Humanity's decade of disillusionment and decline

The 2010s were an age of ever-increasing frustration and ever-diminishing expectations

Apples.
(Image credit: Illustrated | iStock)

Looking back on a historical period from its end is a dicey proposition. Even when it is clear that a turning point has been reached, it is often hard to know with any certainty which way things are about to turn. At the end of the 1960s, how many confidently predicted that the moon landing would mark the high point of America's manned space program? Or, at the end of the 1970s, how many foresaw that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan would prove the last gasp of a dying empire?

So it is with some trepidation that I look back over the course of the 2010s and try to sum them up. Unfortunately, the first draft of recent history doesn't make for pleasant reading. It's not hard to make a case for the passing era as the Downer Decade, an age of ever-increasing frustration, and ever-diminishing expectations.

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Noah Millman

Noah Millman is a screenwriter and filmmaker, a political columnist and a critic. From 2012 through 2017 he was a senior editor and featured blogger at The American Conservative. His work has also appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Politico, USA Today, The New Republic, The Weekly Standard, Foreign Policy, Modern Age, First Things, and the Jewish Review of Books, among other publications. Noah lives in Brooklyn with his wife and son.