Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
56 Horrifying Photos From The United States That Make It Seem Like A Dystopic Nightmare (New Pics)
The United States has many amazing things to offer both citizens and tourists. The country is full of breathtaking views, stunning national parks, and countless stops that will create the most incredible road trip. The people are friendly, the food is comforting, and the country is considered the land of opportunity! In recent years, however, the headlines about the U.S. have been less positive than usual. In fact, some people feel like the nation is quickly turning into a dystopian nightmare.
Americans have been posting photos on social media of the most unsettling and disturbing things they’ve observed in their nation, so we’ve compiled a list of their pics below. From terrifying news headlines to hospital bills that could bankrupt a person, good luck getting through all of these bleak images, pandas.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
My Backpack Has A Bulletproof Shield
Lee451 Henderson 7 hours ago
Instead of ignoring guns we need to teach children about how much damage guns can actually do. It is not like a movie or video game, where everyone gets up and walks away when it is over.
Riley Quinn 6 hours ago
I was taught how to use a .22 rifle at 7yo and was hunting by 9. A significant portion of my training was reinforcing the danger of a loaded gun. I never once considered it a toy.
Load More Replies... RELATED:
#2
Excuse Me What?
Riley Quinn 6 hours ago
I owned several for-profit businesses, but I never gouged my customers or underpaid my employees. This profit-before-people thinking makes me sick.
#3
This Was The Hospital Bill We Received Today
My son was born with a congenital heart defect. We spent 6 weeks in the hospital after he was born in the CTICU. He had heart surgery when he was 10 days old. Countless medications, specialists, doctors, procedures, and more. Thank God for insurance otherwise we'd be paying almost $2M out of pocket.
On the flip side of this whole debacle, my son gets to live a long normal life and I would work to pay back $10M if it means I get to have him in my life.
Daisydaisy 6 hours ago
And most importantly of all, the US has avoided having a "socialist" health system ...
When you imagine a futuristic society, you might picture cars that can fly and robots that will sweep and mop your floors for you. But with all of the technological advancements we’ve seen in recent years, many people have noticed that they’re not all for the best. Artificial intelligence, for example, has been blamed for stealing jobs, making humans dumber, and for further isolating lonely individuals.
Meanwhile, various governments around the world seem to be leaning into the idea that the future has to be dystopic, particularly the United States. A dystopian society is one that’s “under extreme control with issues of inequality, constant surveillance, propaganda, and loss of individuality,” Serena Edwards writes for The Brooklyn College Vanguard. And many Americans feel like that sounds pretty familiar.
#4
“Inhales” No No
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 9 hours ago
Yay! Capitalist dystopian future! Yay Blade Runner aesthetics!
Riley Quinn 6 hours ago
Since moving to a light polluted city, I'm lucky if a see the full moon. But sky ads? That's another level of the dystopian society we're sinking into that I'm not willing to live long enough to see.
sturmwesen 3 hours ago
In all seriousness: if you a*****t m sky like that I will boycott you 100%
StrangeOne 18 minutes ago
Imagine going outside to see the aurora just to have a Trivalgo ad in the sky.
Daisydaisy 6 hours ago
Has anyone ever wondered if capitalism really is the best way to do things???
#5
AI "Girlfriend" Ad On Youtube
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 9 hours ago
Pfft! Real world interactions and relationships are SO last century!
Riley Quinn 6 hours ago (edited)
Just this morning I read how women are so fed up with men that they're turning to AI relationships. W.T.F. is happening to the human race?
#6
Hospital Bill Addressed To My Brother. He [Passed Away] In The Ambulance On The Way There
Riley Quinn 4 hours ago
It's logical to computerize your billing, but you can't tell me there isn't a program that could track deceased patients and delete this level of billing harassment.
Beth Wheeler 5 hours ago
So sorry you lost your brother. Wake Forest hospital is about an hour from me.
Regardless of how you feel about the current U.S. president’s policies, there’s no question that he’s a controversial figure. He pardoned nearly 1,600 people who illegally stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021. And he publicly berated Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on live television, CT Insider reports.
He has slashed funding for research grants, public school programs, social service programs, environmental cleanup initiatives, and more. And he’s seemingly given ICE free range to detain anyone they want, even American citizens. And more recently, he’s decided that he’s going to take Greenland, whether they like it or not. With all of the questionable decisions the president has made, many Americans feel like he came right out of a dystopian novel.
#7
Thanks, I Hate Drills In Kindergarten
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 9 hours ago
"When we debriefed, students mentioned feeling safe..." Yes, because real world school shooters will be confused by the lights being out. How about tougher gun laws? Just a thought?
StrangeOne 15 minutes ago
A drill is a drill, but when in actual danger the fear in those young kids will kick in.
Riley Quinn 4 hours ago
I wish we felt this safe and confident after the Duck & Cover drills we had as kids back in the 60s. Back then it was preparation for a nuclear attack, not some kid with a gun, a situation that could be drastically reduced if our politicians weren't being paid off cowards.
#8
Advertisements Following You Home
This truck on the highway has led screens cycling through advertisements.
Zig Zag Wanderer 6 hours ago
That would be illegal in any developed country I'm aware of. Smells like bûllshît to me.
Riley Quinn 4 hours ago
Makes you wanna get a bucket of paint. I'm usually not pro-vandalism, but I can make exceptions for some things that are begging for it.
#9
Oh Wow, Thanks [brand]!
Riley Quinn 3 hours ago
Theraflu's Rest and Recovery Program is committing $600,000 via microgrants to families and is partnership with A Better Balance, a national legal advocacy organization, dedicated to advancing work-family justice. I got this info from their website.
Many people enjoy reading books or watching films about dystopian societies, but living through one isn’t as much fun. Currently, in the United States, 35% of citizens say they can’t access quality, affordable healthcare. And nearly two-thirds of Americans say they had to switch to cheaper groceries or buy less food altogether in the past year. Meanwhile, the top 1% of the nation owns nearly one-third of the country’s wealth.
#10
The U.S. Will Withdraw From 66 Organizations, Isolating The Country From The Wider World, The White House Announced Today. The Withdrawal Includes 31 UN Organizations And 35 Other International Bodies
NJPaterson 13 minutes ago
In my opinion, the US supporting so many organizations when our deficit in in the 10s of trillions and our Social Security has an end date of 10 years. It is not unreasonable to review our patronage in each one to determine duplicate effort, fraud or just plain worthiness. But you don't just drop them without investigation.
#11
My Bill Is $250k In A Day Stay At Hospital Having Appendectomy
You read that right. My bill is so high. I don’t have insurance, I don’t work as well. I’m a stay at home wife and my husband pays all the bills and we cannot be able to afford paying this super expensive bill. I don’t know what to do.
I stayed in the hospital from 10/9 - 10/10. I got appendectomy at a hospital in Florida.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 9 hours ago
True or false. The US healthcare system is a corrupt money grabbing evil in this world?
John Dilligaf 6 hours ago
The US does not have a healthcare system; it has a health-profit system. Any actual care you get out of it is purely coincidental.
Load More Replies... Beth Wheeler 5 hours ago
Get a Charity Care application from that hospital, if you qualify you can get a percentage covered all three way up to 1090%. If you don't qualify for that tell patient accou9thau you are self pay and you will get a discount.
#12
Awful
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 9 hours ago
Fück ICE! Up the wrong 'un, sideways, with a dead hedgehog on a stick.
Gingersnap In Iowa 7 hours ago
You KNOW Nathaniel is serious when he mentions the dead hedgehog. 🦔 But I agree F**K ICE!
Load More Replies...Another aspect of the United States that some people consider pretty dystopian is the fact that it’s incredibly difficult to have children. Well, you can have them, but it might cost you over $25K in hospital bills. Then, if you’re lucky, you’ll get ten weeks off from work (unpaid, of course) before you have to be back in the office. And you’ll have to hire a nanny or pay for expensive childcare to be able to return to your job.
#13
Insurance Denies Therapy For My Autistic Toddler. Says The Quiet Part Out Loud At The End Of Their Denial Letter
Zig Zag Wanderer 6 hours ago
That is what private insurance gets you. A contract, not medical necessity. Social healthcare actually provides necessary care almost always regardless of cost.
Riley Quinn 3 hours ago
I've been at the end of these denials before, but managed to get coverage when the doctor or medical facility intervened on my behalf. Sometimes when you fight them, they back down.
Cee Cee 1 hour ago
Having to fight for health care that, in civilised countries, is free at the point of delivery is disgusting.
Load More Replies... #14
What 5 Years Of Hard Work Gets You In Corporate America
ArchangelLoki 6 hours ago (edited)
I dont actually understand why people expect to get things for being in a job for however many years. I've been in my job six years and thats just... normal. Why would I get something for that?
NJPaterson 8 minutes ago
When your CEO gets $50-60 billion for supposedly making his numbers, don't you think his workers had a little something to do with it?
Load More Replies... #15
Our Goodwill Store Alone Made $3 Million This Past Year Which Was A Store Record We Were All Told To Push For. This Was Our Compensation
Zig Zag Wanderer 6 hours ago (edited)
Goodwill store, isn't that a charity? What do you want, money that would otherwise go to the needy? Edit: yes, non-profit "Goodwill Industries International Inc. is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization"
Once your children are old enough to go to school in the United States, you’ll have to make sure that they’re prepared to handle any situation. Unfortunately, American schools experience more violence than schools in any other industrialized nation, so kids have to prepare for the worst. Of course, the vast majority of them will be safe and sound in the classroom. But sadly, you never know when tragedy will strike. So it’s better to be safe than sorry.
#16
Can I Afford These Expenses?
liam newton-harding 7 hours ago
Those Trillions on the "Tariff Shelf", will be landing in "two weeks", along with taco's health care plan...he's only been working on it for eight years...so two weeks...four at the most...sixteen, at the outside.
Riley Quinn 3 hours ago
The only thing between my current situation and landing on the streets is due to being a disabled senior getting free health, dental, and prescriptions. I honestly don't know how people living paycheck to paycheck are going to handle this shameless greed.
#17
I Can't Even
Posted everywhere at my work. Makes me sick.
Riley Quinn 3 hours ago (edited)
Awwww, but it's Christmas. Where's you cheery spirit? Does everything have to be about money? Why, yes, or you wouldn't expect extra shifts.
Load More Replies... #18
Tipping On An Apartment Application?!?!
Because some of the wealthiest individuals on the planet live in the United States, one might think that they would be happy to help the less fortunate. But in reality, many billionaires would rather take trips to space or spend $44 billion on a social media platform than donate to those in need. Who cares about their thousands of employees who can’t afford food or housing, right?
#20
Receptionist At My Doctor's Office Has QR Codes For Venmo And Cashapp Tips
#21
Kids Have Measles, There Are No Toys On The Shelves, And I Can't Afford A Steak
Now, most of us have been told from a young age that if we get a great education, our future will be full of endless opportunities. But in reality, over 42 million Americans have been saddled with federal student loan debt, and the total student debt balance is $1.81 trillion. On average, it takes Americans about 20 years to pay off their student loans, but it can take some over 25. It feels a bit dystopian to know that the degree you got to ensure that you could land a good job will take decades of paychecks from said job to pay off.
#22
This AD
#23
My College Loan Balance. I Started Off Owing $49,000 And Made Several Years Of Payments
Zig Zag Wanderer 6 hours ago (edited)
This is due to not even being able to pay off interest, I guess.
#24
Sign Of The Times. Founder And CEO Of $20 Billion Asset Manager Falls For AI Slop
Michael Fernandez 9 hours ago
To be fair, Cathie Wood has failed at virtually everything she’s ever done. Noting that she’s fallen for AI slop is nothing compared to the billions she’s lost for her marks.
Do you feel like you’re living in a dystopian society after seeing all of these pics, pandas? We hope you don’t feel too depressed after scrolling through this list, but if you do, know that you’re not alone in this. Keep upvoting the images that you can’t believe aren’t satire, and if you’re interested in seeing even more dystopian images from real life, check out this Bored Panda list next.
#25
The Right Is Deliberately Undermining Public Services That People Love In Order To Put More Money In The Pockets Of Those Who Already Have Too Much
Zig Zag Wanderer 5 hours ago (edited)
It is debatable whether the right is undermining services or the left can't afford the services (as the UK right now, or possibly both. I know that I'll be kneejerk downvoted here for saying it instead of any actual debate, however, because that's how people think (or not) these days.
#26
Woke Up To This Shocking Email This Morning
My unemployment term just keeps GOING and GOING!! This is the first time I ever heard an email say I'm not a match for a simple part-time dishwashing job because of my background!? I have no criminal or felony charge history whatsoever, and yet they STILL rejected me. This is the FIRST time I ever got rejected this year. Also have had other emails from other Workday Talent Acquisition Teams like this from Goodwill's and ALDI's in the past. WORST HIRING TEAMS I'VE EVER HAD THAT REVIEWED MY APPILACTIONS IN MY LIFE!
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 9 hours ago
Perhaps you need at least 5 years dishwashing experience, also a college degree.
#27
It's Giving 1989
Tucker Cahooter 1 hour ago
That's ok, I wasn't planning to visit your shithole country again anyway
Zig Zag Wanderer 6 hours ago
Hmm. How about absolutely nothing? Is that enough, immigration police? Because that's all I've got!
#28
Report: Over 33% Of All Food Produced Globally Is Wasted
#31
Dynamic Store Pricing
Zig Zag Wanderer 5 hours ago (edited)
Boycott. Wouldn't fly in any country I know. And i don't think a 'rear windscreen wiper' is American nor subject to surge prices. Perhaps it goes up when raining?
#32
Modern Day Urban Planning
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 9 hours ago
Where's the local shop? Also local pub? Is that in the corner meant to be a park?
Zig Zag Wanderer 6 hours ago (edited)
That is absolute luxury compared to any housing government would provide
#33
This Is Really Depressing For Some Reason
Zig Zag Wanderer 5 hours ago
Why is it depressing? Many people take menial jobs while young, we all did, there's absolutely no shame in it.
Patsy Robins 56 minutes ago
Maccas actually has a good reputation in Australia as an employer, at least for young people. I don’t think any of the young people among my friends and family HAVEN'T worked there as teens!
#34
No Shade To The Nonprofit Providing These Headsets, But It's Messed Up To Me That Our Incarceration Problem Is So Bad That We Have To Use VR Headsets Just So People Can Get A Feel For The Outside World
Zig Zag Wanderer 5 hours ago
I think these are being used to give inmates an idea of how the outside world works before being released. These days that appears sensible. I think OP is trying too hard.
#35
Giving Your Grandma With Dementia An AI Picture Of Her Meeting Ozzy Osbourne
#37
They Plan To Deport 100 Million People. Only 11 Million Are Undocumented Immigrants. The Other 89 Million Will Have To Include Legal Immigrants And Even U.S. Citizens
#38
Offering Massive Incentives To Join The Gestapo Is Also Predatory As Hell, And It's Disturbing To See It Advertised Everywhere
#39
USA Auctioning Humanitarian Daily Rations In Hawaii
Zig Zag Wanderer 5 hours ago
Apparently expired so cannot be used. If only there was a way to search for information like this...
#40
Can Someone Start A Gofundme For Elon? Sources Indicate He Might Be Starving
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 9 hours ago
There is a difference between true poverty and cos play poverty.
Greymom 2 hours ago
Yeah. Choosing to live below the poverty line for funsies or in a really terrible attempt to look humble is WAY DIFFERENT than actually living below the poverty line because you simply have no other option. Also particularly disgusting from someone who literally has enough personal wealth at his disposal to virtually SOLVE world hunger if he chose to do so!,🙄🤬🙄
#41
The Modern Tragedy Of Our Wetlands
What was once a beautiful section of woodlands and wetlands is now an amazon fulfillment center (that was abandoned before it ever opened) but still the woods remain on google maps.
Zig Zag Wanderer 5 hours ago
I hate to say, but the area where OP currently lives was almost certainly lovely wilderness once. Should OP be evicted?
#42
You Can't Even Watch The News These Days Without Your Attention Being Monetized
#43
The First Baby Born In My Area This Year Was Named By AI
Baby's Name: The baby was named Hudson Oakley Winkler.
Birth Details: He was born at Carroll Hospital in Westminster, Maryland, at 4:19 a.m. on New Year's Day, January 1, 2026.
Parents: His parents are Sarah and Stephen Winkler of West Friendship, Maryland. Sarah Winkler was also born at Carroll Hospital.
AI Naming Process: The couple used the generative AI chatbot to find boy names that sounded good with their last name, Winkler, and then asked it to provide a fitting middle name once they chose Hudson.
#45
Hey, At Least We Have A Democracy!
Zig Zag Wanderer 5 hours ago
Actually true in most countries. Changing the law is a complicated and slow process.
#48
Report: Literacy Rates In The United States Have Declined Significantly In The Last 30 Years
Verena 7 hours ago
It is appalling that US Americans are fine with the low standards of education since decades. The knowledge of current politicians does not even include basic historic facts, which are taught to 12 to 14 year olds in Europe. Attending school is mandatory, no homeschool nonsense "protecting" snowflake kids who cannot cope with being introduced to various opinions, cultures and knowledge about history and biology.
#49
I Spent More On Groceries Than It Costs To Buy A 50" TV
Zig Zag Wanderer 5 hours ago
Yup electronic equipment has got extremely cheap these days. A much smaller TV used to cost us a week's wages. That WAS the point you were trying to make, wasn't it?
Zig Zag Wanderer 4 hours ago
Oh dear. Some downvoter doesn't like reality and doesn't like actually engaging. Fairly typical here, though.
Load More Replies... #50
When You Look At How The ICE "$50k Signing Bonus" Works, It's A Beautiful Method Of Keeping People From Quitting Their Reprehensible Jobs
Greymom 1 hour ago
Well, brutality and cruelty ARE easily learned. 🙄 In fact, I’m sure many of their new recruits come with most of the job “ qualifications “ already in place 🙄
Load More Replies...
#51
Literally Everything Comes Back To Money In The US
#52
NH State Rep Posts "For When We Have Segregated Schools," In Leaked Chat. She Claims She Meant From Dei Policies, And Is Now Fundraising Off Of It
#53
This Guy Literally Turned His Wedding Into A Startup Ad Campaign And 26 AI Startups Actually Sponsored It. Genius Marketing Or Just Cringe?
#54
Charlie Kirk Foundation Sends Threatening Letters …….over A Post
#55
Policing The View From A Hill
Zig Zag Wanderer 5 hours ago (edited)
Primrose hill is probably the only decent hill in London with a view overlooking the whole city. This has probably become a dangerous place on NYE because of overcrowding. Great place to snowboard in winter when I lived there. No idea what this has to do with America.
Zig Zag Wanderer 5 hours ago
Primrose hill is probably the only decent hill in London with a view overlooking the whole city. This has probably become a dangerous place on NYE because of overcrowding. Great place to snowboard in winter when I lived there!
Load More Replies...
Add New Image
Explore more of these tags
What do you think ?
You May Like “Logged Out Of My Toothbrush”: 102 Disturbing Posts That Prove We’re Already Living In Dystopia Americans Shared 33 Things Other People Need To Know About What’s Going On In The US MUA Leaves Bride Makeup-Less Saying She's Sick, Bride's Sister Finds Out The Real Reason
Ilona Baliūnaitė
Rugilė Žemaitytė
Viktorija Ošikaitė
Related on Bored Panda
