Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences - This topic has 13 replies, 14 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 10 months ago by
.
Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)
- Posts
- Why do so many people have an abiding affection for bygone eras? As late as 1960, one in three children lived in poverty. Prior to the '20s, absentee fathers didn't even have a child-support system to evade. In the 1940s, less than half the children entering high school graduated. The United States has been the murder capital of the industrial world for 150 years, and alcohol consumption in the 1820s was three times higher than it is today. There's tons more, including the horrifying treatment of gays, women and racial minorities. So why do people consider the past so idyllic?
User Detail :
Name : Jessica B., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 17, City : Raleigh, State : MS Country : United States, Occupation : teacher's assistant, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Women may have gained privileges that weren't possible say, forty years ago, but we have also lost something that many may consider wonderful. In many ways, we have lost our femininity, or being more 'lady-like'. Young girls, especially daughters of feminist activists aren't encouraged to dress up, to be nice and courteous and taught proper etiquette. Fewer girls are being 'come out' (debutantes) than ever before. Instead, young women exert their sexuality, they talk about sex in public, and do things that are considered rude. These young girls don't care, and do what they feel like. How sad.User Detail :
Name : Ellen25330, Gender : F, Race : Asian, Religion : Catholic, Age : 23, City : Toronto, State : NA Country : Canada, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,Nostalgia has been with us for a long, long, long time. It is a normal human characteristic. For example, over 2,300 years ago the author of Ecclesiastes said, 'Be not like fools who ask why former times were better than these.' I would guess that those who glorify previous times do not actually miss the 'times' so much as they miss being at the age they were then. I notice you are 17. Keep your perspective and perhaps 40 years from now you will be able to say, '2002 really wasn't all that remarkable one way or the other. I'm glad to be living in 2042.'User Detail :
Name : Michael20644, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Unitarian, Age : 58, City : Portland, State : OR Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,I believe most of this bias comes from a tendency by all of us to over-romanticize the eras in which we experienced our childhoods. Part of it, however, stems from a political agenda pursued by those who would roll back the gains made by women, minorities, children and others who are not in the WASP male demographic. The Christian Coalition and Family Research Council are two groups that blatantly exploit this romanticization to promote a theocratic platform.User Detail :
Name : Vincent, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 29, City : Minneapolis, State : MN Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,I don't understand it either, Jessica. I guess people get used to things being a certain way, and don't like things to change, even if the changes are for the better. There are a few things that may have been better then, but for the most part, let's leave the past where it belongs: in the past. We should remember it, not live it. Instead of lamenting about how we wish things were the way they used to be, we should be concerned with what we can still affect: the present and future. Besides, trying asking anyone than a straight white guy who lived during that time how great the 'good old days' were.User Detail :
Name : JR21128, Gender : M, Race : Black/African American, Age : 32, City : Franklin, State : VA Country : United States, Occupation : Systems Analyst, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,A long time ago, Americans had more freedom. Unfortunately, this didn't quite apply to non-white males and alternative lifestyles to the same degree, and unfortunately it took government intervention to bring it about. Still, I've read about the days when you could buy a belt-fed 30 caliber machine gun at the local general store about as easily as you can buy a stereo today. Or when you could trek for hundreds of miles and never see a single soul aside from the Indian Tribes that'd been there since the earth cooled, or the other trappers and mountain men in the area. And then there were the days when a politician even suggesting anything like the current Income Tax we have today would get tarred and feathered... if he was lucky. I think we are not as free today. And we fail to realize it. Our freedom shall shrink even more with the Patriot Act and other reactionary measures.User Detail :
Name : Dan27356, Gender : M, Race : Chicano, Religion : Pentecostal, Age : 24, City : Los Angeles, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.User Detail :
Name : Rick29775, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, City : Springfield, State : OH Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,When you listen to an elderly person reminiscing about their past, do you cross-reference it with what the history books say? I'm positive most of us, including myself have done that. How could the past have been so great, what with our generation hearing about the great depression, and WW2 and Vietnam, usually. Sure it was tough, but I believe as these wise people look back, they neglect the bad stuff we've been forced to understand, and they focus on the things that brought them joy. Tell me, when you have grand kids, are you going to terrify their bedtime stories with the suffering of 9/11, the flip-flopping recession/depression, Clinton's bout with deception, and your own problems? No, we will comfort them with the joyfulness of our youth, and the good times we had despite the world's problems, even if we have to turn it into a fairy tale. I know I won't tell my grand kids the total truth I've lived through. Grown adults reading this would shivver in fear!User Detail :
Name : Glenn, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 25, City : San Bernardino, State : CA Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower class,Your just way too smart for your own good !User Detail :
Name : Evil, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 28, City : Tucson, State : AZ Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,Melissa, you are posting some wonderful questions. I absolutely, 100%, do not want to be a kid again. My childhood is gone, and good riddance. But I love old movies, old pulp fiction, and the stuff I enjoy most seems to have been current when I was a little boy. Nostalgia? Not really. But those were the times that formed the very core of us. Maybe we understand those times, bad as they may have been, better than we understand the present. It's a confusing world.User Detail :
Name : Ron R., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Age : 53, City : Los Lunas, State : NM Country : United States, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class,Jessica, as time goes by you'll make new friends and lose track of old ones. Prices, clothes, cars, what's on TV, and everything else will change. I don't know that people consider the *social* past as idyllic, so much as they miss their *personal* past ... old favorite TV shows, pop bands that aren't around any more. As for your assessment of the cultural past ... right on! (Old enough to be your grandpa, listen to Drum and Bass)User Detail :
Name : Twang24929, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Seattle, State : WA Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College,Nosatlagia stem i think from the fact that no matter how bad something was in the past a person has made it through where as the future is unknowable and all types of potential dangers lurk that we might not make it through. That said it seems almost human nature for people to be nostalgic. Every culture in history has thrived on ideas that at one time the universe was in harmony and something in the now is wrong or out of balance. Think of Milton when he describes 'the fall' It is almost as universal as faith itself, the that life was once idyllic. Within one's own life time there is of course the tendency to gloss over memories and make the past one fond rememberence.User Detail :
Name : doug galecawitz, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 25, City : Lisle, State : IL Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower class,I can best answer this in four words: Humans crave a ritual. But to give more detail, there always seems to be something very appealing about the past to even someone who wasn't even alive in those days. You just simply cannot approach it from a pessimistic point of view. For instance, in the 20's, the child support issues may be overlooked by a modern day mob enthusiast. Or in the 60's, a modern day hippy may overlook the poverty problems they had back then. As far as half the children in high school graduating, not to sound smartasstic, but when did this change? Also bear in mind that during the 1820's along with the alcohol consumption, cocaine was considered an over the counter headache remedy, and heroin/opium was sold over the counter as cough medicine. So, some things change and some don't. The bottom line though, if you approach it from the angle of pointing out the problems associated with the said decades, along with asking 'Why the nostalgia?' you might as well be asking 'Why the present era?' because we are still very far from achieving the title of utopia.User Detail :
Name : Joe, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 23, City : Houston, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : I.T., Education level : Technical School, Social class : Middle class,Nostalgia comes with having memories that pertain to the same period of life you are in. Most notably I would say is adulthood since it spans from 18 till you get to the point of not remembering. At only 17, your memories of the bygone eras involve you being way to young to care. I'm only 26 and already I get nostalgic of certain eras already gone from my life.User Detail :
Name : JaredW., Gender : Male, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 26, City : Robesonia, State : PA Country : United States, Occupation : Cook, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class,
Viewing 14 posts - 1 through 14 (of 14 total)
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.