If you check the news or social media at any given moment, you’ll likely see some version of “the world is ending”. Granted, many people have seen more than their fair share of hardships the past few years (esp 2020), and they are all valid and tragic. In spite of this, it’s important to remember that we are still much better off than humanity has ever been. Here are a few reasons: Extreme poverty is decreasing substantially - by 47 million people every year since 1950. Life expectancy has doubled globally in the last century, and the life expectancy gap between the poorest and richest countries is steadily closing. Affecting this data is lower child and childbirth mortality rates, in addition to lower contagious and non-communicable disease death rates. Homicide and other violent crime rates have fallen in the past century. Literacy levels are rising globally. World wide battle deaths have been on the decline over the last couple decades. These are just a few of the most quantifiable ways that life has improved significantly since just a few centuries ago, but there are many more that pertain that pertain more to specific areas and quality of life. And think about this - just one century ago, if you were born in the early 1900s, you would have seen *both* world wars, the Great Depression, the Cold War, the Vietnam war, the rise of terrorism, and the 1918 pandemic, just to name a few. They probably thought the apocalypse was imminent, but it wasn't then, and it isn't now. 1. https://www.vox.com/2015/6/23/8832311/war-casualties-600-years 2. https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy 3. https://www.vox.com/2014/11/24/7272929/global-poverty-health-crime-literacy-good-news

How would we know for sure without a time machine. I've always considered myself to be fortunate, of the baby boomer generation (born 1950) so an optimistic generation with the hope of change for the better, a new world needing to be built. The change and innovation in my lifetime has encompassed so much and I can appreciate the difference for the good and ill. I've lived through the space race and the cold War, seen the fight continue for womens equality, the move from women in the home to the workplace even AFTER marriage!!! Technology has given us so much for which I'm grateful, the Internet in particular and facetime ,my current favourite, but because I was born in the last century I do not take these things for granted and can still be amazed by them - I can still add up quicker myself than using a calculator and that is not just down to dexterity. I'm sure the Victorians would make a similar case for their era.

**TL;DR The 21st Century is not the best time to be alive, based off of the ideas in Herbert Marcuse’s ‘One Dimensional Man’.** Herbert Marcuse first developed his ideas within the 20th Century, however his theories surrounding the reduction of humanity to ‘one dimension’ are more appropriate than ever before due to significant advances in society experienced in the last 20 years. He focusses primarily on how the key components of modern society, including technology, capitalism and consumerism, equate to subsequent loss of freedom, reduction of humanity to one dimension and societal issues such as modern slavery. Modern society, in theory, possesses the means for the greatest facilitation of human life (thus potentially making the 21st Century the best time to be alive). However, the previous notion for the facilitation of life is not the case, instead systems such as consumerism, capitalism and technology function in a way that prohibits facilitation, and as Marcuse notes, limits humanity to one dimension. For this reason, I believe the 21st Century is not the best time to be alive as modern society has worked in a way that has created and exacerbated societal issues. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Times_(film) https://www.marxists.org/ebooks/marcuse/one-dimensional-man.htm

Lots of great data on our common misconceptions about quality of life today here: https://www.gapminder.org/

**tl;dr: The 21st century is not the best time to be alive as our happiness is prevented due to our addiction to technology.** In the 21st century, our means of happiness as humans have been corrupted by technology. Studies have proven humans are happiest when focusing on the present, being outside and exercising. All things which in the 21st century are less common as we spend our days behind a screen focusing on what other people are doing with their lives (which are most likely exaggerated or made up for an audience) . From the 21st century, suicide rates increased 30%. [1] This makes sense as in today’s society we are avoiding the things that us as humans were born to do. Exercising, socialising, enjoying the open air. Even when we do enjoy the company of others it is not uncommon to be stuck behind a screen, not paying attention to one’s company (even restaurants now have us ordering from our phones). Even our love lives in the 21st century are corrupted by dating apps and technology. These applications advertises finding true love, yet leaves people superficially swiping and basing who they want to spend their lives with over a mere photo and corny caption. We live our lives behind a screen, focusing on other people’s happiness instead of our own. While statistics may show us to be living peacefully and happily, in reality, we are a slave to our screens. [1] U.S. Suicide Rate Up 30% Since Start of 21st Century - Bloomberg