You are distracted by clickbait news and ignoring important advances made since 2008, a few examples which is just scratching the surface because there is a ton I am personally not even aware of:
* Greatly reduced cost of solar panels and batteries
* Things like uber/doordash made taxis / takeout way more efficient
* Transitioning to electric vehicles. In 2008 I'd pay $50/week for fuel, now I pay $10/week to travel the same distance in my electric car. Not to mention savings in oil changes/maintenance
* mRNA vaccines nonexistent in 2008
* Significant progress towards autonomous vehicles, if that comes to fruition on a large scale it will transform our society