Anyone miss the early 2000’s and feel sad that we’re moving further away from those time?

[PlatinumBlondeXo]

Just that really. I know every era had its ups and downs. I do remember the downs of the early 2000’s as well as the ups but I just think it was generally a better time with less depressing things going on and more community feel and support. I grew up in that time period and yeah I didn’t have the best childhood and there was crappy times but also there was loads of great times. I would love to experience the 00’s as an adult. If only time machines actually existed lol. I feel sad that my kids will never experience the early 2000’s and how time has passed by. I know I sound like a saddo lol. I miss the people too.

And I was married with young children then.
Public services worked. Social media was not as prevalent. Money went further. The Tories have royally screwed this country over.

I don't miss them but there are many aspects of life then I'd like back.

We’ve all lost a certain amount of hope I think. And realised that the planet is waning. I try to be optimistic and look on the bright side but the facts are bleak: the UK is falling apart, schools have no money, NHS is being shafted, you can’t get healthcare within a reasonable timeframe anymore, the COL is insane, the trains are often not running due to strikes, and the government are in bed with misogynistic racist wankers. It’s depressing.

And the Labour Party don’t much like women either.

This is why I enjoy my free time as much as possible because certain realities are just too grim.

YABU

Every generation looks back on the years when they were growing up as being the best. Rose tinted glasses.

I look back at the 80s and 90s with fondness, my parents do the same about the 50s and 60s.

And the Labour Party don’t much like women either

Why does this have to be shoe horned into every thread?

Life peaked 1997-2007.

Uni was free then cheap.

100% mortgages for everyone even on min wage.

Great music, cheap gigs. Clubbing culture. Cheap drinks and no smell of weed everywhere.

Fashion wasn't great but clothes were getting cheaper.

Fun on nights out without being worried about photos.

Decent tv on 5 channels every day.

Girls could behave 'like boys' without being told they are actual boys.

Ignorance was bliss and the ignorance has no ceased to be. We know EVERYTHING.

I was living with friends in a lovely flat and paying £38 a week! Despite the fact that I couldn't get a job with my degree so was working in an 'unskilled' job I had far more available cash than I have now. In fact my salary wasn't that different to now.

I worked in a call centre for a mortgage company but avoided getting an 100% mortgage because I didn't want to be tied down. I massively regret that decision when I think how cheap houses in my area were back then. I remember occasionally people from london would call up and their mortgage payments were upwards of £1,000 a month and being absolutely horrified wondering how on earth anybody could afford that!

They really were. We bought then. I often think what would have happened if we hadn't. Its scary. I miss the 90s/early 00s so much

Things were really better then .

I don't miss the early 2000s at all, I hated that time. Horrible fashion and music 😔 and socially felt very judgemental. I can't stand anything that reminds me of that era. I really miss the 90's. Music was very good and there was so much more hope then. Stark contrast to now.

@Frequency same my son was born in 2003 and there was so much hope abd optimism everyone felt like they had a piece of the pie now scrabbling over stale crumbs

I've been thinking this a lot too lately. I was born in 86 and I can't decide whether it is just my youth I'm missing (as a PP suggested) or whether times were genuinely better then.

I look back on the 80s and 90s with great fondness, and I wasn't growing up then. Nothing to do with rose tinted glasses, times were just better, and yes, there was more hope. With the best will in the world right now it's hard to see what is going to be better in the future unless there is some sort of drastic change.

I don’t miss it at all. My life is much, much better now, in the sense of more fulfilling rather than material stuff. I lived in London and had no friends, didn’t know my neighbours or anyone in my community. Life was just work and finding stuff to do to fill the spare time with dh. Everything was expensive and everywhere was noisy and dirty.

I was a teenager in the 2000's and the nostalgia I feel for it is something else! I loved that time. I'm not sure if it's just my youth I'm missing but they were genuinely the most fun days of my life so far!
My son is about to turn 12 and I just hope he gets to experience the same joy I did for the next 10 years or so!

My DD is 13. Has lived her life under Tory Rule. I remember when I was 18 and off to Uni (no fees, bursary). I worked in a pub for my own drinking money. I worked hard at Uni but didn’t think my whole life depended on getting a first. Sadly, when she is 18 I don’t t think she’ll have the free and easy time at Uni as I did.

This! I was earning around £1300-1400 pcm and as I was still living with my parents and paying minimal rent I was able to put thousands away in savings. My first house was £102K for a 3 bed semi and the mortgage was £450 a month! I feel so sorry for this current generation.

This is just the ageing process.

It is normal to miss the period when you were young.

I agree there are genuine political issues now, but the nostalgic desire to go back rather than work for a better future is due to ageing.

80s for me. The downfall started in the 90s and is just getting worse.

I wish I had the foresight to get in the housing ladder a bit earlier. I remember in the 2000s house prices going up & up & thinking it couldn’t keep going up and it’s taken 20+years and the interest rates increasing to finally stall the housing mkt a bit! I know I’m lucky to ‘own’ a home but we have a massive mortgage still to pay, am sure my parents generation would have nearly paid theirs off by our age.

Things I miss (both nostalgia and on behalf of my kids)

• university grants (the amount of debt they come out with now is bleak)
• raves / dance music culture (am sure it’s still out there but being young/ staying up all night was such a buzz)
• universal benefits - by the time I had kids the Tories stopped our child benefit due to income but I lived in the SouthEast we didn’t have income to spare!)
• health in pregnancy grant to help set up when we had our first baby & child trust funds helped me start saving for my children’s future - both Labour initiatives the Tories stopped
• Children’s centres for free activities when kids were little again funding stopped by Tories (after mine were school age thankfully)
• Going out to choose a film at Blockbuster on the weekend- it’s box sets and streaming now
• Travel without feeling guilty about environmental impact
• In the 90s we were worried about endangering animals but hadn’t got the real fear about climate change. The first thing I remember was CFCs from aerosols being bad for the ozone layer
• There was a sweet spot when Russia aligned on global politics and we no longer had the fear of nuclear war (like when growing up in the 80s) of course other conflicts and fears then appeared
• people could retire in their early 60s with the likelihood of a decent retirement

Good thread @PlatinumBlondeXo you got me thinking about all sorts!

Yes, I do. DC were young and I remember thinking they were growing up in a golden age of peace and relative security. If you needed a hospital appointment, you got one. Their state primary school was so well-equipped, no local private school could match it, with long-standing teachers.

It's really tough out there now.

My first teaching salary in 2000 was 15k - I felt richer then than I do now on UPS3!

I miss those days too. So so much.

Sorry I think this happens to everyone and we all idealise a different time TBH

Most things improve over time, when you step back and look at the bigger picture. For sure there are horrible things happening in the world, but that has always been the case.

I think if you're feeling doom and gloom it's helpful to look at where that might be coming from/what makes you feel that way and look at whether you can do anything about that. For example if it's social media, change what apps you use, change what pages you follow, consider whether you're getting a lot of algorithmically-driven content rather than content you choose and whether that's positive or not.

Following resources in specific areas you're interested in e.g. research or advocacy in a certain area where you get to see small increments of progress is helpful.

Limiting your consumption of stuff like international news is also helpful - we're not built to be able to process all of this information from all of the billions of people in the world. Our brains are calibrated on a much smaller, local scale.

If you value community get involved in community stuff - they are still out there and it feels great to do that kind of thing!