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I really didn't like the mid/late 90s. I guess part of it could be because I was a teen then, but the worst part was all the Columbine stuff going on. Most of my peers and I were scared to go to school because of all the threats we kept hearing. You never knew if the stuff was true. We were always let out early because of bomb scares. It was a pretty scary time to be a teen.
Hm. Maybe it was where you lived. Columbine happened (even watched it live at school), but I can’t say it was foremost on our minds. Y2K mania was more in your face and even that was scoffed at mostly by us. Felt more like a way to sell magazines and survival kits to our parents or something. Late 90s were a magical time to be a teen to me. Got a snippet of the crazy neon 80s pop culture and then got to experience the 90s where everything and nothing seemed to happen. Thought the world would only go up, where stained dresses would be the most pressing political questions and foreign policy could be solved by McDonalds spreading to the masses. And then 9/11 and I don’t feel like I’ve been able to catch my breath since.
Smartphones are nice. But I think my parents were happier than I’ll ever be. Happier times in which they lived. Not perfect, but happier.
I think I agree with this for the most part. Economically it was probably better overall in the 80s/90s as there was better wealth distribution than there is today, and cost of living relative to income was better back then. But there were also some pretty dark spots economically, cities were gutted due to the exodus of manufacturing and we still didn't have the tech economy to counter that. If you lived in an urban area, it's hard to argue that the 80s/90s were "better" than today. On the other hand, rural areas weren't completely devoid of economic activity yet... so mixed bag on that front.
As a society, it's hard to make the argument that the 80s/90s were better than today. By almost every metric, we're better off. People are living longer than they were back then, there's significantly less crime, there's more opportunity for people of color and women. We're in an era of unlimited information (often information overload) which I think taints people's perspective a bit. Simply put, we know a lot more about what's happening in the world than we did in the 80s/90s. If you weren't at some sort of disadvantage already, you had the benefit of not having to see/hear/know about societal ills. At least not to nearly the same degree as today. Ignorance is bliss, and I think that some people who claim that the 80s/90s were better from a societal perspective feel that way because they were lucky enough not to be among the population for whom things were not great.
I think I agree with this for the most part. Economically it was probably better overall in the 80s/90s as there was better wealth distribution than there is today, and cost of living relative to income was better back then. But there were also some pretty dark spots economically, cities were gutted due to the exodus of manufacturing and we still didn't have the tech economy to counter that. If you lived in an urban area, it's hard to argue that the 80s/90s were "better" than today. On the other hand, rural areas weren't completely devoid of economic activity yet... so mixed bag on that front.
As a society, it's hard to make the argument that the 80s/90s were better than today. By almost every metric, we're better off. People are living longer than they were back then, there's significantly less crime, there's more opportunity for people of color and women. We're in an era of unlimited information (often information overload) which I think taints people's perspective a bit. Simply put, we know a lot more about what's happening in the world than we did in the 80s/90s. If you weren't at some sort of disadvantage already, you had the benefit of not having to see/hear/know about societal ills. At least not to nearly the same degree as today. Ignorance is bliss, and I think that some people who claim that the 80s/90s were better from a societal perspective feel that way because they were lucky enough not to be among the population for whom things were not great.
I would counter the bolded by saying the suburbs were at their peak in the 80s/90s.
Malls couldn't have been healthier, subdivisions / office parks were going up at a break neck pace and they saw a ton of much needed infrastructure investment.
Columbine wasn't until the way end of the 90's. 1999 to be exact. I remember watching the coverage as it broke in my apartment in college, only a few weeks before I graduated. So not sure how if you were a teen in the late 90's you were always dealing with bomb/shooting scares as this was truly the beginning of this screwed up phenomenon in this country. And then it exploded from the Year 2000-on.
9/11 was the defining moment in this country between the way things were before and the way things were after. It changed the way Americans had to live on a daily basis and added an undue amount of anxiety and stress to the American psyche that's only festered, morphed, and gotten worse ever since. I lived only blocks away from the Towers on that fateful day and it was true surrealism at its worst.
Hm. Maybe it was where you lived. Columbine happened (even watched it live at school), but I can’t say it was foremost on our minds. Y2K mania was more in your face and even that was scoffed at mostly by us. Felt more like a way to sell magazines and survival kits to our parents or something. Late 90s were a magical time to be a teen to me. Got a snippet of the crazy neon 80s pop culture and then got to experience the 90s where everything and nothing seemed to happen. Thought the world would only go up, where stained dresses would be the most pressing political questions and foreign policy could be solved by McDonalds spreading to the masses. And then 9/11 and I don’t feel like I’ve been able to catch my breath since.
Smartphones are nice. But I think my parents were happier than I’ll ever be. Happier times in which they lived. Not perfect, but happier.
This lines sums it up. Sad but true in a lot of ways.
On a side note, we are living in the midst of a global pandemic and we really don’t know what will be on the other side. We have some good things going for us, but there is a general unease over ever facet of life at the moment that it’s hard to accurately get a handle on “now”.
I would counter the bolded by saying the suburbs were at their peak in the 80s/90s.
Malls couldn't have been healthier, subdivisions / office parks were going up at a break neck pace and they saw a ton of much needed infrastructure investment.
I agree 100%, but I don't necessarily see that as a counter point. I think both are true. Urban areas, particularly inner city urban areas, are functionally separate from suburban areas (in spite of the "Urban Area" Census Bureau designation). the 80s/90s were absolutely peak suburban. Right down to the explosion of malls, office parks, and new subdivisions. While that was happening, urban centers were being killed by the loss of industry and the subsequent exodus of people. Many major cities (particularly in the NE and Midwest) were losing people or stagnant while the 'burbs were growing.
100% now. As a gay person, I would not have wanted to be a young adult in the 80s/90s. Not only was there rampant bullying and homophobia but also the AIDS crisis. In general, the crime rate goes down every year and pretty much every quality of life metric is improving.
I see some people in this thread claim that music was better in the 80s/90s and use that as an argument that back then was better, which doesn't really make sense to me. Even if this were true (which it's not), you have literally all your favorite 80s/90s artists accessible at your fingertips. Now is easily the best time in history to be a music fan with services like Spotify/Apple Music.
100% now. As a gay person, I would not have wanted to be a young adult in the 80s/90s. Not only was there rampant bullying and homophobia but also the AIDS crisis. In general, the crime rate goes down every year and pretty much every quality of life metric is improving.
I see some people in this thread claim that music was better in the 80s/90s and use that as an argument that back then was better, which doesn't really make sense to me. Even if this were true (which it's not), you have literally all your favorite 80s/90s artists accessible at your fingertips. Now is easily the best time in history to be a music fan with services like Spotify/Apple Music.
Having access to all your favorite artists now isn’t a strong selling point for today’s music scene. Maybe it’s one for the technology scene, that you can relive the ‘80s easier by not even having to go to the record store or the 90s without having to get burner cd’s. But that’s a Ready Player One view of history, one to be curated and not lived. There’s limits to its benefits.
Though yes, now we do have retroviral meds and gay marriage. None of that can be underestimated or dismissed. Crime however is spiking to levels not seen in decades, so I’m not sure the immediate now can claim any high ground on that. As with most things, there is good and bad. We’ve cut down on some of the bass, but I think we’ve also blunted much of the good.
Again, I go to relatively. The Baby Boom generation might have experienced peak America culminating in the 80s-90s. The Romans were convinced they hadn’t peaked up until they were already a couple centuries past it. They regaled themselves with better sewers and more baths and more money for more games. History didn’t care and moved on. I’m being facetious to a degree. I don’t think the Visgoths are about to strike. But we can’t miss the forest for the trees. Good things have happened the last 20 years. A lot of bad things have too.
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