The modern world is a good thing
A lot of people romanticize the past and treat the modern world as if it were the “decline of humanity.” I completely disagree. The modern world is, objectively, one of the best times in history to be alive.
People complain about social media, technology, digital culture, and urban life, but they forget to compare it to what life was actually like in the past. Back then, things we now consider basic were rare privileges: antibiotics, anesthesia, the internet, individual freedom, access to information, affordable entertainment, and even reliable electricity.
Today, an average person can:
instantly talk to someone on the other side of the planet;
learn almost any subject for free;
work remotely;
listen to any song or watch almost any movie within seconds;
find communities where they finally connect with people like themselves;
publicly expose injustices;
live longer and more comfortably.
I also find it strange when people say “people were happier before.” Before when? Before labor rights? Before modern medicine? Before women had more freedom? Before the internet made information accessible to ordinary people?
The modern world is not perfect. There is overconsumption, digital addiction, and social isolation. But that does not mean the past was better — it just means every era has its own problems.
The real unpopular opinion is this: most people who claim to hate the modern world probably would not actually want to live in any other period of history.