80s

I want it to be the 80s again.  Things made sense.  Life was easy.  Sure, we lived with the threat of Mutually Assured Destruction; but, there was an order to it.  There were understood rules.  There was more freedom, less red tape, less policy, and for a kid it was great.  The toys were great.  The music was then awesome.  The girls were cute.  Less stress from not being constantly available 24/7 due to technology and less hoops the jump through, there was still stress.  The technology that was supposed to get rid of paper work and make work easier did neither and allowed one person to the the work of 1 1/2 people for less cost than 1 person because of unemployment rates and third world labour costs.  The family was the social unit.  People were allowed to operate outside the endless red tape that is regulations and policy, from how you lead people at work to the governments invasive incursion into child rearing and the private life.  Socialism was wrong, not gaining a stranglehold.  Churches were at their pinnacle and Christians were not persecuted in the West.  We knew who we were and didn't apologize for it.  The economy was strong, jobs were plenty.  Freedom of speech trumped political correctness.  We were offended if we chose to be.  Things were not perfect, and looking back I can see how righting those imperfections with good intentions became the vehicles of destruction for much of the social issues we face now.  The divisiveness seems deeper, stronger, more passionate and often more hateful.

They say that romanticizing the simplicity of a better time is an illusion.  But, there is truth in it.  Things were more simple, as our lives become more and more complicated.  I look back to the 80s fondly.  Things were great, even without the internet.  We played outside.  We used the phone and made plans with friends.  On the farm, we worked hard in the summer; and, I miss it now.  Golden Age Syndrome I think they call it, may be an illusion.  However, I believe it is an illusion based on truths.  An escape, maybe it is.  Just feelings, are feelings not relevant?  I have always valued logic over feelings, which are also--as I understand it now--very important.  And, I don't think the 80s were a golden age.  If I had to pick a golden age, I'd pick the 1940s or 50s, The Greatest Generation.  Or, I'd pick the early to mid Victorian Age.  A great time to romanticize, people were civil and polite, and dueling kept people from being too offended.  Elegance and beauty, women too, were things perfect?  No, they weren't; but, they never are.  If I could go back to any age, a la Star Trek TOS episode All Our Yesterdays, I would live as a sea officer in Nelson's Navy.