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One hundred years ago, a lot of people lived in poverty, there were many deaths to sickness and diseases that are now easily curable, there were generally poor working conditions and a lack of free time, rampant racism and discrimination, etc., etc. And today, we have the threat of nuclear war, a decline in "traditional" families, sky-high national debt, etc., etc.
But as far as just feeling generally content and satisfied with themselves and their lives, what do you think? Are people happier now or do you think they were happier 100 years ago?
Interesting question, but probably unanswerable. I don't think that many of the past things you mentioned made people unhappy. Or rather, they made people unhappy, but they were an accepted part of life. Similarly, I'm not sure that most of the bad things you mentioned in the present bother most people. Clearly, most people aren't worriedly unhappy about the likelihood of planetary destruction from global warming, because if they were, we'd be doing something about it.
One thing skewing things is that people's expectations are different now - especially with everything in society telling us that we're supposed to be happy.
It's virtually impossible to answer since the world of today was radically different than it was 100 years ago.
In general, maybe they were more happy in the past, but honestly, exactly 100 years ago is when things started getting really bad. World War 1 started in 1914, then there was the great depression, then world war 2, then the cold war... So, while you're asking in the abstract and not a literal 100 year step backward, those are things to consider. the 20th and 21st century are probably comparable in terms of happiness. Certain parts are happier than others of course. If you were white, the 1950s weren't too bad. War was over and the suburbs were starting (to get away from the black folk). Of course, there was the impending fear of nuclear annihilation. But we sort of have that now. How many people are afraid of dying in a terrorist attack, despite how unlikely the truly is? Same with the nukes.
But let's go back 120 years. They very well may have been happier. The Victorian Age was probably the most prosperous time in Western Civilization. After several hundred years of political unrest, there was stability. Slavery was on it's way out or already abolished, industrialization was moving the economy forward (though there was a lot of problems with this), and science and technology was thriving. It was a cultural wonderland, the best thing since the Renaissance.
So really, we have the Victorian Era which was pretty happy, then the first half of the 20th century which consisted of mass genocide, industrial warfare, and the two bloodier wars in history happening within 30 years of each other. The next half of the 20th century, while a golden age relative to what had just happened, was defined by tensions and mass political dishonesty.
Frankly, I think we're still in the Cold War, we're just fighting a different ghost.
It's a difficult question but I'm inclined to say yes.
In current times we have virtually unlimited amounts of entertainment, access to limitless knowledge at our fingertips, and highly advanced communication devices. We can travel to places and interact with people that would've been impossible for all but a select group at the top of the wealth structure of society 100 years ago. Things like the national debt and global warming don't keep the average person up at night worrying about them.
I could be wrong about this one but I get the impression that 100 years ago whatever socioeconomic class and lifestyle you were born into, that's where you remained for the most part. Like if your family owned a farm then you're going to be a farmer, if your parents are laborers then you're going to be a laborer, or if your father was a businessman then you're going into business. In modern times people are more free to express themselves and pursue their own interests. I would think that makes people more happy.
Also 100 years ago you had large portions of Americans excluded from actively participating in society. I would imagine such an existence was painful and hopeless. There are still poor and depressed people today but at least we all now have to opportunity to make something of ourselves in society.
We are by far less satisfied and we are more spoiled so when we dont have "everything" we feel dissatisfaction. We see The Kardashians walking around with millions and no cares in the world and here we are struggling to pay the electric bill, you didnt see this stuff 100 years ago, you didnt know what other people were doing, no tv or internet or anything, life was simple then.
100 years ago was a good time to be a rich white man. Today is a good time to be a rich person in general. So I guess it's improved slightly. Of course life today for the average person is better than 1915, but still, being rich trumps average in any time period.
However, I'm glad I'm in 2015 and not 1915.
Gaming, Internet, Music>>>anything "entertaining" in 1915
I think you need to think deeper about internet and whatnut because remember that if you lived in 1915 you wouldnt have "longed" for these things. You know the old question people who are old enough to remember always ask "how did we get along without a cellphone".
I think back to the time and i have to say i don't even remember not having a cellphone or what i did, but i do remember that i didnt "miss it". In other words, i don't remember being in "pain" because i didnt have a phone, so if you lived in 1915 you would have entertained yourself with whatever was the "1915 equivalent" of gaming, internet, phones, etc.
...One thing skewing things is that people's expectations are different now - especially with everything in society telling us that we're supposed to be happy.
Bingo! Current society is totally delusional as a result of this, and anger and unhappiness are, thus, the most predictable bottom line.
My parents and my adult neighbors of my childhood were born in the decade of one hundred years ago. They had a much more realistic view of life, and seemed far more able to cope with the ups and downs, and the trip, stumble and fall and try and pick yourself up again that is what life actually is.
The non-stop whining and whingeing that is the background music of American life nowadays began to crank up in the late Seventies and Eighties.
I think you need to think deeper about internet and whatnut because remember that if you lived in 1915 you wouldnt have "longed" for these things. You know the old question people who are old enough to remember always ask "how did we get along without a cellphone".
I think back to the time and i have to say i don't even remember not having a cellphone or what i did, but i do remember that i didnt "miss it". In other words, i don't remember being in "pain" because i didnt have a phone, so if you lived in 1915 you would have entertained yourself with whatever was the "1915 equivalent" of gaming, internet, phones, etc.
I wasn't alive until 1938, but I would very seriously question the idea that there necessarily were equivalents to "gaming, internet, [cell]phone, etc." in 1915.
There is a mindset (attitude?...not sure what word to use) that goes along with those items that I do not believe was present then, nor even during most of my lifetime.
This is impossible to answer, but I'm going to say it was probably worse.
Conscription would have been horrible to live through, and I would say that a generation that lives through a serious war is probably going to have a lot of problems. The Spanish flu pandemic wouldn't have been such a great time either. People didn't know about PTSD, were sexually repressed, infant mortality was very high, diseases were more dangerous, etc. They had actual reasons to be unhappy and I highly doubt that being disappointed by a movie was the world-ending cataclysm it is today.
I also think the wealth gap was probably worse than it was now... but the homestead act was still in effect so if you wanted to do your own thing it was a lot more doable... though I don't think it would have been as easy to go off-grid as it is today, just cheaper.
Overall, I think we're doing alright these days... the biggest problem we're facing is that it's harder for the current generation than it was for the previous one.
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