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Thought experiment: do you wish you were born 40 years earlier? I suspect most of us do not wish this, and I think the primary reason is because our lives are

Thought experiment: do you wish you were born 40 years earlier? I suspect most of us do not wish this, and I think the primary reason is because our lives are much better now than 40 years ago. Healthcare and housing is more expensive, yes. But healthcare is also much better. (Things that were once death sentences no longer are.) Our houses are more expensive, but also larger even though our families are smaller. The technology we have access to is amazing. Traveling the world is more affordable and not just something the richest person you know has done. Not to mention human rights have expanded for lots of protected classes. Overall I think the doom and gloom of some younger folks about how terrible it is today and how great things were for previous generations is just wildly misplaced. There are lots of reasons to be thankful we're living in the present and not the past.

alexfromapex 4y ago
Quantity of life due to healthcare has increased but quality of life I would wager has barely moved the needle. The problem is when Americans say they are dissatisfied with healthcare today it’s conflated with them being dissatisfied with the cost instead of the healthcare industry recognizing that patient satisfaction is low.
jjoonathan 4y ago
I love tech and I'm doing great. I'm not representative and neither are you. > healthcare is also much better ε more QALYs for 8x the cost. Boo. > Our houses are more expensive, but also larger Because they only built houses for rich people, thereby spiking prices into the stratosphere and forcing more people to go without homes for longer. If you're looking for a silver lining, this ain't it. > human rights have expanded for lots of protected classes. That's a much better silver lining. Usually I find myself arguing with Team Optimism, because I think all the problems we have are solvable and many people disagree. The article doesn't read like a genuine case for optimism, it reads like a PR piece for someone who is part of the problem and wants to deflect attention.
jokethrowaway 4y ago
> Thought experiment: do you wish you were born 40 years earlier? Absolutely yes. Rare divorces, booming economy, a society able to communicate instead of cancelling people, burning cars or locking everyone at home. Technology improves our lives up to a point. I agree with you a lot of things improved (thanks capitalism) but our culture is a complete mess and I'd rather live on another planet. To minimise the problem I moved to a country that many would call backwards. At least they won't teach my kids that men can menstruate. I'm sorry for my kids, hopefully things won't get too much worse in the next couple of decades and hopefully we'll find another country to move to, once idiocracy takes control of this one as well.
- D13Fd 4y ago
  Rare divorces because the social pressures and stigma of divorce encourages people to marry young and stay in bad marriages. Not sure how that helps.
  - notch656a 4y ago
    I would argue no-fault divorce is at least as responsible as social pressures. When someone can walk away with half + alimony + 20% child support even if they were at fault for breakdown of the marriage (i.e. adultery or abandonment) there may be a big incentive for them to do things destructive to the marriage for a payout.

alexfromapex 4y ago

Quantity of life due to healthcare has increased but quality of life I would wager has barely moved the needle. The problem is when Americans say they are dissatisfied with healthcare today it’s conflated with them being dissatisfied with the cost instead of the healthcare industry recognizing that patient satisfaction is low.

jjoonathan 4y ago

I love tech and I'm doing great. I'm not representative and neither are you. > healthcare is also much better ε more QALYs for 8x the cost. Boo. > Our houses are more expensive, but also larger Because they only built houses for rich people, thereby spiking prices into the stratosphere and forcing more people to go without homes for longer. If you're looking for a silver lining, this ain't it. > human rights have expanded for lots of protected classes. That's a much better silver lining. Usually I find myself arguing with Team Optimism, because I think all the problems we have are solvable and many people disagree. The article doesn't read like a genuine case for optimism, it reads like a PR piece for someone who is part of the problem and wants to deflect attention.

jokethrowaway 4y ago

> Thought experiment: do you wish you were born 40 years earlier? Absolutely yes. Rare divorces, booming economy, a society able to communicate instead of cancelling people, burning cars or locking everyone at home. Technology improves our lives up to a point. I agree with you a lot of things improved (thanks capitalism) but our culture is a complete mess and I'd rather live on another planet. To minimise the problem I moved to a country that many would call backwards. At least they won't teach my kids that men can menstruate. I'm sorry for my kids, hopefully things won't get too much worse in the next couple of decades and hopefully we'll find another country to move to, once idiocracy takes control of this one as well.

D13Fd 4y ago
Rare divorces because the social pressures and stigma of divorce encourages people to marry young and stay in bad marriages. Not sure how that helps.
- notch656a 4y ago
  I would argue no-fault divorce is at least as responsible as social pressures. When someone can walk away with half + alimony + 20% child support even if they were at fault for breakdown of the marriage (i.e. adultery or abandonment) there may be a big incentive for them to do things destructive to the marriage for a payout.