Okay, I'll bite. Why do we know things are bad because MTV put out an emotionally powerful but overall pretty superficial ad?

I'm going to be the crotchety old man here (and I'm only in my late twenties!) and say that there's a tendency among (even) younger people who are new to politics to react to every setback, every new piece of information, as something which presages catastrophe.

There are profound problems in the US right now, first and foremost our historically high level of inequality. It's awful and there's no sign it's going to get better anytime soon, although there is a glimmer of hope in the fact that we're talking about it a lot more than we used to. But in many ways the world is, overall, becoming a freer and better place -- the Arab Spring is the best recent example.

I just wish people would make substantive arguments instead of posting stuff like this while shaking their heads gravely. It reflects a lack of critical thinking.