These Are the Good Old Days!

[Wandering Monk]

Support you position with data, not anecdote.

 

[SigurdReginson]

Here is an interesting report detailing aging and population world wide.

-Fewer people are having children, which leads to population stagnation.
-The aging population is outpacing the younger generation, and this will tax the population as a whole later on.

However...

-Birth mortality rates are much lower.
-Life expectancy has increased world wide.

Ageing | United Nations

As for quality of life, here is some comprehensive data.

-Extreme poverty is decreasing.
-Basic education is improving.
-Literacy is increasing.
-More people are being vaccinated.
-Child mortality is decreasing.

The short history of global living conditions and why it matters that we know it

Hope this helps!

 

[Augustus]

Depends how you price in the increased fragility of the world we live in and the increased possibility of human extinction.

 

[Heyo]

I disagree with the "short term" part. There have always been wars, famines and other disasters, man made and natural, that decreased living conditions. Most were local but some were global. The human condition has improved but it wasn't continuous, it were ups and downs.
And there are areas were conditions are worsening, even today where most areas are improving. For the environment and many species AGW is not fun (and it can get ugly for humans, too.)
There is no reason for panic but seeing everything through rose tinted glasses is also not recommended.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Support you position with data, not anecdote.

I would rather live in this era as compared to the middle ages.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Short term, one can get responses from one's parents and grandparents - how they lived and what they expected from life - apart from historical evidence, but the further back one goes we are unlikely to see anything that benefitted us (in general) as opposed to what we expect now. We simply have to ask - would we actually want to live in any earlier time if we had no choice as to where we might be in the strata of society. Our parents and grandparents might differ on what they say however, if they see more positives in their particular era than now. I mostly see more benefits - being in my 70s.

Long term, the answer most obviously is yes, since we have made life a lot more bearable (and we live longer) for most than at any previous time. And I think it is hard not to see that violence has become less fashionable than it used to be. That we face many issues brought about by our narrow focus on economic development is just another of our failings as a species - the better ideas tending to pass us by when we are taken by the immediate benefits rather than looking further. Pollution, habitat loss, climate change, space debris, plastic debris in virtually everything - all could no doubt have been better addressed if we had known then what we now know.

Part of being human - so clever but also not so clever.

 

[Wandering Monk]

Short term, one can get responses from one's parents and grandparents - how they lived and what they expected from life - apart from historical evidence, but the further back one goes we are unlikely to see anything that benefitted us (in general) as opposed to what we expect now. We simply have to ask - would we actually want to live in any earlier time if we had no choice as to where we might be in the strata of society. Our parents and grandparents might differ on what they say however, if they see more positives in their particular era than now. I mostly see more benefits - being in my 70s.

Long term, the answer most obviously is yes, since we have made life a lot more bearable (and we live longer) for most than at any previous time. And I think it is hard not to see that violence has become less fashionable than it used to be. That we face many issues brought about by our narrow focus on economic development is just another of our failings as a species - the better ideas tending to pass us by when we are taken by the immediate benefits rather than looking further. Pollution, habitat loss, climate change, space debris, plastic debris in virtually everything - all could no doubt have been better addressed if we had known then what we now know.

Part of being human - so clever but also not so clever.

There is a certain mindset that the good old days were when everyone went to church (but half your kids died before age five.)

 

[Wandering Monk]

If progress were instantaneous we would be living in Utopia already.