It's a global vs local problem. Globally, there's no question that the general state of things is improving. Of course, this is in general -- there are things that are getting worse globally as well.
However, in some parts of the world (such as, in my opinion, the US), things are going a bit backwards. If you live in such an area, it can be hard to see (and appreciate) the bigger picture.
The problem is the assumption of linearity. Things are good now but it seems to me things are getting better at a decelerating rate, and some trends have even started to reverse in the most westernized countries. Most of what’s getting better in the world is in places like Africa or Brazil, emerging economies. Things aren’t getting better for a lot of people in a lot of cities in America. People are fleeing la, sf, etc... Empires rise and fall, predictably.
These are mostly international statistics, and a lot of the progress being made is first China and now Africa and India catching up with the west. And that's great.
In the United States, however, things have been going somewhat backwards since the mid 70's. The millennial generation is poorer than their parents were at the same age. Civil rights are beginning to get rolled back. The political situation is fraught.
There are also, as others have pointed out, a number of red flashing danger signs coming from the environment. The earth is limited, and we're treating it as if it's infinite.
So, from my point of view, here, the "world is getting worse" belief has some justification.
Crime is falling in the long term, not rising, at least in the US. Much of the world now allows same-sex marriage, which I think is an important civil rights advancement.
I take your points on war, the crackdown on whistleblowers, income inequality. But on the upside, we have tremendous advances in medicine (is that "just" technology?)
It's a mixed picture, not a universally gloomy one.
Your post is on the worldwide web. Saying that you notice things getting worse where you are and not saying where "where" is and equating that to everywhere is what the problem is.
Yes, things are improving on a global scale, but that doesn't mean that the sense of unease within the United States is baseless. Quality of life for the lower and lower-middle classes has been declining, particularly in rural areas. Medical, educational, and housing costs have been increasing far faster than inflation. Social media combined with legalized bribery and gerrymandering threaten or have destroyed our democracy, with social media in particular amplifying everyone's us-vs-them mentality to the point that everyone feels persecuted. Anxiety, depression, and suicide rates are up. Economic growth is mostly limited to a handful of large cities with high costs of living that complain of labor shortages, yet more affordable rural areas continue to suffer from work shortages.
Global growth and improvement is great, but if pockets of instability don't get addressed and corrected, those trends may change.
Everything today is better then yesterday and tomorrow everything will be better then today (on average on a global a scale for all the issues you pointed out). Progress is being made all the time. But the news/media mostly just reports the failings/problems/issues (sells better) so it feels like everything is getting worse.
(There are some looming issues on the horizon like climate change etc. which might change this course in the future.)
Yes, some things are getting worse. But the truth is that some things are getting better in some contexts, some things are getting worse in other contexts. It seems you are focusing on "what is getting worse FOR YOU". This may be an example of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
If you've always lived in a society where things are generally bad then it's likely that at present times things are getting better even if only slightly.
On the other hand if you're living in places that have generally always been good, it's likely that things are starting to regress.
Given that most of the people who comment about such things on social media and otherwise or likely from the latter camp, it's not surprising that the general tenor is pessimism.
In America for instance many indicators are going south. Life expectancy, suicides, debt, freedoms, etc.
While America has always had problems, it seems we are close to a tipping point where we may lose what semblance we had of a democracy.
Now I'm writing this comment on a website hosted in the US, about a article from a US newspaper, to a person who probably live in the US. And I'm not from the US.
But I think the point of the article is to point out: sure, the US is getting worse and worse (maybe) but you can't just throw up your hands in the air and say "the world is going to shit!" as the world isn't going to shit. Most of the world is improving, but it's hard for the US media to present that view (maybe because good news doesn't sell? I don't know). The author points out that news focuses on bad news, and in the US, probably on US news. But there are other places in this world too.
I frequently see people from the US claim that the world improvements will end, because the US is getting worse.
But the good news is, the world is in fact getting better, even though the US might not be improving a lot currently.
> Global growth and improvement is great, but if pockets of instability [in the US] don't get addressed and corrected, those trends may change.
I've added the text in the brackets. If I understand your message correct, you're saying that if for example housing costs in the US doesn't improve, global growth and improvement might slow down? I'm sorry but that seems small-sighted and exactly what I'm writing about above.
Edit: fun thing to do, search for "world worse" on Twitter or social media of your choice, and see how many people are writing about how the world/everything is getting worse, on a article about something US specific that won't impact anything outside the US borders.
If you live in country X, you will believe that things are getting better. If you live in Sweden, you might think things are getting worse. If you live in the rust belt in the US, you would think that things were better in the past, and you'd be right.
No, it's not. Life has been much better overall. What things are you seeing that is getting worse? I would say things are getting exposed and change is taking place. And you are just being introduced to the harsh reality that exists outside your initial bubble.
For the time being, the problem is things aren't getting better and after numerous false starts, the problems of the world which have merely been masked over the last 8 years will have to be dealt with.
Never mind the coming Demographic crisis, in Japan, China, almost all of the EU, Canada Australia and the US eventually as well, you're right we are better than most of those but all of those are hitting a brick wall
Rosling, Gates etc are right that things are overall getting better.
The rich are getting richer and the very poor are also doing better, but this is coming at the cost of the middle class in Western Europe and the US, where the average couple of working adults can no longer afford to buy a home and have to live with the fact that their jobs are significantly less stable compared to the past. Many are forced to work part time or take on gigs to make ends meet.
I could go on, but something's clearly rotten in the west.
Here's the problem: a lot of people in the 1st world thinks things are getting worse, when in reality the world is improving for the less well off. Think extreme poverty, child mortality, health care, etc. Some details here:
It used to be worse is not really a good argument. If you use this reasoning the current state is good. Without being able to question the current state, improvements will be limited or none.
Not accepting the current state of things is a good way to improve things. Instead of comparing to the past, compare it to other regions. One commenter compared USA to Europe and said USA is significantly worse, irrespective of how things were loads of years ago.
However, in some parts of the world (such as, in my opinion, the US), things are going a bit backwards. If you live in such an area, it can be hard to see (and appreciate) the bigger picture.
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