Would you rather live in the ascendancy of a civilization or during its decline?

[standingwave]

@msmith537

Well, of course the ascendancy. Did you prefer the late 90s where there was more work to do than there was people who could do it? Jobs were plentiful and it seemed like you were doing something wrong if you WEREN’T getting rich.

Yeah, I think SnarkyKong was mostly playing devils advocate in this thread because I can’t believe that anyone would think that a descent would be no different than an ascendancy even assuming that they are covering the same relative absolute levels of progress. I’m fifty plus and if I was faced with living in a civilization that was declining backwards towards the fifties I would probably want to kill myself. I think there’s a definite derivative (calculus) effect going on here. I would even trade absolute levels of progress. For example, 1900 to 1950 rather than going from 2010 to 1960, even allowing for a couple of world wars. The hope that things are going to get to get better, even marginally, is a powerful thing and contributes to the overall quality of life.

[Sr_Siete]

@msmith537

Well, of course the ascendancy. Did you prefer the late 90s where there was more work to do than there was people who could do it? Jobs were plentiful and it seemed like you were doing something wrong if you WEREN’T getting rich.

Or do you prefer the past few years where everyone is just waiting for their turn to get laid off while the whole fabric of the economy seems to be unravelling?

I suppose it doesn’t matter much if you are a multi-millionare. But for most people the decline of a modern civilization would be a painful world of unemployment, rising crime, and reduced services and infrastructure without even the hope of things getting better.

Even if you are wealthy, you probably spend most of your life living behind fortified walls

Ah, but you’re talking about the zenith, not the ascendancy.