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

[alienbaby]

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?

I was born late 40s and was a teenager in the 60s. It was the most fabulous time of my life, I wouldn't swap it for anything.

@toomuchlaundry

For those watching old episodes of TOTP, I assume there are a number of episodes that can't be shown or have been edited due to presenters/artists that can no longer be shown due to their criminal records.

There will also be a number of TV shows from the 70s that couldn't be shown nowadays due to their racist/homophobic attitudes, and a number of 80s shows haven't aged well.

Things were not all rosy in the 70/80s, much behaviour/attitudes then would be frowned upon now (hopefully)

Exactly - imagine getting tickets to Jim'll fix it and getting a lift there from Gary Glitter.

Yep I was born in the 60s and can remember just disappearing off for the days with my friends from about age of 10 and my Mum not being even remotely bothered . Student in Brighton in the 80s and then traveling to Oz late 80s . Cannot remember if I had a mobile…don’t think so ! Life was so less complicated and I don’t think I came across the internet until late 90s . Definitely think the world is so bloody complicated now …the fear of offending , now actually stops me from opening up and getting to know new people .

@Bingbong21

As a 93 baby I regard myself highly lucky I was probably one of the last years to avoid social media becoming what it is today. It was just taking off when I finished secondary

Yes my daughter would agree with you.X

1991 has some great songs. Ds has been playing some of them non stop

Some of the earlier TOTPs have had episodes removed due to dodgy presenters/acts.

You cannot cancel the past because of attitudes (not including criminals in this of course). I’m sure we’re not all blameless and will be guilty of something or other in the future. And, it is helpful to see programmes from the past. There is a reason for the pendulum swing now. Making out the past had no racism/sexism/disablism is counter productive - even leading to the notion that those who had lived experience were making a fuss about nothing.

Yanbu life was much less stressful.

I love the 70's era - I was an infant then but looking back on music, films and photos of my parents it's definitely the era I would have liked to be a young adult.

Jimmy Saville Era alas

I was born in the early/mid 70s.
The poverty was horrendous. There are some photos (probably I saw them in the guardian) of people living in what are essentially slums in Manchester and Birmingham, and they look like something from 1945.
We came in from school to candles (power cuts), no television (strikes), never-ending winter (snow and ice on the ground for months, pavements weren't cleared, I remember constantly falling, and no-one could afford grippy boots), sharing the bath/bath water with siblings, and it wasn't even up to your waist, frost patterns on the single glazed windows.
[shiver]
Pasta and rice had to be bought at a Health Food shop.
Clothes, shoes, toys, furnishings etc were very expensive.
Things changed a lot in the 80s.

Better times for me then than now for sure. However, I grew up abroad and things were great there.

@toomuchlaundry

For those watching old episodes of TOTP, I assume there are a number of episodes that can't be shown or have been edited due to presenters/artists that can no longer be shown due to their criminal records.

There will also be a number of TV shows from the 70s that couldn't be shown nowadays due to their racist/homophobic attitudes, and a number of 80s shows haven't aged well.

Things were not all rosy in the 70/80s, much behaviour/attitudes then would be frowned upon now (hopefully)

I don’t think everything was rosy in the past and I’m fully aware of the issues around racism and homophobia (as illustrated by my numerous prior comments on this thread). I can still enjoy old episodes of TOTP and television from when I was a kid whilst at the same time being aware of those things.

The 80s was a very tough time for those who weren't well off. There was a lot of stigma and prejudice against lone parents still. I do think the 90s felt a lot happier and more optimistic though. Maybe it's because I was at college and just starting my adult life then. 1995 was for me the perfect combination of progress and "old fashioned" friendships and values. It's all about perspective though isn't it? I wonder if today's teens will one day be all nostalgic about covid and Brexit?

Child in the 60s, teen in the 70s and twenty something in the 80s. 70s music was fab, joyful and fun. On the other hand attitudes to women were terrible, much worse than now.

Born in 1970, child 6 out of 7.

Poverty
Jumble sales
Power cuts
Strikes
Bullying
Pervs
Domestic violence acceptable
Shit employment rights
Lack of disability rights or understanding
Blatant racism and homophobia

I prefer now.

Mabelface

And rampant acceptable misogyny.
Sexism
No safety belts or H and S
No maternity leave or parental leave
No childcare

I was born early 80’s

• domestic violence acceptable - particularly if you didn’t leave a mark!
• every child I know was smacked
• It was very common for parent to smoke indoors at home and in the car. If children. Objected/or asked to open a window it was considered rude.
• parents still had children should be seen but not heard in schools
• Police didn’t take domestic violence seriously and there wasn’t really much in the way of safeguarding. Police were called about DV to my house many times. My mum never wanted to press charges and since he didn’t hit the kids it was as ok!

In the 70s you could only get olive oil from the chemist in a very small bottle. Nobody cooked with it.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow

In the 1980’s the parents of my gay friend offered to pay for psychiatric treatment to deal with it.

5 years ago when my mum was alive she said the same for her grandson my son.

She didn’t believe me it wasn’t a psychiatrist problem anymore. Nasty bitch.

I don't - born in the 60s, teenager in the 1970s - it was fucking awful, the decade style forgot. LA lot of popular music was just wank - the Fucking Bay City Rollers - a lot of 50s throwback twats like Alvin fucking Stardust and Showaddywaddddy Mud etc - just fucking useless.

I loved the music of the 70s, still do - but I didn't listen to the music you've mentioned (unless I heard it on someone else's radio). There were other options!

I was born in the early 70s and the massive difference for me was that we all seemed to have so much more money and therefore freedom as late teens/young adults, because rent and property prices were so much lower than they are now.

Me and my peer group in my city didn't really take life seriously until we settled down. We were out in the evenings three to four nights a week, going to restaurants and clubs, and none of us had actual careers at that point, just jobs to facilitate our lifestyles.

I know of so many young people now who seem obsessed with their careers, brought on I think by the difference in the cost of living. In bed by 10pm latest, answering emails in bed at 6am before jogging and at their desk working by 8am. It's like they're completely missing out on actual life as a young person!

Agree! I remember my Dad telling me how he had a job offer from a country half way round the world .a Pacific Island, in the 80s- he said other than a speck on a globe he had absolutely no knowledge of what this country was like, and had to go to London to buy a book on it as there was nothing in a local bookstore, and of course even then the information was basic. Today you’d google it in seconds and probably be able to take some kind of virtual tour. Where’s the sense of adventure in that?

I’m starting to hate the way technology takes over everything. It feels matrix-y to me- like we’re plugged into this system and tempted and lured by things to keep us there- ooo look at this new thing you can buy, look at this amazing lifestyle you could have if you just bought this thing or went on that holiday, look at this funny video, oh here’s some friends you knew 10 years ago- why don’t you spend time pouring over their lives to see if you should be doing anything differently, hey while you’re at it here’s an advert for something else you didn’t know you wanted….oh and now 10 years have gone by while you’ve been locked into your screen, but hey don’t go outside- come back, there more to spend…. Argh!! And yet here I am on mumsnet at nearly midnight typing away!!

Anyway, 90s we’re fab and 00s pretty good.

were

I was born in 1981, I spent most of the 80's and 90's being smacked around the head, grabbed by the throat and screamed at or being left alone in cars/holiday accomodation for long periods, getting screamed at in the supermarket to "shut up or I'll break your bloody neck". I don't think he'd get continue to get away with that kind of thing in 2021.

[quote alienbaby]@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?[/quote]
We need a sense of belonging, of contributing, of importance and being valued.
When you are a fish in a small pond, these things are in reach.

When the whole world and wealth of human experience is your pond - it’s hard. You can never be the best at anything and it’s hard to even be good. To be seen, to be known, to be valued; to be the focus of another person’s time and attention: you’re in competition with the whole world.

No wonder MH conditions are rife among young people.

The klf were a fucking mess TBF. Iove the TOTP old shows but really when I saw the KLF my overwhelming thought was: Jesus, what a state.

Loved it at the time though. And carter USM singing about what David Icke says.

Actually that's one way we've gone backwards. Nobody took David Icke seriously in the 90s.