What was objectively better "back in the day?"

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I will start:

1. In my day, concerts were better because people didn't attend to prove they were there by recording it on their phones. They just were there, fully.

2. In my day, we didn't have to constantly prove we were human on the internet.

3. In my day, if someone bought heroin, cocaine, or oxycontin, they'd be getting heroin, cocaine, or oxycontin and not fentanyl.

For me

1) Video games were short and fun and they didn't take forever to complete or get released with so many game-breaking glitches, force you to play online with immature jerks, or rip you off by making you pay extra for DLC content.

2) Movies and TV shows were much more entertaining and we had at least a few good ideas left in Hollowood.

3) The internet itself was new and exciting and a place where one could find all sorts of neat information and even meet new friends from around the world with shared interests. Now it's become a clusterf**k of misinformation, trolls, and all-around BS

4) We didnt have Donald f*****g Trump as president.

Halloween

I dunno about the rest of the US but where I live people have really let their gardens go to hell. My hometown used to pride itself on its gardens back in the day but now everywhere I look I see mostly tall weeds and trash thrown in rose beds and azalea bushes.

Even our public rose garden which was always kept so pretty and trim for visitors was full of trash and weeds when I went there with my Nana.

I have to wonder if this reflects on the times we are living in now? Nobody in this country takes pride in anything anymore.

1) Yeah there is some truth to that. I love strategy games but the strategy games of today like Stellaris take way too long to play. I remember strategy games in the early 90 would take one sitting. I think the internet has changed the business model.

However I think the computing power has made some games possible that were not - Factorio is the best game ever made and it couldn't have been made on computers back in the day. But yeah a lot of games go with the "make you play as long as possible" route and I don't like this either. RimWorld is a game I love/hate. It does this excessively for a single player game.

2) It seems like today with streaming services they've thrown more money at it but it hasn't increased the quality. So yeah I agree. I am tired of remakes and the whole Marvel universe. I remember when the Marvel thing got started and after like the third one I thought, "oh wait, they are still doing these?"

3) I am hesitant on this, but sortof agree. The internet hasn't lived up to its promise for sure. But I do like being able to order food off the internet. I remember how much it sucked to have to call into places to place an order.

4) We don't have him as President now!!

You know what, I was thinking about this one for a while and I agree. I do remember gardens used to be a bigger deal. I wouldn't say it was a "big deal," but I do remember people having them that you wouldn't have called it their hobby. I know like one person that has a garden and its their main thing in life.

Rest of us are inside watching netflix.

Back in the day:

• When we wanted to play with our friends, we were in the same room or yard with them.

• When we wanted to talk to someone, we either waited for the phone on the kitchen wall to be free, or we went over to their house and knocked on their door.

• We could carry knives to school without being questioned (ever hear of woodshop or art class?).

• Everybody knew where their children were after the streetlights came on.

• Movies and television programs had original content.

• The only video game we played was Charades (maybe Pictionary, too).

• If an under-aged boy got an under-aged girl pregnant, you could bet your last dollar that the fathers of both kids would either force a wedding, or the boy would be marched down to the Army recruiting office to sign up for early enlistment (at age 17), then his pay would go toward child support.

• A kid committing a crime was scandalous.

• Amateur Radio was considered an intellectual hobby, not a loser's last hope for social discourse.

Cars with no GPS or computer parts

Food with no GMO

Songwriting

Guitar riffs

Individuality without labels

Summer (or winter) when kids played outside without adults organising it

• Rock & Roll was still good.

• You could repair your car with coat hangers, duct tape, and a twenty-dollar Sears toolkit.

• Going to MacDonalds was considered a treat, not a health problem.

• You could see the Milky Way on a cloudless night, and a $30 JCPenney telescope could keep you busy until dawn.

• Radio Shack was a nerd's paradise.

• The local library was a refuge, a sanctuary, and a second home; not a place for homeless street bums to do drugs.

• Any boy lacking a police record could get a factory job straight out of high school.

• Having a job in retail was not a disgrace.

I meant we didn't have him as president at all.

Sadly even though he's no longer our president we're still dealing with the damage he's done to our country.

I miss times when people went outside. I feel bad for kids now, from my perspective, it looks like all they ever do is sit around staring at screens. But as a parent now, if you let your kids run around outside all day and play, you risk getting cps called on you because something bad could happen to your kids. I think these kids are seriously missing out on so much.

I also miss times when people weren't glued to their phones all the time and were actively present when in the company of others. In my reality, it's rude as hell to be on a phone when sitting around in the company of others, but it's completely normal to so many people now to be checking the phone even when enjoying a meal with others.

I miss the cost of living being lower. I miss being able to do things like take a drive for the fun of it without it breaking the bank. I miss days when you could work full time and make enough to survive. Now that's typically an unreachable goal for people where I live. You cannot afford to live solo anymore and even with multiple people in the same house, you still struggle. It sucks.

People could disagree about politics without shredding each other apart online.

Music was much better in the 60s than it is now.

Clothes were more colourful.

TV shows were more wholesome and entertaining.

You didn't need good social skills to find a job.

People did not talk like Valley Girls.

The Internet was a new and exciting thing.

Christmas was better. It was more about family and Jesus and less about technology.

You could go to school or a store or a place of worship without fear of getting shot.

I thought this thread was about things that were better back in the day. What exactly is positive about that?

School playground equipment.
It’s all sissyfied now.

Fewer unwed mothers living on Welfare, for one.  Fewer fatherless (e.g., 'bastard') children growing up without the same opportunities as children from two-parent families for another.  Fewer "back-alley" abortions for a third.

I'm sure that after I have had my morning coffee (it is a little after 08:00 am here), I could come up with a few more.