16 Biggest Issues Facing America in 2020

The United States of America has always been historically marred by social, political or economic issues: ever since attaining Independence, the country has been tackling conflict and problems, but the most astounding characteristic of it is that it has always emerged victorious, accruing resilience and experience to take future obstacles head-on. It has countered its problems through innovation and strength and considering that it is one of the 10 countries that have invented the most things in all human history, this comes as no surprise.

From the civil war to the great depression to the political maelstrom of today that has the populace divided, America pulls through everything, in spite of the gravity of the problems it undergoes. From slavery, the pinnacle of a disgusting social divide that we today call racism, to 9/11, the most devastating act of terrorism to have occurred in the country in recent history, the US has pulled through it all. But every incident is bound to leave its footprints, however, faded they may be, and America is no exception to this rule. Even in these modern times, racism manages to peak through in the form of more subtle acts and has managed to hold its place on the list of current social issues, while terrorism is still a pressing predicament. To sum it up, America has indeed managed to curb its issues to become one of the superpowers of the world, but it is still not immune to some of the consequences these issues have brought with them. Thus we decided to compile for you a list of biggest problems in America today.

In this list, we’ll traverse through major issues in society, which will also incorporate important issues in the world that the US, unfortunately, shares with the rest. We referred to a Gallup poll, which asks Americans their opinion of the most important issue in the country, to formulate this list. We took into account the January 2020 results, and in case of ties in the ranking, we used the December results as tiebreakers. However, there were still further ties, in which case we have mentioned the same in the article.

The most important issues facing America today are certainly frightening, and unfortunately, not all of these will have direct and obvious solutions that can be executed in the short-term, but some of them do, and they also feature on our list of the 10 Most Important Issues and Problems Facing America that Can Be Solved. Surprisingly, drugs didn’t become part of our list even though America is one of the countries with the biggest drug problems in the world.

Now that the background is out of the way, let’s finally list down the biggest issues facing America in 2020:

15. National Security – 1%

I would have thought that with Trump focusing heavily on national security and the concept of “America First”, citizens would have been satisfied on this front but apparently not. National security continues to be one of the most important problems for Americans.

14. Drugs – 1%

Tied with national security are Drugs. This isn’t a new problem. Emerging recently however is the belief that some classes of drugs shouldn’t be illegal at all. Eg: Marijuana. The next election should see this topic coming up more frequently.

13. Federal Debt – 1%

America’s debt has reached more staggering numbers than ever before, and most would agree that that’s not quite healthy for the economy. But like for most issues, some believe loans could actually be good for the financial status of the country. The argument could go both ways, but as Forbes says, before we worry about the debt figure, we need to compare it to the even more staggering amount of assets America has to its name.

12. Education – 2%

America’s literacy rate is quite high, but that does not automatically vindicate the education system. The Common Core initiative has been widely criticized, not to mention the fact that American students rank the lowest in math, reading and science when compared with other OECD member countries.

11. The economy in General – 2%

Being worried about the “economy in general” is something I just don’t understand, to be honest. If you Google economic issues in America, you will probably be bombarded with thousands of them but what I don’t approve of is claiming something as huge and encompassing as the economy is in a problematic state without knowing the specifics of any issues. It serves to aggravate citizens instead of doing any good.

10. Racism – 3%

America has come a long way in the racism department, but many believe that it still has a long way to go. Shouts for diversity can be heard clearer than ever but are they doing anything to curb the discrimination minorities face on a daily basis? Or is racism not anymore an issue in modern America? These are questions that have varying opinions, but unfortunately, healthy discussions are not held very often.

9. Iraq / Isis / Fear of War – 4%

This problem restructures itself every couple years or so. In one group, out another. It started with the Bush administration in 2003 and has not ended. Justly, people are annoyed and upset about it. The Iraq Body Count Project says about 200, 000 people have died in the war. But nearly every estimate out there on Iraq casualties are disputed.

8.  Lack of Respect for each other – 4%

Petty arguments on Twitter quickly escalating to violent threats make it abundantly clear that we do not have the capability to respect anyone else’s opinion anymore. This is the age of political correctness, but in the effort to be accepted as such, we often end up being more disrespectful than anything else, and that is indeed one of the biggest issues facing America, or the entire world to be precise.

7. Environment – 4%

Environmentalists have long since been struggling to make the population at large aware of the severe damage being done to the planet. “Climate change” and “global warming” have become phrases one needs to fear, but with a president that dismisses both, this fear has turned more into a horrified terror, making the environment one of the biggest issues facing America in 2020.

6. Moral/Ethical/Religious Decline – 5%

We are continuing our list of the biggest issues facing America in 2020 with one of those topics that will mean something entirely different to a distinct group of people. Some would say that the country is progressing, leaving obsolete traditions and religious values behind while others find it offensive to support such a secular society. It seems that there are several people leaning towards the second option as moral decline has been flagged as one of the biggest issues facing America in 2020.

5. Unifying the Country – 5%

The 2016 election divided the nation like no other incident ever has. One half blindly supported Clinton while the other half could see no wrong in Trump, The fight between the Democrats and the Republicans has never been so blatantly outright that even after 1.5 years of Trump being elected, the fissure between the two groups has shown no signs of shrinking. This is definitely one of the political topics to write about.

4. Poverty/Homelessness – 5%

America is one of the wealthiest and most technologically advanced countries on this Earth, yet poverty is not an unseen problem in the country. America’s top 10% makes 9 times as much money as the bottom 90%, and some argue that the recent tax cuts will only serve to exacerbate the issue.

3. Healthcare – 6%

Healthcare in America is often dubbed as something of a mess, and most people don’t even understand how the system works, complicated as it is. The US spends more on healthcare than any other country, yet the situation is quite bleak. The solution lies in increasing the efficiency and value of the healthcare system rather than dishing out cash, but any real change will of course require time.

Let’s see the top three biggest issues facing America in 2020, shall we?

2. Immigration – 6%

A whopping 1.49 million foreigners moved to the United States in 2016, a number that includes lawful as well as illegal immigrants. The new administration has taken an extremely strict stance towards illegal immigration, a controversial decision to say the least, but whether you agree with the policy or not, immigration is definitely one of the most pressing issues America faces.

1. Dissatisfaction with the Government – 28%

The previous election was controversial, to put it mildly. A large portion of the population had decided that none of the candidates was qualified enough to obtain the exalted position of the White House. In such circumstances, there was bound to be dissatisfaction among the masses regardless of the result, and dissatisfaction there was. So much so, that it is by far the number one biggest issue facing America in 2020.

This wraps it up for our list of biggest issues facing America in 2020.