Dear 80’s, We Miss You

##A recent survey asked 20 to 60-year-olds what they would choose for best decade to live in.  Two things about these results were particularly striking societal commentaries.  First, across the board all respondents said that how they experienced life went all downhill after.  Interestingly enough, despite shoulder pads, glam rock, the age of greed, and yuppies, nearly all the 20 somethings wished they had lived in the 1980’s.  

Conversely, post 2010 was seen as the worst decades to live. For all respondents, it came down to one single reason: an ever-increasing presence and use of the internet and digital technologies.  They felt that since early 2010, life had become put on fast forward, and they wanted a rewind.   Experiences had become blurred together by a speed that left childhood in the dust and scattered memories formed out of intermittent pauses.

To those who chose the 1980’s, being a teenager seemed deeper, richer, and more remarkable. These 20-somethings spoke of a sense of loss.  They felt like they robbed of what their teenage experience could have been. Many yearned for real friendships (versus Facebook friends) within a close-knit group of friends, in-person social interactions, and sharing experiences firsthand with others. This was a decade that highlighted teen hood as significant and memorable threshold sandwiched between care-free kid life and adulthood.  While there was a certain intimacy about it, the coming of age was a shared experience through mainstream culture imbued with “Brat Pack” films, TV shows like “Friends”, music, and the storied pasts of those who grew up in the 80’s.

For many respondents in general, the 1980’s was an internet-free time when life was simpler, people were nicer, and the music was better. Camelot-like in nature, this decade was perceived as far more fun, exciting, interesting, and memorable than the lives they knew. 

Here are the rankings for the best decade to live in from 1900s – 2020s accompanied by some survey comments that captured respondents’ overall perceptions and sentiments.

#1.  The 1980s

“Mixed tapes! I loved listening to the American top 40 and recording all my favorite songs”.

“…life was simple. Helping one another was the normal and we didn’t believe in bullying”. 

“The 80s seemed such a fun and prosperous time.”

“…no internet and no chat rooms. People socialized outside. They went to parties and evening dances. We just don’t have that…”

“…from what I’ve seen in movies and read in biographies, the 80s were the best in the US.”

“I was born in the wrong generation. I love all the music from the 80s, like Nirvana, Led Zeplin and Pink Floyd.   I WISH I COULD HAVE BEEN A TEEN IN THE 80’s!

“… I missed out on the way being a teenager is supposed to be. I feel robbed.

#2. The 1990s

“It was probably the most peaceful of any decade in the last 100 years. Everyone had money and everyone was (relatively!) happy.”

“…we had mobile phones and the Internet, but they hadn’t taken over our lives yet and we got great movies and T.V. shows”. 

#3.  The 2000s

“… grew up in the 2000’s, it was great. Technology was not abused, and it was lighter. There wasn’t so much pressure. It was like a prolonged 20th century.”

“… there was a hopeful outlook for the future, particularly with the progress being made in science, technology and egalitarianism.”

“Enough technology that we could find out things, it wasn’t until the 2010s that the internet completely ruined everything.”

#4.  The 1970s

“The best music was spawned in the 70’s.  Musicians actually played instruments we used record players and not digital music.”

“People seemed very casual in the 70s.” 

 “The 70s had THE BEST cars. You can’t say there’s anything cooler than a bright red 1973 Plymouth ‘Hemi Cuda with yellow flames and slick tires with stripes on the sidewalls.” 

“The Vietnam War ended. A new realism in movies, T.V., music, and comedy. It was the 60s dressed in a Leisure Suit, in a good way.“

#5.  The 1960s

“Great Music and hippie culture. – The Beatles (Need I say more).”

“First Wave feminism and less of a class-based society in Britain.“

“…we may have been poorer, but life had a cadence to it.”

 #6.  The 2010s

“…got broken by the information overload, fakeness and health crisis of the 2020s.”

“I say that any decade before 2010 is a good decade.”

“Kids don’t act like kids anymore instead they act like they’re a bunch of adults with boyfriends and iPhone 6s, the 2010s sucks.”

 #7.  The 1950s

“1950’s was an amazing decade! WWII was over and US citizens benefited greatly from this victory. The dollar stretched far & wide, the cars looked tough and were super affordable.“

“As a white man, the ’50s may have been the best decade to grow up in. As a black man, the ’50s easily ranks at the bottom of the list.”

“Cool music and fashion but not the best time to live in if you are a person of color, LGBTQ+, or even a woman.”

 #8.  The 1920s

“1920s! The time when everybody wore suits and dresses, people had so much class. They were very polite. Like bro. I’d give second to the 70s and third to the 90s. Then the fifties.“

“It was all about the party back then. Murders? What murders? Oh, yeah I forgot about the gangsters and polio. At least we were classy.“

“I agree, it was classy. The flappers were pretty cool too. I wish people were as elegant nowadays“

 #9.  The 1900s

“Far from the best but this decade looked better than the horror that was the 1930s or WWI throughout the 1910s (1910-1913 and 1919 looked okay though). “

 #10.  The 1940s

“Wartime decade in the history. Compares to the worst decade of 2010s or so and 2020.”

“Yeah, probably not the best time period to live in if you were German, Jewish, Russian, British, Polish or Chinese…”

While there were a variety of reasons for what decade was best to live, it seems our teen-age experiences are deeply and firmly rooted in our psyche.  It’s a heavily weighted time driven by transition from kid to manhood and womanhood. 

 And the post 2010 teenage experience?  As one of the under 30 respondents put it, “The 2010s sucks”.  How that teen hood experience affects the 30 and under segment of the population is likely have a significant impact.