Was life 10 years ago better to you then now?

r/

I feel like the world issues and people are becoming more dreadful.

Comments

  1. Simple_Emotion_3152 Avatar

    hmm 10 years ago i wasn’t married with 2 kids so i would say no

  2. WhimsicalSadist Avatar

    For me, personally, life is better now than it was ten years ago. Unfortunately, it’s worse for a lot of my fellow Americans, so I’m putting my time, money, and vote towards fighting against Cheeto Shitler and his ilk.

  3. ForScale Avatar

    No. I was making way less money and still renting. Relationship was worse too.

  4. LouBarlowsDisease Avatar

    Nah, I make more than triple what I made back then

  5. mandela__affected Avatar

    Nah life is pretty great now.

    Bought a house, have a camper bus, hopefully getting a boat this week, great friend group, daughter was born last year, going to Cancun and on a float trip this summer

    Edit: plus TLOP came out in 2016 which is in that 10 year window

  6. YoungPigga Avatar

    I was a kid, and honestly, I think it was better for me back then from a potential aspect, but from a current aspect, now is better

  7. AsianHawke Avatar

    I am 35 today. 36 in October. 10 years ago I was 25. A lot has changed.

    When I was 25, I did not have a vehicle, I was homeless, I worked as a machine operator earning $16.50 an hour. I worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. I was miserable.

    At age 35, I now finance a new vehicle, I live in a luxury apartment, I work in corporate, earn $89k salary, and I work 40 hours a week. I am complacent.

    But, while I am financially stable, I am unhappy. I was unhappy then, too. But, I am still unhappy.

  8. chiefmors Avatar

    My life is much better now. I make 4 times what I did 10 years ago, have an awesome wife and kid, and have had a chance to travel, read a lot, write, start running more, get into a job I really enjoy, etc.

  9. Beneficial-Mine-9793 Avatar

    >I feel like the world issues and people are becoming more dreadful.

    As a world? No.

    >Was life 10 years ago better to you then now?

    That will vary from person to person. Subjectively alot of people are worse off than they were 10 years ago.

    Overall and statistically? People are better off.

    The world gets better slowly, and in between there are knocks on the chin, but that doesn’t erase that some peoples lives unfortunately still get worse even as the whole heals.

  10. Dominant_Peach Avatar

    I’m definitely guilty of thinking “those were the good days” from time to time. But how much of that is because you tend to suppress the bad memories and reminisce on the good.

  11. AHungry_Cat Avatar

    Yes because my best cousin was alive

  12. The_Bored_Gamer Avatar

    “better” is subjective.

    10 years ago I didnt make anywhere near the amount I do now. However I enjoyed SO MUCH LOWER bills lol

  13. OsvuldMandius Avatar

    No. I was making less money, and like my then-current job less than I like my current job.

  14. Maleficent_Run9852 Avatar

    IMO, It was a lot less scary. The threat of fascism was … unthinkable. The idea that there would be some kind of widespread resistance to vaccination was … unthinkable. The idea of the US dropping out of the Paris accord or imposing global tariffs was … unthinkable.

  15. just-kath Avatar

    Life was absolutely better before 2016. IT is getting worse every day since 1/2025

  16. Overall-Computer-844 Avatar

    Certain aspects of it

  17. shrimpynut Avatar

    Yes, because I had a great childhood. I was still in high school and had tons of friends, no bills, my own car and so much freedom.

  18. Royal_Annek Avatar

    10 years ago I worked for a toxic corporation, 80+ hours a week, and they’d never leave me alone on weekends. Now I work normal hours that wouldn’t dream of working weekends and make twice as much money.

  19. Wrong_Toilet Avatar

    Social media is becoming more prominent in our daily lives.

  20. javvykino Avatar

    Arguably just as bad, I just have different problems.

  21. Sea-End-4841 Avatar

    Infinately easier. Past five years have been the worst of my life.

  22. Sea-End-4841 Avatar

    Infinately easier. Past five years have been the worst of my life.

  23. jfreebs Avatar

    Nope. I make more than double what I did 10 years ago.

  24. jameskchou Avatar

    Things were less complicated then even though my employer was toxic and my manager was replaced by a nepotism hire with little knowledge of what we were doing

  25. BreakfastBeerz Avatar

    No, I had 7 month old twins and a 5 year old struggling with kindergarten. Life was hell.

  26. MichaelAuBelanger Avatar

    Everything since Harambe is worse.

  27. Fun_Butterfly_420 Avatar

    I was in high school then, so for me personally, no, life is a lot better now:

  28. Dry_Equivalent9220 Avatar

    Things were better for me, bit life was the same: life. I made the best of what I could until I couldn’t.

  29. UnderstandingLess156 Avatar

    I currently feel much more beat down than I did ten years ago. But that could just be the meat grinder of life.

  30. Gocards123321 Avatar

    I had hope for my future 10 years ago. I’m trying to change for the better and I am going to become the person I want to be but to say I don’t feel like it’s too late for me I’d be lying.

  31. Xevancia Avatar

    Nope. My life is 100x better now than it was then.

  32. HawaiiStockguy Avatar

    Before Trump? Of course

  33. Sea_Freedom6818 Avatar

    10 years ago from now? No. 🙁

  34. Early-Abalone3097 Avatar

    Yes! Let me just tell all the young people I was afraid to age. I almost cried when I left my forties cuz those were some good partying years after my daughter grew up 😭 now I’m 54 and still loving life. I would never ever want to go back to in my 20’s or 30’s. And when adults give you advice for the love of God please take it 🤣🥰😘💕

  35. Aggravating_Fun7031 Avatar

    I was 10 years younger, so in this respect, YES. Then, NO, because I was still working in a hostile environment.

  36. BCKPFfNGSCHT Avatar

    It seemed better for me at the time, but I’m glad to be out of the relationship I was in 10 years ago.

  37. AddisonFlowstate Avatar

    Cannot even be compared. Yes.

  38. SarcasticCough69 Avatar

    No. I was recently divorced, house was upside down and I was working 16hrs a day to recoup all the money I paid out. I’m good now, even with all that’s going on.

  39. FeralViolinist Avatar

    I feel during the Obama years there was a bigger feeling of hope and progress. Gay marriage was legalized, weed started to become legal in many states, bigger global discussions began to surface about taking climate change seriously. 

    Underneath all that hope and optimistism there was still rampant corruption. Citizens united was in 2010. Climate targets were not being met. Conspiracy theories sill on the rise. Schools and businesses were still being targeted by active shooters. 

    The hope evaporated when Trump came into power. But all he did was stymie the little amount of progress we had reached. There was still a mountain of challenges to overcome and I’m still holding onto a little hope that humanity achieves it, even if America no longer leads the way.

  40. Suspicious-Taste6061 Avatar

    Life is way better today than it was 10 years ago, both financially and in my quality of life.

  41. catcatcat888 Avatar

    I would say more around 2010-12. It’s all been downhill from there. With that said; my overall quality of life has improved since then. It’s my outlook on the world that has darkened.

  42. Made_Human Avatar

    I was making more money 10 years ago but I was miserable. My current job is rewarding and I feel like I make a difference at work.

    I also had a girlfriend but I didn’t really like her very much. We got along just fine but there was no real connection and I think I’m better off alone.

    So overall my personal life is mostly better.

    But when it comes to the state of the world it feels so much worse. I’ve never been more ashamed to be an American than I’ve been since last November. And I don’t think the problems are going to get better. The sociopaths won and will probably keep winning as long as there are ignorant fools

  43. zoroddesign Avatar

    2015 was a pretty good year as far as I can remember. One thing I remember is a focus on the sciences and arguments over climate change and Obamacare being the biggest issues. although we were still deep in the war on terror with Afghanistan and Iraq. The fact we aren’t actively at war with another country is a positive for now but other wars we are funding are a decline. We also left Afghanistan in the hands of the Taliban so that is also a negative for the women living there.

    beyond that I can’t say whether the world is better or worse.

  44. MajesticSite7183 Avatar

    People were smarter just 10 years ago

  45. MJCowpa Avatar

    Life is better, the outlook is worse.

  46. kevendo Avatar

    Yes, because we lived in a free country where you didn’t have to wake up every single day and defend yourself from your own government.

  47. jungchorizo Avatar

    i was homeless and hopelessly strung out on heroin so most definitely not.

  48. Cute-Post3231 Avatar

    Nope
    10 years ago I was a frightened 51-year-old woman who had just divorced 17 year old marriage, and now I am fat and happy at 62 with everything I could’ve ever wanted and a dog

  49. RuleRepresentative94 Avatar

    I don’t think it was better, it had the very visible starting seeds of what is today. I remember Trump getting elected 2016 for example and in 2010 the right wing extremists got into Swedish parliament. 

  50. Consistent-Salary137 Avatar

    No! I was in a horrible, abusive relationship. I’m so much happier now 😋

  51. Ice_Solid Avatar

    I was in better shape but no, 10 years from today was hell. My mother would have recently passed away 

  52. Davey716 Avatar

    No, I was heavily addicted to heroin, fentanyl, and Xanax lol

  53. EntrepJ Avatar

    My life is way better because I have good mental health now vs back then when it was bad. 

  54. yorkshiretea23 Avatar

    10 years ago I was poor and working many hours, sharing a apartment with 2 strangers. Now I own two homes and feel very financially secure and with lots of options and choice. However, back in 2015 we had HOPE. There was the feeling that things only got better. I haven’t felt like that in the last few years.

  55. DrunkerHomesNGrdns Avatar

    10 years ago I had a great but demanding job, 14 hour days were normal and on call 24 hours a day with no compensated for it. I had lots of friends, amazing wife, was competing in strongman events and was a very dedicated arm wrestler. I now only have an amazing wife. I did what everyone says “go back to school it’s never too late, chase your dreams” which is terrible advice. Only do those things if you are young or have a support system, as soon as you get injured or are no longer a benefit to people around you they will leave, you will lose the ability to do your old job and your body will be too broken to get even a minimum wage job because you are too old and competing with 19 year olds. Stay your path, work your shitty job that pays the bills because the alternative is to not have a job or pay your bills. Good luck out there. Cold world, bring a coat.

  56. LunaMoonracer72 Avatar

    No, you just didn’t know about all the awful shit that’s happening yet.

  57. randobando300 Avatar

    For many years now, every year has been the worst year of my life.

  58. New_Scientist_1688 Avatar

    No, I don’t believe so. If anything, it’s slightly better now.

  59. RustyDawg37 Avatar

    people are worse, my life is better.

  60. SomethingFunnyObv Avatar

    10 years ago was boring and that sounds kind of nice.

  61. limpymcjointpain Avatar

    I was 10 years younger with 10 years less damage and loss, but otherwise nope.. i need at least a 20 year refund for improvement.

  62. Right_Check_6353 Avatar

    Yeah 100%. My dad was alive

  63. Rude_Assignment_5653 Avatar

    10 years ago I got my first job for around 50k and thought I was rich. I make over 2x as much now and the cold reality just makes this money feel worse today.

  64. No-Sprinkles-9066 Avatar

    Ten years ago Barack Obama was President and I could go weeks without thinking of him, and I loved him 🙁

  65. Jersey-Loves-Dolly Avatar

    Appx 10 years ago the US elected Trump as president. It’s the worst dejavu.

    Personally, I wouldn’t go back. I make more now and married with 2 pups. We’re all hanging on and riding out this sh*t storm together. If I didn’t have them that would be another story.

  66. HPHambino Avatar

    Nope. Ten years ago I was making squat for money and was single. Now I’m married with a kid and own a house, and I’m making a comfortable salary in close to my dream job.

  67. _Springfield Avatar

    Nope, 10 years ago, I was in my first year of college with not having worked a job, nor did I even know how to drive at the time either. I was super awkward, really skinny, hardly had any confidence, didn’t really have a good sense of style fashion wise. I’m doing a lot better now.

  68. blue_beluga02 Avatar

    no lmao I was getting asked every day if I was gay in middle school. Now I’m thriving in college and proudly out. <3

  69. DietDewymountains17 Avatar

    Yes and no. I’m older and I have to deal with Trump Bullshit everyday. I have less friends and less free time. But I have a great wife and kids.

  70. Pristine-Pen-9885 Avatar

    Yes, because that was before the pandemic and the current regime.

  71. Charliegirl121 Avatar

    Yes I miss those days.

  72. Fringelunaticman Avatar

    It wasn’t for me. But I was a homeless drug addict who worked his way out of it over the past 10 years.

  73. Brimstone747 Avatar

    Nope. 10 years ago, I was halfway through my college course and quite poor. I’m doing much better now.

  74. Elisa_LaViudaNegra Avatar

    Better in some ways, worse in others.

  75. Flat-While2521 Avatar

    Nope, just different

  76. JagaloonJack Avatar

    Yes, everything was better. Even though that dumb piece of shit who is the acting POS, was running for president then.

    Life was still overall better, the whole world just changed over night.

  77. goinouttabizness Avatar

    Life was way better in 2015. Cost of living was manageable and goals felt more in reach. For me it felt lifestyles started to change in 2019 prior to covid.

  78. CornelliSausage Avatar

    I was healthy 10 years ago and now I’m extremely disabled by long COVID. We always think we’re going to have more time.

  79. Claire4Win Avatar

    10 years ago. Unemployed with no real life.

    Now own my home (fully), good job with side job, a few good friends and I plan on going on holiday in September (not doing August because of school holidays)

  80. One_Humor1307 Avatar

    Yes. I liked not knowing how truly stupid, misogynistic, and racist my fellow Americans really were.

  81. ExcitedGirl Avatar

    My world became darker when people somehow cheered a man who openly, on television, made fun of an epileptic reporter.

    I was raised to be better, to be bigger than that.

    The lights dimmed when a sexual pervert and habitual liar got elected to a high office. The guy wasted no time shredding international relationships which were built solely on trust over decades. 

    I wondered WTF has happened to America when no one protested that he went to play golf at another of his resorts every weekend – with a full contingent of security personnel and their supporters, every one of them paying top dollar – generally, $650 per night and much higher, much of which went directly into his pocket. 

    I marveled when he openly boasted to a Russian diplomat about the abilities of a spy satellite they didn’t know we had.

    Ultimately, his mania, arrogance and incompetence trashed a growing economy – which was rebuilt by his successor.

    Somehow, elected again, within months, he is – with unparalleled speed, and unchecked by our elected representatives –  demolishing years worth of systems which made it possible for almost anyone to accomplish the American Dream.

    I won’t deny that I feel a probably immature smugness in watching many who elected him… suddenly become aware that he is destroying their present and their futures even as he obliterates the chances of a sane and healthy future for their children and grandchildren.

    So, was it better than years ago for me? Probably. Is it worse today? Probably. I’m transgender, so obviously everything bad that is happening… is my fault. Or more correctly, is the fault of others, all of us, who are transgender. 

    But, thanks to people like you, I get to speak out now. I get to point out, without shame, the groveling deference and acquiescence of our spineless legislators… to this monster. I get to point out the pain and suffering that the vast audience of the faux-Christianity that is America… Is causing to completely innocent children as well as to America’s population.

    To America and its lawmakers: I remind you it is wrong for any person to interfere with, or to even express an opinion about…  any other individual’s medical care. 

    The information exchanged between a doctor and every individual patient deserves privacy and respect.  How any person’s medical needs are best met…  Is no one else’s business.

    Diminish our access to medical care today – and you diminish your own access to medical care when you will need it tomorrow. And, you will.

    Thank you for your question!

  82. HauntingSentence6359 Avatar

    It was much better a year ago.

  83. Ok-Truck-5526 Avatar

    Definitely. 💯

  84. InterestPractical974 Avatar

    10 years ago was my first born, a large promotion, about 50 pounds lighter, disposable income, Obama was President….yeah. Don’t sound so bad.

  85. bace3333 Avatar

    Worse with Trump President he has unleashed the racists while supremists and haters !!

  86. catcage Avatar

    Been a steady downhill since 2001

  87. Sublimefly Avatar

    I made slightly less money and spent less than half what I do now for bills, so yes…. Emphatically yes.