Did America peak in the 90s?

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

For my 80s babies and older...

It seems when people think of prosperity and being at the height of technological, pop culture, economic, social, political, industrial, whatever progress...the 90s will always be the decade that people cite as America's time of prosperity.

Think about it. We had shopping malls. We had arcades. We didn't have the internet like that. We had VHS's. We had video stores and chains. We had music stores. We had jobs. We had a billion dollar surplus. We had a great housing market. We still had some industry.

Now, most of the aforementioned is gone. When I pass by dying malls, empty storefronts, economically depressed areas, gentrified areas, places I used to go to when I was younger now closed, and stagnation like that, it's obvious that this country is past it's prime.

Alot of it has to do with the internet, but I think much of it has to do with this country kind of being behind the ball and sabotaging itself in the process.

We're eventually going to look at America in the 90s as the apex of western civilization and the premier point of the 20th century...mark my words.

 

[JamesCannon]

No it peaked in the 50's.

 

[KingTut]

I don't know but shyt really started going downhill in 2001 in my opinion. I was born in 90 so I can't speak on anything before that if we're goin off personal experience.

 

[Fillerguy]

For my 80s babies and older...

It seems when people think of prosperity and being at the height of technological, pop culture, economic, social, political, industrial, whatever progress...the 90s will always be the decade that people cite as America's time of prosperity.

Think about it. We had shopping malls. We had arcades. We didn't have the internet like that. We had VHS's. We had video stores and chains. We had music stores. We had jobs. We had a billion dollar surplus. We had a great housing market. We still had some industry.

Now, most of the aforementioned is gone. When I pass by dying malls, empty storefronts, economically depressed areas, gentrified areas, places I used to go to when I was younger now closed, and stagnation like that, it's obvious that this country is past it's prime.

Alot of it has to do with the internet, but I think much of it has to do with this country kind of being behind the ball and sabotaging itself in the process.

We're eventually going to look at America in the 90s as the apex of western civilization and the premier point of the 20th century...mark my words.

How old are you?

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

How old are you?

30.

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

I don't know but shyt really started going downhill in 2001 in my opinion. I was born in 90 so I can't speak on anything before that if we're goin off personal experience.

yeah.

Old America died on 9/11/2001.

The thing I miss most about the 90s was...the freedom and simplicity.

9/11 set the stage for the fukkery of the past decade and some change.

Heightened security, islamaphobia, endless war, colored terror alerts, the patriot act, telecommunications interception, etc....

To me, the 90s were like the 80s without all of the weird shyt and the 00s without the extra technology.

 

[marcuz]

its easy to claim it peaked in the 90s because those were some us 80's babies best years. no bills or responsibilities, tv and movies actually had black couples. water fights, supersoakers, nerf guns, 32 bit consoles, etc. shyt didn't necessarily peak, we were just young and happy

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

its easy to claim it peaked in the 90s because those were some us 80's babies best years. no bills or responsibilities, tv and movies actually had black couples. water fights, supersoakers, nerf guns, 32 bit consoles, etc. shyt didn't necessarily peak, we were just young and happy

I agree. We weren't old enough to gain the perspective of from it.

If I was 30 in 1994 as supposed to 2014 I'd be looking at it differently for sure...

Compared to now, it was a simpler time.

 

[marcuz]

I agree. We weren't old enough to gain the perspective of from it.

If I was 30 in 1994 as supposed to 2014 I'd be looking at it differently for sure...

Compared to now, it was a simpler time.

i wouldn't switch the era i was born if i could, but those baby boomers had it wayy easier. get a decent paying job straight out of HS. if you quit, there's another one across the street ready to hire you. factory and warehouse jobs enabling men to easily provide for a family. houses and cars cheap as all hell. they had it pretty well and kinda shyt on the younger generation.

 

[Fillerguy]

30.

yeah.

Old America died on 9/11/2001.

The thing I miss most about the 90s was...the freedom and simplicity.

9/11 set the stage for the fukkery of the past decade and some change.

Heightened security, islamaphobia, endless war, colored terror alerts, the patriot act, telecommunications interception, etc....

To me, the 90s were like the 80s without all of the weird shyt and the 00s without the extra technology.

I asked because we grew up the thick of the 24 hour news cycle. Other generations could have easily gone through life without realizing how fukked up this country is. If anything, I'd say the 90s were the precursor to the status quo today.

24 hour coverage of a middle eastern war no one knows quite sure why America is fighting in it - Gulf War
Folks rioting against police brutality - Rodney King, hiphop in general
Arabs bombing America - WTC part 1
First Black Pres in a racist country- Mandela
A liberal president is shyts on his base and everyone thinks its a win - Clinton
A Bush in office
IT jobs are still rising
People still believe capitalism will save the world

 

[*L*E*G*A*C*Y*]

I asked because we grew up the thick of the 24 hour news cycle. Other generations could have easily gone through life without realizing how fukked up this country is. If anything, I'd say the 90s were the precursor to the status quo today.

24 hour coverage of a middle eastern war no one knows quite sure why America is fighting in it - Gulf War
Folks rioting against police brutality - Rodney King, hiphop in general
Arabs bombing America - WTC part 1
First Black Pres in a racist country- Mandela
A liberal president is shyts on his base and everyone thinks its a win - Clinton
A Bush in office
IT jobs are still rising
People still believe capitalism will save the world

Don't forget the dot com boom and the forthcoming tech boom.

Also the first glimpses of telecommunication being more readily affordable and available to the average person.

And yeah, people forget about the first WTC bombing in 1993.

 

[JahFocus CS]

We had VHS's.

 

[Thoughts]

It didn't "peak" this happens every generation, they call them "booms". Our parents' "boom" started in 1994, which is why it was such a good decade for hip-hop, the GDP increased, which increased disposable income for magazines, movies, and music. Also the "dot-com" epoch made this boom easier to communicate.

 

[Maximus]

America began declining the moment Nixon pratically abolished the Bretton Woods system in the 1970's. The decline was compounded during the Reagan era in the 1980s when manufacturing jobs - which made up most jobs in America at the time - were moved overseas. There was also the Crack era(80s & 90s) that I don't feel I need to get into.

While the 1990s were a better, more creative, more prosperious period compared to today, it was no where near the peak of American civilization.

By the '90s, the damage that was created in the '70s & '80s was already done - and 3rd wave feminism happened.

 

[Michael's Black Son]

I don't know but shyt really started going downhill in 2001 in my opinion. I was born in 90 so I can't speak on anything before that if we're goin off personal experience.

this. only thing it can really hang its hat on is technology and not even on a wide scale because you have a handful of companies doing to innovation but only in the name of profit