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Serious- Were the 90's in America legitimately idyllic?

Goo Punch

By Goo Punch
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atomheartbevo

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Stevie Ray Vaughan died in 90, so that whole decade is tainted.  

I was either in high school, college, or the Army during the 90s, so they are kind of a blur, but I did love me some BBSing and then internet.  

Much more enjoyed the 80s.  Would not trade growing up then for anything.  I’d be in a world of shit if people around my 18 year-old self had cameras on their phones.  

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pops

pops 6975

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90s were high school, undergrad and the start of law school for me. So I could say I grew up in the 80s and came of age in the 90s. I love the fuck out of both decades. 

Yeah there was some shit, but that was 20 pretty good years (reagan to 9/11) (fuck you black Monday) to be alive. 

9/11 changed everything for a while. But I feel like the mid aughts were pretty good too until the would fell apart in 2009. 

If you ignore most social media and all cable news, things are pretty good now, too. But I'm a dude. And I'm white. So what do I know?

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ztejas

ztejas 43293

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A lot of ignorance in this thread. The world is changing. As it always has. It isn't just nostalgia and rose tint. I have a working theory that the human condition peaked in the 90s for most of the Western world. I wish I was born 20 years earlier. Good thread Derk. 

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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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9 hours ago, JimmyJames said:

The 90s were great because back then there was no way for my girlfriend at the time and future wife to send me text messages or even call me on a cell phone. She had to settle for angry voice mail messages on my apartment phone instead. It was paradise on earth. 

I have memories of being out at the park all day, and if i had walked there in the morning (couple mile walk) and felt too tired to walk my lazy ass home in the evening then i'd call my mom using the park payphone. Just dial 1-800- CALL-ATT (or 1-800-COLLECT if you're a poser), and record the ole, "you have a collect call from: "momitsmeimattheparkpleasecomepickmeup!" message. she would decline the call, and then i would wait five minutes to see if i was getting that ride home or if my lazy ass had to walk. i want to say they were simpler times, but this all probably sounds confusing as hell to anyone born in the 2000's.

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Crusher

Crusher 127

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The 90's? It was a blur. They were my 20's. College, partying, starting a new career. 90's seemed to fly by.

Not nearly as fast as the ought's or the teens of 2000 though. 2020 is 6 months away. Fuck!!! Where did all that time go?

I remember thinking as kid how old I would be in the year 2000 and how far off that seemed. Now I feel that I am racing towards the end in a car with no brakes. 

Man, slow the fuck down.

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Rimbo

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19 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

I'll try and keep this short, and then open the floor to all opinions. For me, the 90's were the 50's of the latter 20th century- it was post- Cold War, pre 9/11 USA; everything was bright, and sunny, and neon, and 7th Heaven, and Tool Time, and Disney, and Nickelodeon, and Friends, and Barenaked Ladies, and so on and so forth. It was a time where the vibe of the country was positive and wholesome. Relatively speaking anyway.

For example-  our movies/TV were far more innocent and far less bloody and/or graphic; our pop music was dominated by Mickey Mouse Club alumni and was more wholesome and less overtly sexual or violent or crude; TV was dominated by family sitcoms which espoused family values and always had a happy ending; there was far less blood, and guts, and violence, and sex, and rape, and drugs than there is today, and when they did show up in media it was not so...horrifyingly accurate, let's say. In the 90's pop culture was largely more wholesome than it has been in previous/following decades. It really was a different time in my opinion.

So- what's your opinion? For me, post- Cold War, pre- 9/11 America was totally different from any other time since I've been alive. For me it was a more wholesome, innocent, idyllic, optimistic time than any other decade I've been alive. No internet, no smart phones, kids riding their bikes and being outside all day, kids having more independence to be out on their own all day, no 24/7 news cycle dominated by school shootings and police-on-minority- violence, kids and parents both having less fear of the world around them, and just an overbearing sense of security, and wholeness, if not prosperity, something that imo we see much less of today. But then again I'm only 34 years old, going on 35. I'd be interested to hear the perspective of those both older and younger than I am. And I now cede the floor to them. 

naw, the 90s were kinda shitty, actually

had some good music here and there tho

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troph

troph 24596

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There is some truth to the end of the Cold War, no formidable enemy, no global warming crisis, no 9/11, etc. I think the technology revolution has been a double edged sword and not having to deal with its downside yet was something too.

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9 hours ago, ztejas said:

A lot of ignorance in this thread. The world is changing. As it always has. It isn't just nostalgia and rose tint. I have a working theory that the human condition peaked in the 90s for most of the Western world. I wish I was born 20 years earlier. Good thread Derk. 

Indeed.

Most of the folks who think life has never been worse haven't lived very long.

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SimonBolivar

SimonBolivar 10949

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On 5/25/2019 at 7:16 AM, Onboard 2.0 said:

Not even close for kids. Growing up in the 60's 70's and before were all better (personal opinion and perspective of course). By the time the 90's rolled around you couldn't have those "childhood mistakes" without potentially fucking up your life going forward. The 24 hour news cycle has made life, and the world smaller. In the 60's and 70's you could fuck up as a kid, and move on.

By the 90's a toy gun could get you in serious trouble as a kid, bringing an aspirin to school would get you suspended, pantsing your buddy in gym class would get you a sexual predator mark on your record.  

I think that's what you thought watching CNN, but in reality it wasn't that way. At least not in suburbia Texas. I'd imagine it's not as tough on kids as we imagine now either.

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Mojo Hand

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I don't think the 90s in America were idyllic.  There was some good and some bad.  About the only thing I can think of that was universally better then than now (setting CR stuff aside) was that it was much cheaper to go to college.   I don't think the OP is pure nostalgia; it's just that we're all products of our own time, so we naturally value things from our own childhoods over things from other eras. 

I also don't think the 50s were idyllic either, although it may have seemed that way to a privileged segment of society. In that way, perhaps the comparison with the 90s works.

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TexasMan

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On 5/25/2019 at 7:16 AM, Onboard 2.0 said:

Not even close for kids. Growing up in the 60's 70's and before were all better (personal opinion and perspective of course). By the time the 90's rolled around you couldn't have those "childhood mistakes" without potentially fucking up your life going forward. The 24 hour news cycle has made life, and the world smaller. In the 60's and 70's you could fuck up as a kid, and move on.

By the 90's a toy gun could get you in serious trouble as a kid, bringing an aspirin to school would get you suspended, pantsing your buddy in gym class would get you a sexual predator mark on your record.  

Also during the Don Draper times, a kid could get smacked across the face by a neighbors dad, and your dad would come over to ask what you did to make Mr. Neighbor smack the shit out of you, and you'd get a whooping for it. 

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9 minutes ago, TexasMan said:

Also during the Don Draper times, a kid could get smacked across the face by a neighbors dad, and your dad would come over to ask what you did to make Mr. Neighbor smack the shit out of you, and you'd get a whooping for it. 

Absolutely the environment in which I was raised. 70's and 80's.

If a kid acted up, basically any parent could( was expected to) swat them or at least rip their ass verbally for being a dumbass.  Then you got it again when you got home.

 

Big time shocker- I got licks in school.  They could have beat my ass all day as long as they didn't call my parents.  That's all I f'ing cared about.

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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23 minutes ago, SimonBolivar said:

I think that's what you thought watching CNN, but in reality it wasn't that way. At least not in suburbia Texas. I'd imagine it's not as tough on kids as we imagine now either.

Never watched CNN, Those are just anecdotal accounts from our locale. Your results may vary. As I stated in my OP, it's all perspective thru our own lens (where we grew up)

 

I will say the margin of error for kids fucking up, and getting away with it without life affecting repercussions, post 1980's is far slimmer.

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Mojo Hand

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17 minutes ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

I will say the margin of error for kids fucking up, and getting away with it without life affecting repercussions, post 1980's is far slimmer.

Where is this vast subgroup of modern kids who are destroyed for life because they pulled a kid's pants down?   

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Johnny Sack

Johnny Sack 8397

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On 5/25/2019 at 6:20 AM, Goo Punch said:

I'll try and keep this short, and then open the floor to all opinions. For me, the 90's were the 50's of the latter 20th century- it was post- Cold War, pre 9/11 USA; everything was bright, and sunny, and neon, and 7th Heaven, and Tool Time, and Disney, and Nickelodeon, and Friends, and Barenaked Ladies, and so on and so forth. It was a time where the vibe of the country was positive and wholesome. Relatively speaking anyway.

For example-  our movies/TV were far more innocent and far less bloody and/or graphic; our pop music was dominated by Mickey Mouse Club alumni and was more wholesome and less overtly sexual or violent or crude; TV was dominated by family sitcoms which espoused family values and always had a happy ending; there was far less blood, and guts, and violence, and sex, and rape, and drugs than there is today, and when they did show up in media it was not so...horrifyingly accurate, let's say. In the 90's pop culture was largely more wholesome than it has been in previous/following decades. It really was a different time in my opinion.

So- what's your opinion? For me, post- Cold War, pre- 9/11 America was totally different from any other time since I've been alive. For me it was a more wholesome, innocent, idyllic, optimistic time than any other decade I've been alive. No internet, no smart phones, kids riding their bikes and being outside all day, kids having more independence to be out on their own all day, no 24/7 news cycle dominated by school shootings and police-on-minority- violence, kids and parents both having less fear of the world around them, and just an overbearing sense of security, and wholeness, if not prosperity, something that imo we see much less of today. But then again I'm only 34 years old, going on 35. I'd be interested to hear the perspective of those both older and younger than I am. And I now cede the floor to them. 

America was a lot more dangerous then.  Kids had a higher risk of being shot and killed in schools.   The murder rate was much higher due to crack epidemic.  

We are living in a great time now.  Social media and 24 hour news just skews the perception.  

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clapclapclap

clapclapclap 9000

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3 hours ago, SimonBolivar said:

I think that's what you thought watching CNN, but in reality it wasn't that way. At least not in suburbia Texas. I'd imagine it's not as tough on kids as we imagine now either.

Passing a small zone elementary on a sunny day where parents' cars are line up literally at least 100 deep, I just shake my head and surmise that some of them will be screwed up in a different way.  All the way from 1st grade to high school we walked .5 to 1.3 miles to school (in a group) every day that it wasn't storming.  Great memories and experiences.  It helped having a small field and a ditch full of crawdads along part of the way to elementary and junior high, always something to explore.

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Nueces River Rat

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2 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Never watched CNN, Those are just anecdotal accounts from our locale. Your results may vary. As I stated in my OP, it's all perspective thru our own lens (where we grew up)

 

I will say the margin of error for kids fucking up, and getting away with it without life affecting repercussions, post 1980's is far slimmer.

Kids today are not allowed take care of problems with other kids (ie bullies) for the fear of being suspended from school, in school suspensions, etc.   Used to be a few decades ago, school administrators allowed some "unofficial leniency" to kids who finally took care of the bullies.   When I was in 3rd grade I had this asshole on my case until one day in PE I popped him in the nose and the PE Teacher gave me kudos and he left me alone and we were on friendly terms later in middle and high school.   Now we have zero tolerance polices and bully can make a kid's life hell and if he/she confronts the little shit, they are punished too.   And we wonder why some of them snap and chose to end their own lives?   

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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1 minute ago, Nueces River Rat said:

Kids today are not allowed take care of problems with other kids (ie bullies) for the fear of being suspended from school, in school suspensions, etc.   Used to be a few decades ago, school administrators allowed some "unofficial leniency" to kids who finally took care of the bullies.   When I was in 3rd grade I had this asshole on my case until one day in PE I popped him in the nose and the PE Teacher gave me kudos and he left me alone and we were on friendly terms later in middle and high school.   Now we have zero tolerance polices and bully can make a kid's life hell and if he/she confronts the little shit, they are punished too.   And we wonder why some of them snap and chose to end their own lives?   

You can't defend yourself or you get suspended as well. Zero tolerance polices suck ass.  Our kids grew up when this type of policy was being initiated in lots of locations around the country.   

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Onboard 2.0

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3 minutes ago, clapclapclap said:

Like many things, a mixed bag.  Some of the big hair was pretty damn hot.

Yeah, but I've never been a big hair fan, so it's personal opinion, but looking at some pics from the 80's the girls all looked like they stuck their finger in an outlet to get that big hair look.

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Armybrat

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3 hours ago, slorch said:

Absolutely the environment in which I was raised. 70's and 80's.

If a kid acted up, basically any parent could( was expected to) swat them or at least rip their ass verbally for being a dumbass.  Then you got it again when you got home.

 

Big time shocker- I got licks in school.  They could have beat my ass all day as long as they didn't call my parents.  That's all I f'ing cared about.

Were you in my class?

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Armybrat

Armybrat 40755

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24 minutes ago, clapclapclap said:

Passing a small zone elementary on a sunny day where parents' cars are line up literally at least 100 deep, I just shake my head and surmise that some of them will be screwed up in a different way.  All the way from 1st grade to high school we walked .5 to 1.3 miles to school (in a group) every day that it wasn't storming.  Great memories and experiences.  It helped having a small field and a ditch full of crawdads along part of the way to elementary and junior high, always something to explore.

That’s nuthin’.

You didn’t have to dodge injuns and Cossacks on the way.

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Nueces River Rat

Nueces River Rat 5532

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Yeah, but I've never been a big hair fan, so it's personal opinion, but looking at some pics from the 80's the girls all looked like they stuck their finger in an outlet to get that big hair look.

Big hair products companies loved it. I mean grocery stores went from a small section on an aisle of hair products to entire aisle or two of sprays, gels, mousse and shampoos. And the thing is they capitalized with selling that stuff to guys to because movies like Top Gun and Rocky Iv brought on the spiky short hair look and we needed gel and mousse . Yea I was in that camp. Ray ban loved it too.
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Deej

Deej 76600

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3 minutes ago, Underdog said:

Was at my peak in the 90s, in my 30s, doing well personally and professionally...  then... 2002 and 40s hit and it’s been downhill ever since. 

Just wait until you hit 50. (Sorry, looks like you already have. My condolences.)

Edited by Deej
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Red Six

Red Six 131

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On 5/25/2019 at 6:20 AM, Goo Punch said:

I'll try and keep this short, and then open the floor to all opinions. For me, the 90's were the 50's of the latter 20th century- it was post- Cold War, pre 9/11 USA; everything was bright, and sunny, and neon, and 7th Heaven, and Tool Time, and Disney, and Nickelodeon, and Friends, and Barenaked Ladies, and so on and so forth. It was a time where the vibe of the country was positive and wholesome. Relatively speaking anyway.

For example-  our movies/TV were far more innocent and far less bloody and/or graphic; our pop music was dominated by Mickey Mouse Club alumni and was more wholesome and less overtly sexual or violent or crude; TV was dominated by family sitcoms which espoused family values and always had a happy ending; there was far less blood, and guts, and violence, and sex, and rape, and drugs than there is today, and when they did show up in media it was not so...horrifyingly accurate, let's say. In the 90's pop culture was largely more wholesome than it has been in previous/following decades. It really was a different time in my opinion.

So- what's your opinion? For me, post- Cold War, pre- 9/11 America was totally different from any other time since I've been alive. For me it was a more wholesome, innocent, idyllic, optimistic time than any other decade I've been alive. No internet, no smart phones, kids riding their bikes and being outside all day, kids having more independence to be out on their own all day, no 24/7 news cycle dominated by school shootings and police-on-minority- violence, kids and parents both having less fear of the world around them, and just an overbearing sense of security, and wholeness, if not prosperity, something that imo we see much less of today. But then again I'm only 34 years old, going on 35. I'd be interested to hear the perspective of those both older and younger than I am. And I now cede the floor to them. 

The 1990s felt good, but there was a shaky foundation beneath all the optimism.

1. I don't know why you think that media was innocent or wholesome. Terminator 2 set the bar for action flicks. Joe Eszterhas basically turned cinema into an orgy of gratuitous nudity and sex, making Sharon Stone a star and showing us that fantasy didn't always match reality when it came to Jessie Spano. NYPD Blue showed butts. Quentin Tarantino made blood and guts funny, so long as it's accompanied with philosophical discussion about foot massages. The shock comedy also came into form, with There's Something About Mary and American Pie.

2. Sex really came out into the open. MTV gave us Sex in the Nineties, and Pedro. And this frankness had to happen, because, suddenly, sex could kill us. If you slept with the wrong person, you couldn't just clear it up with antibiotics. No, you would go on retrovirals and hope that your T-cell count stayed up as long as possible. On the upside, for some, coming out became easier and easier, as "alternative lifestyles" simply became people's daily lives. But sexuality was still a huge battleground in society and politics.

3. We didn't have Internet until the end of the decade, but the 24/7 news cycle made the world a scarier place than it was.

4. Crime was still out of control. To crack down on it, lawmakers implemented mandatory minimums and created substantial disparity in sentencing schemes depending upon whether a person had powder cocaine or crack rock.

5. Once the early-decade recession passed, things started looking better. The stock market went up, up, up, but we would later find out that buying an IPO because the company's mascot was a sock puppet was a bad idea.

6. The Cold War was over, but we still had plenty of forks in the interventionist fire. This would eventually help lay the groundwork for 9/11, and the global "war" we are still fighting today. Unfortunately, we were blissfully ignorant about what our government was really doing in other countries. And if we weren't fighting communism, what were we doing over there?

7. More and more households had two working parents, so kids were coming home to empty houses and watching hours of television or finding ways to get in trouble. The "traditional" family unit began eroding.

I could go on, but, basically, the 90s felt "good," but something was amiss, and we knew it; we just couldn't put our finger on it. The cynicism of grunge and Generation X was not unwarranted. We thought things were good after the fall of communism, but then we went to war with Iraq. We put his country in a box, but then, on the homefront, we had the L.A. riots. The economy was supposedly booming, but it seemed like a lot of people were left out. And, besides, how could a company that didn't look like it could turn a profit within the next decade be worth what people were paying? We thought we had good music, then Kurt Cobain shot himself.

What happened in the 1990s led to 9/11, the banking crisis of 2008, and the increasing disparity in wealth that we have today.

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