Was it absurd to claim 2020 as one of the worst years ever?

[Fuzzy Bear]

It was the worst year for ME, the Protagonist of Reality

People tend to forget I'm the protagonist.

I haven't forgotten, lol.

[MATTROSE94]

Of all time, no, not really.

During my 64 years?  1968 was worse.  2008 was worse.  1980-81 were two periods of long-term unemployment for me.

COVID-19 is a really bad flu epidemic, but it is not the Bubonic Plague, or even Smallpox.  It's not the radiation that occurred in Hiroshima or Nagasaki, or even Chernobyl.  It's not SARS (the original) and it's not Ebola.  It's been artificially made worse by the response to it.  That, I believe, will be the final judgement in the long arc of history when it is written by people who do not have a stake in how they, and their judgments, will be regarded.

I agree 100%. 2020 actually wasn’t too terrible for me (with the exception of the COVID stuff) and I went though a lot of personal growth that year. The worst years for me were probably 2010, the second half of 2017, 2018, and the first half of 2019. Some hellish things went on in my personal life during those years.

[MATTROSE94]

I mean obviously like 1942 was worse, but it was at least one of the worst years in regards to most people alive today's lifetimes, which is all we can base it off.

the average age of all humans right now is 30.  Is 2020 better or worse than 1991?  Obviously it depends who and where you are, but I'd bet the average human had a better 2020 than they did 1991 what with the huge advancements in the quality of life in the third world in that time, not to mention how far we've come in race, LGBT and environmental issues.


<I understand a lot of people here don't want to know how much the world has gotten better, so feel free to ignore the above and stay frightened in your little bubble of fear and hate>

In 'Murica it's gotten worse.

has it?  Violent crime is WAY down from '91.  The poverty rate is down.  Gay people can get married, way more people can buy legal weed and almost everyone can get a concealed carry permit.  Nearly everyone has a computer in their pocket and cars are way safer.  Food and electronics are much cheaper.

Life was more interesting in 1991, so in some ways I would prefer living then as opposed to 2021.

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

I mean it was easily the worst year in the post-Cold War period…closest competitor would be 2008 or maybe 2001.