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Overall, America was a better place in 1990 than today.
Music was MUCH better then, our country was not divided politically as it is now, TV was actually entertaining, the economy was better, less drug use etc.
Less drug use? I don't know about that one, but i assume it was way higher in the 90s based on the massive crime rates of the 90s. Do you have stats to back this statement?
Overall, America was a better place in 1990 than today.
MAINSTREAM Music was MUCH better then, our country was not divided politically as it is now, TV was actually entertaining, the economy was better, less drug use etc.
I was only 10 years old in 1990, but I was precocious enough to have some idea of what was going on back then---though much of what I know about the politics and economy of the 80s and 90s I've learned later on.
---Hip-hop and rap music was at it's early peak in 1990; The music and the style was still exciting and new for a kid growing up in the era. You actually had some diversity in the form with the political rap of Public Enemy, the bohemian rap of Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul, the early gangster rap of NWA, the pop rap of MC Hammer, etc...But it was still feared and controversial. Alternative rock was still a year away from it's ascendancy to the popular forefront, although some bands were slowly starting to break through, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction, etc. However, crappy pop hair-metal was still the dominant rock music of the time. CDs were still an expensive novelty--most people just had tapes.
---The culture was starting to get darker and more cynical. The popular action films of the day were continuing to get more violent--I remember getting my mom to rent Total Recall and Robocop 2 that year. TV shows like Seinfeld, the Simpsons, and Married with Children were a more sarcastic look at American society than the family sitcoms (Cosby Show, Family Ties) of the 1980s.
---The inner-cities were at their worst in terms of crime. Just speaking from personal experience; San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Oakland all felt far more dangerous and rundown than they were in the last decade.(Even my hometown of Santa Cruz, CA felt a lot skuzzier back in the day) Crack cocaine and the war on drugs was the number one public issue. Gentrification of the cities hadn't taken hold yet on a large scale--which has been good in terms of safety and amenities, but bad for affordability.
---There was a feeling of celebration as the Cold War came to an end. This was reflected even in popular songs of the period---anyone remember "Winds of Change" by the Scorpions? For anyone born after the early 80s, it might be hard to imagine the fear and paranoia that lingered all the way up until the mid-80s and Gorbachav and glasnost---you had films like Red Dawn and the threat of nuclear war. There seemed to be both a sense of relief and uncertainty in what would lie ahead after the fall of the Eastern Bloc. America was the dominant superpower in the world. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 was a reminder that the world was still a very dangerous place. I can remember all kinds of fears that the war would develop into a large conflict---that we'd be sending back thousands of soldiers in body bags like Vietnam. When it ended in several weeks in 1991 with barely a few hundred US casualties, it felt like US military power was untouchable.
---The US political system wasn't as divided as it would become later in the decade. This was pre-Newt Gingrich and the 1994 Republican victory. You still had a handful of older World War II and Silent generation politicians who were of a more moderate stripe on both the Republican and Democrat sides. The Baby Boomers--the most politcally polarized generation in the recent history, were just beginning to be elected in larger numbers to the House and Senate.
---The economy was in a recession and I remember a lot of fear about my parents keeping their jobs. My cousins who graduated college during that era couldn't find many job opportunities in California. The boom years of the 90s were yet to start. Japan's asset bubble was about to crash, but I can remember people still talking about how Japan would probably end up owning most of the US.
I think it's typical for people to look back at the years of their child hood through a rose-colored tint--most people are nostalgic for their younger years to some degree....the reality is often much different. The world always has been a dark place. I remember 1990 as kind of a weird transition period between the 1980s and the incoming Generation X cynicism of the early-mid 90s, prior to the boom years of the late 90s.
Was 1990 a more optimistic time than 2010? Yes, but that says very little. The 1990s it felt like our national angst was inner-driven, there weren't any large scale societal issues to latch on to for the most part.(War on drugs??Yeah right..) In the 2000s it's felt like the chickens have come home to roost...all the fears that seemed sort of abstract in the 1990s, economic collapse, terrorism, war, we've had to deal with head on.
Good post. I was 10-11 years young in 1990 and I remember the recession, tv sitcoms, and drugs/crime. Not all lollipops, but somewhat different now compared to today.
North Carolina in 1990. Southern, undiscovered, peaceful, mills, factories and plants still running, plenty of jobs, low cost of living.
North Carolina in 2010. Northen transplants and retirees by the thousands, suburban sprawl and congested traffic around Charlotte and Raleigh, mills, factories and plants all but completely gone, small towns dying, illegal immigrant sanctuary. Still a great place in may ways, though.
I may be woking on 19y/o but I still remember those days. and I can recall them now. I remember when you could live on one side of Greensboro and not really have to worry about crime. But now with all the sprawling towns and cities approaching from every corner; its pretty much impossible.
I remember going to the malls for a family experience, now its the sites for fights, gang activity and shootings!?! What happened? It seems like there is more crisises and havock happening now than in the 90's
Best of 1990's
Bevis and Butthead
Ren and Stemp
WWF
Big radios
Boy Bands
Intoduction to those big green and black screen computers
Actual Family time, better QOL
Best of 2010
more advanced sense of living
in most areas better QOF
Family Guy
Bunch of novel collections (New Moon and Harry Potter, shows at least we may be getting a little smarter)
Technology (From cell phone bricks, to droid OP systems that offer the same as a desktop)
Cities evolving and for the most part evolving beautifully and learning from other cities mistakes.
. . . .
anything else?
I would list the cons for the 2000's but that's too much!
I'd say that in many ways America is worse now in 2010 than it was in 1990. In 1990, it was not as expensive to live compared to now. In 1990 before the age of the Internet and the World Wide Web, you didn't hear about all these people going into these chat rooms and pretending to be people they were not and then hurting young kids in the process. Maybe in some ways, America is better technologically, but its quality of life is lower now IMO. trust me I've been here since 1983 and back then, the US was a MUCH better place to live. I sure miss the days of rent for $500 a month I have to admit in many ways before the invention of the Internet our lives were much more simple. And the quality of kids shows in 1990 was better compared to 2010. In 1990, America was FAR better. not even close.
the beginning and end of each decade is going to have a lot in common with the decade it touches. so it's not really that chopped up. i would never put '88 and '91 in the same category. '89 was definitely the year of transition: the berlin wall fell, the reagan years were over (and the bush reign began),
1969-1978 = 70s
1979-1988 = 80s
1989-present = current times
You seriously have to get outside your little bubble called NYC, I have yet to meet someone who doesn't know what freestyling is, and I'm from DC.
I think she is refering to "Freestyle Music" not "freestyling"
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For anyone born after the early 80s, it might be hard to imagine the fear and paranoia that lingered all the way up until the mid-80s and Gorbachav and glasnost---you had films like Red Dawn and the threat of nuclear war. There seemed to be both a sense of relief and uncertainty in what would lie ahead after the fall of the Eastern Bloc. America was the dominant superpower in the world. Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 was a reminder that the world was still a very dangerous place. I can remember all kinds of fears that the war would develop into a large conflict---that we'd be sending back thousands of soldiers in body bags like Vietnam. When it ended in several weeks in 1991 with barely a few hundred US casualties, it felt like US military power was untouchable.
I have to admit in many ways before the invention of the Internet our lives were much more simple. And the quality of kids shows in 1990 was better compared to 2010. In 1990, America was FAR better. not even close.
