Prediction of how the US will be in the next 5-10 years?

[Andy L.]

Some things you have right and others wrong.
Social left vs economically socialist are not the same thing, and the US is becoming more and more tolerant of individuality.
Tattoos, piercings, skin color, hair color and style for appearance
Sexual preferences
Religion
Male vs Female
Single vs Married
Fat vs Thin
etc. are becoming less and less of a difference.
Anything socially is still just a "give-back", because the trend has been, and continues to be, that the rich get richer at least at a higher rate than other classes. 70% of taxes come from the top 10% of earners, as it should be because they continue to grow and can afford it.

Agreed that both major parties are corrupt and the system is corrupted by it.
George Washington warned on the impact of the Political Parties usurping power from the people, and the only party putting integrity first is the tiny Reform Party.
Getting elected is costly. A Politician needs Party help, and both Party and individual candidate need deep pocket backers, though Democrats get more of their funding from small contributors in general. It is all about special interest groups and deep pocket backers.

Let's generalize TV. The majority of Americans are passivated by television instead of taking public interest. Sports in general is a diversion as is the weekly shows. The news is just another show with a spin on reality, just as Reality shows are highly staged. The news is an instigator in some events such as using young boy photos of Treyvon Martin and the mug shot photo of George Zimmerman to say without words, look how this gun toting bully gunned down this poor innocent young boy. The slant of the news in incredible whether political or social, all to get viewers as another TV show.

I take much of the social payments to the poor as a bribe to reduce crime.
1) - agree, and add unable to comprehend situations either caused by a bias.
2) - Protesting is a waste of time. What people won't do is take political interest and form voting blocks and nor think independently nor contact their representatives.
3) - Yes. Schools mostly cater to the bottom more than achievers. Parents are not very involved in their children's education. Basic skills are not getting through because kids became lazier and want rewards without effort. Life has become faster and possessions and things are valued more than people. Interpersonal communication is lost as texting is becoming the sole contact between people.
4) - this has always been true. It is the nature of religion also, that people would rather be in the crowd than a leader. Conformity in a social clique has grown bigger and bigger.

"Obamacare" is overemphasized and see your own #1. You also do not understand and are misinformed.
You are swayed by opinion instead of researching the facts.
Public health is the norm in this world. It is cost of medicine that is at issue.
Emergency rooms are overwhelmed, and the public pays one way or the other as the bills are written off as uncollectable and passed back into the system. The number of people covered by the Affordable Health Care Act is a maybe several percent. The title is bad, but they needed to call it something. The taxes involved are minimal, but the issue is government spending without income, and the use of insurance companies because they did not want to create a new infrastructure in government. Federal taxes in the US are extremely low. If you have tax issues, it is your state taxes. They had better ways to fix the health care system. California limited jury awards for example, and they could have nationalized the drug system in some ways. They could have expanded the public hospital system, and put limits on rates.
Won't get too deep into the whole thing that the Bush Administration pushed in to increase government surveillance of the public.

At 17, you pay less taxes than over 98% of the world's 17 year olds. There is no Federal tax on goods and services. Unless your parents are earning over $200K a year, their Federal taxes are lower than they have ever been. At over $200K, they are up slightly in the last couple of years.

You can rightly complain about these issues:
Federal Deficit and Debt - Although mostly owed internal to the US, it is still a legacy passed onto you.
Environmental issues - Though more cleaned up than in past years, you still are inheriting a polluted world with issues. It is worse in many other countries.
Lack of education - Mostly because you may not know how to self-educate. The seeking of knowledge among your peers and the bias now in your peer group it an aim to disaster.
Weak work prospects - You can complain about how production is mostly outside the US, at the import/export travesty that sucks US Assets from the country. Lack of production is a huge sector gone.
Corruption in government - Yes, you can complain about the power of the two party system, and the lack of integrity in politicians (How Etch-a-sketch Romney flipped his views from Governor to Pres Candidate), and the lies of politicians, but avoid the focus on small or single issues and look at the bigger picture of it, and see it generally at its root.