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Everybody knows that living in the 21st century offers certain advantages, such as higher standard of living, but it also has some disadvantages, such as a polluted environment, the depersonalization of human relationships, and the weakening of spiritual values.

The biggest advantage of living in that century is the high stand of living we enjoy. We can earn more money for less hard work, since there are more office workers than manual laborers. Also, the salaries are higher, and the government services, such as social security, unemployment benefits and disability insurance, increased.

Another thing that has increased is the life expectancy. It became longer because now there is a better medical care with more hospitals, doctors, nurses and advances in medical technology. The improving of nutrition is clear, and the possibility of more leisure time helps increasing the longevity as well. 

Besides, the modern conveniences are very helpful. We can count on long distance communication means, such as telephones, television and computer, and very fast means of transportation (fast cars, airplanes, motorbikes). Almost everybody has labor-saving machines at home, like dishwashers, washing machines and vacuum cleaners. All these things make life much easier and save you a lot of time.

Despite of all the easiness we find in nowadays world, one of the main disadvantages of living in the 21st century is that we’re living in an increasingly polluted environment. The air is polluted with smog and nuclear fallout, because of all the industries and cars. The water is also polluted with chemical wastes from factories: dead fishes and contaminated drinking water supplies are unfortunately becoming very common things, and the cause of it is the raw sewage from cities and oil spills from ships.

A second disadvantage of living in this century is the depersonalization of human relationships. People often interact more with machines than with other people. With the automated vending machines, banks, etc, you don’t talk to a person, but with a machine, and our lives are based on numbers (social security numbers, credit card numbers and so on). Another thing that increases the distance between people is the tape recorded telephone answering, since you don’t have to talk to people on the phone, because you can just listen to the message later. But, for me, the most alarming problem is the computerized dating services you can find. People are loosing their way of dating in “real life” and the relationships are becoming more and more digital, distant and cold.

The final disadvantage of living in the twenty first century is the weakening of spiritual values. Due to the materialistic culture, people pay more attention to things they can buy and have than to things they can simply feel. Faith in science instead of in religion is also a problem. People need a scientific explanation for everything, and very few people still accept that God, who has created everything, has some mysteries. 

In conclusion, although the 21st century has indeed given us a lot of advantages by making us richer, healthier, and freer to enjoy our lives, it has, in my opinion, not made us wiser. The 21st century has also made our earth dirtier, our people less humane, and our spiritual lives poorer. We should continue to enjoy the benefits of technological advancements because they free us to pursue our interests and goals. However, we must make a concerted effort to preserve our natural environment for future generations. Moreover, we should take the time now to make our lives more meaningful in an increasingly impersonal, computerized world.