Wednesday 22 March 2017

Let's Talk About...

the good old days. C’mon, you know what I’m on about. We live in times when even people in their early 30s preface their sentences with: “Do you remember when…?” When, what, exactly? When you were born and Thatcher was in power

Let’s talk about a certain epidemic sweeping through these isles. It’s a “selective memory” condition that reminisces about past times, carefully and skilfully leaves the bad bits out and focuses mainly on the good ones.

It is not an ailment that affects solely the Brits. I had the opportunity to see the same phenomenon in my country of birth when I visited last summer. Perhaps, because Castro’s demise was imminent, but I ran into people who went out of their way to romanticise a past they had only slagged off three years before on my previous visit.

The elements that make up this “golden era” evocation in the UK are different, though. We live in times when technology, to mention but one factor, has challenged normal conventions. Social norms, educational practices, human interactions, they have all been transformed. For many, these changes have been for the worse. Loss of manners, addiction to gadgets and lack of social etiquette are some of the side-effects of swiping and scrolling. It is natural, therefore, to look at the emotional spaces carved out in one’s childhood as a comfortable refuge to inhabit.

But beware. Bygone eras do not come all under the same banner and with the same content. Let’s talk about the good old days, but what years exactly? Before the 1910s, you say? If you were a woman you did not have the vote. If you were poor there was no free healthcare and seeing one’s offspring dying was common. 1930s? Rise of antisemitism in Europe, so, if you were a Jew, you were not safe. 1940s? There was a war going on. And whilst Britain fought on the side of what I call “the good guys”, the truth is that when your city is being bombed to bits, you do not look back on those days with fondness but rather with horror. 1950s? OK, I’ll give you that one, but only if you were not gay, you did not need an abortion and you were not black (the racially-motivated Notting Hill riots took place in 1958).

This is not to say that these eras lacked pluses. There were many: outdoor play was part and parcel of growing up; allergies were not as rife as now (as spring time comes upon us, I am already fretting over which allergy will attack me first: pollen-caused hay fever, the tree variety or the grass type?); dieting was mainly the preserve of celebrities and community carried a real meaning.
Say what about my health?

The danger is that as our future becomes more frightening we retreat further away from it. And by moving away we invariably drift towards that “past as a foreign country”. Of course they do things differently there. For starters, they have not got mobile phones. They did, however, cane you. Remember that?

Let’s talk about the good old days. But when we do, let us remember, too, that not everything was rosy pink. Outside toilets, bullying, bigotry, and domestic violence were so normal that people would not bat an eyelid if you brought these subjects up in conversation. That is why I think it is better to think that no era was golden. They all had their pros and cons and idealising them does no one any favours. Plus, at least we have mobile phones now, don’t you think?

© 2017

Next Post: “Thoughts in Progress”, to be published on Saturday 25th March at 6pm (GMT)

20 comments:

  1. So-called 'Cuban Missile Crisis" and bomb shelters were not rosy... but your point is very well taken! In this time of unprecedented political and tech upheaval we long for the idealized past and elect idiots who lying-ly promise it to their own ends. But the pendulum will swing, even as the still kicking body politic of the US slowly rejects the orange infection.

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  2. I was an adolescent in the 60s - and it wasn't all hearts and flowers, but the music was wonderful. There's good and challenging in every era - and maybe we tend to recall the bits that fit into a view of the world that doesn't make us miserable.

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  3. Great post Cuban.Ialso want to say I am so sad what happened in London today.

    Anita

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  4. Perspective is everything isn't it? I think mobile phones are a mixed blessing too.

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  5. I prefer to remember the happy things but the unhappy ones are there too. As far as outdoor toilets I hope to never have to use one again. I like indoor plumbing. Memories can be attached to either the distant past or more recent past (like yesterday). I think perhaps at my age I have more past than I have future and it is precious to me.

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  6. I agree that too many people see the past with rose-colored glasses. Trump says he wants to bring us back to the good old days. He doesn't know history and doesn't know what he's talking about.

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  7. There is progress made in every decade but backward steps too.

    I fondly remember growing up in the 60s and 70s but there were problems then too. But I wouldn't want to be a child or teenager right now for a LOT of reasons. Kids are growing up way too fast now.

    On the plus side, it's encouraging to see a lot of parents still doing a good job of raising respectful, moral children. And allowing kids, just to "be kids" for as long as they can.

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  8. I often cringe when I hear people long for the good ole days--they don't mention race, but those talking about how good things were in this part of the county in the 50s and early 60s are just white folks--cause that was back in the Jim Crow South era. And it seems insensitive to the rest of the population, but I fear that's a lot of what Trump tapped into in his campaign.

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  9. I have come to believe that life and generations change little except in the sense of technology. There always are villains and heroic individuals, always takers and givers, always some who will fail in every way and some who will rise to the top of whatever mountain they climb.

    The one thing I am grateful for, though, is the television remote control: It saves me endless trips walking across the room to change or to adjust something.

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  10. I was very saddened to hear what happened in London today, dear friend. I grew up in the 60's.

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  11. I'm a 30s person and things were not good for me. Second world war, a wicked mother, fear of being bullied, just to name the first things that came into my head. No, things were not good then but it all levelled out and now.... well, things ain't so good now, are they. Admittedly I have a mobile phone but usually persistent pests are the only calls I get.

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  12. I grew up in 70s.

    I've been hooked to the TV today to the news about what happened in London. So sad and scary.

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  13. Cada época tiene su cosa buena, así es nuestra vida que nos atamos a un pasado pero somos felices con un presente moderno.
    Un abrazo.

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  14. Yep, people have selective memory indeed. No such thing as a time when it was always good for everyone.

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  15. Yes, selective memories for sure. I'm guilty... in my mind, the past always seems simpler, safer, and less stressful than the present. Positive memories are much more powerful for me and tend to push out the negative memories, so the past seems rosier.

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  16. Agreed -and if you look at the stats (via Hans Rosling, for example), you will see that life is better now for more people than it has been... But that's human memory for you: we forget the bad and concentrate on the good.

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  17. Hi ACIL - the thing we seem to be losing most .. is respect, and setting standards that others can follow - socially acceptable norms. Understanding others and educating ourselves ... more of that is needed. Still I was in London yesterday, fewer people, but everyone was getting on with life and helping one another ... and we should talk ... cheers Hilary

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  18. All good people stand together,side by side,Evil stands on it's own.
    John.

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  19. Another very interesting post, Mario!
    Hmm, let's think of the 70s. We had for example an unhealthy relationship with a large neighbouring country, but many important things (health care, education, infrastructure) were cared well. These things started to change in the 80s and 90s, and now public services are collapsing, foreign firms are taking over, money flows abroad, income and educational inequality are growing... I could go on and on, but I don't want to write a monstrously long comment. :)
    Stay safe!

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  20. lol, the old days is not taht far back in time as they used to be. Strange isn´t it?

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