For those 45+, how good were the 1990s, actually?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m in my 50s. There was a lot about the 90s that wasn’t great. One of those was epitomized by Pamela Anderson. The way she was exploited, then harshly judged, then trashed by society was gross.

We’ve evolved somewhat as a people since then, but not far enough, imo.

There it is.

That’s the dumbest thing I’ve seen on the internet today. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 40 and was 14 in 2000 so Gen X is 50+ now

Yeah, I’m 45 and was ages 9-19 in the 1990s. What do you mean by full-fledged adult paying taxes, buying houses, etc? I think you want 55+.

[Anonymous]

The 90s were good because that seems to be the last decade before Auto-Tune and Pitch-correction software caused the vocalists to all sing at the same frequency.

All the music sounds the same these days, unnatural, no soul in the voice.

[Anonymous]

As someone who is 58, I agree about the auto tuned music.

While salaries were lower and the job market was bad in the early 90s, rentals weren't that expensive (built for baby boomers before us) and a lot of entertainment was a lot less expensive. Overall, the 90s were fun for me and there was a sense of hope that things (country, climate, government, world) would continue to improve most of us don't have anymore.

Basically a post Cold War German reunification type of hope and optimism that everything would continue to improve that most of us don't have anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I absolutely loved the 1990s.

I think this is part of it: I had a computer and email at work. I had neither at home. I didn't even have a cell phone until I think 2001. Maybe 2000?

So, I went to work and worked hard, then NEVER HAD TO THINK ABOUT IT until the next morning. I explored my city, made friends, went out a lot, just had a great time. It would have been very different if I'd either been working all hours via cell phone, or rotting on the couch looking at a phone.

Exactly the same experience and I’m 50 now. But don’t 20-something year olds basically do the same thing now but just have more internet access?

[Anonymous]

I'm 54 and the 90's were pretty good. There was the pervasive sense that we were making progress, especially on gay rights. Smart, extremely competent people were in charge. (I hate neoliberals but at least Clinton and Gore had decent managers and middle managers in agencies.)

There was a sense that we were making progress on environmental issues. On social justice. It wasn't all rosy...there was Newt Gingrich and right wing bastards, but they felt regressive and reactionary, like a last dying gasp of a toxic old generation (the Rush Limbaughs of the world.) the pervasive culture felt like progress.

I can't tell you how black and bleak the world feels now, comparatively. The idea of open Nazis and fascists being in charge....it just would have been unfathomable. We have fallen soooo far since Gore v Bush, Ciyizens United, and the oligarch ascendancy.

[Anonymous]

Born in 1970. What I loved/miss about the 90s..the cost of living. I lived alone in the mid 90s and it was cheap. I made less than $25,000 a year. My rent for a small condo was $625 a month and I lived in a nice area. Gas was cheap (less than a $1 a gallon). No cell phones. Even though I didnt make that much money I could save a little, afford a yearly vacation, dinners out. Now...everything is so freaking expensive and I make good money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm 40 and was 14 in 2000 so Gen X is 50+ now

More like 45+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh, also: you paid rent, landline, gas and electric. Plenty of people didn't have cable and it was normal not to watch much TV as a 20-something. You didn't pay for internet at home or cell phone in most cases as a young person. I never had a pager although I knew people who did.

Everybody had cable, everybody watched a lot of TV. This person is insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, also: you paid rent, landline, gas and electric. Plenty of people didn't have cable and it was normal not to watch much TV as a 20-something. You didn't pay for internet at home or cell phone in most cases as a young person. I never had a pager although I knew people who did.

Everybody had cable, everybody watched a lot of TV. This person is insane.

Not everyone had cable TV. The poster is correct: young people could not afford cable, had other things going on, or were too busy working a job, sometimes two jobs, or grinding away in college.

Before the internet and smart phones, people went out more. Watching reruns on cable TV wasn’t all that great.

And there was a big music scene out there, unlike today. Depeche Mode was touring, so was Bowie, Jimmy Buffett, Blues Traveler, Dave Matthews Band, and many others.

[Anonymous]

Some things were worse, but as a whole? Pretty flipping good. Graduated college in 95 and cost of living was WAY cheaper. You could get a pretty well-paying job with an undergraduate degree. Things were less crowded and easier to do spur-of-the-moment - from travel, to grabbing dinner/drinks, to going to a concert, to getting a doctor's appointment. No constant communication meant there was less mental "noise" and you could really detach from everything when you needed or wanted to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, also: you paid rent, landline, gas and electric. Plenty of people didn't have cable and it was normal not to watch much TV as a 20-something. You didn't pay for internet at home or cell phone in most cases as a young person. I never had a pager although I knew people who did.

Everybody had cable, everybody watched a lot of TV. This person is insane.

Not everyone had cable TV. The poster is correct: young people could not afford cable, had other things going on, or were too busy working a job, sometimes two jobs, or grinding away in college.

Before the internet and smart phones, people went out more. Watching reruns on cable TV wasn’t all that great.

And there was a big music scene out there, unlike today. Depeche Mode was touring, so was Bowie, Jimmy Buffett, Blues Traveler, Dave Matthews Band, and many others.

65 percent of US households had cable tv in 1995

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh, also: you paid rent, landline, gas and electric. Plenty of people didn't have cable and it was normal not to watch much TV as a 20-something. You didn't pay for internet at home or cell phone in most cases as a young person. I never had a pager although I knew people who did.

Everybody had cable, everybody watched a lot of TV. This person is insane.

Not everyone had cable TV. The poster is correct: young people could not afford cable, had other things going on, or were too busy working a job, sometimes two jobs, or grinding away in college.

Before the internet and smart phones, people went out more. Watching reruns on cable TV wasn’t all that great.

And there was a big music scene out there, unlike today. Depeche Mode was touring, so was Bowie, Jimmy Buffett, Blues Traveler, Dave Matthews Band, and many others.

65 percent of US households had cable tv in 1995

No cable in the 90s for me either, or Internet. I got all that in 2002 when I met my husband, and he insisted. My friends and I were out all the time in the 90s--we played on coed softball and volleyball teams, worked a lot, went to Happy Hours. I never saw Friends on TV in Prime Time--only reruns when on maternity leave in 2005.

[Anonymous]

My parents are in their 70s and most literature says when you were a kid/20’s is when you feel is the best era

And they also say the 90s were the best

[Anonymous]

The 90’s were sooo much better than today. I’m 55.

“Smartphones” have ruined society.