They don't make music/ movies/ books/ hamburgers like they used to

I'm listening to my Gaslight Anthem '59 Sound CD, which happens to be one of my favorites of all time. It came out in 2008.

Wait, 2008? Don't you mean 1968? or 1978? or 1888? That was when good music came out, nowadays all you get is people rapping about humping guns or whatever.

Says 2008 on the back of the CD.

Oh, well it must be crap then, I won't listen to it.

Don't we all know someone like that? Someone who insists that all great things were made in the past? Are human beings' glory days behind us? Do we produce anything of value anymore?

Of course!

It is unfair to compare the era we are in to any other in history because of one simple fact- this era is happening now. We get to see all of it- the good and the bad and the medium bad. What survives from every other single era?

Only the good stuff. Do we produce bad music, movies, and books nowadays? You bet we do. Have you ever read a book from the last century that just sucked? Probably not. But the reason for that isn't because sucky books didn't get written a hundred years ago, it's because sucky books don't last 100 years. There's a reason art sticks around for a hundred years, or even fifty years, or twenty five years.

Twenty five, fifty, one hundred years from now what will survive from this era? What will people think of the oughties and early 2010s then? Will the gems that are often overlooked now be the only things left?

I'd rather not wait twenty five, fifty, or a hundred years. Look for good music, good books and good movies that are being produced today. It's not as rare as you might think.