Time magazine cover, “The Decade From Hell”.?

Citing mismanaged natural disasters, 9/11, economic melt down, swine flue, and all that has gone wrong, Time magazine states this is one of the worst decades in history. One statement is that, “We entered the decade optimistically, and are entering the next pessimistically”, is one reason we have blundered. Was it that bad? Has the blunders of the decade effected your personal life? To paraphrase a political question of a few years back. Are you better of today than 10 years ago?