For those say in their 60s or 70s here. When you were in your 30’s or 40’s did you have the feeling that the world was a fucked up place? So much has been going on since I entered adulthood in the early 2000s and I feel like it’s getting more and more intense. It’s never ending.
Is it unique? Or has it always been this way?
Thank you all for your comments. I have read them all but not able to reply to them individually. I must say though, we are living in the most comfortable time in any point in human history. Modern conveniences and access to medicine is definitely the highlight of modern times. I also recognise I have much to be thankful for in my personal life. Stable, well paying job, a wonderful wife and healthy wonderful children. I could’ve been born in any part of the world, at any point in human history and overall I am grateful for where I am right now.
However, after more thought, it does feel like globally something has shifted since 2020. More conflict, more division, more anger. Are we leading up to something much worse? Who knows. Social media hasn’t helped either - immediate access to everyone’s thoughts and opinions I don’t believe is a good thing whereas before people had to specifically write to a newspaper and maybe have their one liner on an issue published, now it’s all open for everyone to know. When I start feeling this way, I tend to switch off for a while and come back when I’ve had a breather from the world. Looks like I’m due again.
In most measurable ways, it was much worse. Crime, mortality, institutionalized racism, war, etc. It looks worse now because every action and word by the people considered newsworthy is magnified and judged by thousands of opinions, many of which originate in troll farms, and many which are intended to be deliberately divisive.
Yes, the US government is infested with fascists. Yes, wealth inequality is worse than it ever was. These are real problems, and worse than they ever were before. (Though I wonder sometimes about how much damage was done by Reagan, and whether denying basic government protections to the poor was just more acceptable then.)