Actually I was talking about my parent's upbringing. There were no good old days for my parents- my mother was born in 1918, my father in 1922. My mother was born in a slum in Chicago; my father was born to a relatively wealthy stockbroker and real estate trader in Los Angeles.
If I consider myself, I always think today is the best day for ME. I don't look backward; I'm kind of an "in the moment" kind of person.
What I was trying to get across is that there is no golden time for everyone. While you may be having a golden moment, someone else is mired in crap- and I think when times get REALLY good is when most people have it as good as they individually want it. Blacks and women were horribly stifled before the 60's, much to the pleasure of a few, but to the detriment of many. Do we have problems now because of their "liberation"? Well yeah, but liberation with some problems beats stomping on a whole big batch of the population. You may look back on a golden period, but (IMO) our society is generally getting more fair, to more people, and letting more people be the people they want to be, and thus, it's getting better.
The young gentleman you saw interviewed, for example- I see no problem with extreme appearances. I have a devotee of a Clockwork Orange in one of my classes (he also claims to be a Satanist), and he likes to wear the makeup and clothes that could have come out of the movie. I find his attire really interesting. He's actually a very attractive kid, and while I guess someone from Idaho might find him strange looking, he fits right in where I teach, and no one notices him at all. I think in certain occupations such attire could be an asset. If he wants to work in corporate banking I think he knows enough to know he would need to buy a suit. |
