Why Does Everyone Hate the Generation They Were Born Into?
I always hear people say something along the lines of “I wish I was born in the 19xx, life would have been so much better”. There is a perception that the past is this mystical time of living that we aren’t experiencing now. While there are many changes and in some cases things might have been better for you personally, every generation had its fair share of problems for the average everyday person. Today might be different but I wouldn’t say day to day live is more complex. We might have more advanced gadgets, but the core problems of what make human beings, human, still exist.
There is a word called Anemoia, which is nostalgia for a time that you have never known. There is a fantastic video made by Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows that talks about this phenomenon. I have to say that I definitely have this feeling commonly and find myself daydreaming what it would be like to live in the 80s or 90s. Not because I think life would be simpler, but because those times seemed so hopeful on the outside. Like I said before though, I know that there was the same problems we have today, if not worse, but we only hear about the good parts of the decade.
I think TV shows and other forms of media from the times glorify a nice cozy and simple existence even though it is far from reality. People fall into the trap while watching shows like “Leave it to Beaver”, and believe that was an authentic representation of what the 50s was like. Media plays the primary role in creating Anemoia for many people who were born much later. Even I admit that I sometimes will flip through the channels and watch something like “Saved By the Bell” and wish that was my highschool experience.
I think the desire for living in another generation is subconsciously a desire for happiness that you haven’t found in this world. Rather than trying to find happiness here and in our current reality, many search in the past as if it would be easier to obtain. However this search will end up only disappointing. You can never go back and the more you want to , youll just become depressed. You have to do the best with what you have here and now and stop dreaming about the past. Everyone and a while it is okay to indulge in a fantasy, but every moment is not healthy.
Ive actually had feelings of Anemoia long before I knew the term for it and Im sure many of you have as well. What do you think about this phenomenon and have you ever experienced it? If we were to indulge in this fantasy, if you could live at any point in time, what would you chose and why? I love to hear from everyone and I always read every response even if I don’t respond. Look forward to hearing what generation most people choose. Im sure many of you have lived through the 80s and 90s, but even if you want to relive them again, I would understand.
What you're feeling my be more simple than at first glance. I did live in the 80's and 90's and I can tell you the world has changed a lot, and much of it not for the better. You may recognize that somehow and that might be where at least some of it comes from.
Do you know what it was like to go to the airport just minutes before your flight took off and not be gropped by the TSA? I do and it was a better time. That's just one example off the top of my head.
I'm not trying to say what you said is not what's going on, but thought I'd add this thought to it to legitimize your feelings.
I was going to say the same thing. The censorship and generally acceptable repression (for example, the financial repression of below-inflation interest rates for savers) simply did not exist. The TSA is an amazing example.
Things have been getting worse, but the tide may be turning. I think the internet might have turned the tide for now. It's an ebb and flow.
I think the desire for living in another generation is subconsciously a desire for happiness that you haven’t found in this world
This is so true. It is so easy to find happiness in any time outside of the present.
Great article and an interesting read. You have my follow.
I like being a millenial. I always listen and get awestruck of my parent's stories about their time where everyone were in bikes, writing mail, and people knowing each other personally. Those times are grand but sooner or later we have to adapt to the innovative ideas we are creating. I thank my parents for the lessons they provided me during their time, thats what made optimistic to the days ahead
Because every generation is full of toxic people who form the image of that generation. I hate my generation. I hate millennials, gen X, Y, Z. You name it I hate the name the worst give the rest.
Of course the world has changed. So have people. The scum has stayed the same.
I am thankful that I was even born, never mind when. So many things could have happened to me. I could have been lost through miscarriage or death at birth and my parents could not even have conceived me. I got one chance to enter this world and that one chance was enough. That's a lot to be thankful for!! If it wasn't for that one chance I wouldn't be on Steemit.
show some gratitude that you are alive :)
I am happy to be alive in today's era, the Internet changed my life and helped me gain knowledge that I wouldn't have had access to otherwise. Just look at Steemit, nobody would have dreamt of such a thing 20 years ago!
....and people always criticize the youner generation too. Every generation always forgets that it shaped the next one. Instead of criticism, I always look for the good in other generations - we need the younger generation to keep pushing us forward and the older generation to show us where they went wrong. We're only human.
we try and find an excuse on the mistakes the younger people make by saying things like "oh this generation is blah blah blah" when.. its the older generation that taught the younger... Time basically repeats it's self.. the current living generation will always look down upon the younger... Just how it is...
Interesting post. I'm a Gen Xer and I love it. Going to uni in the 90s was the best. We are all thankful there's very little photographic evidence of what happened back then.
The days we took selfies with a Polaroid LOL.
Nice post. When I first heard about HIV/AIDs...in the 90s...I was so worried and wishes why my generation...wished I was born much earlier when such fears were not. You not alone. Tks for bringing to my knowlwgde the term Anemoia...