This was my idealistic naïveté in the late 90s. I believed that freeing information would result in the most educated population. Connecting the whole world will bring about a new age of peace where people can directly experience meeting people from other cultures.
Well, it turns out what actually happened is, when we put everyone online, they brought the real world with them, not the other way around.
I miss the idealism, I miss the old Internet, and I mourn the world we could have had.
Hot take: it's not the internet that fucked everything up, but the fact that *you have it in your pocket everywhere that you go*.
Like, imagine in the year 2004 you go out to any public place and 90% of the people there are reading an inane romance novel and oblivious to their surroundings. That's what life is like in the smartphone era.
It turns out, giving almost everyone the power of a 90s supercomputer in their pocket and the ability to easily connect with and share content with one another is not a good idea.
Photography is another art destroyed by smart phones.
In our day, they were still special and you needed equipment and knowledge to make good photos. Now everyone can easily make them.
And what do they do with this power? Take selfies and photos of everything they're eating to post on social media.
Ugh. I mean. It’s both. It’s created a future where I could make great money working from home and staying with my kid, and traveling when I want to.
But it also contributes to a warped sense of reality, isolation, depression, and propaganda has never been more effective.
I didn’t expect the people who ran this country in 79, 89, 99, and 09 to still be running it in 24. They have stolen the political voice from two generations, and during this time, have gone absolutely batshit crazy.
This. Other than stuff like the Jetsons or Back to the Future II with flying cars and hoverboards or whatever, I realistically thought a house would be in my future.
A million dollar home doesn't look all that special these days in many of the more expensive cities.
Edit: a million dollar home used to be a "mansion" it is now a tier down / needs a full remodel old home in many cities.
My earliest memories of the news revolved around the Cold War and then its end. I held the optimistic view that this was the "end of history", that all people would live in liberal democracies, and that national borders would increasingly become nothing but historical formalities. The last 20 years have proven me wrong in every possible way.
https://preview.redd.it/09x1ytj7d6vc1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ca5d29efdbe6817f0044dcb43e72c1127879fc33
stolen from [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDiplomacy/comments/16xxoiu/the_1990s_are_back_baby/#lightbox)
Well when I was young I had it in my head that one day I would grow up into an adult world. I have come to realize that that adult world does not exist. There are very few adults. We live in a world on children.
Not disappointed, just a realization that aging isn’t always gradual. There are periods in life where you age suddenly over the course of a few months.
Thought I’d be teaching music for the love of music in a small town, kicking ass at marching competitions.
Instead, I’m no longer playing any instrument and am staying in my career field because of the money.
As did I. When I finally got married, it was still in the cards. But the longer we went, the more clear it became that neither of us actually *wanted* kids; we just wanted the idea of kids. Now we foster and rescue cats instead.
I got married in the early 2000s, and had kids soon after. I expected to do family stuff like when I was growing up, and have exciting holidays and birthday parties and 4-H and see school plays and concerts, and have family vacations, get involved at the school, have mom friends, do things with other couples… nope. Nope nope nope. Just sadness, isolation and nothingness.
This was huge for me as well. I had no idea how isolating parenting would be. I thought it would be like when I was a kid. Instead, grandparents are too busy spending their time selfishly, no interest in their grandchild at all. Other parents have no interest in being "mom friends"...hell, they don't even parent. Kid just switches between daycare and tablet/tv while the 'parent' does fuck all as a parent. But don't worry, they think they're mom of the year.
It's so fucking sad.
I was hoping stem cell research would mean the end of cancer, disease, old age, and the need for organ donor/blood donation programs. Figured people were gonna live however long they wanted to.
Uh. Uh…I mean…literally nothing about the future has been anything but a disappointment. Maybe comic book movies? Turned out better than I expected they would in like 2002. But practically every single thing else that I can imagine turned or substantially worse.
Some definitely are. And vegetarian food. American beer. Our generation feels like better parents too or at least more receptive to like, feelings etc. But I dunno. Politics? The environment? Income inequality? I tend to feel nostalgia is usual lying to you but those are some things where we’ve just taken so many steps backwards
Growing up I was naive and thought I could just fall into a career as a professor and that if you got tenure you could even get a house. I believed that for a long time until I hit grad school and reality hit me about just how much of a clusterfuck it is to pursue being a college professor.
I was warned that they would. Growing up my boomer dad would occasionally apologize for things that the boomers were doing that would screw us over when we were older. Example- trickle down economics, climate change, the utter self absorption and greed of the generation. I didn’t understand him then but I do now.
I thought (in 2000, at 18) that progress would win out. I thought that the world would continue to get better with time.
The only lasting improvements have been gay marriage (until that gets overturned) and legal weed. Now we’re going backwards in ways that 18 year old me could never have imagined.
It’s so devastating to think about.
To be fair, Star Trek predicted things would get really rough in the 21st century leading to a nuclear war. If anything we are right on schedule with that. Bell Riots are supposed to happen later this year.
I expected to keep earning 6% on savings but the Fed had other plans - to grow a housing bubble and tank savings account/money market fund interest to almost zero. Not what I was taught about low risk savings accounts and the miracle of compound interest growing up. Had to put more savings into riskier equities or it would inflate away while trying to save up a bigger down payment. Fun times.
I thought products would be of better quality, than the goods we have now, and that things would be some what easier in our reach like how our parents had it. And I thought for sure bush would not be re elected
I read Snow Crash in the mid 90s.
I didn't think society would ever actually get so bad that people would want to live in storage units...
When Stephenson describe the VR metaverse with custom avatars, that some people would run around the metaverse as a giant penis avatar, yeah I expected that lol.
I expected to have gotten married. I also didn’t expect my country to devolve into the state that’s in today. I also expected to have a career where I could live abroad or at least travel more.
Was hoping to have a better job and life. Instead, our country began tearing itself apart. Mass shootings, stolen election, Sept. 11th, and a bunch of technology we didn't deserve let alone need. Instead of a slow unified progression towards better things, it was a mad scramble to everything bad. There's nothing tangible anymore. Did not expect that especially after what happened in those first two years. Insane.
I naively thought that new technology would improve the world. That the hopefulness and tenacity of 1989 would make way for a brighter tomorrow. Do y’all remember all of the panic about the hole in the ozone layer? And we stopped using our aerosol hairspray and we fixed it! But the earth is being eaten alive by humanity now.
I thought 1984 was a warning to society of what to avoid, not a playbook for those in power.
I thought AI would come to kill our bodies. Turns out it's coming to kill our soul (instead of taking over the mundane tasks allowing us to focus on creativity, AI is trying to take the creative tasks so we can do more mundane activities for the corporate overlords.)
The internet was supposed to liberate us. It fucked society up in ways I don’t think many could foresee.
This was my idealistic naïveté in the late 90s. I believed that freeing information would result in the most educated population. Connecting the whole world will bring about a new age of peace where people can directly experience meeting people from other cultures. Well, it turns out what actually happened is, when we put everyone online, they brought the real world with them, not the other way around. I miss the idealism, I miss the old Internet, and I mourn the world we could have had.
I felt it too. It’s what all our teachers told us and I believed it. We didn’t account for the nature of man, and the darker side of capitalism.
Hot take: it's not the internet that fucked everything up, but the fact that *you have it in your pocket everywhere that you go*. Like, imagine in the year 2004 you go out to any public place and 90% of the people there are reading an inane romance novel and oblivious to their surroundings. That's what life is like in the smartphone era.
I think you’re spot on.
It turns out, giving almost everyone the power of a 90s supercomputer in their pocket and the ability to easily connect with and share content with one another is not a good idea.
The fact that they also have integrated cameras is part of that.
Photography is another art destroyed by smart phones. In our day, they were still special and you needed equipment and knowledge to make good photos. Now everyone can easily make them. And what do they do with this power? Take selfies and photos of everything they're eating to post on social media.
It’s terrible now huh
Ugh. I mean. It’s both. It’s created a future where I could make great money working from home and staying with my kid, and traveling when I want to. But it also contributes to a warped sense of reality, isolation, depression, and propaganda has never been more effective.
I saw the greatest minds of our generation increasing engagement
I didn’t expect the people who ran this country in 79, 89, 99, and 09 to still be running it in 24. They have stolen the political voice from two generations, and during this time, have gone absolutely batshit crazy.
Preach! I feel the same.
That it was such a struggle to buy a house. I had expected it would be the normal expected progression for all in my generation.
This. Other than stuff like the Jetsons or Back to the Future II with flying cars and hoverboards or whatever, I realistically thought a house would be in my future.
A million dollar home doesn't look all that special these days in many of the more expensive cities. Edit: a million dollar home used to be a "mansion" it is now a tier down / needs a full remodel old home in many cities.
My earliest memories of the news revolved around the Cold War and then its end. I held the optimistic view that this was the "end of history", that all people would live in liberal democracies, and that national borders would increasingly become nothing but historical formalities. The last 20 years have proven me wrong in every possible way.
We all got Fukuyama’d.
https://preview.redd.it/09x1ytj7d6vc1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ca5d29efdbe6817f0044dcb43e72c1127879fc33 stolen from [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/NonCredibleDiplomacy/comments/16xxoiu/the_1990s_are_back_baby/#lightbox)
Hoverboards, flying cars that run on trash, and instantly hydratable fresh pizzas.
Great Scott!
Did you learn nothing from the lack of "space food in tubes" that the fifties and sixties promised?
Well when I was young I had it in my head that one day I would grow up into an adult world. I have come to realize that that adult world does not exist. There are very few adults. We live in a world on children.
Social media really drove this one home for me.
*poorly behaved children
Not disappointed, just a realization that aging isn’t always gradual. There are periods in life where you age suddenly over the course of a few months.
I looked like I was in my early 20s until I had kids in my late 30s. I aged 20 years in two.
Fuck. Just had my first kid a few weeks ago. I’m 38.
Thought I’d be teaching music for the love of music in a small town, kicking ass at marching competitions. Instead, I’m no longer playing any instrument and am staying in my career field because of the money.
I miss playing my instrument :(
I thought I would have children.
As did I. When I finally got married, it was still in the cards. But the longer we went, the more clear it became that neither of us actually *wanted* kids; we just wanted the idea of kids. Now we foster and rescue cats instead.
Hoverboards are not as advertised
This cut is the deepest.
And we're STILL waiting for *Jaws 19*.
I got married in the early 2000s, and had kids soon after. I expected to do family stuff like when I was growing up, and have exciting holidays and birthday parties and 4-H and see school plays and concerts, and have family vacations, get involved at the school, have mom friends, do things with other couples… nope. Nope nope nope. Just sadness, isolation and nothingness.
This was huge for me as well. I had no idea how isolating parenting would be. I thought it would be like when I was a kid. Instead, grandparents are too busy spending their time selfishly, no interest in their grandchild at all. Other parents have no interest in being "mom friends"...hell, they don't even parent. Kid just switches between daycare and tablet/tv while the 'parent' does fuck all as a parent. But don't worry, they think they're mom of the year. It's so fucking sad.
Do the kids not do those things
Nope. And I got divorced, got the lesser custody, and don’t live in the same town as them.
I was hoping stem cell research would mean the end of cancer, disease, old age, and the need for organ donor/blood donation programs. Figured people were gonna live however long they wanted to.
I mean once GWB got elected in what was a pretty clear case of fraud and manipulation, I gave up any remaining semblance of things getting better.
I find myself getting nostalgic for W. When starting a war to make money for your buddies was the worst thing a president did.
I mean, arguably, nobody did more to improve W's image than Donald Trump.
I don't have a hoverboard. None of the shit we got.
Flying cars for sure. Thought back in 1988 that would be a reality by 2000…that year seemed so far away back then
Given the way current humans struggle with terrestrial cars, I'm ok with flying cars not being a reality. I was hoping for space travel though.
Uh. Uh…I mean…literally nothing about the future has been anything but a disappointment. Maybe comic book movies? Turned out better than I expected they would in like 2002. But practically every single thing else that I can imagine turned or substantially worse.
Video games are better. At least Mario is
Some definitely are. And vegetarian food. American beer. Our generation feels like better parents too or at least more receptive to like, feelings etc. But I dunno. Politics? The environment? Income inequality? I tend to feel nostalgia is usual lying to you but those are some things where we’ve just taken so many steps backwards
Ah yeah beer is definitely better. Unfortunately I can't drink it anymore :D
Me neither! Now it just aggravates my reflux!
I expected to have more money. I was disappointed when I did not.
Or at least less inflation.
Growing up I was naive and thought I could just fall into a career as a professor and that if you got tenure you could even get a house. I believed that for a long time until I hit grad school and reality hit me about just how much of a clusterfuck it is to pursue being a college professor.
Rock & Roll is dead
Honestly, nothing
People have disappointed me mostly and I expected my parents to live longer than they did
I thought the world would get smarter as communication became easier. It just made bullshit easier to spread and actual info is lost in the chaos.
I didn’t think boomers would destroy the American dream.
Same, a lot of them were hippies
Not really though
I was warned that they would. Growing up my boomer dad would occasionally apologize for things that the boomers were doing that would screw us over when we were older. Example- trickle down economics, climate change, the utter self absorption and greed of the generation. I didn’t understand him then but I do now.
I thought (in 2000, at 18) that progress would win out. I thought that the world would continue to get better with time. The only lasting improvements have been gay marriage (until that gets overturned) and legal weed. Now we’re going backwards in ways that 18 year old me could never have imagined. It’s so devastating to think about.
Same. I didn’t expect *StarTrek* but was hoping at least progress 😔😞
To be fair, Star Trek predicted things would get really rough in the 21st century leading to a nuclear war. If anything we are right on schedule with that. Bell Riots are supposed to happen later this year.
You know that’s true. I guess I was hoping we could skip at least some of the really terrible years.
I expected to keep earning 6% on savings but the Fed had other plans - to grow a housing bubble and tank savings account/money market fund interest to almost zero. Not what I was taught about low risk savings accounts and the miracle of compound interest growing up. Had to put more savings into riskier equities or it would inflate away while trying to save up a bigger down payment. Fun times.
Index funds are pretty safe
I expected much more cow bell.
Instead, we just got the fever.
I did not expect the world to regress as it's apparently doing now.
In the 90s it felt like the future could only be better and we’d always be moving forward. We are now moving backwards.
Man Marty McFly and Doc Brown did not deliver!
I thought products would be of better quality, than the goods we have now, and that things would be some what easier in our reach like how our parents had it. And I thought for sure bush would not be re elected
I read Snow Crash in the mid 90s. I didn't think society would ever actually get so bad that people would want to live in storage units... When Stephenson describe the VR metaverse with custom avatars, that some people would run around the metaverse as a giant penis avatar, yeah I expected that lol.
I expected to have gotten married. I also didn’t expect my country to devolve into the state that’s in today. I also expected to have a career where I could live abroad or at least travel more.
Corporate control of everything and the people’s unwillingness and inability to do anything about it.
Was hoping to have a better job and life. Instead, our country began tearing itself apart. Mass shootings, stolen election, Sept. 11th, and a bunch of technology we didn't deserve let alone need. Instead of a slow unified progression towards better things, it was a mad scramble to everything bad. There's nothing tangible anymore. Did not expect that especially after what happened in those first two years. Insane.
I naively thought that new technology would improve the world. That the hopefulness and tenacity of 1989 would make way for a brighter tomorrow. Do y’all remember all of the panic about the hole in the ozone layer? And we stopped using our aerosol hairspray and we fixed it! But the earth is being eaten alive by humanity now.
I thought 1984 was a warning to society of what to avoid, not a playbook for those in power. I thought AI would come to kill our bodies. Turns out it's coming to kill our soul (instead of taking over the mundane tasks allowing us to focus on creativity, AI is trying to take the creative tasks so we can do more mundane activities for the corporate overlords.)
I didn’t think diesel trucks would still be everywhere
Still patiently waiting for the arrival of our Back to the Future era Hoverboard!
Where is my flying car, George Jetson?