

Profile pic is from Jason Box, depicting a projection of Arctic warming to the year 2100 based on current trends.
It all started with that Watergategate scandal.
Just to chime in on Covid - I think that was a symptom caused by a lot of underlying problems, and not a cause. Granted it had its effects, but under a rational leadership from the US I don’t think we would have seen what we did ever get that far. The topic here (bird flu), measles, etc. are an example of how they are more of a fever indicator from a deep infection we’ve had for decades and just pretended things were fine. Hell, the failure of Reconstruction after the Civil War is the ultimate example of that bandage over a festering wound.
Reagan was in place thanks to the Southern Strategy begun a decade or so earlier to ensure a voting percentage for the GOP and religious right no matter what. There are unfortunately many other “turning points” throughout US history where we could have gone a different route but chose this one, usually because “it’s always been this way” mentality.