No, we're not all fucked. It's actually a pretty good time to be alive.
- War and the threat of escalation are in the news, but so far this century has had far less warfare than the last.
- Crime is in the news, but crime rates are falling, and the 2020-21 peak did not reach the levels of the 1990s.
- Global warming is likely to cause significant harms, but if you're in a relatively wealthy country, you'll almost certainly be OK. Most people who aren't will also be OK, but their risk exposure is higher.
- I'm genuinely concerned about rising far-right extremism, but structural protections against fascist dictatorship have held up pretty well in democratic countries.
"Things are mostly OK, but we should work on a few problems" doesn't drive engagement. Nobody's going to click your headline, vote on your post, or watch your video if you say that, so people saying it don't get much visibility.