc 5 hours ago
Reminds me of the lines to buy a single loaf of bread at GUM (State Department Store) in Moscow's Red Square when Nikita Khrushchev was First Secretary of the Communist Party.
#39
I Guess She’s Never Heard Of The Us Southwest
Laszlo Larthlanc 6 hours ago
The hottest temperature ever recorded in the UK is 40.3°C (104.5°F), a record set on 19 July 2022 at Coningsby in Lincolnshire, England. The highest officially recognized air temperature in the US (and the world) is 134°F (56.7°C), recorded at Furnace Creek (Greenland Ranch) in Death Valley, California, on July 10, 1913. While Death Valley is arid, it is considered an inhabited location. Modern, more reliable, high temperatures often reach 130°F (54.4°C) in the same area. In more inhabited areas, the highest temperature ever recorded in Tucson, Arizona, is (117°F, 47.2°C), which was recorded on June 26, 1990. It gets hot here. (The Australians are chuckling. :-) )
#40
Those Evil Socialists Are Hiding Their Homeless In Homes
#43
Found A Rare America Good Post
#44
I See This A Good Amount On Reddit
Touhou Youyoumu 5 hours ago
I get it, but did kind of vote the orange clown in for a 2nd term. All kind of a moot point.
#50
Best Synopsis I've Seen Yet
#51
We’re Calling This ‘The Market’ Instead Of Looting, And That’s The Problem
Colleen Glim 1 hour ago
You just summed up the housing crisis in half a paragraph. Let me condense it further. Housing crisis=greed
#54
We Can't Even Use Our Own Flag😭
#55
When Did America Stop Prioritizing America?
#56
Found This 😂
#58
Don’t Mess With Texas…
Laszlo Larthlanc 1 hour ago
Now let's talk about Texas vs California: California has the largest state economy in the U.S. with a nominal GDP exceeding $4.1 trillion, while Texas follows as the second-largest at over $2.7 trillion. Blue wins again. :-)
#59
Europeans Trying Not To Cherry Pick:
fly on the wall 2 hours ago
Still the fact is Cuba has the higher literacy rate. This is amazing because it has been under strict sanctions and not allowed to prosper for decades. Where would it be if allowed to develop
#60
Nobody Likes Americans!
#61
The Famously “Very Weak” U.S. Air Force
nottheactualphoto 20 minutes ago
The Heritage Foundation brought us "project 2025." They don't have a leg to stand on.
#63
Japan Has Anti Homeless Benches
Add New Image
What do you think ?
sofacushionfort 3 hours ago (edited)
These criticisms from Europeans range from perfectly valid to entirely self-congratulatory. One I didn’t see listed, and as an American believe to be the most critical error of American society: the Electoral College. It politically enables all the same worst instincts found in almost every other nation, but explains why they aren’t held hostage to those instincts like America: both demagoguery and elitism, racial supremacy, patriarchy, militarism, etc.
sofacushionfort 3 hours ago (edited)
These criticisms from Europeans range from perfectly valid to entirely self-congratulatory. One I didn’t see listed, and as an American believe to be the most critical error of American society: the Electoral College. It politically enables all the same worst instincts found in almost every other nation, but explains why they aren’t held hostage to those instincts like America: both demagoguery and elitism, racial supremacy, patriarchy, militarism, etc.
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