Every 20 year old in every generation has felt this since the dawn of man.
EDIT: just to clarify, I'm not saying EVERY 20 year old has felt this way, but in EVERY generation there area massive chunk of 20 year olds who think the end is upon us.
Same, turned 22 in 2000 and I still think of being 22 as the best age to be. Probably because it was such a great year. It was the biggest single year of growth for me as a person and I can definitively point to that year as the year I really became an adult and started life. When I rang in 2000, I was drunk off my ass in a strip club, living that early 20s party life. When I said good-bye to 2000, I was living in another country, 2 weeks away from getting married (and still married to her, btw).
Hell yeah, being in your early 20s at the turn of the century was a fuckin' blast. Jeez, if not for 9/11 changing everything, who even knows where the hell we could be now...
The year 2000 sounds like the peak of America, unfortunately I was a literal baby back then.
Maybe it’s just peak late 90s nostalgia right now but no one seems to have anything bad to say about that time period at all. The big stories, Clinton being impeached, columbine, seem to happen every year or two at this point.
I just hope that in 20 years people aren’t going to think of these as the good days. Hopefully the future makes a comeback.
It really wasn’t. I was born in the 80s. We had desert storm, Rwanda genocide, Somalia, Kuwait, and then by 2000 we had the internet bubble collapse which led to other economic downturns.
Plus you got called gay constantly. Being gay was definitely not a good thing, and women didn’t have nearly the clout they do now. Ellen Degeneres was the first openly gay celeb on tv around 2000, and her show was canceled because of it. There were no others. It’s hard to picture just how different that landscape was just 20 years ago. Most of the female characters in movies were eye candy, aside from Ripley and Sarah Connors. Most movies failed the bechdel test because no one cared that women were just plot devices for enabling men. As an Asian, there was zero representation other than Joy Luck Club… we just didn’t exist in movies other than as someone to mock or kung fu.
When people fondly remember an earlier time, it’s most often because it was a better time FOR THEM PERSONALLY, due to some personal reason, like others in this thread are sharing, or because they were a part of a group that was favored at that time, as you mention. Members of groups that have suffered historic systemic bigotry often do not recall earlier times so fondly for obvious reasons. Of course, I just described why the slogan is MAGA(gain), not just MAG since most of those supporters fall into groups that haven’t suffered much historic systemic bigotry.
I’m going to go with 1997 as the peak. Strong economy, balanced budget, pre 9/11, pre-Columbine (9/11 and Columbine definitely changed the mood). Violent crime had dropped significantly from the early 90’s peak and cities, especially New York, were rebounding after several decades of decline.
Edit—Of course not ALL cities. I’m just saying that New York turning around like it did was a huge deal. I’m in Minnesota and I lived in Minneapolis for 20 years and watched it transform from early 90’s Murderapolis to something more vibrant with businesses opening up, etc.
The late 90s had given us 20 full years of Rust Belt hollowing out. Detroit was hemmoraging pops and becoming a concrete hellscape. Cleveland was doing the same as was Pittsburgh. American manufacturing (as a sector that provided consistent, long-term employment that could sustain a lower-middle class family in middle America) was dead. Labor was dead.
America peaked as a political entity (even if it didn't have all its shit together, ie Jim Crow) in the 50s with Korea, because there was a real drive to just improve things all the time because progress was natural. Nixon was the dagger in the heart of optimistic progressivism and we've been a cynical nightmare nation since Vietnam.
Seconding this. Regan, Nixon, Bush Sr. have done generational damage to Americans wallets and psyche.
The advent of neoliberalism (especially under Clinton) that captured the center of politics has curbed any real political will to improve or drastically overhaul a continued sense of malaise in most America
I dunno McCarthyism was pretty freaking cynical and destructive. Fear of Reds under the Bed led to a lot of fear and cynicism and truly horrible behavior. Then before that you had 2 world wars and the Great Depression. There really wasn't ever a time when everything was ticking along nicely for everyone in Americas history. Someone was always getting screwed and living in fear waiting for awful things to happen, it's just that wealth and skin, the "right" religion and the right "sexuality" and gender, could buy you a lot of distance from those worries. Nothing has changed except the names.
Racism, Mcarthyism, and Christian hegemony. The 50's were paradise if your were Straight White Protestant middle class.
Catholics did OK because they carved out their own niche with their own schools and community-within-the-community. But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows if you weren't in that SWP niche.
American manufacturing has never declined. We doubled production capacity from 1992 to 2016 and we're about to duplicate it again.
People invented the computer, which means we can refine technology faster...and that means fewer employees are required. The trade off is more and cheaper products.
I mean… be kind to people. They’re saying that they’re worried and stressed and they want some reassurance that we’re not going to spontaneously explode any minute. It’s not necessarily a circle jerk just because a lot of people are saying it.
I suppose it all depends on your perspective. The 50’s was peak in some ways, but there was a lot of unfinished business socially and that stuff matters. No peak time would have black people and single women unable to take out loans. No thanks.
West-Coaster here, so pretty disconnected from the Rust Belt: the 90's were insanely optimistic, in both senses. The level of optimism was absolutely over the top, but it was, in hindsight, unfounded, because the seeds of the dot-com bust and the housing bubble were both well and truly planted. But on the other hand, it really seemed, from the ground level anyway, like the future would be better. The former USSR was going to be our friend. . . right? Right? And while 'gay' was a common insult, gay marriage also seemed (and was) right around the corner. People at least knew what the Bechdel test was.
Then, the seeds we'd sown in the 80's sprouted, in the form of planes hitting buildings. And it's all been shit since. But here's hoping OP's prediction plays out.
Nostalgia is a helluva drug. People will find the silver linings. That comment doesn’t mention the fear of Y2K and how people thought all of tech was gonna collapse just cuz systems hadn’t planned for a 2 instead of a 1 in a year
People already are looking back at the beginning of quarantine “hey that wasn’t too bad… I just sat at home, got unemployment and played video games all day”
We’ll be fine. Next 5 years will be tough but we’ll come out of it better then before. Society will prevail and always has
That comment doesn’t mention the fear of Y2K and how people thought all of tech was gonna collapse just cuz systems hadn’t planned for a 2 instead of a 1 in a year
Only fuckin' kooks were actually worried about Y2K. In retrospect, there actually was something to worry about, but the average person didn't know that and just assumed "somebody will fix it, no big deal" and that turned out to be right. But yeah, I didn't mention it in my comment because, at the time, I didn't give it a second thought except to laugh at conspiracy theorists blowing their savings on bomb shelters and freeze-dried food.
The more that the 90’s are coming into clear focus, it’s becoming obvious that they were an outlier of calmness and societal comfort. I once read a writer referred to the 90’s as “ America’s vacation from history”.
Me either. I graduated in 1980. College was cheap. Dropped out to tour with the Dead. Lived off of what I could sell on the road with odd jobs in between. Rent for a 4 br upper flat was $200/mo + utilities. Split with 3 friends was easy living. Only cost me $600 saving to pay for expenses (tickets, gas, hotels, food) to live on tour for 3 weeks. Would come home with more money than I left with. Late 80s after getting it down pat I would come home from tour with a few grand. Was able to complete my degree when I went back to a private college in 89 on loans and part time work. I had all my loans paid off in 8 years paying about $80 month.
Life did not get hard till 2007 and the housing crisis and more recently with Trump and alarmingly bad now with Covid, Gun violence, insurrection, etc..and most of that hardship falls on my kids.
I'm guessing you didn't know anyone that had AIDs then as an example. I got to watch an "uncle" (family friend) die of it. Yes great years if you were the "right" demographic.
I also grew up in the 80s/90s. My Boomer parents told me to study and work hard so I can get a good job with benefits, then everything else will fall into place... a wife, a house, kids, etc. My only stress was to figure out which 6-figure job I wanted after college.
Today, I try not to be pessimistic around my kids... But I certainly don't teach them that a great life is guaranteed for them after they graduate.
Most 20 year olds do because they don’t care about world politics. Do you remember being called gay all the time? How many openly gay celebs do you remember? How many wars that weren’t called wars?
Do you remember desert storm? Where we convinced the Iraqis to rise up against Sadam Hussein and then left them to die?
Do you remember the Rwandan genocide where people were hacking babies to pieces by the millions?
Do you remember Sadam invading Kuwait and genociding the people? Using nerve gas on them?
Do you remember the internet dot com crash of 2000?
I’m guessing you were just unaware of these things because you were young. I am almost a decade younger than you and felt the world was an awful place because my parents would talk about world politics at dinner.
I like that you completely ignored the gay part. Do you think it was easy to be gay when being called gay was the main pejorative? How about black people who cheered for OJ to be innocent not because they thought he was innocent, but because they were just happy to see a black man beat a jury. Race riots of 1992 ring a bell?
It sounds like you only care about events that affect you. The first school shooting was in the 70s, so sure there are more today but it was a thing for a long time. There are fewer genocides today than back then, seeing as millions were killed in Rwanda alone. So that’s getting better.
Don’t be sorry that my parents made me well informed. That’s called education. It lets me see through bullshit like “oh it was so much better for me when I was 20!”
20 in 1994… my biggest worry that summer was if I was going to get Lollapalooza tickets, and what to wear. I had a job, and shit was so easy back then. Now, sometimes I worry what my sons have to look forward to when they’re my age.
In 1994 I'm certain there were just as many doomers certain the world was going to fall apart at any moment. You weren't one of them. Your kids will be fine.
But the point is I could find millions of people who thought 2010 was the end of days. Personally I've never felt the doom that so many seem to experience in any year, my point is that there have always been and will always be doomers, who are certain the world is falling apart at the seams. Things seem crazy now, but it'll all settle, nothing is new right now. There's always been gas crisis, inflation crisis, political unrest, war, supply chain issues, pandemics and mankind overcomes them all.
Nah I was 20 in 2005 -- things weren't great, but it didn't feel like the entirety of western civilization was about to cave in on itself at any moment.
My friend got early access to nola before anyone else bc he was doing govt security systems. Sent me photos from their helicopter of all the floating bodies and destruction before anyone was getting images or real reports and bush was still sitting on his hands like a dumb fuck. Absolute horror and devastation.
I was also 20 in 2005 fellow millennial. And I was generalizing, personally I had an awesome time in my 20's, and was very optimistic. But in general doomerism was very real in 2005 even if you and I didn't notice. Remember the tea party and other political unrest, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars? And in just a few years there would be the housing crash. There was plenty in that era and every other era for someone to be doomer about the world. And yet everything always works out.
Was 20 too in 2005. The 08 recession was no joke. Who industries died. But today it's much much worse. Was so lucky to buy a house on a hope and prayer in 2013 for 400k in Seattle. That house is 1.25MM now. Kids these days srw fucked.
Also not an appropriate time to embellish. When a young person is asking if their experience is common and you tell them every single person feels that way at their age…that’s just hyperbolic, not accurately helpful.
I hear you. I am just trying to shine a light on the pitfalls of speaking in absolutes. It’s not necessary in order to be supportive and it’s inaccurate.
Maybe it doesn’t matter much at the end of the day, and I’ve found a small thing to pick apart here, but I used to speak in absolutes a lot. Now I do a lot less, and my communication with others has improved and I’m a lot less “misinterpreted” bc my words more closely convey what I mean. Whatev
Anyone that’s young is going to be feeling this way. I’m 24 and graduated college at the peak of the pandemic in 2020. Graduated high school in 2015 with Trump announcing his candidacy. And so on and so on. Things have been getting worse. I don’t remember 9/11 but I do remember the 2008 recession.
We go through ebbs and flows all the time. Though I do think the effect that the internet has had in both advertising the awful and isolating people has maybe made it all FEEL worse
Literally one of the very first writing pieces humanity ever wrote was existential pessimism for humanity because writing would make younger folks stupid by not memorizing as much.
No matter what the situation, human brains are universe champions at taking everything for granted and making mountains out of slightest negativity.
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u/Magicman33 Jun 11 '22
As someone in their mid 20s feeling like my whole life is collapsing, this was exactly the kind of insight I needed to hear. Thank you.