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Nostalgia, is a national disease?

TheCatWoman

The Good Old Days, when things were all rosy and better.

The Good Old Days, when we had real music, etc etc

It seems to me that nostalgia is a sort of national disease, we keep harping back to it as some golden age, except it wasn't really and every generation has it's Golden Age.. I was struck by nostalgia for the 1990's, I mean really, what was so great about the nineties?

I think this constant harping on about how great things were years ago, stops us moving forward, it stops us investing in the future, personally, politically and in thingd like our infrastructure and buildings.

I'm an historian by training and I hate nostalgia, for its distortions, the way it stops us being honest about the past, the effects it's had upon us and the world and the lengths we will go to to protect it's leftovers. I do think think archaelogical sites should be protected and historic buildings, but that should stop us from investing in the new. The past should inform the present, we should learn its lessons, and build a better future, even if it's just in our architecture and music.

Parents

  • Today I visited the area where I lived 50 years ago as a child and surprisingly it has hardly changed.  I walked through the streets,  past my old house, and the atmosphere is still the same.  The people must have changed and the houses have been upgraded slightly. But no substantial new builds, the houses haven't aged!  And my feelings were still the same.  The local doctor's surgery had different names,  but it's still a doctor's surgery with three doctors.  The gardens and trees looked the same, the whole place was still peaceful.

    It was as if time had stood still.

Reply

  • Today I visited the area where I lived 50 years ago as a child and surprisingly it has hardly changed.  I walked through the streets,  past my old house, and the atmosphere is still the same.  The people must have changed and the houses have been upgraded slightly. But no substantial new builds, the houses haven't aged!  And my feelings were still the same.  The local doctor's surgery had different names,  but it's still a doctor's surgery with three doctors.  The gardens and trees looked the same, the whole place was still peaceful.

    It was as if time had stood still.

Children
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