So, was this year better than 2016?

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Remember all those 2016 threads. You know, those "worst year ever" ones? I always found them irritating and short-sighted. I don't know why but I was reminded of them as I was reminiscing back on this year and the numerous not so great events that transpired.


So, was 2016 the worst year ever after all? Or did we already surpass it within just 2 years, when, for it to be the worst year ever, it would have to have been worse than thousands of years that preceded it. Pretty unlikely to manage to do even worse in just 2 more years.

 

[Hawki]

http://time.com/5460027/worst-year-history/

Apparently the worst year ever was 536 AD.

But that aside, I found the whole "2016 is the worst year ever" idea to be asinine. Like, even within the last century, we can probably find worse years (WWII and the various conflicts/genocides that have since occurred come to mind). As shitty as the world is, it's been markedly worse in the past.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Every year is going to be the best year just as it's beginning, and every year is definitely one of the worst as soon as it's ending.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

I mean... David Bowie didn't die, so at the very least it's got that.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Well, there's no World War going on and the nuclear superpowers aren't hovering their twitchy fingers as close to the trigger as they used to, so both 2016 and 2018 are already better than any of those years.

I mean... David Bowie didn't die, so at the very least it's got that.

And Prince, and Paul Kantner, and two thirds of Emerson, Lake & Palmer ... 2016 took a lot of great artists.

 

[Saelune]

Well, 2016 is why many of the bad things this year even happened. 2016 is when Trump became President, so all the bad caused by Trump stacks onto 2016. Atleast in 2018 I am being constantly proven right about most of my points I made in 2016.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Well, 2016 is why many of the bad things this year even happened. 2016 is when Trump became President, so all the bad caused by Trump stacks onto 2016. Atleast in 2018 I am being constantly proven right about most of my points I made in 2016.

Isn't that selective though? Why start counting the consequences from there when what set them in motion can be traced further back just as easily? It makes little sense to me. It seems like an attempt to reduce a complex problem into a simple one by limiting the scope of analysis to only that one year.

 

[Saelune]

Well, 2016 is why many of the bad things this year even happened. 2016 is when Trump became President, so all the bad caused by Trump stacks onto 2016. Atleast in 2018 I am being constantly proven right about most of my points I made in 2016.

Isn't that selective though? Why start counting the consequences from there when what set them in motion can be traced further back just as easily? It makes little sense to me. It seems like an attempt to reduce a complex problem into a simple one by limiting the scope of analysis to only that one year.

Only if Trump was a surprise down the line. He wasn't. Most of what he has done and is doing was stated to happen in 2016 (As in during 2016 we said he would do the things he has been doing under his presidency, like internment camps and being a Russian pawn). 2016 Presidential Election was a clear point of 'It could be this or that'.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Well, 2016 is why many of the bad things this year even happened. 2016 is when Trump became President, so all the bad caused by Trump stacks onto 2016. Atleast in 2018 I am being constantly proven right about most of my points I made in 2016.

Isn't that selective though? Why start counting the consequences from there when what set them in motion can be traced further back just as easily? It makes little sense to me. It seems like an attempt to reduce a complex problem into a simple one by limiting the scope of analysis to only that one year.

Only if Trump was a surprise down the line. He wasn't. Most of what he has done and is doing was stated to happen in 2016 (As in during 2016 we said he would do the things he has been doing under his presidency, like internment camps and being a Russian pawn). 2016 Presidential Election was a clear point of 'It could be this or that'.

To me it's just as easy to say "it could be this or that" with the 2015 primaries and Bernie not winning. I don't see any meaningful distinction between the two.

Oh and there's also a million things that set this to motion that we're neglecting in order to boil things down to such a simple dichotomy that's clearly irrational btw.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

http://time.com/5460027/worst-year-history/

Apparently the worst year ever was 536 AD.

But that aside, I found the whole "2016 is the worst year ever" idea to be asinine. Like, even within the last century, we can probably find worse years (WWII and the various conflicts/genocides that have since occurred come to mind). As shitty as the world is, it's been markedly worse in the past.

I think its a little unfair that they justify that by a single volcano eruption, and a few years later a plague happens. Like you can't say its the worst year ever because years later things get bad.
I mean might as well say 2018 was the worst year ever because only 70 years before the world was at war, and 150 years later another war happens. Damn you 2018 and your future wars!

 

[Saelune]

Well, 2016 is why many of the bad things this year even happened. 2016 is when Trump became President, so all the bad caused by Trump stacks onto 2016. Atleast in 2018 I am being constantly proven right about most of my points I made in 2016.

Isn't that selective though? Why start counting the consequences from there when what set them in motion can be traced further back just as easily? It makes little sense to me. It seems like an attempt to reduce a complex problem into a simple one by limiting the scope of analysis to only that one year.

Only if Trump was a surprise down the line. He wasn't. Most of what he has done and is doing was stated to happen in 2016 (As in during 2016 we said he would do the things he has been doing under his presidency, like internment camps and being a Russian pawn). 2016 Presidential Election was a clear point of 'It could be this or that'.

To me it's just as easy to say "it could be this or that" with the 2015 primaries and Bernie not winning. I don't see any meaningful distinction between the two.

Oh and there's also a million things that set this to motion that we're neglecting in order to boil things down to such a simple dichotomy that's clearly irrational btw.

People like me pointed out that Trump is a terrible choice for President, and he would do and act a certain way and do certain things. We based this on past evidence, and people said 'Nah, you're wrong'. Then we were proven right. They could have listened to us, they didn't. We were proven right. All of this could have been avoided if people looked to the past and saw the blatant pattern.

 

[Sleepy Sol]

Personally? Hell no.

In general and considering other factors? Eh. Not really a fan of it even then.

 

[Drathnoxis]