The problem you have is that you've seen change, and you've decided you know what caused that change just because you saw it happen. But often what we see isn't the whole story.
Go to China, a country that is safe. I mean their murder rate is much, much lower than the US's murder rate, you can walk the streets of big cities at night, even being a woman, and not have problems, almost no ghettos or no-go areas, (I've heard of them, one in Beijing, but still probably much safer than US cities). Large, I mean massive government that is in people's lives, and yet people are getting richer, they're getting better lives.
So, potentially big govt can make things better too. So a Chinese person would have the exact opposite view to yours.
You've witnessed a lifetime of decay, and you're trying to pass it off as the fault of liberals. But do you know this? No, you just choose to decide it's true.
The question is, do you want to know the truth or not? Maybe you're too set in your ways to give a damn about changing your views.
If you get up in the middle of the night and stub your toe against the doorway, it's pretty reasonable to assume that it's not just bad luck. You decided to walk around without turning the lights on. You decided to cut corners and rush to the bathroom.
It's a simple matter of cause and effect. You see a problem, and then examine what caused the problem. It's the only reasonable thing to do.
We have more people not working nor looking for work since the early 70's. We also have an administration that promotes government dependency. If you can't see a correlation between these two, then you are partisan and refuse to seek answers.
We have young black males getting shot by police. We have record high out of wedlock births in the black community. Coincidence?
We now have the fattest people on earth in this country. We also have people that look at their four walls for entertainment. Our kids are not playing sports, they are playing text or sports on the internet or video games. Is the problem what they are eating?
Like I said, you're argument appears to be that you stub your toe and blame it on the next door neighbor because it can't possibly be your fault.
Cause and effect. You're dealing with complex issues and trying to come up with the simplest form of cause you can find, one that suits your view of the world.
Okay, there are more people not working than there were before. Your view is to blame liberals for this. How convenient and simple that is. You've managed to completely ignore all the changes and issues that have happened in the last 40 years and simply go for something that you can easily understand. "It's their fault".
I'm going to challenge you on this.
Current Unemployment Rates for States and Historical Highs/Lows
US states by unemployment rate.
1) Alaska. A Republican state, with all Republican representatives in Washington.
2) Nevada. A Republican leaning state with 4 our of 6 representatives in Washington being Republican
3) New Mexico. Middle of the road state, 4 out of 5 Representatives in Washington being Democrat, but Governor and House being Republican and Senate being Democrat.
The average rate for states who have voted Democrat at the last 4 Presidential elections is 4.70, the average for states who have voted Republican at the last 4 president elections is 4.77. The average for the other states is 4.63.
Not much difference, but it suggests that states that mix up their politics are likely to do better here.
Nothing suggests that left or right in these matters makes much difference.
Yes, there is a thing about dependency. You have to remember here, I'm not saying Democrats haven't had their share of causing problems. You're saying they are TOTALLY responsible. I'm saying that they're HALF responsible and Republicans share the other half.
For example, the fattest people on Earth. I'd say the Republicans share a large portion of this. When people try and change things in schools, the Right jump up and down screaming "indoctrination", which then prevents anything getting done.
The political infighting, the partisan bullshit that gets spread day in day out means people don't look for the solutions, they look for ways of defeating their opponent.
The current Presidential election is a perfect example of this.
What are Trump's policies on anything other than the wall? Who the hell knows? Who cares? Most Americans don't seem to care, they're getting their entertainment and they'll go to the polls voting for whoever has entertained them the most.
This is why the US is going downhill.