![]() Towards the end of the decade, the exposure of prolific film producer Harvey Weinstein as a serial sexual abuser and anger over U.S. Feminism returned to prominence as the "gender gap" became a major source of concern. ![]() Cases of police brutality against black people, anti-immigration policies, and hate crimes against minorities reduced faith on law and order among these groups. ![]() ![]() A number of controversies regarding digital piracy and net neutrality generated more suspicion over the relationship between political and corporate interests, and the uncovering of the National Security Agency led to concerns about surveillance. The loss of economic certainty following the 2008-09 financial crisis led to calls for wider welfare provisions as well as the return of high-paying manufacturing jobs as the rise of the tech industry generated a long period of economic growth offset by little improvement at best for those not in said sector. Social reforms (primarily regarding same-sex marriage) met with little approval and fierce criticism both from conservatives who did not ask for them as well from progressives who felt short-changed. " Homegrown terrorism" became increasingly common, with politicians engaging into an endless debate about a response. Their modernizing ambitions however ended up colliding with the realities brought upon by the economic downturn of 2005-10 and the Pyrrhic outcome of The War on Terror, which led to a widespread climate of distrust towards the establishment, embodied by the surge of populist movements both on the left and the right, gradually leading to a level of political confrontation not seen in decades. In the West, the decade began with young, cosmopolitan and progressive leaders being voted to replace the folksy, "gut feeling"-centered and conventional politicians that marked the 2000s. Smartphones and tablets quickly became commonplace, and Netflix and Spotify surged as major players, kickstarting the streaming business. In popular culture terms, the decade began in 2010-12 with the rise of Hipster culture, which coincided with rock being replaced by electronic and urban music as the driving force of pop music. This was quickly followed by the swine influenza pandemic (2009) the first UK coalition government since World War II, the rise of WikiLeaks, the American Tea Party, the British UKIP, the Spaniard "Indignados" and the BP oil spill (2010) "Occupy Wall Street", the Arab Spring, the death of Osama bin Laden, Anonymous, the first American government shutdown since The '90s, the Tucson and Oslo massacres (2011) Vladimir Putin becoming President of Russia-for the second time, the Aurora and Sandy Hook massacres, and Barack Obama's reelection (2012). In political terms, the decade began between 20, with the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 and Barack Obama's election as the first African American President of the United States in November. The word "New" is used to distinguish the 2010s from the 1910s - arguably unnecessary since there are few people alive who remember The Edwardian Era (the current oldest living person as of 2019 was 7 when King Edward died, and just 11 when WWI began, and the oldest-known living Brit was 6). The first uses of the year 2010 surged late in the 20th century as a 20 Minutes into the Future date as the year 2000 was getting closer, apart from looking for something more original. That decade where all the jokes became real. The Twenty-Tens or Two Thousand (and) Tens. Shunsaku Ban ( to Osamu Tezuka), Astro Boy ![]()
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