[Coda]

Originally Posted by Yokuutsu

Every year is about the same level of depressing imo...so unless I win PCH, or my youtube channel really takes off, well, it'll probably be the same for a long time.

Honestly, this is the kind of comment I would rather hear. Saying 2016 was terrible has become memetic -- that is, people have become convinced that it was terrible because of everyone saying it was terrible. And because humans perceive bad things more acutely than good things (it's a survival instinct!) that makes it easy for the meme to spread.

Overall, 2016 wasn't the worst year in recent history. Some sucky stuff happened; some good stuff happened. Maybe, on balance, it might have been slightly worse than average on some metrics, but overall it was a pretty typical year, and by the most important metrics it was in all probability at least slightly better than the years that came before it -- fewer people in poverty, more people fed, people living longer, fewer deaths due to any cause worldwide.

It's easy to let news stories about bad things distract us from all of the positive things in our lives. The new year should be a time to reflect and remember how our worlds have improved.