The last time I remember the United States being a positive, optimistic, and more or less unified country was in the 1990s, during the Clinton Administration. While Bill made a lot of mistakes—especially his fateful decision to expand NATO eastward—I still think of his time in office as a happy era.

The Bush years were a period in which we were put into a state of hyper-vigilance about terrorism, were forced to go along with disastrous foreign wars, and then traumatized by a financial crisis that shook our trust in our system to its core. It was during the Bush years that I learned to regard the U.S. government with grave suspicion. Nothing in the intervening years has lessened my distrust.

The Fourth Quarter of ... Allen R. Hunt Best Price: $13.50 Buy New $21.89 (as of 04:07 UTC - Details) It seems to me that the last four years marked the culmination of all that it corrupt, dishonest, fraudulent, profligate, cruel, and incompetent about the U.S. government. While many of these vices were nothing new, the Biden administration added several dreadful innovations.

1). COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

2). Aggressive and widespread censorship of heterodox opinions and persecution of dissident physicians such as Drs. Peter McCullough and Paul Marik.

3). Aiding and abetting the concealment of the true, lab origin of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19.

4). An abrupt and disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, leaving the Taliban in charge, thereby giving perfect expression to the stunning vanity and waste of the 20-year, 2 trillion dollar occupation.

5). Aggressively baiting the Russian Bear in Ukraine—the apotheosis of Clinton’s ill-fated Nato expansion in 1996—thereby playing a decisive role in starting the most destructive war in Europe since 1945 and significantly elevating the risk of a nuclear holocaust.

6). Sending hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money to Ukraine—a country that has long been notorious for its corruption and international money-laundering.

7). Either blowing up the Nord Stream Pipeline or endorsing its destruction by a foreign team, thereby declaring its total disregard for Germany’s critical infrastructure.

8). Aggressively supporting so called “gender-affirming” medicine for minors, thereby playing a decisive role in the systematic butchery and mutilation of children.

9). Aggressively supporting a Climate Change PSYOP for the benefit of bogus “green” industries, thereby creating not only extreme anxiety, but also environmental disasters such as offshore wind farms.

10). Overseeing the worst period of inflation since 1978-1981. The Geography of Nowhe... James Howard Kunstler Best Price: $1.17 Buy New $11.88 (as of 10:41 UTC - Details)

11). Halting construction of the wall on the U.S.-Mexico border—a declaration that the administration had no interest in even trying to reduce illegal immigration into the United States.

12). Locking up political opponents such as Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro.

On top of all the above, the Biden administration has also inflicted extreme uncertainty and anxiety on the American people about who is actually running the country, given that President Biden has displayed clear signs of cognitive decline and dementia since he entered office.

For Biden’s wealthy supporters, these deleterious policies have been largely obscured by steadily rising stock and real estate prices. Indeed, many wealthy people who live in safe neighborhoods and obtain their information from the New York Times and CNN may not even be aware of the reality of these policies.

They do not see that the U.S. government is a dumpster fire in a flash flood because they aren’t paying attention, and the consequences of these policies have not affected them. At least not yet.

This originally appeared on Courageous Discourse.