The world actually ended in late 2016

That's exactly how I feel too, it seems as though people have quickly forgotten about the lone-wolf terrorist attacks that were of a serious concern during the Mid 2010s.

2020 is a very different year politically but, I do agree with many here. Pop culturally, 2020 is pretty much the same as late 2018/2019.

I personally don’t think it did, but that’s just your opinion. But 2019 was the last year of normalcy. I actually didn’t mind the late 2010’s unlike some other users on this platform. Pop culturally it wasn’t bad and I actually find it better than the mid 2010s. 

Late 2016 was definitely a shock to the system to people. On November 8th, I watched some of the election coverage on TV, with Trump winning many key swing states with Clinton trailing behind. I thought to myself that she would still clinch 270 with states like PA (which is usually blue). Then I got tired and went to bed. But when I woke up the next day and saw the shocking news, I instantly knew that America was about to change dramatically. The mood at my school on November 9th was the most somber that I've ever seen from my friends, classmates, and teachers.

Brexit in the summer was like a precursor to the late 2010s since it was such a unprecedented historic event for the UK to leave the EU. But the era (imo) started with Trump's win as right-wing populism became the new standard. By 2017 with rap becoming the most popular genre in the United States (with emo/Soundcloud/mumble rap leading the way), heavily polarized political climate, deep-fried memes, and the reggaeton boom, the late 2010s were in full swing.

The story of the late 2010s is the fundamentalist Christian Right resurging in power, taking over America, and destroying this country and everyone's lives out of spite because they couldn't accept the court decision that legalized same-sex marriage. In 2016, people thought the fundamentalist Christian Right was a thing of the past. In 2020 they are the dominant force in the country and pretty much the only thing that matters.

40% of Americans prefer to burn the country down if they can't force gays back into the closet, women back into the kitchen, brown people back to their side of the tracks out of sight and out of mind, and the Bible into every classroom as the only history, philosophy, and science textbook anybody needs. They have this country held hostage.

Trump is likely to win again because people can't accept an America that's less white, less straight, and less Christian than it was in 1950. I don't know how this is going to end without the country splitting. The country isn't going back to the 1950s. I think the coasts may split off and the interior of the U.S. may become a Southern Baptist version of Saudi Arabia, ruled by Trump.

No matter what happens, life is a living nightmare now and I don't see any improvement in the foreseeable future.

I miss the 2010s. Give me the worst days of 2013 any day over this.

It felt a dumb and empty era in retrospect. Late 2016 to early 2018 just felt a dying and blander version of the mid 2010s but with more trump and alt right influence. So many figures involved in the pro Trump and alt right have simply gone away, banned or changed by late 2018- largely due to how silly the whole thing was.