More likely than not, you’ve heard the desire to go back to a “simpler time” on various occasions in reference to the current political and economic climate. Individuals continually express a yearning to go back in time, either to the carefree partying of the twenties, the gentlemanly ways of the fifties, the wacky celebrant nature of the seventies. I’ve heard people request a time-traveling venture to the Victorian ages rife with silk and brocade, or even wish to live in the grungy, romantic era of cowboys and horseback riding. But I do not share in these aspirations. I have never wanted to live in another era in time, and I would argue that the present is the absolute best time period to grow up in out of all the previous epochs that have ensued.
It’s 2016, people. Nearly 2017. In a little over three short years it’s going to be the twenties again. And I would never want to live in another period in history.
In all of history the human life expectancy has never been higher than it is right now. Medical technology has advanced to the point where diseases that were death sentences decades or centuries ago can be eliminated and cured with noninvasive techniques and advanced treatments.
Technology for the purpose of entertainment has arguably never been better. Special effects in movies are breathtaking, television screens crystal clear, smartphones more functional and powerful than huge processors only a few decades previous. Online gaming is instantly responsive, with gamers being able to play with people halfway around the world with a click of a button. Social media has evolved to a point of instant news-sharing, with connectivity with friends, family, and colleagues that simply did not exist ten years ago. VR and augmented reality have taken hold as popular entertainment for smartphone users, and airborne drones are now conventional Christmas gifts for the tech-savvy.
It’s an age of information, an epoch of discovery, innovation, and exponential growth. Nanotechnology is advancing; whole libraries are readily available in peoples’ pockets, entire music collections on a tiny smart device.
Of course, that is not to say that 2016 does not have its problems. Quite the opposite. The current time period is rife with political corruption, needless war, religious disagreements, unwarranted violence, and a myriad of additional problems that continue to plague society at large. But we are advancing as a civilization, and perhaps we can overcome the things that challenge us so. Together, we can band as a society and eliminate the corruption and complacency that trap us.
Enough people are lamenting over the often weird, ridiculous, violent, and turbulent nature of 2016, eager to finally get the year over with. But who says the future will be any better? Was the past, without indoor plumbing or air conditioning or Pop Tarts, any better? I should say not. Perhaps we do not live in the most opportune time, and there is much to come in the future. But the way I see it, I wouldn’t rather live in any other time.
