What Were the "Good Old Days" Actually Like?
🗣️ DISCUSSION 💬
The earliest president I can really remember is Obama so I can't recall a time when it didn't feel like America was in decline. Everyone says it was better before but it's pretty hard to imagine a world without wokeness.
It peaked in the 70's and 80's. I believe the early 80s was as good as it got before it started the downward trend.
How can i explain it. It's difficult to explain to someone. Firstly there was no internet, so people had to talk or use the telephone. Families got together and gatherings, people went to church. There was cable but it didn't really start to take off for wide adoption until the 80s.
Ghost stories scared you. Kids went out and played, they went to scouts, went camping.. they weren't balls of lard like so many are now.. a few were, but it was really rare. Kidnappers were a thing in the back of your mind, but kids were safe, and taught sound morals. People were generally civil. aside from drinking and smoking (which was pretty common), hardly anyone did drugs.
There was a lot of a sense of 'we're free to live great as we want' but there was always a bit of background noise like..
I wasn't awake back then but i could tell the sense was 'there's still something wrong.. it's good but not perfect, though it's good enough for now so lets enjoy it'.
Movies were really enjoyable, one memorable one with the family was Disney's Flight of the Navigator (Disney was one of the best studios then too). When i think about it a lot of vectors really started combining together towards the late 80s and into the 90s that led to the absolute BS we have now.. in the late 80's and early 90s things were becoming shit. Too focused on money, power, fame, lies (eg: there is no god!), self (less on community).
When the internet came along i broke off into it and took 5-10 years to figure out what that whole 'there's something wrong' thing was. I woke up around the mid 90s, because of all the access to information, and the ease at communicating with 1000's of people at once, to get their takes and a better picture.
Anyway im sure i could think of more things later on but that's a rough summary of my thoughts right now.
I am old enough to remember when everyone left their car doors unlocked when they went to a public place, and nobody stole stuff out the cars. Anyone who locked their car doors at a convenience store were seen as paranoid weirdo's.
I am 50+; a true Gen-X.
When I was in high school with 1200 other kids, I didn't know a single gay person. The teachers didn't push any woke agenda, and the classes were semi-useful. (I think I had the last year they offered home-ec and typing, and on actual typewriters.) My friends and I had no cell phones, and checked in occasionally with our parents from pay phones. In the summer I'd roller skate solo to the beach, or get dropped off at the barn all day long and get lost on trail rides. Life was pretty darn blissful.
When my sons were growing up, it was a different world but still mostly normal. I did homeschool my oldest after 6th grade so he could have more free time (he was earning his private pilot's license at 14) and we did the same for our youngest. Now? There's NO WAY I'd enroll a kid in public school. Not a chance.
Yeah we had typing too, that class turned out to be one of the best classes i ever took. Home ec was great too, i think both classes went on until the 90's here and were eventually dropped.. maybe not typing.. not sure.
Typing turned into computer class.
I took typing to help me with computer classes.
Bonus was that I was the only boy in the class ;)
Sweet!
You're right with Obama. When he said:
"I will execute the Office of President of the United States faithfully."
instead of
"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States"
I told a family member "this guy is bad, he's going to be very bad man, he just made a very bad oath, and he made the oath in that way before God" They looked at me like i was mental, but i was proven right. the MSM's "he's a great orator" never ever fooled me, even though so many repeated the line.
It was a time of innocence. Looking back it more a time of ignorance, for most of us (not all, there was still plenty of government oppression going on, we just didn't see the pattern yet)
Before Kennedy was killed and the illusion of safety felt real.
I'm an 80s kid (so my vote is for the 80s & 90s as being the last good old decades). But one moment in particular stands out. I'm pretty sure it was in '86 during the bombing of Libya which was on the news every night. President Reagan was giving pretty regular updates but one night he stops and says he wants to talk just to the kids. He places his papers aside, gets closer to the camera, changes to a soft tone, and in the most loving and comforting way, tells us kids very simply why this is happening, what the USA is doing about it, and assures us we're safe and everything will be ok and over soon. I remember my brother and I feeling so special and proud and we believed him. I've searched the ends of the internet to find a video but that's the best thing about this time - no phones, cameras, internet...
Trust us, it was better in the 70s even though we had the peanut farmer.🙄
I still remember sitting in line at the gas station for what seemed liked forever, on our even-odd license plate day. Other than that, it was good times.
I remember not having to lock our doors; everyone was patriotic; schools actually taught you something; my mom’s paycheck was for extras; good grades got you a full ride scholarship; you didn’t get dozens of vaccinations; kids had part time jobs to buy a very affordable used car, pay for the insurance and gas; neighbors helped neighbors; homes were affordable; etc.
Born on the cusp VE Day and VJ Day-ended up growing up in Omaha in mid 50s to early 60s. Life was much simpler then-stayed out in the evening till the street lights came on; felt safe with my neighborhood friends-worried about the polio crises, lived in a broken family but had friends at school. I rode my Hopalong Cassidy fat tire bike everywhere and was pretty sqrauney.. Couldn't ride it now 😂 The worst day then was a beautiful day now...
F@#king awesome.
The first president that I voted for was Ronald Reagan. I can now see that they were pulling at the threads of the fabric of our society, but I couldn't see it then.
When we were kids, our parents told us things like "Go outside and be home before the street lights come on". So, we'd get on our bikes and explore the town with our friends. Based on that alone, you can imagine that the average town was MUCH safer than the average town now.
I raised my children in the same town that I grew up in and I couldn't raise them the same way because the big city problems were seeping in and my children were actually afraid to go too far from home alone.
JFK was like Donald Trump, spoke to the people and saw what was wrong and tried to make it right. Biden hauntingly reminds me of LBJ. Short version with a comparison.
Earliest I remember is W Bush. Aka Bush jr.
You'll have your own version when you're old enough. There have always been lies. Luckily, we were too busy running wild to notice.
Growing up in the 70s, you could buy a house for 15,000 dollars. A car new cost 2,000 dollars. A truck cost about 4,500 dollars. No bottled water just a garden hose. No computers just a corded telephone. Play outside was a thing. All day and go home when dark out. Or you had to take a bath for school the next day. Today's kids don't know how to socialize. They are skiddish and nervous to talk to their peers or any adults. The cellphones have done way more harm than good. But that ship has sailed. Anyway, inflation was bad with Carter when we left the gold standard. I could buy a bag of candy for 25 cents. A snikers bar was 25cents. A comic book was 5 cents. Wages were about 3 dollars an hour. As a man you could support a large family of 5 to 8 children on a high-school diploma. Now, to adjust your thinking. Look at the testing to graduate HS, it's tough. Our college kids would not be able to answer these questions. College was very tough and affordable. The janitor dad could afford a house, a car, and his children while sending the oldest off to college all on a janiors pay. It was a different time. And will never come again.
Well we knew who we were then. Girls were girls and men were men. Didn't need no welfare state. Everybody pulled their weight. Those were the days ...
I remember all my family loading into the station wagon (6 kids) and going to church Sunday morning. And all the neighbors doing the same, in Los Angela's county.
When I grew up we never locked our front door until the mid 80’s. Schools were safer. Fights were rare and girls never faught. Any kids with reoccurring discipline problems were expelled from school and sent to schools for bad kids.
This pretty much encapsulates the 1970s
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QxIWDmmqZzY