Published on 12, July, 2020
I've borrowed this question from something intimated in another thread.
Do you think life has improved for you as you have grown older?
Is it because society has changed or you/your life have changed or a combination?
There was a comparison in another thread with 1980.
I realise some of the readers here won't even have been born then!
I could write a long list of ways in which my life has improved since 1980, both on a personal level and on a 'society' level.
Where 'society' is concerned, the invention of the internet has made me much less isolated, much more knowledgeable, much more in control of my health and not at the mercy of the NHS.
I wouldn't know about my autism and many other things without it.
Also, mobile phones/texting and email mean that I no longer have to make phone calls (including from phone boxes!).
I could go on but I might even bore myself.
There is really very little I miss about 1980, except perhaps a quieter pace of life in general.
It's an interesting question and we all have a past, no matter how far back it goes.
How is it for you.
Better or worse?
My life was definitely better a few years ago. The pandemic has had a terrible impact on my life and the lives of other people in my family. Because of this I look back to the 80s and 90s with huge affection and nostalgia. I agree that there are advantages to technology but I miss living in a simpler time. When I see people on a bus all staring at their phones it makes me feel quite sad. I used to love just daydreaming and looking out the window, and hearing other people chatting to each other.
When I was growing up, I genuinely believed that my Generation would 'Make a Difference'. Now, I realise that I was hoodwinked; along with so many others. TV became my substitute Father.
Now, I can say that I escaped the worst; and it was because my family worked so hard. If I ever have kids, I would insist that they get Jobs; rather than Degrees.
Degrees can be good too - if they love their subject it would be a shame for them not to be able to study it in depth. They can get jobs afterwards - hopefully! I think our generation (I’m in my fifties) have made a bit of a hash of things - hopefully the following generations will do better. Looking after the climate and the natural world would be a good start.