Venting Born at the wrong time! Too Late!

[Archness]

I wish I was born a bit earlyer, when I could've actually lived.

But sadly, only my childhood and adolescence will be in the good times. It's clear a lot of shit will go down in 2024 and beyond. Current trajectory is bad. The more-likely one, or possible ones, are even worse.

I wish I was born in the 70's, 80's, or 90's instead of being a post 9/11 child. But alas, I (and others) where just born too late. Suicides are rising for a reason, life's now purposeless, hopeless, out of one's control, without no-where-to-go, and isolating. These things, society, and the culture, will only get worse as the years (and decades) march on. How can you synthesize a meaning for life when there's simply nothing to work with? Are we to be content with the costumes and assignments from this impersonal society?


Honestly born too late to matter now.

 

[chocolatebar]

Some things are getting worse for sure, but you're into a bias here when thinking people had good times back then.

Just in here, you will find a lot of people born in the years you mentioned, and that never had any good time in all the time they lived.

The 70s to 90s were terrible years if you were lgbtq+, had any psychological condition, were born in the developing world, and several other things. People lacked basic infrastructure in most of the world, women were more oppressed, there were more families who restricted their sons in many ways. Most people couldn't even choose their jobs or career.

When you look into history with your current perspective, things will look like people knew what was going on, or as if they followed a foreseeable path, when most were as lost as we are today.

To put your thoughts into perspective, I think I was born too early :D

 

[locked*n*loaded]

I was born in the mid-sixties, and I can tell you that only my childhood was good. It all went downhill after that. If I could have chosen a time to have lived as a young adult, it would have been the 1950s. Sure, there were other (serious) issues going on in society and the world back then, but it was an era of awakening for many and, really, a much more innocent time.

My mother lived through the incessant bombings of WWII in Germany by the Allies. I can tell you she didn't have a great time through all of that as a child living way back then.

All periods of time have had their own problems.

 

[6MillionWaystoDie]

@chocolatebar raised some good points. There were many issues that would make the 70s- 90s no more desirable than post 9/11.

For me the delineation is pre- and post- internet / social media. Human beings drastically changed after the internet became a mainstream tool.

Online dating placed low-value on getting to know someone deeply because meeting a new individual became easy, which led to rapid sexing and discarding.

Porn became more mainstream rather than appreciating the monthly playboy centerfold and realizing that normal women come in various healthy sizes and they all don't want their brains banged out.

People began to appreciate and value fake perfect social media profiles instead of appreciating the rawness and quirkiness of each individual.

People loss the ability to create fun and stimulating conversations rather than ignoring each other in favor of swiping through phone messages at every meal.

People became judged for their follower count vs. Who they were inside.


I could go on but I'm sure you get the point.

 

[Archness]

@chocolatebar raised some good points. There were many issues that would make the 70s- 90s no more desirable than post 9/11.

For me the delineation is pre- and post- internet / social media. Human beings drastically changed after the internet became a mainstream tool.

Online dating placed low-value on getting to know someone deeply because meeting a new individual became easy, which led to rapid sexing and discarding.

Porn became more mainstream rather than appreciating the monthly playboy centerfold and realizing that normal women come in various healthy sizes and they all don't want their brains banged out.

People began to appreciate and value fake perfect social media profiles instead of appreciating the rawness and quirkiness of each individual.

People loss the ability to create fun and stimulating conversations rather than ignoring each other in favor of swiping through phone messages at every meal.

People became judged for their follower count vs. Who they were inside.


I could go on but I'm sure you get the point.

You're correct with how the internet/social media drastically changed people and society. Tho I used 9/11 as a marker, the internet started to become mainstream in the 2000's. The other reason was that it was a "Global Tragedy that changed everything forever". The turning-point could've been any big event in the 2000's, such as the 2008 financial crisis.

My point is, the 90's, 80's, and 70's for society at large for 1st world countries (especially America) are now considered "Good Times". It would seem that things are either stagnating or getting worse, in most ways other then technology, and "wealth" for the upper-classes. Much of this stagnation seemed to have started taking hold in the 2000's or late 90's.

This rant wasn't really about just me, or individuals. It was more about "broad society". I'm kinda wished I lived in those days. Tho admitedly I'd have a hard time surviving and/or enjoying life at or before the 50's due to being such an autist, and it's objectively worse then 2023 in many aspects, it's still a good enviroment to be in.

 

[6MillionWaystoDie]

You're correct with how the internet/social media drastically changed people and society. Tho I used 9/11 as a marker, the internet started to become mainstream in the 2000's. The other reason was that it was a "Global Tragedy that changed everything forever". The turning-point could've been any big event in the 2000's, such as the 2008 financial crisis.

My point is, the 90's, 80's, and 70's for society at large for 1st world countries (especially America) are now considered "Good Times". It would seem that things are either stagnating or getting worse, in most ways other then technology, and "wealth" for the upper-classes. Much of this stagnation seemed to have started taking hold in the 2000's or late 90's.

This rant wasn't really about just me, or individuals. It was more about "broad society". I'm kinda wished I lived in those days. Tho admitedly I'd have a hard time surviving and/or enjoying life at or before the 50's due to being such an autist, and it's objectively worse then 2023 in many aspects, it's still a good enviroment to be in.

Totally got what you mean. I do agree with you for the most part. It was just hard for me to fully agree because minorities and women still had and continue to have many issues in the workplace. Its hard for me to feel like it was completely the good ole days when I was struggling to matter even then.

But I definitely agree broader society was more compassionate toward the individual and it was still a little easier to find something to cling to. Even if it was just a few friends with similar characteristics in common. Now there's just nothing at all.

I can imagine how that would impact you as well. People in general have less compassion to even try to understand why you don't blend in even if you do have a physical appearance that would make one think you'd blend seamlessly into society.

 

[Traveler VII]

All periods of time have had their own problems.

This exactly.

As @chocolatebar indicated, much of what contributes to a person's life experience hinges upon the circumstances into which they are born, regardless of the era.

All the same, to engage in the reverie of having been dealt a different hand - an alternate reality, if you will - is a powerful thing.

 

[Kundalini Guy]

People in the future will probably understand people who CTB'ed in our times as euthanasia due to suffering will probably be widespread in their times. It's just that our times is still archaic in many ways and some peoples lives are just worse than others.

 

[locked*n*loaded]

People in the future will probably understand people who CTB'ed in our times as euthanasia due to suffering will probably be widespread in their times. It's just that our times is still archaic in many ways and some peoples lives are just worse than others.

One never knows. Something could happen, some impetus unknown, that could make things better in the future. It would, obviously, have to be large and powerful enough to bring the world together. I don't know what that might be, but I'd never be able to say that it just could not happen.

 

[ptolemaea]

i can relate to how you feel. i don't even think it's anything about the time period, it's just how isolated social media and the internet has made us. everywhere you go, people are on their phones. if you want to enjoy yourself, have a fun time, do something that doesn't include staring at a screen, people look at you like you're some kind of freak! i don't have any social media myself, and i'm considering getting rid of my cellphone all together. the modern world is a lonely one. we're far too addicted to our cellphones, people of my generation can't even watch anything longer than a few minutes because their brains have been so fried by short term content and algorithms. i was born in the early 2000s like you, and i wish i had experienced a time before the internet. the late 90s had enough technology that life became easier, but not so much it completely consumed our lives. we have the illusion of connection now, but i don't think we've ever been more alone.

 

[StillBreathing]

I think it really sums up to how we live our lives. We are not meant to be working or studying 40+ hours a week. We are not meant to be living in comfortable houses and apartments. We are not meant to buy our food at the supermarket. Etc...

We are still animals, once an animal gets put in a cage it feels trapped and depressed depending on the conditions. We all have different cages and we will never be truly happy inside it.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I'm an 80's child. I'm 43 now. I do actually relate to what you're saying though- I also wish I'd been born earlier- so that computers hadn't obliterated most of my industry by the time I got to employment age.

I sort of feel like I would find something to be miserable about in any era though! I think they all had pros and cons. That said- I think social media and the internet at large is a massive threat to the youth of today. I'm SO glad I don't have children because I have no idea how I'd keep them safe and sane in this world.

 

[Homo erectus]

The most hopeful recent generation was probably the boomers and soon after. They grew up in a world where most things had been shaken up and still unsettled, like the hippies, Clinton generation. There were many unknowns, grey areas, freedoms and opportunities. Mind-altering substances, deadly sleeping pills were widely available. On the up side, they had hopes about the future and their kids. A typically film of that generation has a lab in their basement or garage where their kids playing with radio, computers and toys would dramatically stumble onto some discovery, invention or UFO.

But then power becomes more and more concentrated in a small number of people. Nixon's war on drugs probably marks the age of control. Big companies and powerful people control everything. Ordinary people are like program. Life is boring and meaningless. A typical film now is apocalyptic, hoping everyone dies equally, or a messiah suddenly brings good life and a just world.