Society/Culture Has society become better or worse over the past 30 years?

[Chief]

Probably depends who you are and where you live.

 

[Cap]

Boomers aren't 80 yet. How could you possibly come to the conclusion that living longer is a bad thing?

Sorry they are about 78ish

because the views you hold persist longer.

I'm not suggesting it is a bad thing per se, but if you look at a few of the big issues they are persistently impacted by an aging demographic.

Do you not agree that the world would look different if the average life expectancy was still 60.

 

[ShanDog]

Probably depends who you are and where you live.

Possibly, and I'm definitely saying this with a western-centric view. However, the pure stats suggest that it remains true for the whole world. You can't really ask a question about society and then try to differentiate for the individual.

 

[Madas]

Anyone thinking the world or society is worse now than at any other time in human history is suffering from the trappings of luxury beliefs. I think people who are negative about the current state of affairs mistake the gap between what things were like thirty years ago and today with the gap between what things are like today and the utopian vision of what they "should be".

Things now are better than they were before by almost every metric.

That's not a reason to become indifferent to problems or rest on our collective laurels.

Whilst I agree with your general conclusion I would challenge your version of “better “ in some respects . Most of these have probably been mentioned.

The first one is people’s privacy and vulnerability due to the proliferation of the internet. Hacking and scamming is spiralling out of control and will get worse before it improves. Is the everyday stress of having to deal with this a “ better “ way to live

Extinction of species- across so many levels this is getting worse , not better . Forrest’s across the world are still being decimated for agricultural and housing expansion in turn making the wildlife vulnerable. Even the growth of people owning cats and dogs is having an incredibly harmful effect, we lose over half a billion animals a year just from Cats in Australia

Mortgage and general cost of living and inflation stress . Pushed out of control since Covid , people across the world are not happy with the extra pressures put on them to carry the load whilst the class divide between the rich and poor widens . The wealth of some people in this world is obscene.

Overpopulation without planned infrastructure

Perceived life of watching people on the internet vs the realty of real mundane life causing the young generation to have a twisted sense of reality .

I could go on and on .
Yes medical advancement has improved longevity of life and some of the poorer people in the world now have better access to the fundamental basics to sustain them but in general I’m not happy with the direction we are heading .

Seems too fast and guided by the wealthy to suit their own agendas

 

[ShanDog]

The first one is people’s privacy and vulnerability due to the proliferation of the internet. Hacking and scamming is spiralling out of control and will get worse before it improves. Is the everyday stress of having to deal with this a “ better “ way to live

Privacy laws have only been getting stronger over the last 30 years. They can struggle to keep up with changing tech, but it's a focus now more than ever. I agree hacking and scamming is an issue, but it can't really be called worse than 30 years ago - it's effectively a novel problem.

Extinction of species- across so many levels this is getting worse , not better . Forrest’s across the world are still being decimated for agricultural and housing expansion in turn making the wildlife vulnerable. Even the growth of people owning cats and dogs is having an incredibly harmful effect, we lose over half a billion animals a year just from Cats in Australia

I'd like to see some stats on this but I imagine that given the increased focus on environmental conservation, there's a lot more being done about these issues than there was in the 90s.

Mortgage and general cost of living and inflation stress . Pushed out of control since Covid , people across the world are not happy with the extra pressures put on them to carry the load whilst the class divide between the rich and poor widens . The wealth of some people in this world is obscene.

This one I can agree with. While overall quality of life is better and we have an expanded middle class, the cost of housing in real dollars has gone up significantly, and it's something that government could fix relatively quickly through policy.

Overpopulation without planned infrastructure

This has been a constant issue throughout history. Some cities are affected more than others. Hard to say exactly how bad the issue really is and whether it's really any different to any other time.

in general I’m not happy with the direction we are heading .

Seems too fast and guided by the wealthy to suit their own agendas

Fair enough, that's an opinion. I also have concerns about various elements of policy, the environment etc in the future. But we are talking about the now at the moment.

 

[barreness]

Boomers aren't 80 yet. How could you possibly come to the conclusion that living longer is a bad thing?

Why is it a good thing? diminishing returns after three score and ten

 

[Cuzz09]

society has been poo since smart phones

On SM-S908E using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[barreness]

Anyone thinking the world or society is worse now than at any other time in human history is suffering from the trappings of luxury beliefs. I think people who are negative about the current state of affairs mistake the gap between what things were like thirty years ago and today with the gap between what things are like today and the utopian vision of what they "should be".

Yes it's the waste that's the painful bit. Abundant energy and resources, relative peace compared to last century, science and tech gone bananas

Things now are better than they were before by almost every metric.

Which metrics? GDP maybe. If you look ate mental health/suicide rates it suggests something is wrong on at least a subconscious level. Take China out and poverty rates etc look pretty flat. Population growth obviously makes this a fruity stat but most slaves/prisoners in history, in totality there are more individuals suffering than at any other point in time

That's not a reason to become indifferent to problems or rest on our collective laurels.

Yes

 

[Rob R]

100% worse

Over population has impacted on most of.our major cities.

Social media has led to a focus on quick rather than considered debates and encouraged the extremes on both sides of a discussion.

Appearance has won out over delivery of an outcome.

Pollies are far more dodgy and governments more wasteful.

People are far lazier, shallower and softer.



On SM-A125F using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Chief]

The algorithm...

 

[Exe Gesis]

 

[demondavey]

It’ll get a lot worse if Trump wins. Take a calculator to his first 4 years and multiply it by about 10. America will begin chewing itself out which will give Russia and China a lot more confidence to kick off their agendas.

 

[Chief]

Possibly, and I'm definitely saying this with a western-centric view. However, the pure stats suggest that it remains true for the whole world. You can't really ask a question about society and then try to differentiate for the individual.

Head in the oven, feet in the freezer. On average you're doing fine.

 

[ShanDog]

Head in the oven, feet in the freezer. On average you're doing fine.

Not quite

 

[ITCHY EYEBALLS]

It’ll get a lot worse if Trump wins. Take a calculator to his first 4 years and multiply it by about 10. America will begin chewing itself out which will give Russia and China a lot more confidence to kick off their agendas.

Stopping a couple of million illegal immigrants crossing the borders will undoubtedly make it worse

 

[Gethelred]

... really?