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80s and 90s for sure. The only thing that is better now is technology.
Depends on how you define "better". Better tech yeah, but is that better for health of body, mind and spirit not to mention the health of the planet (people are even more disconnected from earth / nature than ever which isn't a good thing)?
Imo, no it's not.
And the 80's were the "beginning of the end" as far as i'm concerned.
I was born in '91 so I guess I still have much credibility. Back in the 1990's and 1980's, autism and ADHD wasn't a thing. People weren't as aware of it as they are today and actually judged people by their character and not their label. I guess those were better days in those regards.
A lot of things we had today were around, but in fact were much simpler in form. Today's advanced technology is has been pretty overrated. I don't think people realize that because of the new technology, social interaction has declined since the 1980's. But is advanced technology really more important than the quality of social interaction?
the 90's were sorta boring, except some cool video games. the 80's started everything. the 2000's the internet got popular. now the 2010's nothing much is new. the last 38 years we have been connected to the computer.
Late 20-something here. I honestly cannot give a good answer because of my age and bias, but this my opinion:
The "best" time for Millennials has to be between 2008-2013. I bet this will be a bit off compared to everyone elses opinions, but this is my take.
Many of us were in college at the time and we really had no expectations to meet because of the awful job market. It didn't matter that we worked 2-3 part time jobs, and had to have 5-6 roommates. We were young and just happy to have rent be cheap (my rent in Milwaukee was $250). It was definitely a great time to be "bumming" around. Other than rent, pretty much everything was cheap at the time. Social media was also at it's early stage, so it was just consuming enough to be fun/cool, but not consuming enough to negatively change our life. You had to wait until you got home to update your status.
There was a huge growth in the creative communities. Cities were just starting their urban renewal, however they weren't at the stage of cancerous growth yet. I remember visiting places like Seattle, Portland, Denver, Austin, Detroit, Brooklyn, and San Francisco before they exploded. I would visit friends who lived in these amazing downtown apartments, in awesome neighborhoods, that cost less than $1000. Tons of dive bars, art galleries, breweries in old warehouses, mom and pop restaurants, etc. The vibe of the neighborhoods back then were friendly and laid back, not white collar pretentious like they are today. In general, housing was more interesting and affordable back then. Cities actually had soul and character. Today, every city in the US is a carbon copy of one another.
Outdoor recreation was also starting to grow in a positive way, well before the overcrowded selfie culture of today. The people you would meet were travelers, artists, dirt bags, locals. Today trails are just conga lines of Patagonia and man buns taking selfies. You could actually get solitude in places like Rocky Mountain, Glacier, Zion, and Yosemite.
I remember taking tons of road trips between 2009-2011. Gas was dirt cheap, vacation areas were super quiet, cities had very minimal traffic...life was pretty good for a student.
Violent crime, including homicide, rates are lower, median incomes are generally higher, even with inflation, people are living longer, and the average poverty rate (which is currently decreasing) is lower than in the 80s/90s. Obesity is higher as is inequality, although despite the latter, incomes still grew for most after factoring inflation.
In my opinion, life in the US is better for most now than it was in the 80s and 90s.
The '80s and '90s by many, many miles. The technology of the 21st century is convenient and has many benefits for sure, but it is excessively distracting and impersonal. It's changing the way people interact and not for the better. In the '80s and '90s, it was a hell of a lot easier to land a career job, today it is next to impossible because of such a ****ty job market, overwhelming demand for previous experience, ****tier politicians making the job market much worse, and once again, technology making everything impersonal. People interacted more face to face, and even had more conversations over the phone. They were safer times as well--all these mass shootings happening in schools, concerts, nightclubs, etc. are much more frequent now than they were back in the 20th century. Schools are much more dangerous now, but yet at the same time we have these politically correct cry-babies with their safe spaces. I graduated from college six years ago, and I would not want to go out with a chick who is in college right now. Also, the '80s and very early '90s were the best time for music in history, PERIOD. The '80s and '90s were both great in terms of movies, most 21st century movies suck. I can't stand the way they are filmed with their CGI and all this other crap with weird choreography etc. Plus you had the old-school video stores back then. That was a totally different experience than watching movies on Netflix or YouTube, and again, it was more personal because you could hang out there and likely make a friend with similar interests. Finally, you have a lot more teenagers now raising babies without their partner and so forth. A friend of mine once said, "I feel sorry for every kid that grew up after the '90s" and I think every older person I've ever mentioned that statement to agreed with it.
I was pretty tired when I bumped this thread when I saw it in google. But I remembered that weed was legal in a few states and the right states. That's a step forward
When it comes to "better" that of course is what your priorities are.
In terms of social justice, technology, human rights, and the environment are concerned then today is far superior.
In terms of standard of living, it is lower than the 1980s and MUCH lower than the 1970s. Back them a BA got you a good job and a nice house as opposed to today when it takes 2 people with a Masters to afford the same house and you didn't have to indebt yourself for life to buy it.
People were FAR more social before the advent of "social media" which is really anti-social.........it allows you to communicate to everyone and talk to no one. Going to cafes and lectures use to be so interesting and you would start up great conversations and meet new people but now people go to restaurants and cafes with family, friends , or by yourself and no one is talking but instead fixated on their IPhones.
Social media has created a far less social society.
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