Sorry, no.
Worse off than five years ago, probably.
Twenty years ago -- No smart phones. No third and fourth Packer Super Bowl titles. No poker chip collecting. No PackersHome. No Google. No Wikipedia. No Cluetrain Manifesto. No blogging. No fall of the Wall, no fall of the Soviet Union (okay, those two were 23 years ago). Real GDP per capita about 65% higher in USA.
Life expectancy at birth up about 2 years on average, for blacks up about 5 years.
And while I haven't checked, my guess is that if you checked average population height (excellent indicator of childhood nutrition), percent of world population with caloric intake of over 1500 or over 2000 calories/day, average world sanitation quality, even average world environmental quality, you'd find they're all higher now than 20 years ago.
Don't get distracted by business cycle effects and the reporting of CNN, my friend. The trend is still upward.
I wish I were still the age I was 20 years ago (assuming I could keep what I've learned in the meantime). And I'd sorta rather be in Uruguay or Ecaudor than in the American Midwest. But I'd rather be alive today than in any other time in human history.
Originally Posted by: Wade