I don't know if you've paid attention, but this country as you knew it growing up is gone.
Some people have worked very hard to make that happen.
Some changes are good
Some changes are bad.
Please list the changes in America that you think have been good over the past 40 years or so.
The general idea of civil rights, the expectation that you will not be disqualified for a job, a home, an apartment based on race, religion, or national origin. I knew someone who was denied an apartment because he answered "incorectly on the "What is your religioin?" question on the applicatioin. Public access - I remember how as a child I was told in front of the whole fifth grade class that I was not allowed to go to a certain skating rink because they considered Catholics to be the same as blscks and therefore were unwelcome in that establishment. ( I say better to walk into Heaven thatn to skate into Hell) However the idea of fair treatment for everyone is something which appeals to me and it is an improvement over what it was fifty years ago.
One other thing; I don't have to live with the idea in the back of my mind that it is socially acceptable for someone to physically assault me if I walk down the street in public.