It isn’t just the far Right Wing in the U.S. that believes that the nation is unraveling, if not headed for collapse, but the same rightists take no small amount of satisfaction from the thought. In fact, many of them seem to be hoping for a collapse.

There is a great deal of scurrying around on the Internet by their sites, warning that the only to save family wealth is to buy this or sell that. Many are touting the purchase of gold, a commodity that will not rot or deteriorate in any way, so that, when the long crisis is over, the wise buyers will be on top of the economic heap.

This is nonsense, because when the crisis is over (whatever that may be), those people will still be living in a nation of 320 million people of very diverse backgrounds and ethnic varieties and races and all of that vast number will still have to find a way to live together, to put food on their tables, and to keep a roof over their heads. And, they will have to discover a way to play their politics so that they do not end up trying to destroy the opposition, as it now happening.

But the more liberal elements of the nation also are concerned about the seemingly unsolvable problems of many kinds now facing the nation. This week, the headline on a New York Times op-ed piece was, “Is America Coming Unraveled?” In it, Ross Douthat took an excerpt from a work of fiction by Joan Didion, quoting the first line: “The center is not holding. We are not a country in open revolution. We are not a country under enemy siege.”

Even a casual outside observer would start off judging the state of the nation with the killing of unarmed black citizens over the past few years (even though it has been going on far longer than that) by police in various parts of the nation and the assassination in the past week of five police officers who were assigned to a Black Lives Matter rally and protest in Dallas. We are assured by top politicians, especially President Obama, that things are not as bad as they may seem, that we are not as divided as many claim.

However, it is clear to many that something is grossly wrong in a nation that has seen a presidential primary that has resulted in candidates of the two major parties who are seen in poll after poll to be untrustworthy and, in the case of the Republican, as racist and xenophobic, to name a few of his character descriptions. The majority of the electorate seems not to like or want either one, but that’s what has come from our interminable electoral process.

Do you not think that this may be one of the main reasons that nothing seems to be getting done in Washington, that the gridlock in the law-making body of the nation is headed toward permanent status? Members of Congress seem not to care about social programs, the environment, the lack of jobs that pay a living wage, the deplorable state of our housing, the so-called free trade agreements that have sapped the country of its manufacturing capacity (and of its high-paying jobs), the deterioration of roads and bridges, the lack of potable water to millions in our cities, the sewage that goes into our waterways, the air that is killing our youngsters, especially those who live near refineries and fracking operations. It’s a long list and this barely scratches the surface.

What the lawmakers are interested in, however, is “increasing our military strength,” as if a majority of our federal budget is not enough for defense and the military. And, the other important thing that they see is releasing Corporate America from the restraints of regulation. Those are the two overriding issues that seem to gain the most attention, unless the nebulous issue of “national security” is thrown into the mix. That latter issue covers a wide array of governmental intrusions into the private lives of citizens. When whistleblowers tell the press about these violations, they are hounded into unemployment or, in the worst case, they are tried as traitors and imprisoned (in Edward Snowden’s case, exiled to Russia).

The press is complicit in all of these matters, since they have been reduced, in most cases, to being the stenographers of the powerful. Newspapers are in deep trouble and have cut their staffs to the bone, while trying desperately to move into the ether of the Internet, where they won’t need many ad sales staff and certainly few news gatherers (a quaint term for those who dug out and wrote the news in days gone by). The people are left bereft of the facts of life that they would need to make political decisions when they do approach the voting booths, because of the failure of the free press.

On a side burner for politicians is the privatization of everything, including education, Social Security, the military, the U.S. Postal Service, Medicare, and any other agency of government where there is a pile of billions of dollars just lying around for the taking by the 1 percent. They know where the easy money is and they are going after it, and not only is the government standing by while corporations and the rich begin their depredations, they are helping them accomplish it. For the most part, the revolving door between government and Corporate America involves only a small percentage of the citizenry and they are the ones who benefit from their machinations.

Often, the politicians do the bidding of the rich and the corporations in the hope that they will be rewarded at the end of their service to the empire. And, just as often, they receive a nice job with some Right Wing think tank or other entity of the powerful, at a rate of pay five or 10 times of their paltry government jobs as lawmakers. These minions of the powerful will never make it into the 1 percent, but they are satisfied with their rewards from those who are guiding the destiny of the U.S.

The people may not be aware of the details of how all of this is being done to them, but they know what the effects are and they express it in one of the only ways they can. They don’t vote, because they have seen over generations that not much changes through the years by the incremental changes that are allowed to happen by their representatives in both state and national legislators. For example, if there is not forgiveness of student debt, right now, the possibility of buying a house will be only be a possibility for the next generation, keeping in mind that some workers now are retiring still saddled with student debt, either of their own or their children’s.

As always, the new wealth in the country is going to the wealthiest and the disparity in wealth and income is growing with no sign of slowing down. That does not leave much for the majority of the people. For those in the lower one-third of the population in income are for the most part not even able to think about college for their kids, buying a house, taking time off from their two or three minimum wage jobs. The people know this and they respond by not participating in the political system. For them, it is economic chaos and that leads to chaos in most of the rest of their lives.

A nation’s budget and economic policies are direct signs of the philosophy and policies of the politicians who purport to lead them. A look at the U.S. federal budget is the best sign of the depredations that are allowed (and which will be allowed in the future) by politicians at every level of government. There are a few exceptions at the most local levels of government, but their budgets are very dependent on state budgets and the federal government’s largesse and that portion shrinks year by year. By and large, though, the problems of the people grow continually. There are hungry people by the millions, there are millions, urban and rural, in poor housing, there are millions who do not have the wherewithal to see a doctor, and there are middle-aged people who have not ever had a steady job. This is economic chaos and politicians are leaving many millions to fend for themselves.

Wars of choice are now a part of official U.S. policy and our never-ending wars around the world (even if they are not called wars) are sapping the life out of the people and the nation’s resources. But there are billions to be made by the defense industries every year by engaging in endless war, so that policy is not likely to stop until the people are not able to pay another penny in taxes for it.

The treatment of black and other minority citizens seems to have deteriorated after the small advances that were made after the most recent mass civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Until that time Jim Crow was in effect throughout the South and, for the most part, in the North, as well. We now have the Jim Crow of mass incarceration of black and other minorities. This affront to people of good will is fully ensconced in the context of our economic problems that affect everyone.

While the president tells us that we are “not that far apart” in race relations, we have a substantial element for whom the idea of a “race war” would not be unwelcome. That’s social chaos and, in large part, stems from economic chaos. All of this is exacerbated by politicians who stir up the pot of racism and xenophobia. And, those of a more liberal bent who advise the people demanding change now that they should wait and change will come…eventually, are talking to people who have heard the same thing for three or four generations. They are not willing to wait any longer. Incrementalism and neglect are the things that have brought us to the current state of affairs.

These are signs of unraveling or collapse, however one chooses to characterize it. Whether we are in a free fall or not is a matter of degree. Whether we will stop the downward slide or reverse it is another matter and, to listen to some of our Right Wing politicians, changing course is going to be very difficult. We may have to deal with the unraveling (we wouldn’t use the word collapse, yet) as a people and without the help of those who are supposed to be “leading” the nation.

However we deal with it, no amount of buying of gold or investing in this or that stock is going to help us recover. The only thing that will is our sense of taking care of one another. It’s being a good neighbor and adhering to the Golden Rule. These are simple things, to be sure, but in the end, they will be the only things that will work to bring us out from under the cloud that is hovering over our society and country.