Every presidential election, the challenging party seems to ask, “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” We are meant to consider how well we are doing economically and socially. More often than not, we are supposed to conclude we aren’t doing better.
We are only a little over a year into this administration, but I think it is worth thinking about asking ourselves whether or not we are better off than we were one year ago.
Let’s start with the economy. It seems no one, at least in terms of the middle and lower classes, thinks the economy is doing good, let alone great. Tariffs exacerbated an already fragile economy. Prices are up and, in some cases, have risen sharply for everyday necessities, including food, and other goods, like cars.
The sentiment on the cost of living was reflected in last November’s election – a resounding rejection of the party in control.
Of course, there are more than a fair share of Trump supporters who acknowledge grim state of the economy but still have faith in him. Many are taking a wait-and-see approach. He just needs more time, they say. Meanwhile, our paychecks buy less and less. Never good but, for some, that has dire consequences.
Wow, that was depressing.
Let’s just move on to socially.
I don’t know where to begin with this one. Socially, we are a disaster (to use a favorite word of our current president). People are angry, hateful, vindictive.
I was recently talking with my husband about the hate in this country. He reminded me of how much my mother hated Bill Clinton – and she did hate him. I wasn’t necessarily a big Clinton fan, but I am a Democrat. I have voted Republican on occasion, but I am a Democrat.
Here’s the thing, though – we could talk about our differences. We could disagree. We didn’t have a falling out, never even close to that.
That has all changed. Today, families are being torn apart. Many of those who manage to stick together despite their political differences tread carefully around one another. Some have found they feel very differently about these family members, that their relationships have been negatively impacted.
There is no social upside to this. There is no social upside to looking at those who have different political leanings as the enemy. There is no social upside to cutting off ties with family over politics.
So, if we can’t tolerate our family who may disagree with us, how are going to tolerate a stranger with different ideas.
The immigration crack down is an alarming example of the intolerance taking over our country. Not long after our country’s inception came the idea of the United States as a melting pot. That idea is under attack.
Ignoring the reality that our economic health depends on undocumented workers, we are throwing them out right-and-left. In our haste, we are also throwing out citizens of color who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. (I have a friend who travels the states and carries her passport in case she is stopped – not that proof seems to matter much.)
Socially, we don’t feel like the United States anymore. We feel more like the Red and Blue States of America made up of citizenry of red and blue people – and that doesn’t seem to bode well for mental health.
In 2012, the United States ranked as the 11th happiest place in the world to live. This year, the US hit a ranking low of 24th. Eating alone is cited as a factor in the decline over the years. Political polarization is also listed and seems more salient. The US dropped from 15th in 2023 to 23rd in 2024 (the election year) and dropped one more notch in 2025 (the first year of the Trump administration). That is quite a commentary on political polarization.
Pretty depressing. Still, if the economy is depressing, our societal relations are downright tragic. Just ask the family of Renee Good. How many families have been torn apart by this administration’s policies and actions? Families turning on each other. Parents ripped away from their children, sometimes literally, to be deported. Even parents killed.
So, I go back to the question – are you better off than you were a year ago? I’m not. I can’t think of any way, in relation to our government, my life is better than it was a year ago.
I ask you, do you feel you are better off, and I am talking about you personally, than you were a year ago? If so, please tell me in what ways? I would really like to know.