Ah yes, people always say that “back in my day” things were always better. Maybe people were more polite, the cost of living was lower, or anything in between. In many ways, it’s true that the 90s were better than today. Here are 12 different ways in which the 90s ruled.
1. The Cost of Living
The simple reality is that the cost of living has increased drastically over the last several decades, especially over the last 10 years. It’s come to the point where life is virtually unaffordable for most people, even those working regular jobs. People 20 or 30 years ago were able to work a 40 hour week at a regular job and afford a home, kids, pets, vehicles, and more. This isn’t nearly the same anymore. People can work all day, all week, and still barely afford life.
“My father was a college dropout who worked 40-hour weeks at a machine shop during the 80s and 90s. He was able to buy a home, feed and clothe three kids, two dogs, and a wife, buy two vehicles, provide plenty of magical Christmas mornings, and countless other fun activities & vacations for the family. I have a couple friends in the same city I grew up in, working a similar job, who are barely able to afford food while renting a 1-bedroom apartment and taking the bus. It’s unbelievable how bad things have gotten.
2. Skilled Labor
Although technology was already making great advances in the 90s, the reality is that most people still have to be very well trained to perform a specific job. One example is a machinist, which back in the day meant being able to operate a machine efficiently. However, times have changed, and technology and automation have in large taken over. Many people note that in today’s world, people just have to punch some commands into a machine, and that the machine will then do the rest. In essence, it’s working to make people dumber.
“Back in the day, machinists were highly skilled. These days, most ‘Machinists’ are CNC machinists, all you have to do is punch in the right program and the machine does the rest. Manual machinists are highly skilled with knowledge of Trig and Calculus and demand the highest wages in the industry….. Source, I work in a machine shop.”
3. The Price of a House
Yet another thing that was much better in the 1990s was the fact that the cost of a house was reasonable. One user notes that “I remember when my friend’s parents bought a brand new fancy house for $250k in the late 90s and we were all very impressed. I just looked it up and it sold for $1.5 million a couple years ago.” Just imagine, the cost of that same house increased by sixfold over just three decades. That is absolutely insane.
4. Not Being Bombarded with Nonsense
Sure, the age of the internet and worldwide connection allows people to find any piece of information at any time and any place. However, as far as social media and many online sources are concerned, this information would appear to be misleading or just downright incorrect. Many people note that they miss times when they weren’t constantly bombarded by information, not to mention that the information is generally wrong.
“The vast majority of humans, especially younger people, were not constantly bombarded with 24/7 info, often times incorrect/misleading/downright disturbing info at that.”
5. Not Having Any Mystery
“There’s no mystery in the world anymore. It’s really hard to explain this concept to people who only have grown up with smart phones and internet. It really makes the world very, well, boring.”
Although it might sound really odd to say, as this user notes, a few decades ago, before the advent of the internet, there was still mystery in the world. There were things that people didn’t know, and if they wanted to know them, they had to go do research in person. Sometimes a little bit of mystery would appear to be a good thing.
6. Guitar-Based Music
It sounds really weird to say that we miss guitars and guitar based music, but the simple reality is that music appears to have taken a turn for the worse. Modern music consists of computers and DJ’s just hitting a bunch of buttons, without actually doing any real work or having musical talent. The age of the guitar solo appears to be dead.
“solo guitar riffs are non existent in modern music”.
8. Kids Being Outside
Perhaps one of the biggest changes that is very noticeable from the 1990s up until now is that kids just don’t play outside anymore. According to one commenter, “The 90s felt like it was the last decade where kids just hung out and played outside all the time. We used to have a big group that would be outside pretty much all day every day during summers. Playing football, riding our bikes, getting into trouble. They were genuinely incredible times and it looks like kids just don’t really do that too much anymore and it’s a real shame.” Of course, he’s totally right, because now all kids do is stay inside, play video games, and surf social media profiles on their smartphone.
9. Annoying Influencers Embarrassing and Recording People
Something that the 1990s certainly didn’t have were influencers, and moreover, influencers who get their fame by pranking unsuspecting victims. Nowadays however, social media and video viewing platforms are full to the brim of influencers who think that it’s alright to prank innocent people. It’s just an annoying and obnoxious part of the reality that makes everybody walk around with their head on a swivel to make sure that nobody’s pranking them.
“Plus no prank based influencers. They need a straight up slap!”
10. Having Days Off
30 or 40 years ago, if your boss called you on a day off, you could tell them that you were out and that you weren’t going to be coming into work and this was acceptable. You wouldn’t have had a smartphone they could’ve reached you with either. The home phone was it.
However, now that everyone has social media, Internet, and smartphones, you can be reached everywhere. This means that more often than not, bosses expect you to drop everything and come running into work, even on days off, just because they call. It’s something that creates a whole lot of stress for all too many people.
“The fact that your boss could call you on your day off and “I was out” was a perfectly acceptable excuse as to why you weren’t able to come in. Even if you have an answering machine, there was no way for your boss to know you got home and got the message in time. You had plausible deniability for so many things simply because if you were out of the house, no one could expect to reach you.”
11. The Rental Economy
Back in the 1990s, you could purchase something one time, and it belonged to you forever. In the 1990s, as one user notes, “It wasn’t a full on rental economy designed to bleed the American pig dry.” Nowadays, there are all too many things that you can only rent instead of purchase. This means that you never actually own something, and you have to keep paying for it over and over again. Various pieces of computer software are a prime example of this.
12. Cinema and Movies
Movies today just don’t have much substance anymore. Whether we are talking about the big action stars of the 90s, or great directors, they just don’t seem to exist anymore.
“Especially action – This was the era of Arnold, Van Damme, Stallone, etc. Hell, even Seagal had a good one with Under Siege in 1992.”
“I’m more thinking of Tarantino, Rodriguez, Fincher, PTA, Cohen bros, etc.”
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