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Having lived and worked as an adult throughout the 1980s, I can unequivocally state that all of the above is 100% looking through rose-colored glasses.
- de-industrialization was in full swing, with unemployment well over 10% in the US, and over 20% in many parts of the country, especially the rust belt and oil-producing areas - US steel industry basically disappeared, auto industry collapsed with foreign competition, domestic oil/gas collapsed as price of imported oil dropped below $10/barrel
- crime, including murder rates, were much higher and would continue to increase through the early 1990s - even the President was shot in the 1980s
- the cities were neglected trash heaps for the most part, with recoveries not even starting until the 1990s
- few people could afford houses on 1 salary - average mortgage rates in the mid 80s were well over 10%, with 16% common
- credit card interest rates were 18% to 21% for most users
- air travel was not as cheap as it is today, and whether it was a pleasure or not may depend on whether you were in the front or back of the plane as in the back rows smoking was allowed
- the crack epidemic was just starting
- AIDS was growing with no definitive end in sight, and it was starting to appear more in heterosexuals - hardly a more relaxed social atmosphere by the mid 80s
- Lots of terrorism in the 80s - US embassies in Kuwait and Lebanon were attacked, hundreds of US troops are killed in Beirut barracks bombing, multiple attacks in Europe, Pan Am 103 was blown up, a CIA chief in Europe was kidnapped
Ill be turning 50 in 2 months and everything you wrote is 100 percent true. I remember the terrible economy in the early to early 90s. My Parents sold our house to find work somewhere else. We were only able to get 1/4th of the value. Smoking areas made it hard to breath and enjoy restaurants and workplaces. Child abuse went basically unnoticed. High tech communications back in the 80s was for the rich. If you were dying on something, you were probably going to die. Music was KING in the 80s and Movies were great as well. Why all kids are depressed today is beyond me. My kids HS looks like a funeral everytime I visit.
Why all kids are depressed today is beyond me. My kids HS looks like a funeral everytime I visit.
You may be right. Perhaps we are exposed too technology and social media too much which has a side effect of removing the smile from your face. I've noticed that self deprecation is very acceptable today and is embraced too much. Just look at popular memes. Suicide seems to be talked of a lot as well even though It's still considered a bad thing. This song is popular today and it is about suicide. . .
One thing that I think is better today is that you don't have to act a certain way to fit society's expectations, especially for men in recent years who no longer have to act overly masculine. Straight men in particular express more emotional and physical intimacy with their friends as well compared to the 80's and 90's when it wasn't acceptable. Even how I and my friends act today would be seen as gay and awkward only 5 years ago.
That's very true, the 60s/70s/80s were the time of great music and has gone to hell since the late 80s. In Canada all the highest rated radio stations only play music from that era. From elevators, to malls, sports arenas ALL the music is from that time period. I know a lot of you ng people who only listen to music of that era as they openly acknowledge it was simply better.
One thing that I think is better today is that you don't have to act a certain way to fit society's expectations, especially for men in recent years who no longer have to act overly masculine. Straight men in particular express more emotional and physical intimacy with their friends as well compared to the 80's and 90's when it wasn't acceptable. Even how I and my friends act today would be seen as gay and awkward only 5 years ago.
But in the 80's, men had greater fashion freedom. For example, they wore real shorts, and other styles that are more recently considered gay or exclusively feminine. Starting with the late 80s and early 90s, the backlash to Gay activism led to men having to dress in long and baggy clothing and act masculine and hard to prove they are straight. This was then carried forward by the Hip Hop/Young Urban Culture movement that happened in the 1990s. I remember in the 1990s and 2000s, clothing for males continued to get longer and baggier and males were expected to act very masculine and sometimes hard, lest their sexual orientation be quickly called into question. Then about five years ago, Hipster replaced Hip Hop as the dominant fashion trend among males and the long and baggy style lost its monopoly on male fashion. At the same time, men are no longer being expected to act overly masculine.
As to the question at hand, while I think the technology of the present is great, the 80's and 90's offered a better quality of life because things were simpler then. People actually interacted with each other instead of having their faces buried in their phones all day. Kids played outside a lot more.
Blacks were certainly more free in their appearance in the 70s than they are today.
Back then in the new age of "black power?, Afros were in style for African Americans because for the first time they felt comfortable enough to allow their African appearance to shine thru and not be embarrassed of it...........no hair straightening, no skin lightener.
Now AA women especially go out of their way to look as white as humanely possible.
So the 80s for music and movies, but I really don't want to go back in a time machine and live back before the internet. I did not have it then, and did not know what I was missing, but now I do and can't imagine living without technology. So spoiled am I at 50.
Blacks were certainly more free in their appearance in the 70s than they are today.
Back then in the new age of "black power?, Afros were in style for African Americans because for the first time they felt comfortable enough to allow their African appearance to shine thru and not be embarrassed of it...........no hair straightening, no skin lightener.
Now AA women especially go out of their way to look as white as humanely possible.
I completely disagree with your last statement as there is a huge revival of natural hairstyles in full swing among Black women today. And I don't even know what you're talking about as far as skin lighteners...you must be confusing Caribbean trends with American ones.
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