(Appreciate the effort to set ground rules)
I'm sure many on the radical left thinks Trump is the worst, he's taken the country down the wrong path etc. Just like how many on the radical right thought Obama was the worst, taking the country down the wrong path etc. Sure one can argue "but I'm right, it's true" but in the long run, big scheme of things, and short of a nuclear war, we'll be okay.
I've organized my response into "Big Challenges" and "Really, Really Big Challenges".
I'm not hung up on a conservative SCOTUS, the pendulum will eventually swing the other way in 10-20-30 years time. We'll survive. Abortion rights may be constrained but does anyone really believe it'll become illegal? No more favorable gun law rulings? It's really Congress' job IMO. Chipping away at peoples' rights, yeah the radical right thought the same back when it was their turn.
Political extremism on both sides? I agree it is the worst that I've seen so far but every cycle it's gotten "worse" and we've survived so far. I can remember when Newt Gingrinch was the worst and here we are 25+ years later with a new level of "worst". We'll survive.
Second term for Trump? That would be pretty bad but we've survived the first 4 years. Short of a nuclear war, we'll survive the second term.
Social injustices, equal opportunities? My perspective is as bad as many here think it is, what I see is good progress over the years and also with the reassurance that demographics will continue to reduce (not eliminate) racism, bigotry. It's not being done as quickly as many want it to be, but I see a world of difference since the 80s. Wait another 20 years when the new generation really takes hold.
American Dream? Takes hard work, some luck, persistence/discipline, getting an education etc. Is it equally available to everyone? No, but that's life. Make the best lemonade out of the lemons you have. May not be the best place to live in the world according to some surveys but still the #1 country, by far, that would-be immigrants want to come if they could. Compared to developing and third world countries (which is like 3/4+ of the world), many Americans don't appreciate how good they have it (e.g. cost of goods, free Coke refills etc.), even more so if one is a minority.
* * * *
What I see as the really, really big challenges are below. They aren't all immediate problems but if not addressed, they will get to a point where we won't be able to respond effectively. Admittedly, many of the above will influence the below but so will countless other inter-dependencies, and so I chose to keep them separate.
- Our deficit, debt, entitlements. There doesn't seem to be political will to address this issue. It'll get to a point where we are truly screwed (if not already)
- Our competitiveness on the world stage in the long run. Simple answer is encourage as many of the world's best & brightest to immigrate to the US. I do not understand why we don't do this already.
- China. The US needs to acknowledge that we are in the beginnings of a Cold War with China and need to plan accordingly. China is currently an economic/technology threat. It isn't currently a military threat (like the USSR during the 80's) but will be in the future. China, arguably, will be more of a formidable foe than the USSR and they play the long game.
- Coronavirus. I assume this will be resolve by 1H 2021. But if it is not, we'll be in a world of hurt. This is obviously the #1 really, really big issue we have to deal with right now
So to sum up, I think many on this board see the current-in-the-news societal and political challenges as their big issues. They are definitely big issues but IMO not as big as my top 4, especially when talking about the long run. We are not at the point of no return yet, still time to fix issues or for them to resolve themselves through demographics or passage of time.