“The alarming rate at which honeybees are dying … ”

Around every crumbling bend in this country there lies another problem yet to be resolved. Negative social issues are compounding over our feeds like dead, forgotten bodies in a war zone. One on top of the other, our problems carrying the weight of the world are relentless, and show no signs of letting up. 

So that's a nice uplifting mental picture! Our world is doomed and there's nothing we can do about it! However, everyone's reaction to what's going on is different. Most of us are scared for the future, but what we're particularly afraid of is completely different than our neighbors.

So we asked our readers: What are you most afraid of for America?

“I'm terrified of how this election has exposed the silent hate and bigotry so much of our country has been facing. People, in their heart of hearts, really do think that they are superior to other people and have a disturbing desire to wipe them out. I'm worried that with all this bubbling to the surface, we'll be dealing with the same issues of race and class and sexuality that held us back earlier in this century. I don't want to be plunged back into a pre-Civil Rights era where the standard is hate. It's so eerie to me that we live in a country that's ruled by fear and not information or understanding.”

~ Jackson, 30
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“The alarming rate at which honeybees are dying.”

~ Jake, 26
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“Anti-intellectualism becoming status quo. Forgetting history and repeating it. A return to the dark ages.”

~ Chris, 30
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“Raccoons … “

~ Tevin, 22
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“I envision a 1984 Big Brother scenario. I picture this socialist dystopia where the government grows to a massive scale and then joins forces with Google to watch our every move and listen to our every word. I'm pretty sure we're almost there.”

~ Lindsey, 23
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“I'm really afraid of hacking. As we become more technologically dependent, and our international relations deteriorate more and more in the face of conflicts abroad, I don't see any reason why some hacker couldn't break into my personal accounts and spill my entire life all over the internet. I feel like people don't have a right to privacy anymore, and I'm worried that could really affect people's behavior and well-being.”

~ Isabelle, 26
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"I just think it's going to be shit in ten years. Nobody likes us and that's not good when we're the country with all the weapons. We can't just bully people into liking us (but we will)."  

~ Claire, 25
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“It’s hard to say. It’s not going to get better, in fact it’ll probably get worse before anything positive happens. Maybe fear of the unknown fits here, because it’s frightening not knowing what’s going to happen in ten years — or shit, even in a few days when the election is over. Nothing good is happening, but if history has taught us anything, nothing good happened before either.”

~ Jordan, 34