40 Ways Things Are Getting Better
"What has gotten materially better in America in, say, the last twenty years?" David Walsh, a University of Virginia postdoctoral fellow, casually asked on Twitter yesterday.
Hundreds of responses poured in, citing everything from consumer goods to medical treatments to cultural attitudes, laws, and Brussels sprouts.
The overwhelming number of responses and their variety provides a nice reminder that a lot of stuff really has been getting better over the past few decades and American society isn't really the perpetual motion fail machine many people make it out to be. In the interest of celebrating progress, here's a sampling (in no particular order) of those responses…
What's Gotten Better in the Past 20 Years?
1. Home entertainment
2. Crime rates
3. Micromobility options
4. Better cannabis quality
5. Information access:
6. Acceptance of neurodiversity
7. Restaurant food variety and quality
It's already been said a million times but food is just drastically better. The only thing you could get at a restaurant in 2001 was like a plain grilled chicken breast over iceberg lettuce. https://t.co/U7mGRtYxXY
— jordan (@nu_handen) August 30, 2021
8. Attitudes toward LGBTQ people and their treatment under the law:
9. Convenience food options
10. Being an introvert and/or misanthrope:
11. The digital reading experience:
12. HIV care:
13. Alcohol options:
Beer. In early 2000s, beer was just awful in New York. Heineken was considered good beer. https://t.co/LXPwk1wb8f
— Onur Özgöde (@ummodern) August 31, 2021
14. Options if you don't want alcohol:
15. Mental health treatment:
16. Automobile efficiency and safety:
17. Transportation options for people without cars
18. The ability to get around without getting lost
19. Specialty diet/food options
20. Being a nerd
21. Phone calls (or lack of them)
22. Getting dressed
23. Cancer treatment
24. Weather reports
25. Bicycling infrastructure
26. Cameras
27. Avocado access
28. Hygiene products
29. Video games
30. Access to fruits and vegetables
31. Gambling laws
32. Movie theaters
33. Digital video
34. Democratization of the public sphere
35. Clean energy
36. Access to diverse music
37. Body positivity
38. Smoking rates
39. Carbonated beverages
40. A lot of people's behinds, apparently
Answers relating to food, alcohol, marijuana, coffee, computing, and TV—areas no one can deny have improved since the turn of the century—seem to be the most prevalent. And, despite a diverse set of answers both quirky and serious, there's still a whole lot of progress that's gone unmentioned. As a number of people commented, it may be easier to list things that haven't gotten better over the past two decades.
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