People cite 2020 as a massive shift because of COVID which brought us to the 20s. Well, COVID isn't even relevant anymore and besides that everything else is generally still the same besides Biden being in office instead of Trump. Even then, a democrat taking office didn't change the politically divisive atmosphere.

Not the same at all. people's 401Ks and IRAs are going down, down, down whereas in the 2010s they generally went up, up, up. You call that the same? Don't mess with people's money. They don't like it.

Popular culture, which takes a back seat to people's money, would seem to be the same, because, as you will have read in other threads here, there is some talk that the "end of history" theory has been realized:

The end of history is a political and philosophical concept that supposes that a particular political, economic, or social system may develop that would constitute the end-point of humanity's sociocultural evolution and the final form of human government. A variety of authors have argued that a particular system is the "end of history" including Thomas More in Utopia, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Karl Marx, Vladimir Solovyov, Alexandre Kojève, and Francis Fukuyama in the 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man.
-Wikipedia

And specifically, the postmodern interpretation:

A postmodern understanding of the term differs in that the idea of an "end of history" does not imply that nothing more will ever happen. Rather, what the postmodern sense of an end of history tends to signify is, in the words of contemporary historian Keith Jenkins, the idea that "the peculiar ways in which the past was historicized (was conceptualized in modernist, linear and essentially metanarrative forms) has now come to an end of its productive life; the all-encompassing 'experiment of modernity' ... is passing away into our postmodern condition".

The concept of an end of history differs from ideas of an end of the world as expressed in various religions, which may forecast a complete destruction of the Earth or of life on Earth, and the end of the human race. The end of history instead proposes a state in which human life continues indefinitely into the future without any further major changes in society, system of governance, or economics.
-Wikipedia

Not the same at all. people's 401Ks and IRAs are going down, down, down whereas in the 2010s they generally went up, up, up. You call that the same? Don't mess with people's money. They don't like it.

Popular culture, which takes a back seat to people's money, would seem to be the same, because, as you will have read in other threads here, there is some talk that the "end of history" theory has been realized:

The end of history is a political and philosophical concept that supposes that a particular political, economic, or social system may develop that would constitute the end-point of humanity's sociocultural evolution and the final form of human government. A variety of authors have argued that a particular system is the "end of history" including Thomas More in Utopia, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Karl Marx, Vladimir Solovyov, Alexandre Kojève, and Francis Fukuyama in the 1992 book, The End of History and the Last Man.
-Wikipedia

And specifically, the postmodern interpretation:

A postmodern understanding of the term differs in that the idea of an "end of history" does not imply that nothing more will ever happen. Rather, what the postmodern sense of an end of history tends to signify is, in the words of contemporary historian Keith Jenkins, the idea that "the peculiar ways in which the past was historicized (was conceptualized in modernist, linear and essentially metanarrative forms) has now come to an end of its productive life; the all-encompassing 'experiment of modernity' ... is passing away into our postmodern condition".

The concept of an end of history differs from ideas of an end of the world as expressed in various religions, which may forecast a complete destruction of the Earth or of life on Earth, and the end of the human race. The end of history instead proposes a state in which human life continues indefinitely into the future without any further major changes in society, system of governance, or economics.
-Wikipedia


The economy has gotten worse i'll admit. I still think in a general sense it doesn't feel that different. The technology is literally the same and it still has the politically divisive zeitgeist of the 2010s. I just struggle to see the 20s so far as a completely seperate entity from the 10s.

The economy has gotten worse i'll admit. I still think in a general sense it doesn't feel that different. The technology is literally the same and it still has the politically divisive zeitgeist of the 2010s. I just struggle to see the 20s so far as a completely seperate entity from the 10s.


See End of History theory above.

Other than the polar political divide/tension, crap trap music, and technology (smartphones and social media), it's not the same at all.

Other than the polar political divide/tension, crap trap music, and technology (smartphones and social media), it's not the same at all.


The stuff you mentioned are extremely prominent in modern society. You can't just omit them and then say it's not the same.

The stuff you mentioned are extremely prominent in modern society. You can't just omit them and then say it's not the same.


But it's also still the pandemic/post-pandemic era. Some people still wear masks. COVID is still around even though it seems forgotten because for one it's not as deadly as the original variants especially prior to the vaccine, and also so many other world events are making it the least of their worries. Also the aftermath we are reeling from it. People are angry and unhappy (worse than the mid-2010's), crime is getting worse, inflation is sky high. At least there's retro pop and reboots of TV and movies from the late 80's/early 90's era.

But it's also still the pandemic/post-pandemic era. Some people still wear masks. COVID is still around even though it seems forgotten because for one it's not as deadly as the original variants especially prior to the vaccine, and also so many other world events are making it the least of their worries. Also the aftermath we are reeling from it. People are angry and unhappy (worse than the mid-2010's), crime is getting worse, inflation is sky high. At least there's retro pop and reboots of TV and movies from the late 80's/early 90's era.


COVID is literally irrelevant now. You could make that argument if it was last year but now no one wears masks, maybe like one person out of 100 but its safe to say the pandemic era is over. Post-pandemic isn't really an era marker, it didn't really bring any significant lasting effects it just fizzled out. I haven't really noticed higher crime rates but you have a point about the economy.

COVID is literally irrelevant now. You could make that argument if it was last year but now no one wears masks, maybe like one person out of 100 but its safe to say the pandemic era is over. Post-pandemic isn't really an era marker, it didn't really bring any significant lasting effects it just fizzled out. I haven't really noticed higher crime rates but you have a point about the economy.

You're right, COVID isn't talked about as much as it was 2 years ago but now you have monkeypox being in the discussion nowadays.

The economy has gotten worse i'll admit. I still think in a general sense it doesn't feel that different. The technology is literally the same and it still has the politically divisive zeitgeist of the 2010s. I just struggle to see the 20s so far as a completely seperate entity from the 10s.

And gas prices are getting quite expensive.

And the Ukraine War but I suppose that's not relevant outside of Ukraine.

If you mean late 2010s, then I'd say yeah. But granted things have changed since then when it comes down to politics and the economy and Covid-19. I'd say technology and music and general pop-culture, hasn't changed much two years into the new decade.

If you mean late 2010s, then I'd say yeah. But granted things have changed since then when it comes down to politics and the economy and Covid-19. I'd say technology and music and general pop-culture, hasn't changed much two years into the new decade.


See End of History theory above.

It feels nothing like the 2010s. There's literally no resemblance to it since early 2020. And even in early 2020 2010s culture started fiddling away. But in 2020 it was clear we were in a new world. Anyone who says otherwise is not thinking clearly.

All this talk about covid being irrelevant is pretty Western-centric. From the perspective of East and Southeast Asia, where 90% of people are still wearing masks outside, it is distinctly different than the 2010s. Heck, even in Mexico, 1/2 of the people in Mexico City are still wearing masks outdoors. In places such as these, stuff is very different from the 2010s indeed.

Even within the West, things are clearly different depending on where you are. In Europe, where cities in Germany are having to cut off hot water to public buildings to ration gas and countries like Poland deal with millions of Ukrainian refugees, well, those are pretty big differences eh.

Decade changes are more than just pop culture, which is ultimately minor. Though even looking at pop culture, TikTok (while around in 2019) really truly exploded in 2020 in terms of it being THE defining platform for making a song a hit. That alone is a massive change.

I think that the climate change topic is also getting a lot hotter (no pun intended) these days with natural disasters occurring more and more frequently, waning water supplies and one record heat summer after the next.

It feels nothing like the 2010s. There's literally no resemblance to it since early 2020. And even in early 2020 2010s culture started fiddling away. But in 2020 it was clear we were in a new world. Anyone who says otherwise is not thinking clearly.


A lot of people are thinking like COVID was just a temporary thing and now that it's over, everything is back to the way it was in 2019.


All this talk about covid being irrelevant is pretty Western-centric. From the perspective of East and Southeast Asia, where 90% of people are still wearing masks outside, it is distinctly different than the 2010s. Heck, even in Mexico, 1/2 of the people in Mexico City are still wearing masks outdoors. In places such as these, stuff is very different from the 2010s indeed.

Even within the West, things are clearly different depending on where you are. In Europe, where cities in Germany are having to cut off hot water to public buildings to ration gas and countries like Poland deal with millions of Ukrainian refugees, well, those are pretty big differences eh.

Decade changes are more than just pop culture, which is ultimately minor. Though even looking at pop culture, TikTok (while around in 2019) really truly exploded in 2020 in terms of it being THE defining platform for making a song a hit. That alone is a massive change.


I know that in Japan, S. Korea, and even China, COVID is at it's worst in 2022 at least with the sheer case numbers. Luckily with the vaccination rates and quality of health care, plus how the newer variants are less lethal, the death rates are low.

A lot of people are thinking like COVID was just a temporary thing and now that it's over, everything is back to the way it was in 2019.

I know that in Japan, S. Korea, and even China, COVID is at it's worst in 2022 at least with the sheer case numbers. Luckily with the vaccination rates and quality of health care, plus how the newer variants are less lethal, the death rates are low.

I don't think so, just not yet.

It doesn’t feel like the 2010s at all. Not in the slightest.

Other than the polar political divide/tension, crap trap music, and technology (smartphones and social media), it's not the same at all.

Well technology is being used in a different manner. Work from home and online services using video calls (work, school, online therapy, etc) are becoming more prominent than ever and will be normalized in the near future.

Trap music of the 2010s isn’t the dominant genre anymore. Pop and drill music is what’s popular right now. Kate Bush has a record in the top 10 in 2022 lol

Roe v Wade was overturned. Politicians are advocating for the overturn of same sex marriage. They are actually bringing to fruition things they have been trying to accomplish for decades. That’s a clear marker that even the political sphere at the moment is different to the 2010s.