The UK was better in the old days because...

[nw1]

The road from Sale to Lymm via the A6144 runs through Carrington, which was home to a large Shell petrochemicals site, as well as a power station.

The road that diverges to the left of Stretford flats leads to Trafford Park, home to Kellogs and still some heavy industry, although the heavy industry that exists today is not as extensive as it once was.


I agree. The 1990s formed a considerable part of my formative years of adulthood. Although most of that decade I spent with struggles on low pay, life in general was much better with less of the worries that exist today.

Yes, I had some difficulties in the 90s mostly relating to the transition to adulthood (common in one's late teens and twenties for many I suspect) but the general morals and ethics of the western world, and particularly the UK, seemed to be at an all time high. We'd rejected a lot of the prejudices of the past by that stage, but the increasing surveillance and xenophobia which perhaps started kicking in after 9/11 had not arrived yet.

So objectively (and I realise this is getting a bit into politics, so perhaps not really in the spirit of this thread) I would say the period from about 1989 to 2000 represents the 'height' of the state of the world IMX, starting with the Berlin Wall coming down and the release of Nelson Mandela and ending with 9/11. (That said the 00s were still mostly OK, it took the credit crunch and its aftermath, and perhaps independently, the increasing surreptitious surveillance online, to start sending things seriously downhill...)

 

[Typhoon]

There are two factors that meant that there was a greater "sense of community" in the past

1. Large local employers so many colleagues lived close to each other

2. Far more stay at home mothers who would would socialise during the day.

1. In the town where I was brought up, what would now be described as housing estates - ranks of terraced housing - were built close to factory sites, workmen (and they were largely men) could walk to work. That is why my grandparents lived where they did. This was often rented accommodation. Post war this was less obvious but there were still enough who did. And women were often employed to clean the offices. This was probably true in most industrial areas of the country.

2. Interesting term 'socialise'. There would be 'days' so Monday was washing day, no matter what so women would be in the garden hanging the washing out and, because gardens were narrow, they might chat. If it started raining, one neighbour would call over to the next to encourage them to get the washing in. One day would be cleaning (possibly Wednesday) and there would be women cleaning (polishing?) the front step, and this was much the same down the street. They would also walk children to primary school and (certainly in early years) collect them at the end of the day, sometimes this was shared if one mother needed to do something, or (in the case of two of my friends) there was no father. Single parent households are nothing new. My mother might pop 'next door' to where my grandmother lived, no one came to our house and my parents did not go (or very rarely went) to neighbours - this was common. This could have been a local or class issue.

Well, it's not really their fault that they have to work, as you now need two wages just to scrape by, and even then it might not be enough. What happened to a decent living wage?

This is partly down to expectation - I have relatives whose children have been sent abroad for a week residential trip - their school expected that they would go (there appeared to be little provision for those who didn't), when I grew up at the same age we went to the next county - once, for a day! One school nearby expects all students to have an ipad, my school expected us to have a protractor! Labels did not exist. Tech - we had much less tech in the house than individuals have now. I can't remember when we first got a tv - it was BBC only and probably cost a couple of quid (second, possibly third, hand). I had a transistor radio in my teens (must have been second hand as the plastic casing had a repair and the leather outer case was worn). We didn't feel hard done by. (BBC tv so no ads!)

 

[Cloud Strife]

I would say the period from about 1989 to 2000 represents the 'height' of the state of the world IMX, starting with the Berlin Wall coming down and the release of Nelson Mandela and ending with 9/11. (That said the 00s were still mostly OK, it took the credit crunch and its aftermath, and perhaps independently, the increasing surreptitious surveillance online, to start sending things seriously downhill...)

It really depends on your perspective. The 1990s were hell for a lot of people in the former Yugoslavia, and in countries such as Poland, Russia and Romania, the 1990s were an incredibly tough time. It's often forgotten that the fall of the Wall also represented a massive hammerblow to the former East Germany, and it's only been in the 2010s that places like Leipzig and Dresden became 'on par' with Western Germany. Even Berlin was still poor and struggling economically in 2006 when I first visited.

Even in countries such as Cyprus, the 1990s really weren't very nice. The country was only just emerging from the 1974 invasion, with the late 1980s 'modernisation' finally starting to show some effects. Cyprus didn't even have a motorway connecting Nicosia to Larnaca until 1991, and movement between the two sides was prohibited for locals until 2003.

 

[yorksrob]

But the nineties in Blighty were very heaven to be alive.

Everything started sliding downhill after those cretin fanatics crashed those planes into the twin towers.

 

[Spamcan81]

There was no social media.

 

[MattRat]

There was no social media.

Social media pretty much seems to be an extension of the 24 hour news cycle at this point, lol.

 

[gg1]

There are two factors that meant that there was a greater "sense of community" in the past

1. Large local employers so many colleagues lived close to each other

2. Far more stay at home mothers who would would socialise during the day.

Related to number 1, the concept of a 'job for life' with a single employer was the norm for many working people, even in the 1960s this was still regarded as a realistic prospect for many school leavers. As a result it was common for people to live their entire lives in a relatively small area, especially in the days before car ownership became commonplace.

 

[Bevan Price]

No, at least to my recollection, but it was mostly organic and so would rot away before too long. Nowadays so much of it is plastic and its derivatives. But yes, there was still litter.

One thing I remember from my first trips to Germany in the early 1970s was the almost complete absence of litter -- except in those towns or cities close to a British or American military base....

 

[gg1]

There was no social media.

Definitely. I'm very relieved that I was in my 20s when social media first emerged and in my 30s when it became huge.

Having to pay a grand total of £0 in University tuition fees was nice too.

 

[infobleep]

Because Status Quo and Hawkwind were in what some might term their classic years, around 1972-75, and I missed it all.

However, being realistic for one short moment, my life wouldn't have been as good so I am happy the way things are.

 

[Bevan Price]

My feeling is that between say 13 and 17 we were allowed far greater freedom than young people are today.

In part better public transport freed us from "dad's taxi"

Definitely. I was going to watch trains at Wigan when I was 11, alone, or with friends living in the same road. And even younger, probably at about 9, I could get a bus to the town centre if I needed a haircut.

 

[The Ham]

I heard a tale of a young man asking an old man who grew up in East Germany if it was good.

The old man that it was very good.

Why was that? Asked the young man.

Because when I lived in East Germany I was young and pretty girls wanted to dance with me.

 

[Bevan Price]

I'd take anything before 2020, personally.

Including things like smallpox, polio, no NHS, etc?

 

[Gareth]

Yeah, obviously...

 

[nw1]

It really depends on your perspective. The 1990s were hell for a lot of people in the former Yugoslavia, and in countries such as Poland, Russia and Romania, the 1990s were an incredibly tough time. It's often forgotten that the fall of the Wall also represented a massive hammerblow to the former East Germany, and it's only been in the 2010s that places like Leipzig and Dresden became 'on par' with Western Germany. Even Berlin was still poor and struggling economically in 2006 when I first visited.

Even in countries such as Cyprus, the 1990s really weren't very nice. The country was only just emerging from the 1974 invasion, with the late 1980s 'modernisation' finally starting to show some effects. Cyprus didn't even have a motorway connecting Nicosia to Larnaca until 1991, and movement between the two sides was prohibited for locals until 2003.

True, I guess I was thinking of what period was on average, for the world in general, the best time and suggested the late 80s to early 00s. That is of course, not to say that some parts of the world were going through very difficult times. And some parts of the world of course are permanently living through extremely tough situations.