The 2010s: How would you define it?

[J-2739]

Not only is 2019 drawing to a close, but also a decade. A decade, to me, defined by the increased use of the Internet in everyday lives, climate change protests and (odd) politics. Not to mention the decline in terrestrial television (so an increase in streaming platforms) as well a rise in certain music genres (Tropical House, Afroswing, etc.).

How would you define the 2010s? I am curious, as it seems (from my experience) that people don't really culturally distinguish the 2010s from the 2000s, and I'm not sure why.

 

[Kingspanner]

As someone who was married on 30th December 2009 I have a sort of calibrated view of the last ten years. Personally and professionally I'd give it 8/10.
However a decade of grinding austerity, food banks, and worsening mental health in the population has been bad. As Springsteen put it "It's all winners and losers and don't get caught on the wrong side of that line".
What happened to conviction politicians instead of those who willfully conflate national interest with their self-interest?
When did we stop listening to experts?
How did nationalism rise again?
Where the hell did anti-vaxxers come from?
Where was I going when I started this rant....?

 

[Domh245]

Interesting that you ask this question as I watched an interesting video yesterday that argues that you can't define the 2010s!

tl;dw: The increasing use of internet isn't really a defining trend because it's going to continue into the future, similarly because of the increased number of ways to consume media, there is no 'overall' defining culture, but lots of separate ones dependant on what you personally experienced (Whilst there's a slight american bias, it does hold more generally) - the 2000s were similar which is why you can't really distinguish them!

I'm not sure I can really define it as it's rather been a decade of two halves (first secondary school/sixth form & then uni) and I've never really been one for engaging in mainstream pop culture :P

 

[underbank]

It was the decade of recovering from the financial crash. Economists at the time said that we'd lose a decade to make up the huge costs of the crash, knock on effects and bail-outs. I can't remember the figure but they said it would cost every person £thousand. And so it has. Now, at the end of the decade, it looks like we're in a position to start improving our wealth again now that the deficit is virtually cleared.

 

[AlterEgo]

It's been a decade of social and cultural regression; Western society has become more bored with itself and the last frontiers of the culture wars between social conservatives and progressives has been won convincingly by the progressives. Democratic institutions have been eroded. Western civilisation as we know it will come to an end in my lifetime, to be replaced by something new, although what that new thing is remains to be seen.

 

[bussnapperwm]

A decade suffered under Tory attacks to those who aren't fat cats, a decade of hurt to those on the poverty line and a decade full of this Brexit Boloney

 

[NoMorePacers]

Rubbish.

 

[J-2739]

Interesting that you ask this question as I watched an interesting video yesterday that argues that you can't define the 2010s!

tl;dw: The increasing use of internet isn't really a defining trend because it's going to continue into the future, similarly because of the increased number of ways to consume media, there is no 'overall' defining culture, but lots of separate ones dependant on what you personally experienced (Whilst there's a slight american bias, it does hold more generally) - the 2000s were similar which is why you can't really distinguish them!

I'm not sure I can really define it as it's rather been a decade of two halves (first secondary school/sixth form & then uni) and I've never really been one for engaging in mainstream pop culture :P

What I meant about the 'increasing use of the Internet' was that this is the decade that many platforms on the Internet started to take off (although maybe originated in the previous one(s)), such as YouTube (and Youtubers), Netflix, Spotify, TikTok (and other related trash!), as well as online food delivery services, like Just Eat and Deliveroo.
It's almost as if the Internet has gone through a (second?) golden age during the 2010s, and if the golden age of video games defines the 80s, why can't this age of the Internet define the 2010s?

 

[Mojo]

A decade suffered under Tory attacks to those who aren't fat cats

I really have not noticed this.

 

[LOL The Irony]

It got me in this crap existence.

 

[yorksrob]

The notable trend of this century has been the rise of industrial, authoritarian regimes such as China and Russia. These are followed in their coat tails by smaller authoritan/nationalist movements such as Erdogen in Turkey.

The only way the democratic west will triumph will be to create a society that people in the authoritarian regimes will aspire to. This will not happen with the unfettered market-capitalist model that the West seems to be wedded to at the moment.

 

[AlterEgo]

The only way the democratic west will triumph will be to create a society that people in the authoritarian regimes will aspire to.

We already have one; you only need to look at general immigration flows to see which of the two systems ordinary people aspire to.

 

[yorksrob]

We already have one; you only need to look at general immigration flows to see which of the two systems ordinary people aspire to.

It will only continue if living standards for the majority continue to improve.

 

[AlterEgo]

It will only continue if living standards for the majority continue to improve.

Which they are. Humanity has never had higher living standards, and especially so in the West.

 

[Giugiaro]

I look at this decade as the decade of economic crisis and austerity, at least for me in Portugal.
A lot of public projects and investments were dropped or severely postponed. Nothing substantial got done.

Railway wise, it is also the first decade without a single new passenger train being bought for the national railway. It is sad as a portuguese railway design researcher, and railway enthusiast, to look at the 2010's chart and see a full blank space.

 

[satisnek]

From a personal point of view, it will go down as the decade when I lost both parents, and also when I bought a narrowboat and established a second home.

Otherwise, I've now lived long enough to see that it has been just another ten years of humanity continuing its inexorable journey to hell in a handbasket (a journey which started before I was born, apparently). I can't help feeling that we're pretty close now.

 

[hooverboy]

I think the 2010's are going to be remembered as a dark decade and one best consigned to the dustbin of history.

it's been defined by:
1) increasing incroachment and micromanagement of peoples lives(all for your own good,you understand)
2)bossy officials who think they know better than everyone else(to the point of quasi-religeon,and heretics to face the inquisition)
3)people getting offended and triggered by absolutely everything,no matter how minor.
4)goebbels-esque propaganda,repetitive news, "perception management" and disreputable marketing techniques.
5)the cult of celebrity. purile,mind numbing drivel.
6)the cult of reality shows- to the point of being the overriding topic of conversation at work of who did what with whom on yesterdays show. repeated on a daily basis.

I think the 2020's might turn out to be a bit of a bloodletting to atone for the sins of this decade about to come to a close.
Fully expected to see exposure of more and more scandals and corruption in high places,I think it's likely that a lot of people are going to get to the point where they say/think.....enough.The line in the sand has been crossed and retribution cometh.

 

[yorksrob]

Which they are. Humanity has never had higher living standards, and especially so in the West.

Greater job insecurity, longer hours, declining safety net, declining pension provision, lack of affordable housing etc suggest that this is not necessarily the case.

The West needs to look beyond just material wealth to a broader definition of wellbeing, to maintain its position in the aspirational world.

 

[Darandio]

This defines it quite well for me.

 

[radamfi]

The West needs to look beyond just material wealth to a broader definition of wellbeing, to maintain its position in the aspirational world.

Not everywhere in the West is as bad as the UK and US, which seem to be the only benchmarks used by commentators.

 

[AlterEgo]

Not everywhere in the West is as bad as the UK and US, which seem to be the only benchmarks used by commentators.

Quite.

 

[yorksrob]

Not everywhere in the West is as bad as the UK and US, which seem to be the only benchmarks used by commentators.

It's heading in the same direction though. One only has to look at the riots in France for example.

 

[radamfi]

It's heading in the same direction though. One only has to look at the riots in France for example.

I've never rated France particularly highly although they are renowned for their healthcare. Things continue to be blissful in many parts of Europe and things are getting even better in some ways. For example, crime in the Netherlands has been plummeting for years and they are closing prisons as a result. This is remarkable for a country with such a high population density. They have less than one tenth of the proportion of the population in prison as the USA.

 

[yorksrob]

I've never rated France particularly highly although they are renowned for their healthcare. Things continue to be blissful in many parts of Europe and things are getting even better in some ways. For example, crime in the Netherlands has been plummeting for years and they are closing prisons as a result. This is remarkable for a country with such a high population density. They have less than one tenth of the proportion of the population in prison as the USA.

On the contrary, France have always been successful in the past at defending their own way of life - which is why it's such a shame that they're finding it more difficult to resist the market capitalists now.

The idea of moving towards a four day week is the sort of thing that could provide a real boost to peoples lives - if it could be done without reducing people's material wellbeing. When you think of all the material and productivity improvements that have taken place since the move to a five day working week, the above should be within the realms of possibility, and yet somehow it's not. Also, how one could affect such a change with the "gig" economy, remains to be seen.

 

[radamfi]

The idea of moving towards a four day week is the sort of thing that could provide a real boost to peoples lives - if it could be done without reducing people's material wellbeing. When you think of all the material and productivity improvements that have taken place since the move to a five day working week, the above should be within the realms of possibility, and yet somehow it's not.

People in the Anglosphere are especially prone to spending beyond their means regardless of income. People just find more and more ways of losing their cash. In this decade we have added high specification smartphones to that list of "essentials". Working part time is increasingly available to those who are willing to forgo this consumerist lifestyle. The media has started to pick up on the FIRE movement (Financially Independent Retire Early) in recent years, which has an overlap with growing environmental awareness. This is still seen as a dream by most, but may become more mainstream as today's youth see the benefits.

 

[radamfi]

On the contrary, France have always been successful in the past at defending their own way of life - which is why it's such a shame that they're finding it more difficult to resist the market capitalists now.

Maybe because of its famously militant unions and farmers, France has a reputation for being left-leaning, but the Nordic countries have a more elaborate social safety net and a better record on reducing poverty.

 

[yorksrob]

People in the Anglosphere are especially prone to spending beyond their means regardless of income. People just find more and more ways of losing their cash. In this decade we have added high specification smartphones to that list of "essentials". Working part time is increasingly available to those who are willing to forgo this consumerist lifestyle. The media has started to pick up on the FIRE movement (Financially Independent Retire Early) in recent years, which has an overlap with growing environmental awareness. This is still seen as a dream by most, but may become more mainstream as today's youth see the benefits.

To be fair, it benefits the economy for people to spend their cash. That could be on consumer durables such as smartphones, or it could be on leisure activities, which incidentally can be more in tune with the environmental concerns of today.

But the point is, to spend on leisure/retire early etc, people have to be paid enough and have enough stability in the first place. You can't hope to be financially independant if you're forever stuck paying a mortgage or rent or holding down three poorly paid jobs.

Maybe because of its famously militant unions and farmers, France has a reputation for being left-leaning, but the Nordic countries have a more elaborate social safety net and a better record on reducing poverty.

All possibly true, however the Nordic countries and the Netherlands make up a small proportion of what is generally termed "the west". Western countries as a whole will need to do things differently to stay ahead.

 

[DerekC]

A depressing part of the 2010s is the change from an outwardly looking country to an inwardly looking one - Brexit is a big factor in that, but I wonder if Americanisation is an issue too. It's been going on ever since the advent of films (sorry, movies) but it's getting much faster, driven by the dominance of the US in all things internet-related. Americanisation of the language seems to be getting faster and faster and people don't know they are doing it. Our news is now much more introverted, US style - hardly anything international covered (except for US-based stories, of course).

 

[GusB]

A depressing part of the 2010s is the change from an outwardly looking country to an inwardly looking one - Brexit is a big factor in that, but I wonder if Americanisation is an issue too. It's been going on ever since the advent of films (sorry, movies) but it's getting much faster, driven by the dominance of the US in all things internet-related. Americanisation of the language seems to be getting faster and faster and people don't know they are doing it. Our news is now much more introverted, US style - hardly anything international covered (except for US-based stories, of course).

Agreed. Our news has always focussed on the goings-on across the pond rather than what's happening over the channel. While we are updated on elections in France and Germany, possibly Spain, there's precious little coverage in the main news about what's going on in other EU countries. Our news outlets would rather give us the ins and outs of election coverage thousands of miles across the Atlantic when I'd rather hear about what's going on a couple of hundred miles across the North Sea.

I don't really want to drag Brexit into this thread, but I reckon that the UK's apathy towards Europe is largely because our news institutions simply haven't given it enough coverage.

 

[SteveP29]

One word: Sh**e