Their reasons? Less traffic, longer-lasting products, a slower pace of life, more patience and consideration, no distracting internet, better TV shows and music, more community spirit, free university tuition, cheaper houses.
Yes, they mention all the things that were better, but what about all the things that were worse? Rampant sexism, homophobia and racism; plenty of sub-standard housing; deference to authority figures; freezing homes without central heating; hand-washed laundry; limited access to information prior to computers and search engines; far fewer university places. And no doubt other things I've forgotten about.
Perhaps what people really mean when they talk about the good old days is that modern life baffles and frightens them and they can't adjust to all the changes. Sure, there's a lot of problems, but they overlook all the good things - especially the internet and how it's made life easier in so many ways, and better treatment of women and minorities.
Certainly I don't see any "good old days" in my own life. My childhood was far from happy, and my early adult life was pretty discouraging - spartan bedsits, not much money, lots of disappointing dates, little contact with my family. It was only in my thirties that things started to look up.
I think the "good old days" are more a product of rose-tinted spectacles than an honest look at how life used to be. I for one wouldn't want a re-run of my early years and all their ordeals.
Apart from anything else, how would I have got by without all the delights of blogging?
Strange that you ask this question today. Just this morning while musing while having my mug of tea in the garden, I was thinking about the good old days and comparing them to today. Today won hands down. Even just comparing the time when we moved in thirty years ago to this house today is much better for me than then. Why go further back than that?
ReplyDeleteRamana: Glad to know you're definitely a fan of the present day!
DeleteGawd I wouldn't go back there for anything. Women's lives were shyte. I hate these rose tinted spectacles that don't see the reality.
ReplyDeleteWhen I write about them I am so aware that the drudgery and often abuse were rampant. A friend on FB recently posted about being so proud of his mother who bore 24 pregnancies of whom 17 survived. I can't imagine the horror of her life.
XO
WWW
www: Twenty four pregnancies, my God. She must have been in a terrible physical and mental state by the end. It can be tough enough just bringing up two children.
DeleteWhere was this free university tuition when I was growing up??? But I do agree that the olden days were no better. I think people just miss their youth. I know I miss my old body, my old music, and my old friends. For me, the carefree, ignorant days of childhood look pretty good after watching CNN yesterday.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: Yes, maybe people just miss their youth and the carefree years of growing up. Certainly I'd like not to have witnessed the sinister storming of the Capitol by the election-fraud fantasists.
DeleteAh, yes, the good old days... November 22, 1963, Kennedy in Dallas, I remember that week in the good old days. The riots of '68. The anti-war protestors. Vietnam when I was eligible for the draft. Not so carefree.
ReplyDeleteYesterday 2021 was a horror... but our Congress went right back to work and completed their job. Trump is still in the White House but, this, too, will pass into... the good old days.
The only thing I would want from the good old days is the body and mind I had back then.
Mike: Yes, the "good old days" included a lot of horrific events. But people gloss over the horrors and exaggerate the enjoyable things.
DeleteI would miss you Nick. and all the friends I have made on this internet. they add a lot of joy to my life.
ReplyDeleteI hope I learned from the past. but I wouldn't want to re-live it.
every era has its problems. but yesterday's viewing of the events were horrendous to us. we have no president. we haven't had one for the last four years.
he is a reality show person. he needs to hear two words that he might understand. "you're FIRED."
Tammy: Like you, I've made lots of good friends through the internet, friends I had never even heard of 20 years ago. As for Trump, he was told "you're fired" back in November but he still fondly imagines he was re-elected. The rioting at the Capitol yesterday was appalling.
DeleteI’ve never wanted to be younger than I am, I would have to give up too much. The advantage of lifelong learning.
ReplyDeleteI love the internet, my window on the world. No, this is a good time for me.
Jean: It's hard to remember now how we managed without all the facilities of the internet. We took for granted how laborious everything was!
DeleteI think, for many, the good old days are from their youth. Of course life was easier when you didn't have adult responsibilities. For those of us who were allowed to have a childhood, anyway.
ReplyDeleteLinda: Life was certainly easier without adult responsibilities, as you say. But it's more than being a child, I think. There's a definite tendency in some people to gloss and "clean up" their memories.
DeleteI do very much agree Nick, we have a lot to be grateful now in comparison (lockdown aside)
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd pop by and see who's still about. I miss being here!
Suburbia: Wow, it's a very long time since you let your blog lapse! Of course we've kept in touch through Facebook in the meantime. And yes, I'm still addicted to blogging!
DeleteI was thinking the other morning how I used to wear more clothes to go to bed than I wore out, and the only heating in our house was a coal fire in the living room. I am clearly spoiled now as I still find myself shivering in a centrally-heated home.
ReplyDeleteLiz: We just had a coal fire and some paraffin heaters, but I don't remember being freezing cold. Now we have central heating and Jenny and I often feel chilly, despite thick jumpers. We find that once the temperature gets down to freezing point, it's hard to get the house properly warm.
DeleteRoll forward 30 years - I wonder how the over 50s will be reviewing the past?!
ReplyDeleteSx
Ms Scarlet: I can just imagine it. "Ooh, I wouldn't want to be back in 2020. The pandemic, widespread poverty, miserable state pensions, billionaires not paying any tax - blimey, it must have been awful."
DeleteFor the most part, I think we are far better off today, for all the reasons you listed. However, just yesterday my husband and I were talking about the continued threats of violent uprising by Trump's lunatic supporters and the horror of watching the Capitol over-run. It seems like we had made a lot of progress (too slow, to be sure, but in the right direction) in racial equality and it has evaporated over the last four years.In my country, we have some serious re-building and healing to do before I will feel like these times are the ones I want to be living in.
ReplyDeleteAgent: It's been horrifying watching Trump dismantle so many progressive policies and organisations over the past four years. He has an alarming number of supporters and no doubt he's planning further mayhem in the months to come.
DeleteI don't think there are any "good old days". I think there are aspects of life in most people's "good old days" that might be preferred compared to how it might be today. However, there are so many desirable aspects in each of those decades, years, that I wouldn't be willing to give up. So,I wouldn't want to turn back the clock 'cause I wouldn't welcome reliving some of the negatives of the time(s).
ReplyDeleteJoared: Me too, I wouldn't want to relive all those unpleasant experiences of my youth. I'm quite happy in the present day.
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