No, because the Internet has gotten so raggedy and corporate and enshittified and that's where everything takes place.
this post was submitted on 29 May 2025
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What I gather from this thread is that people probably like the decade the best that they grew up in π
Up until 9/11, for North America, maybe. After the collapse of the Soviet Union things felt pretty good. In my social circle there was a lot of optimism.
But we were on a neoliberal tear. A lot of the benefits we were enjoying (of globalization) are the cause of the spasm of conservatism we're seeing today.
I think it depends on what people consider a peak. By 2000, the education system was already in trouble and wages had stagnated for 20 years. Glass/Steagall had been repealed, and GW was in power.
I think it came in the 80's, personally.
I guess I skew more towards the technology portion of it. Yes, technology was ramping up in the 80s but I think by the early 2000s the information age had solidified.
I can see an argument for it. The Internet was widespread and accessible to common people, but governments and major corporations hadn't really figured out how to completely abuse it yet.
But the real thing is probably that the peak of culture is probably based on whenever a person was between 5 and 25 years old. For most I think those were the good old days, no matter when they actually were.
Most peopleβs opinions here seem to be oriented around their youth. When we are just old enough to engage with the world in small and controllable ways, but still too young to really grasp the worst parts or feel partly responsible for them, itβs easy to feel optimistic about the world and our place in it. That optimism is what we look back on and long for because, as we age further, we gradually realize how misguided that optimism really is.
Are... are there people who think of that time as a cultural peak?
If that's the bar, then yeah, we've had at least one since then and are due for another soon.
Yeah I think most people will pick a timeframe in their life that is nostalgic and good. Like my dad would talk about the 70s, I talk about the 2000s, my kids will probably talk about ~~the before days with drinkable water~~ the 2030s
I miss 2015. It was a last gasp of hope
I feel like music, film, comedy, visual art, literature, all just keep getting better and better. I haven't seen anything I'd call a "peak".
everyone's going to have a different answer for this but I believe we were at our best in the 90s in America
the key was all the transluscent cases on electronics. the future was optimistic and we were excited to see it. then came the brushed aluminum era when everything became boring again, like the beige plastic era, just more expensive.
That's a fascinating question. I just can't wrap my head around the early 2000s as a time of Excellence. I think of it as a time of impending collapse. You have 9/11, the start of decades long horrific Wars, growing Mass government surveillance and authoritarianism, extreme political fracturing, ramping up to a massive financial disaster, and so much more. Now that's true of every time every time has massive flaws and Horrors in them, but that's one I just can't really wrap my head around thinking anything else of.
The 90s were prettygood. It kinda all started downhill with the Brooks Brothers Riot and SCOTUS calling a presidential election instead of the votes.
Started downhill isn't right. Accelerated is closer.
Also a couple genocides thrown in there don't forget.
Respectfully, I think both the question and the premise are quite meaningless.
Thank you for not engaging with it
I don't think we have peaked. We have had progress and regress in various areas at various times that has either kept us level or on a slight climb.
The 2000s!?!? The attitude era of this planet? Fuck no!
The 80s had the best music, the best fashion, the best TV, the most memorable movies, and awesome gadgets.
We'll never have the 80s again!
looming threat of nuclear annihilation
We still have that lmao
Late 80s through late 90s was peak. Technology was booming. Everything was a start up. Everything was rad.
So rad!
You must have had access to the best drugs in the 80s because they were not what you describe at all.
I wasn't doing drugs at age 8
But maybe that ecto cooler and ninja turtle snack pies were pretty close.
The world is a terrible place.
The world is the best place it's ever been.
The world could be much better.
how long or short is this βlifetimeβ of which you speak? the 90βs is peak, you whipper-snapper.
Ok but we are all focusing in on this 20 years span
yeah. wasnβt 1990 like 20 years ago? :)
No. 1990 was, and will forever be, about 10 years ago.
Ahh I'm old
I don't. The 80s were.
The 80's sucked in my neck of the woods.
indiana?
Cape Breton.
Mtv alone inspired a burst of creativity that hasn't been matched since. In music, video, direction, art design, set design... Nothing comes close.
Maybe, but we also got Reaganomics and the beginning of that cultural shift towards greed being good. I suppose you could make a case that we also had HW Bush, the last repub afaik to actually raise taxes on the wealthy, helping Clinton balance the budget in the 90s.
Also had the Satanic Panic, though that seems to come back around every so often no matter what.
I disagree, but I am not really willing to get into this.
No
Robot UBI will be awesome. The price floor of automated AI slop will make everything better because worse will not exist.
No. We might have the cultural equivalent of an βIndian summerβ, where things briefly seem to get better, but overall, humanity is on the downswing. Weβre ruining our environment and draining our resources. Not enough people in power are motivated to fix things, or at least keep them from getting worse. Most popular culture will be an increasingly frantic and transparent effort to ignore the collapse of human civilization.
Not for humanity. I think AI will develop more sophisticated culture and become the major driver of progress at some point in the future.