Are we in a downfall post-2020?
I was talking with a friend about how everything seems to have gone downhill after 2020. I’m not sure if it’s just part of growing up, losing that naive, stress-free adolescence and becoming more aware of the problems around us - but we felt that after 2020 some things genuinely shifted. Here are a few points we came up with:
- COVID-19 pandemic – lockdowns,social isolation, psychological damage, people had to spend more time on internet and online, which made a no-turning point that people now assign a greater value to the "reality" presented online instead of the day to day life.
- Internet fake role models - Andrew Tate, get rich mentors, Twitchers, worshiping Musk, OnlyFans girls also streaming blogs/gaming.
- Cultural decay - I am huge fan of classic moves, but after 2020 there seems to be fewer good movies. Movies seemed to have shifted to a dopamine-driven Netflix-like content, so it feels there's a general decline in quality/artistic value.
- Economic decline – purchasing power dropped globally, inflation, overemployment, housing affordability collapse, inequality deepening
- War in Ukraine/Palestine – geopolitical instability, funds drained, energy/economic impact on Europe. Will add here also some US-China tensions, Russia-US tension under Biden, etc.
- Social unrest in the US – rise of far-right/antisemitism, polarization, online narrative fights
- Tech stagnation – little true innovation since 2010s, recycling ideas. OpenAI only exception to this. Plenty of startups with BS products just because founders want to feel they are a success. Many products aren't even revolutionary (no more Uber/or similar apps that you could really call them unicorns).
- Oligopolies & monopolism – big corporations consolidating, capitalism becoming monopolistic.
- Brainroot/social media destruction - brain damage (metaphorically), surreal expectations, relationships weakened, reality distorted, endless doomscrolling, TikTok attention destruction, meme culture discourse (just look at White House posts)
- Crypto degeneracy – WallStreetBets, shitty coins, scams/pumpfun, speculative mania with no productive value.
- Degeneracy in culture – porn/OnlyFans normalization, public role models built on greed/lust.
- Hopeless generation – lack of housing, lack of joy, no clear opportunities, declining mental health/male depressions in the rise
- Economic shocks – inflation spikes post-COVID, supply chain collapse, global instability.
- Global decline of middle class – normal people poorer everywhere/high levels of male unemployment
- Collapse of faith in institutions – governments, media, finance, academia losing credibility.
- Rise of identity politics/extremism – cultural polarization, more radical politics on both sides.
- Shift in perception of reality – internet feels closer to reality than real life, people live online. Boomers including.
- Climate anxiety – worsening environmental disasters, but no clear innovation or solutions. Europe is a clear example.
Curious if others feel the same way about this.
Without a doubt, although I would argue that the rot goes back to 9/11 and the post-9/11 response and started there, just like someone older than me could point to some time in the 70s or 80s.
Peak America in my lifetime or my memory was the late 90s through the middle 00’s—not the 2010s by any stretch. The exuberance and excitement for the future that the internet and tech firms brought to our lives was already clearly in decline by the late 00’s.
But it’s also worth remembering that most people alive will look back toward some idealized time in the past with nostalgia goggles, me included. The past you remember fondly is probably the time you were actually happy.
Were the late 90s/early 2000s an objectively better time for America? I certainly think so. Was I also in middle school and highschool playing sports, chasing girls, having summers off, with my whole life ahead of me? You bet. There’s no way that doesn’t cloud my judgment.
I’d argue the peak was even earlier probably 1945 or 1946. Despite losing over 400,000 men, America was relatively unscathed compared to the rest of the world which had been turned into a charnel house. Britain had rationing for years after the war and the sun was beginning to set on the British Empire. The Soviet Union had been decimated and continental Europe was ashes. Japan had been firebombed and nuked into submission. American might, both military and industrial had saved the world from fascism. We were the only country to possess nukes. We were the colossus astride the world.
I’d argue that the lead began to diminish over time as the Europeans/Soviets/Asian powers rebuilt. Over time the progress that occurred rapidly in the postwar period waned and the greatest generation didn’t desperately cling to the reins of power like the Baby Boomers have. American politicians made easy choices and debt funded everything.
90s born here. For me, my life changed drastically since the late 2010s. I do miss my mid-late 2010s self. Had a fantastic social life at the time and was naive as hell as a early-mid 20s dude. Life and personal problems have dragged me down since.
And due to some self-destructive behaviors, my social life never recovered (burnt some bridges in the late 2010s / early pandemic when things were very political which I sort of regret now). Enjoyed business school a few years ago and made some decent friends (not that close with any classmate) but it was still a shadow of the social / daily life I once had.
Biggest change I've seen in recent years is that we're looking at problems and deciding not to solve them as a nation. Previously, we faced major issues as a nation, no doubt. Throughout any point in history, we had problems, and we worked together to solve them. Nowadays, it feels like no one actually wants to fix any of the problems we have and keeps working really hard to kick the can further and further down the road instead of making tough decisions.
Zero interest rates might be the largest reason why tbh. Cheapest money in all of human history not surprisingly leads to degen behavior.
It's hilarious that in response to OP's claim that it feels like society is getting shittier, you gave us AI-generated TED talk slop.
Most of the stuff you listed was just as prevalent and just as pernicious pre-2020. This feels like observation bias in action. And a lot of nonsense thrown in for good measure
Womp womp.
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