Roland's favorite way of describing his decaying world is, "The world has moved on." In Stephen King's Dark Tower series, the phrase is both a common saying and a summary of Mid-World's long decline.
The expression suggests more than ordinary social change. Roland's world contains ruined civilizations, failing technology, altered landscapes and remnants of older ages that have been forgotten or misunderstood. The phrase captures the sense that history, reality and even time itself have become unstable. It is especially associated with the series' recurring idea that the Beams supporting the Dark Tower and the structure of existence are weakening.
The wording is also a thematic key to Roland's character. He is committed to restoring or reaching the Dark Tower, yet he is trapped in a cycle that repeatedly brings him back to the beginning of his quest. Readers may therefore hear the phrase both literally, as a description of a collapsing world, and symbolically, as a comment on Roland's inability to escape his past. The series blends Western, fantasy, horror and science-fiction elements across seven main novels.