Were the 1990s more like the 2010s or 1970s + others
Jul 7, 2018 6:41:51 GMT 10
Post by RockyMountainExtreme on Jul 7, 2018 6:41:51 GMT 10
Hey y'all.
Thought this would be an interesting idea for a thread. I know some may accuse this of being a decadeology thread, but even if it is, the biggest problems with decadeology threads are that most of them focus on overly specific shifts, this one doesn't, the questions asked in this thread can generate a lot of good in-depth discussion, especially the earlier decades that those of us on this forum didn't experience, as it could be a testament to our knowledge of the history surrounding these decades.
So with that out of the way, as you can see, the title of this thread suggests that we will be comparing the '90s to the two decades that are 20 years apart from it. That we will do, but you may also notice the "+ others" in the title. Instead of just doing the '90s for this thread, I'd also like to compare the '50s-'80s as well to the two decades that are 20 years apart from each of them on both sides, as I didn't want to make a bunch of separate threads for this subject, otherwise, it would become a nuisance on this sub-forum. So, I'm going to combine them all into one thread.
So with that out of the way, here are the questions and my personal view on the subjects at hand;
Were the 1950s more like the 1930s or the 1970s
At first, the answer may seem obvious. Both the '50s and the '70s are bordered by the '60s, which was the decade of a massive social revolution. The '50s was a deeply conservative time period, devout Christianity was at a high, the Civil Rights Act hadn't passed yet and non-whites were fully oppressed in society, acts of homosexuality were punishable, and the blues and rock & roll of that time period, which was very tame and innocent compared to what would come in later decades, was labeled as "devil music". The '70s, on the other hand, was after the sexual revolution and Civil Rights Act, the Black Power movement was in full swing, segregation was over, interracial marriage was legal, gender discrimination was prohibited with the advent of Title IX, stripperific attire was popular, and even gay culture really became mainstream with the advent of disco. The vast majority of the pop culture of the '70s would've been considered work of the devil back in the '50s. With that, it would make sense for the '50s to be more like the '30s than the '70s, since both the '30s and '50s were conservative time periods. The '60s is definitely a huge wedge in between the '50s and '70s.
However, let's not forget about the other, arguably bigger, wedge that's in between the '30s and '50s. As revolutionary as the '60s are, the '40s might just be the MOST revolutionary decade of the modern era, because of one major event - World War II. In fact, World War II is the biggest event of the 20th Century, no doubt about that. It was in World War II when the cavity magnetron, first computer (ENIAC), the precursor to space rockets (V-2 Missile), the first microwave oven, and the first nuclear warhead were invented, the latter bringing us into the Nuclear Age, plus penicillin became more mass distributed, plus after the war, colonialism and fascism came to an end, and the United Nations and International Monetery Fund were established, creating a New World Order we still live by today, plus suburbia took off and the television became more popular. The '50s was the first decade of the Television Age, and was when youth culture really took off, while in the '30s, those concepts didn't exist yet, not to mention the Great Depression really stagnated the American way of life in the '30s.
This one is tough for me, I'm just going to leave this one up in the air.
Were the 1960s more like the 1940s or the 1980s
The early '60s most certainly relate more to the '40s, not only because it's closer in proximity, but also because it was before the big social revolution of the middle-to-later years of this decade that brought down the conservative status quo. In fact, the time period between the end of World War II and the JFK assassination could very well be just one collective social era of the 20th Century. Likewise, the late '60s would relate more to the '80s, but not exactly to the same degree as the early '60s would relate to the '40s. The late '60s, of course, had the sexual revolution in full swing, the black power movement really taking off, interracial marriage becoming legal, homosexuality starting to become more accepted, and overall the conservative status quo was no longer the youth status quo, all of this would make the time period relate more to the '80s, which was a time period that embraced a fast and hard lifestyle, and had stripperific attire as a standard among pop cultural icons, compared to the '40s which were far more conservative by comparison.
As for the decade overall, however, I may actually say it relates more to the '40s, just because it was the decade when the revolution was just getting started, and it didn't really come into full swing until 1966/1967, which was in the latter half of the decade. 1960-1963 and to a lesser extent 1964-1965 were more similar to the '40s than the '80s.
Were the 1970s more like the 1950s or the 1990s
This one's easy. The '70s were definitely more like the '90s, beyond any doubt. While the '60s most certainly drives a huge wedge in pop culture and social atmosphere between the '50s and the '70s, the '80s were far more consistent by comparison. Both the '70s and the '90s had analog color TV being standard, they both had video games (albeit the latter's video games were certainly far more advanced), they both had VCRs and cable TV (although the '80s would be when they would really become standard), and the boxy '70s style cars were still ubiquitous on the roads in the '90s. Plus, rock music was a dominant and sophisticated music genre in both decades, while in the '50s, it was considered "devil's music", and/or thought to be a fad that would soon pass. Plus, of course, the sexual, racial, and political atmosphere of the '70s was also far more similar to the neo-liberal '90s than to the ultra-conservative '50s.
The only major aspect in which the '70s would relate more to the '50s would be the Cold War, and perhaps the fact that it was still a campfire television decade, but other than that, the '70s were far more like the '90s.
Were the 1980s more like the 1960s or the 2000s
This one's certainly a lot tougher than the previous, but overall, I'm going to say the '80s had more in common with the '00s than the '60s, not by a lot though mind you. As stated before, the early '60s was still an era in which the conservative status quo was heavily revered amongst the youth, and the big social revolution really didn't come into full swing until 1966/1967. But even the late '60s was before the advent of video games, VCRs, and cable TV, plus black-and-white TV was still the standard for television. Both the '80s and the '00s had analog color TV as the standard throughout the entirety of the former and the majority of the latter, as it wasn't until late 2007 when CRT TVs were surpassed by HDTVs. Plus, both the '80s and '00s had video games, and video games were already making the leap from being a fad to being an industry standard in the '80s, as a matter of fact, the '80s are for gaming what the '60s are for rock music. Also, let's not forget about music videos, the music industry changed a lot in 1981 with the advent of MTV (which in my opinion was for the worse). In the '80s, it was no longer enough to be talented musically, you also had to have the look, and more airtime is given to artists whose record companies pay the most. The '00s was very much a continuation of all of this, albeit the advent of YouTube videos just made the problem even worse. Plus, the '80s saw the release of the first commercially available mobile phones. In the '60s, the closest thing to a mobile phone was a walkie-talkie. Sure, the '00s saw the advent of smartphones, but they weren't standard until the '10s.
The lack of the internet and the Cold War still going on, however, are solid points for the '80s relating more to the '60s, but I believe overall the decade is more like the '00s, but not to the same degree as the '70s being more similar to the '90s than the '50s.
Were the 1990s more like the 1970s or the 2010s
The '90s was the most revolutionary decade post the '60s, as it's when the modern internet came out, when video games became more in-depth and less like take-home arcades, when alternative music became dominant, when cell phones became common, and the Cold War was finally over. Despite that though, I'd still say the '90s has more in common with the '70s than the '10s, as in the '90s, the internet was still pretty primitive, and cellphones didn't do much besides call or maybe text, unlike the '10s where you had the computer and high-speed internet built into a smartphone. Plus, both the '70s and the '90s had analog color TV as the standard television set, while the '10s had HD TVs, as well as smart TVs that have Netflix, Hulu, etc. built in. Speaking of that, the '10s are the first decade in which digital media is the dominant form of media instead of physical media, while in the '90s, digital media was pretty much unheard of. In the '10s, you have all the news, entertainment, and guidance you need at your fingertips, you sure as hell didn't have that in the '90s.
As for whether the 2000s will be more like the 1980s or the 2020s, that will of course have to wait, but I'm going to predict that the 2000s will be more like the 1980s than the 2020s in the end, but we'll see..
So, what are your views on this subject?
Thought this would be an interesting idea for a thread. I know some may accuse this of being a decadeology thread, but even if it is, the biggest problems with decadeology threads are that most of them focus on overly specific shifts, this one doesn't, the questions asked in this thread can generate a lot of good in-depth discussion, especially the earlier decades that those of us on this forum didn't experience, as it could be a testament to our knowledge of the history surrounding these decades.
So with that out of the way, as you can see, the title of this thread suggests that we will be comparing the '90s to the two decades that are 20 years apart from it. That we will do, but you may also notice the "+ others" in the title. Instead of just doing the '90s for this thread, I'd also like to compare the '50s-'80s as well to the two decades that are 20 years apart from each of them on both sides, as I didn't want to make a bunch of separate threads for this subject, otherwise, it would become a nuisance on this sub-forum. So, I'm going to combine them all into one thread.
So with that out of the way, here are the questions and my personal view on the subjects at hand;
Were the 1950s more like the 1930s or the 1970s
At first, the answer may seem obvious. Both the '50s and the '70s are bordered by the '60s, which was the decade of a massive social revolution. The '50s was a deeply conservative time period, devout Christianity was at a high, the Civil Rights Act hadn't passed yet and non-whites were fully oppressed in society, acts of homosexuality were punishable, and the blues and rock & roll of that time period, which was very tame and innocent compared to what would come in later decades, was labeled as "devil music". The '70s, on the other hand, was after the sexual revolution and Civil Rights Act, the Black Power movement was in full swing, segregation was over, interracial marriage was legal, gender discrimination was prohibited with the advent of Title IX, stripperific attire was popular, and even gay culture really became mainstream with the advent of disco. The vast majority of the pop culture of the '70s would've been considered work of the devil back in the '50s. With that, it would make sense for the '50s to be more like the '30s than the '70s, since both the '30s and '50s were conservative time periods. The '60s is definitely a huge wedge in between the '50s and '70s.
However, let's not forget about the other, arguably bigger, wedge that's in between the '30s and '50s. As revolutionary as the '60s are, the '40s might just be the MOST revolutionary decade of the modern era, because of one major event - World War II. In fact, World War II is the biggest event of the 20th Century, no doubt about that. It was in World War II when the cavity magnetron, first computer (ENIAC), the precursor to space rockets (V-2 Missile), the first microwave oven, and the first nuclear warhead were invented, the latter bringing us into the Nuclear Age, plus penicillin became more mass distributed, plus after the war, colonialism and fascism came to an end, and the United Nations and International Monetery Fund were established, creating a New World Order we still live by today, plus suburbia took off and the television became more popular. The '50s was the first decade of the Television Age, and was when youth culture really took off, while in the '30s, those concepts didn't exist yet, not to mention the Great Depression really stagnated the American way of life in the '30s.
This one is tough for me, I'm just going to leave this one up in the air.
Were the 1960s more like the 1940s or the 1980s
The early '60s most certainly relate more to the '40s, not only because it's closer in proximity, but also because it was before the big social revolution of the middle-to-later years of this decade that brought down the conservative status quo. In fact, the time period between the end of World War II and the JFK assassination could very well be just one collective social era of the 20th Century. Likewise, the late '60s would relate more to the '80s, but not exactly to the same degree as the early '60s would relate to the '40s. The late '60s, of course, had the sexual revolution in full swing, the black power movement really taking off, interracial marriage becoming legal, homosexuality starting to become more accepted, and overall the conservative status quo was no longer the youth status quo, all of this would make the time period relate more to the '80s, which was a time period that embraced a fast and hard lifestyle, and had stripperific attire as a standard among pop cultural icons, compared to the '40s which were far more conservative by comparison.
As for the decade overall, however, I may actually say it relates more to the '40s, just because it was the decade when the revolution was just getting started, and it didn't really come into full swing until 1966/1967, which was in the latter half of the decade. 1960-1963 and to a lesser extent 1964-1965 were more similar to the '40s than the '80s.
Were the 1970s more like the 1950s or the 1990s
This one's easy. The '70s were definitely more like the '90s, beyond any doubt. While the '60s most certainly drives a huge wedge in pop culture and social atmosphere between the '50s and the '70s, the '80s were far more consistent by comparison. Both the '70s and the '90s had analog color TV being standard, they both had video games (albeit the latter's video games were certainly far more advanced), they both had VCRs and cable TV (although the '80s would be when they would really become standard), and the boxy '70s style cars were still ubiquitous on the roads in the '90s. Plus, rock music was a dominant and sophisticated music genre in both decades, while in the '50s, it was considered "devil's music", and/or thought to be a fad that would soon pass. Plus, of course, the sexual, racial, and political atmosphere of the '70s was also far more similar to the neo-liberal '90s than to the ultra-conservative '50s.
The only major aspect in which the '70s would relate more to the '50s would be the Cold War, and perhaps the fact that it was still a campfire television decade, but other than that, the '70s were far more like the '90s.
Were the 1980s more like the 1960s or the 2000s
This one's certainly a lot tougher than the previous, but overall, I'm going to say the '80s had more in common with the '00s than the '60s, not by a lot though mind you. As stated before, the early '60s was still an era in which the conservative status quo was heavily revered amongst the youth, and the big social revolution really didn't come into full swing until 1966/1967. But even the late '60s was before the advent of video games, VCRs, and cable TV, plus black-and-white TV was still the standard for television. Both the '80s and the '00s had analog color TV as the standard throughout the entirety of the former and the majority of the latter, as it wasn't until late 2007 when CRT TVs were surpassed by HDTVs. Plus, both the '80s and '00s had video games, and video games were already making the leap from being a fad to being an industry standard in the '80s, as a matter of fact, the '80s are for gaming what the '60s are for rock music. Also, let's not forget about music videos, the music industry changed a lot in 1981 with the advent of MTV (which in my opinion was for the worse). In the '80s, it was no longer enough to be talented musically, you also had to have the look, and more airtime is given to artists whose record companies pay the most. The '00s was very much a continuation of all of this, albeit the advent of YouTube videos just made the problem even worse. Plus, the '80s saw the release of the first commercially available mobile phones. In the '60s, the closest thing to a mobile phone was a walkie-talkie. Sure, the '00s saw the advent of smartphones, but they weren't standard until the '10s.
The lack of the internet and the Cold War still going on, however, are solid points for the '80s relating more to the '60s, but I believe overall the decade is more like the '00s, but not to the same degree as the '70s being more similar to the '90s than the '50s.
Were the 1990s more like the 1970s or the 2010s
The '90s was the most revolutionary decade post the '60s, as it's when the modern internet came out, when video games became more in-depth and less like take-home arcades, when alternative music became dominant, when cell phones became common, and the Cold War was finally over. Despite that though, I'd still say the '90s has more in common with the '70s than the '10s, as in the '90s, the internet was still pretty primitive, and cellphones didn't do much besides call or maybe text, unlike the '10s where you had the computer and high-speed internet built into a smartphone. Plus, both the '70s and the '90s had analog color TV as the standard television set, while the '10s had HD TVs, as well as smart TVs that have Netflix, Hulu, etc. built in. Speaking of that, the '10s are the first decade in which digital media is the dominant form of media instead of physical media, while in the '90s, digital media was pretty much unheard of. In the '10s, you have all the news, entertainment, and guidance you need at your fingertips, you sure as hell didn't have that in the '90s.
As for whether the 2000s will be more like the 1980s or the 2020s, that will of course have to wait, but I'm going to predict that the 2000s will be more like the 1980s than the 2020s in the end, but we'll see..
So, what are your views on this subject?
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