The "Good Old Days" Paradox...

[glocktogo]

Now I'm not saying everyone in the 80s desperately wanted to return to the 70s, most of us realized that with few "specific exceptions" it sucked. But we might have traded video games, 80's new wave and Reagan for malt shops, 50's rock and Eisenhower because it seemed like a simpler time when we might have been more successful, more fulfilled. Some of us would have willingly gone back even further. Myself, I still think I'd have needed television.

Now I think the future will always be a mix of great leaps in technology, some cultural advances and possibly even some new guarantees on freedoms not completely enjoyed, but always with the eventual increase in governmental control and as a result we will always miss the "good old days" even if we don't realize that no matter when we are born, we'd still probably be nostalgic about a period of our youth or even a time before we were born that we only heard about from our parents or grandparents.

I think this is a problem for the here and now. I know for me, we were at peak times in the early 2000's, like before the great primer drought of 2005-2006. Yes we had 9/11 and some serious international drama, but from summer 1999 to mid 2008, everything was honestly pretty green and free.

If you look at the numbers, now should be better. It's just not even remotely better and I think the difference is qualitative, not quantitative. So even if I have "more", I feel less secure in numerous senses of the word. It's probably as easy now to be successful as any other time in American history. I just don't think that equates to being more fulfilled or at peace.

[P2Vaircrewman]

I was a teenager in the late 50's and early 60's. I would go back to that time in a heart beat.
Great music, beginning of the muscle car era, drag racing on the street, only the NFA existed. People were somewhat sane. I have a collection of music from that era and when I play it it takes me back and put me in a better mood. Different songs remind me of different events in my life at that time.

I especially like Kenny Chesney's Boys of Fall because it is an accurate description of what playing high school football was like. Playing football was probably the only thing that kept me in school. Not being college football material caused me to quit college after one semester. Football withdrawal was so bad I did not watch football or attend a game for years, couldn't accept being a spectator.
The war in Nam and LBJ's Great Society was was the turning point that ushered in what we have today.

[hotbiggun42]

Spent most of the day in the garage with some wood working projects, and it is during things like that (or fishing if I did it) that I tend to think up crap like the above. I never said life wasn't very good, hell I spent most of the day working on crap in my garage.

I did watch a movie though, and it was pretty enjoyable.

I watch movies too. Im only saying since i no longer focus on the distractions of TV, news, and blah blah i feel less stressed and happier.
I recently watched "Await further Intructions" mind blowing.

[markm]

I watch movies too. Im only saying since i no longer focus on the distractions of TV, news, and blah blah i feel less stressed and happier.

75% of the problems projected by the lunatic media are simply not there when you turn off their bullshit. No one I know is dead from corona... no one I know is racist... no one I know is an ugly ass pig mad about abortion, etc.

[Tanner]

There were song lyrics that went "these are the good old days". I have trouble thinking that the past 60's - 80's were that great. The 40's had WW2, & the Holocaust, the 50's had Korea and boredom, 60's onward... you know the rest. I recall driving from Boston to Miami in '77 using AAA guide maps, rather prefer my Tesla's Computer screen GPS with traffic updates, charging station locales, local eateries, etc as one example. For a great number of people things are pretty damn good, despite the price of gas and other items. Housing prices out of control...Absolutely!
But not for everyone. In my suburban area, $2M homes sell in less than a month, though they may only be worth 1/2 that. Antifa,Blm sjw's going crazy? On the news yes, in your neighborhood ? Maybe, but strongly doubt it. Nothing remotely like that happening in my neighborhood. Perhaps hell, discontent, unrest, and hardship happening in parts of the US, but so far all is well in my potion of Florida.... but we are in early hurricane season though :-( so ya' never know!

[Artos]

I was thinking about this myself just the other day...thumbing through the channels & there was a marathon of Loony Tunes playing. I went back to my childhood days remembering waking up early waiting for the static / colored lines to go away, the National Anthem would play & then the cartoons started. Had a whopping 3 channels. GrandDad had a double wide on Falcon Lake & learned to drive on that dirt road at a very young age (He said cow poop was good for the tires so tried to hit them) Leaned to waterski, drive a boat, not sure how many tons of white bass & stripers I've caught. Spending the entire summer on the BMX, drinking water from a neighbors garden hose whenever needed, Summer camps playing racquetball, tennis, swimming, basketball, dodgeball.

Then came the late 80's spending the weekends / late nights in Mexico at the clubs & small dive bars. Friday night lights will forever be stamped in my brain...still miss my 84 HO bronco w/ the 4 bbl Carb. No phones, when you went out be it with friends or to deer camp, you were on your own. The 90's had me spending every weekend during season in San Fernando slaughtering the white wings. Maybe it all boils down to youth, but it seems to me there was more of a tranquility in the world vs what my kids had. Only time my son ever went to mexico was as a really little kid when we went to dinners before that country went to crap. I'm grateful to have not grown up in the digital age.

[gsd2053]

Do yourself a favor and turn off the TV, grab your fishing pole and spend some time outdoors. Life is great here in America.
Politicians, actors, news, can kiss my ass I don’t need their bullshit in my life.

I like to go down to the river and shoot turtles. Is that wrong?

[kerplode]

This thread reminds me of my childhood...Sitting around listening to Weird Al...Good times.

Oh, some times I think back to when I was younger
Life was so much simpler then
Dad would be up at dawn, he'd be watering the lawn
Or maybe going fishing again

Oh, and mom would be fixing up something in the kitchen
Fresh biscuits or hot apple pie
And I'd spend all day long in the basement
Torturing rats with a hacksaw and pulling the wings off of flies

Those were the good old days
The years go by but the memory stays
And those were the good old days

Actually, now that I think about it, things sucked back then about as much as they do now...

[WillBrink]

It seems that once you reach a certain age, you yearn to relive your time in a world that mostly no longer exists.
.

I have never done that myself and always look forward and attempt to live in the now, because that is really the only thing we actually have. If you're living on the past, you're simply not living. I have both good memories of "back in the day" and plenty of not so good memories. While I do enjoy thinking about the crazy times of things past to be sure, I would not time jump back any of them even if I could. As always, it's simply the human mind to focus on and remember the good stuff for X time, and ignore a lot of things that really sucked or didn't exist, etc.

[glocktogo]

I have never done that myself and always look forward and attempt to live in the now, because that is really the only thing we actually. If you're living on the past, you're simply not living. I have both good memories of "back in the day" and plenty of not so good memories. While I do enjoy thinking about the crazy times of things past to be sure, I would not time jump back any of them even if I could. As always, it's simply the human mind to focus on and remember the good stuff for X time, and ignore a lot of things that really sucked or didn't exist, etc.

I spend very little time in retrospective mode, and it's usually a few drinks in with my best friends of 50 years. We laugh at the good things and bad things in the past, but lately there's not much lightheartedness when contemplating the future. We just enjoy the now and hope for the best.