dating was easy in the 2000s.

mostly because women, and everybody really, weren't such self-important arrogant assholes. they had a sense of humility and modesty that... basically nobody has today.

everyone today thinks they are an epic hero in a tragic story of their life. It's insane. nobody wants to deal with that, and yet people can't get over themselves and realize they are just people.

these days every other person i meet, especially under 40, basically wont' shut up about how persecuted and unfair their life is, evne when objectively, they have it better than 99% of other people, if anything it gets worse the more successful they are.

the issue isn't 'third spaces' or any of the stuff people whing about on here. it's that social media has turned the average person into a fucking monster, and well, the vast majority of people use social media. 90% of women under 40 use social media on a daily basis, and for under 30 it's like 96%. Boys trail by about 10-15%.

the same reason that when i walk my dog... only people over 50 every acknowledge or say hi to me. younger folks entirely have lost all ability to socialize without turning it into an 'epic struggle'. or some battle of the sex or wills.

I date actively. 15 years ago my dates were mostly chill... now most of my dates, even younger dates, are adversarial and hostile out of the gate. and they wonder why they can't 'connect' well... because their default disposition towards the world is 'i hate it' rather than 'i am curious to learn about it'.

my mind is blow as each year goes by how, more and more hostile people are in general, especially towards anyone who is 'different' than them. I've even been on dates where I am trying ot have a nice time and my date is like sitting there, shitting on the people around us for the most stupid/shallow reasons, and like expects me to think that is 'fun' or trashing their friends to me and uptalking themself, and I'm just... appalled at how gross they are being.