I really never have believed times improved, and i am almost positive things will only get worse.
30 years ago we had a future to look to, the unshittified internet, great music, affordable land/housing, affordable durable cars, people actually interacted in real life, no social media trash. Now, we have billionaires and LLMs. I don’t see how anyone can possibly think times are better or going to improve.
Yes, everyone will say “civil rights improved” and yes thats maybe the only thing that has changed, however it’s getting taken away every day again so I don’t think you can even use that point anymore.
I’d say yes and no. 30 years ago was not long after the likes of Reagan and Thatcher. Things are very much not okay today, but more people were okay with worse stuff back then. I’d argue some parts of politics have certainly gotten worse, but others have nevertheless gotten better.
I think the core issue is that the political systems of some countries are beginning to show their age, and people today are becoming more cognizant of their failings over time. I think it wouldn’t hurt to look at all of the data available to us now and go back to the drawing board on a lot of key components. But in saying that, it’s impressive to even have so many consistent political systems that have remained relatively stable for centuries when countries used to just have revolutions and regime changes to shake things up all the time.
I do agree we are quickly approaching a major economic downturn, though. I feel like the writing is on the wall that we are already there, but for some reason economists have their heads buried in the sand. I’m reminded of videos I’ve seen (ignore the edgy V for Vendetta splash screen before it) shortly after the 2008 recession where a small handful of economists anticipated a significant downturn only to be derided by the majority of “experts” who said everything was going great. Because I keep hearing things today like the economy has never been stronger, but no one around me seems to be feeling that. Scaled for inflation, I’m making more money than my parents did when they bought a house, but that feels like an impossibility for me today.