Funny, I was thinking the exact opposite -- I think the news is so bad and the politics is so polarised and the fiction is so grim because the world is better p

Funny, I was thinking the exact opposite -- I think the news is so bad and the politics is so polarised and the fiction is so grim because the world is better place than it has ever been, and we don't know how to deal with it. In the developed world we're living longer in bigger houses with more cars. Our food is better, our toys are cooler, crime is at record lows... Life just isn't enough of a struggle for us any more, we don't have any excuse for not being happy, so we go out of our way to find some unhappiness, or to make it for ourselves. Obviously there is plenty of dysfunction to go around, and we should demand better, but the "sky is falling" narrative is popular because it doesn't ring true, not because it does.