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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think the 70s/80s/90s were better?

163 replies

alienbaby · 21/11/2021 18:47

Okay, so I was born in 1987 so missed the 70s. But I've always kind of fetishised this decade. It seems like it was a great time to be young. Same with the 80s and 90s. Freedom and opportunities but without the more rigid feel we have now.

It was 2006 when I went off and travelled and started living alone, and it was great because we had the internet of course, but it wasnt as pervasive. It meant there was still a kind of mystery about things, like you still had to engage and improvise whereas now you can just sort things out online ahead of time.

Am I just romanticising or do you think too that in a lot of ways the 70s/80s/90s were kind of a "sweet spot" where we had progress but not so much progress that we felt disconnected?

OP posts:
waltzingparrot · 21/11/2021 18:55

I grew up in the 70s and it was a lovely time of fun and freedom plus it never felt unsafe to walk around. It's my favourite decade so far and I'd live in that era again in a heartbeat. Interestingly, it's also my mum's favourite decade. She's now in her 90s but says it was a lovely time to raise a family.

Original poster
alienbaby · 21/11/2021 18:56

@waltzingparrot
That's interesting, my mum was in her 20s in the 70s and said that although she preferred her 30s as a woman, she loved the vibe of the 70s best.

OP posts:
AliceAldridge · 21/11/2021 18:58

I was born in the 70s and my 80s childhood and 90s teens were perfect.

Except they weren't perfect at the time so I am not sure. Rose tinted glasses are a wonderful thing! I liked the 2000s, for me it was a happy decade.

Original poster
alienbaby · 21/11/2021 19:02

@AliceAldridge
I think the 2000s were really good, because we had the internet to help us out but it wasnt in our pocket. For example not many people when I was at uni had their own computer, so you got out and about more. You had the ease and convenience of looking at a map online, but then had to memorise the route or draw a little sketch. I think I had a better sense of place back then because I had to actually visualise a city and remember places, whereas now I can just follow the blue dot.

OP posts:
Ilovetobake · 21/11/2021 19:02

I was born in the 80s.

I get a lot of nostalgia about the 90s.

I think it's probably rose tinted glasses.

rjane · 21/11/2021 19:06

Not sure they were better, just different.
The main difference seems to be that today we have "life" 24/7 unless there is a conscious decision to switch off.
Climate change had already been discovered, too! In those days it was supposed to be being caused by a hole in the ozone layer due to aerosols/CFCs.

AliceAldridge · 21/11/2021 19:08

Yes, I got lost a LOT during the 2000s OP. Good times Smile

Aprilx · 21/11/2021 19:09

I as born in 1970. I don’t have a favourite decade, I think there are upsides and downsides.

Original poster
alienbaby · 21/11/2021 19:10

@AliceAldridge
I agree :) on your bike drunk at 2am in the pissing rain thinking "it was turn left after the church and you should get to the river...right?!"

OP posts:
romany4 · 21/11/2021 19:13

I agree with you.
I was born early 70s. Childhood was idealic.
Teenager in 80s. Again, fab years. Enjoyed it all.
90s I married and had my kids. I was early 20s.
Wonderful years and lovely memories.

A580Hojas · 21/11/2021 19:16

I think on balance the internet is a bad thing for society. For all the plus points there are multiple minus points.

The trouble is people who were born since, say, 1995, cannot imagine life without it. They don't understand that life was slick and comfortable and modern (in the first world at least) pre the internet, they think of it as some sort of hopeless backwater.

Obsidiansphere · 21/11/2021 19:17

70’s a child, 80’s a teenager, by far my favourite decades!

Saysama · 21/11/2021 19:25

If you were straight and white, sure. If you were black, brown or gay, you were pretty much fucked. It wasn’t a particularly good time to be a woman or disabled, either. Or have mental health issues.

So, I think I’ll pass. Not being spat on in the street (this actually happened to someone I know, in London, circa 1983) has a certain charm.

Lincslady53 · 21/11/2021 19:27

I started work in 1972 in London. I worked for a company with an excellent management training programme, with rapid promotions (and pay rises). We had great bands playing in local pubs every night, it only cost 50p to get into the Marquee club. We could buy wine for 50p a bottle. But, we had massive inflation, think 25%+ in one year, mortgage rates at over 10%, we had the 3 day week. We had power cuts, the winter of discontent. Mortgages were very controlled through just a small number of building societies. Cars were crap, the Allegro, the Princess, the Maxi, and if you wanted to buy one you had to wait months. You could only get s phone from the Post Office, a choice of just 2 or 3 colours, only one style. Everyone got excited when the Trimphone was launched. Most beds had sheets and blankets. The Continental Quilt (duvet) was just coming in. A lot of houses had no central heating. Despite all that. I loved the 70s, but I was young, living in a vibrant(if filthy) city, met my partner, had some good friends, and generally had a great time.

Sweetchocolatecandy · 21/11/2021 19:30

I was also born in 1987 and wish I’d been a teenager in the 80’s tbh- I love 80’s music, films and TV shows and I just think I would have been happier. I always joke with people that I was born in the wrong decade.

NovemberNovemberDarkNights · 21/11/2021 19:32

I'm very thankful to have been
Born in '69. I definitely think it was the 'sweet spot'

CompensationStreet · 21/11/2021 19:33

Life was good in 80s and 90s- ok, maybe not perfect but we had pauses in our days and nights and not this constant non stop 24/7 society we live in today. The closest we came to rediscovering that was in lockdown.

Original poster
alienbaby · 21/11/2021 19:35

@A580Hojas
I agree with you. I actually think the internet for all its incredible benefits might be the worst thing to happen to society. But its insidious, if pushed I couldn't explain why exactly it's a bad thing. But that's how it feels. On paper, its great. You can book appointments, organise travel down to the smallest detail, come onto MN and see views from lots of different people, get live news updates, know what's going on in your community, order food shopping so you dont have to deal with that inconvenience, keep in touch easily and instantly with loved ones all over the world, and yet it feels like all of this takes away something. It should be a total blessing, so why does it feel like a burden?

OP posts:
Original poster
alienbaby · 21/11/2021 19:38

@Lincslady53
This really intrigued me: Most beds had sheets and blankets
Are you saying that was uncomfortable? I've only ever had a duvet. But when I stayed with my gran it was tight sheets, a blanket, and this amazing thing that was thin but extremely heavy and surprisingly warm, maybe it's what you'd call an "eiderdown"? Like a very heavy quilted sheet that would really weigh your lower body down

OP posts:
Aroundtheworldin80moves · 21/11/2021 19:40

I think the main difference is people heard less of the bad stuff. Now with 24hr news, social media etc we know the good, the bad and the ugly immediately.

I'm very glad my student year stupidly was not immortalised. Facebook launched during my university days, but we had to wait to we got home to upload stuff, so it we censored it when sober.

Snugglepumpkin · 21/11/2021 19:40

Yes, they were better, so much less pressure to have 'stuff' & do 'stuff'.
Life was more about living not performing for general society.

There were bad bits too, as there always are, but I feel so sorry for my son having to grow up in this hate filled me me me society.

RedWingBoots · 21/11/2021 19:42

@Saysama

If you were straight and white, sure. If you were black, brown or gay, you were pretty much fucked. It wasn’t a particularly good time to be a woman or disabled, either. Or have mental health issues.

So, I think I’ll pass. Not being spat on in the street (this actually happened to someone I know, in London, circa 1983) has a certain charm.

I was about to write something similar.
Aroundtheworldin80moves · 21/11/2021 19:42

As for the 80s... I never knew how much the Miners Strikes affected my family until recently, it wasn't talked about. But apparently it was a massive contributing factor in my grandmother dying in her 50s, as the wife and mother of miners. (She died before I was born, and my father was living in London)

A580Hojas · 21/11/2021 19:45

@Saysama

If you were straight and white, sure. If you were black, brown or gay, you were pretty much fucked. It wasn’t a particularly good time to be a woman or disabled, either. Or have mental health issues.

So, I think I’ll pass. Not being spat on in the street (this actually happened to someone I know, in London, circa 1983) has a certain charm.

I think all this still happens sadly. On top of that, if you are homosexual now things are DEFINITELY going backwards for you.
toolazytothinkofausername · 21/11/2021 19:47

YANBU. 70s/80s/90s were definitely better.