Why do people always think the times they are living in are the worst of times?

Question

if you study history these are the best of times (at least in the western world). Would you rather go back to when the average life span was 30 years?

Answer 1

Because they don't study history. Religious apologists who complain about the surge in atheism would do well to remember the Roman practice of feeding lions with believers.Atheists might like to consider the various religious inquisitions and purges which feature burning heretics.

Answer 2

Those people just focus on the problems they have and instead of trying to fix them, they dwell on them. People who understand that we are living in best of times are the people that fix their problems and prosper.

Answer 3

there are periods of history that i find are better than this one, and i think you need to consider the entire world, and not just what's better for you but for everyone. many civilizations of which we do not know much about either.

but of course it is subjective, i mean for some people different times are better than for others.

plus every period has alot of really bad stuff in it that some periods don't have but they have other bad things that you might neglect. the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

i think the key is that we are not improving as time goes by, we are not fixing what's wrong, we fix some things, and then other things suck more.  

like my dvds have a little better picture and better sound than my vhs used to have, but my vhs  never got all scratched up.

personally i don't think these are the worst times, but whats particular about these times, is that they are the determining factor as to whether there will be many more times, or whether these will be pretty much the last, and so we are right on the doorstep of possibly the worst. and so far we are doing, i find, a weak job of really preventing it. the task is huge, and we are changing very little.

if we only include the western world, then i agree since the roman empire, basically the same as now but less technology, then the middle ages, huge exploitation and no arts allowed or science, just church and state wealth and peasants, then renaissance, which would have been pretty nice i think in many respects, but worse in others, and then now. we are pretty well off compared to those, but we are those, except newer.

anyways if you don't notice the problems you can't fix them.

length and quality of life i don't consider the same thing. but quality of life can mean many things to many people. and some, like yourself quality includes length.

Answer 4

I agree.I think we are living in the best of times,Have you noticed that some people always have to think the end of the world is near?It freaks me out.

Answer 5

Because they haven't faced the Black Plague, or were being tossed to the Lions in the Colisseum, or being led off to Crematoria II in some obscure Polish camp in the Summer of 1944.....

Answer 6

People have no concept of the past so for them they live in the "here and now" so for them it's a miserable time.

Also, there are people who's comfort zone is in the miserable side of the scale.  Too fearful... worried... anxious... etc.

Answer 7

Listen to the song by the Temptations "Ball of Confusion".  It rings true today as it did when the song came out.  But here are some lyrical clips...

(Eddie)        

People movin' out,

People movin' in.

why, because of the color of their skin

run, run, run, but you sho' can't hide

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,

vote for me and I'll set you free

rap on, brother, rap on

(Dennis)  

The only person talkin' about love thy brother is the preacher

and it seems nobody's interested in learning

but the teacher

Segregation, determination, demonstration, integration,

Aggravation, humiliation, obligation to our nation

(Group)

Ball of Confusion

(Dennis)

Oh yeah, That's what the world is today,(Group):Hey,hey

(Paul)

The sale of pills are at an all time high

young folks walkin' around with their heads in the sky

the cities aflame in the summertime (Eddie):And, oh

(Group)

The beat goes on

(Dennis)

Evolution, revolution, gun control, the sound of soul

shooting rockets to the moon

kids growing up too soon

politicians say more taxes will solve everything

(Melvin)

And the band played on

(Group)

So, round and around and around we go

where the world's headed, nobody knows

(Dennis)

Oh, Great Googamooga, can't you hear me talkin' to you

just a Ball of Confusion, oh yeah

that's what the world is today, hey

(Eddie)

Fear in the air, tension everywhere

Unemployment's rising fast,

the Beatles' new record's a gas

(Dennis)

And the only safe place to live

is in an Indian Reservation

(Melvin)

And the band played on

(Eddie)

Eve of destruction, tax deduction

(Paul)  

City inspectors, bill collectors

(Eddie and Melvin)

Mod clothes in demand

Population out of hand

(Dennis)

Suicide, too many bills

hippies moving to the hills,

people all over the world are shouting "End the War"

(Melvin)

And the band played on

(Dennis)

Oh, Great Googamooga, can't you hear me talkin' to you

(Group)

Just a Ball of Confusion,

that's what the world is today, hey

Answer 8

The authors who assert the moral decline of Western civilization are usually cranky old men.  If you believe these cranky old men, Western civilization has been declining since the Roman Empire.  Gibbons, Tolstoy, and Solzhenitsyn are notable examples of cranky old men who argued that the West is on a death spiral.  Take their message with a grain of salt.  

Answer 9

Limitations of perspective.

Answer 10

It is easy to say that the hardest times that I have ever had are right now.  We see the possible dangers if our eyes are open.  It is also possible to see all the wonders, if our eyes are open.  If we want to believe the fear of the purveyors of death, pay attention, and clinical depression awaits us.

Answer 11

Actually, I've found most people over about 30 years of age tend to find that they are living in worse times than when they were young. But in general there seems to be a dominant current that we are living in the best times and that we are headed towards even better times thanks to "progress".

Personally, I wouldn't mind going back to a time before governments, before power strugles, before crumbling social infrastructure and before law. A time when perhaps humans didn't live very long but they lived well and they died from natural causes.

If I could I would go live in a tribe somewhere, even if it meant dying 10 years after raising whatever number of kids my body can handle and if I survive childbirth.

I sometimes fantasize about a society without clothes, self-esteem, ego and self-image. A society where you can trust everyone you've ever met because there are so few of them anyway.

Maybe I wouldn't have running water or the latest gadget, but really, who cares about that.

Maybe one day I'll go live as a monk in tibet.

Answer 12

It's part of the philosophy that people have learnt to believe in, that which makes them weak, you're a sinner since you're born, this are the worst times, you have to feel guilty about everything, family values are being eroded, blah blah blah .

I'm not saying the present is perfect, but for me, an atheist, social liberal, who's not white, and believes in women's rights and freethinking I really don't see myself living at any other time without being burn in the fire.

I mean, I would have been a slave 300 in the past, so I don't see what's so great about the past.