These things aren’t “once in a lifetime,” and in any case, a single human life will coincide with thousands of “once in a lifetime” events. Economic downturns,

These things aren’t “once in a lifetime,” and in any case, a single human life will coincide with thousands of “once in a lifetime” events. Economic downturns, war, and disease are perennial human conditions. COVID was deadly, but if you factor out people who were already on death’s doorstep, waiting to succumb to the next flu, it wasn’t really that bad. 9/11 was tragic and launched some unfortunate wars, but in terms of total American fatalities, 9/11 and the War on Terror are not that significant or out of the ordinary. The Jan 6 riot and BLM riots were not very deadly. In the old days, riotous mobs would literally go around murdering people. A few hours of rioting would mean hundreds dead. The 2020 riots were nothing like that. In the 60s, radical leftist groups were regularly bombing American cities. Get some perspective. The Ukraine war is notable, but only because Europe has been relatively peaceful as a whole. But don’t forget the Yugoslav wars, the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe, and that war in Europe has historically been a very common thing. What’s unusual is the relative peace that Europe is still enjoying due to post-WW2 American hegemony. Mass shootings, as in a gunman mowing down multiple random people, are rounding errors in terms of total murders. (Beware of stats, which include gang executions and such in the mass shooting number). Murder rates in some of the big cities are nearing historic highs, but unless you’re involved in gang life or live in the hood, you’re very unlikely to be affected. The overall murder rate is still lower than the 70s and 80s. I think there’s plenty to worry about still. One way our time is exceptional is how eagerly we are discarding traditional morality and social hierarchy. And pop culture promotes awful decisions around sex and drugs and family. Racial and sexual resentment are reaching fever pitch. Crime is trending up. American hegemony is waning. But please, remember that the news on tv or twitter can’t literally jump out of the screen and kill you. People have survived and even thrived in much harder times than now. You are among the most fortunate people in history, with access to education and information that people couldn’t even dream about a century ago. Skilled workers are still in high demand. Engineers and doctors and lawyers are paid more than ever. Even the poor have access to better food and creature comforts than a king in times of old. The state will watch your kids five days a week for seven to nine hours a day, for free. If you’re frugal, you can eat enough to get fat for less than $5 a day. This Reddit hivemind woe-is-us stuff is the result of tunnel vision for whatever the media hyped current thing is.