Interesting us a great deal of late is the outpouring of what we’ve dubbed Back In My Day Syndrome (BIMDS). This being the harking back to the recent past and whining about stuff being better back then.
A brief look back over what people are pining for from the last 100 years and we’ve got the:
- Aftermath of WWI
- Great Depression
- WWII
- Aftermath of WWII
- Cold War
- The 1970s (at least in the UK, everything was a total mess)
- Various recessions
- Rampant bigotry (chronic racism, sexism, homophobia)
Despite all that lot, a large sect of people have convinced themselves it were reet better in t’olden days. Why?
BIMDS is present in every generation, but it’s been exemplified by modern political trends, 24/7 news cycles, and social media. THUS! We’re here, today, to wax lyrical about it all and why it really were reet not better at all.
MoroniCast: The Back in My Days of Declinism Bias
Okay, so what’s this term all about?
“Declinism bias is present in politics, economics, and cultural trends. It can often be fueled by media coverage of adverse events, economic downturns, or other social issues. It can be further exacerbated by confirmation bias, in which people look for information that reinforces their beliefs, and ignore evidence to the contrary.
Many believe that declinism bias is spurred by our 24-hour news cycle culture. As news and social media platforms bombard individuals with a steady stream of bad news, viewers may develop strong feelings and emotions about the direction society is heading, and become less willing to engage with those with different points of view.”
That’s a quote from everything you need to know about declinism bias. The Reboot Foundation aims to elevate critical thinking. A rather noble goal.
The problem with this mindset is (and no big surprises here) it leads to:
- Apathy
- Pessimism
- Depression
- Polarisation
- Resistance to change
It won’t be a huge surprise to you, but here’s another quote from the article.
“It is a common strategy to use declinism for political gains and advantage. Many politicians play on the idea that only they can help their voters restore their fallen nation to its glory and prominence. The strategy is effective, but it takes advantage of voters’ negative feelings towards the current society and sentimentality for the past. It is also a strategy that often leads to a polarized and divisive view of society.”
In other words, BIMDS is another tool in a basic demagogue. Make people pine for the past and the past they’ll pine over (as if they focus on the present they may dig a little deeper and change their mind on who’s really to blame).
Common Examples of Back in My Day Syndrome
There are common trends in BIMDS we’ve picked up on recently, which we’ve highlighted below for thine enjoyment.
Everyone Was Polite in the Good Old Days, But Aren’t Now and That Means Society is Doomed
This seems to be the big one. According to the older generations, no one has any manners anymore and younger people are horrible bastards.
We include the above clip from 1972 to kind of highlight how pesky young people (i.e. HIPPIES) in 1972 were. As if it’s some sort of cyclical societal thing where you’ll, inevitably, have young people rebelling against the system.
As they’re young and enjoying themselves and, perhaps, questioning the stupidity of the establishment and its rigid ways etc.
One example from yesteryear is the arrival of The Beatles on the music scene. In the ’60s, the post-WWII generation had to deal with adults telling them they fought, and died, in the war for their future.
Then suddenly you’ve got this generation of long-haired blokes listening to The Who, Led Zeppelin, and the rest. And we can understand why you might feel a twinge of bitterness about their conduct.
An obvious thing here is how it’s based on one person to the next.
To encounter one teenager being petulant and then condemn an entire generation in a sweeping generalisation is just grumpy and idiotic.
Young People These Days are Disrespectful Thugs
Where we live there’s been a boy racer problem. By which we mean boy racers come pelting through the area high on life (and drugs).
Some locals we’ve spoken to have responded by saying it’s the collapse of society and no one has any decency anymore. We point to three films here:
- Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
- The Wild One (1953)
- American Graffiti (1973)
Rebel Without a Cause is specifically about the conflict between generations, with James Dean (24 at the time, the film launched in the year of his death) playing an angst-ridden anti-hero.
No One Wants to Work Anymore (i.e. Young People are Workshy Freeloaders)
The above highlighted article is from The Telegraph just this week (which spurred us on to launch this podcast now, rather than in a few months).
For context, the housing crisis in England is appalling. The last 10+ years has been incredibly trying for many people, with younger generations pushed to the limits by ever-escalating rent costs. Much of the country has, in fact, been rendered unlivable by how bad the crisis is.
Rather than taking any accountability for the failures of modern capitalism and the Tory government since 2010, the blame game shifts to workshy young bastards who haven’t worked out you need to WORK HARD (or something).
Then yesterday (19/04/24), we got this almost comical take on the Conservative government’s reign. As always, the lefties are to blame.
On Twitter we follow Paul Fairie, whose historical documentation of the Nobody Wants to Work Anymore moral panic is rather telling. Here it is (note this tweet went viral).
Our favourite is this legendary saying we now live by (dating to 1979). It’s so good we had to include the image.
The oldest one Fairie includes dates to 1894 and states:
“With all the mines of the country shut down by strikers what will the poor editor do for coal next winter? It is becoming apparent that nobody wants to work these hard times.”
He’s done the same for various conservative soundbites, highlighting how they’re essentially comfort blankets for vapid thought. Reel these off and ignore the bigger picture. It’s just easier that way because then you don’t have to think very much.
Kids These Days Are Horrible, Soft, Unruly and We’re, Consequently, Doomed as a Species
Nodding again to the brilliant social commentary mind of Georg Rockall-Schmidt, as he often tackles repeating social and generational issues.
Kids these days… bunch of bastards, right? Ungrateful, spoiled, lazy etc.
In fact, we’ll go as far as saying Millennials (and we are one) will be responsible for the collapse of civilised society as we know and after which THE APES will take over and it’ll be Planet of Apes all over again (and on we go with the hyperbole).
We’re turning 40 in November. Over the last 16 years we’ve seen multiple recessions, Brexit, 13 years of austerity, a housing crisis so bad soon it’ll be impossible to actually pay rent, and we’ve been presided over by the most catastrophically incompetent government (arguably) in the UK’s history.
The lack of accountability in all of this is just weird.
No periods of self-reflection on kids these days behaviour, just the assumption all must be glorious and everyone else is to blame.
Everyone Has Gone Too Soft
Wherever you go online there’s a specific type of bloke claiming everyone has gone “soft” and that’s a problem for society. For some reason.
That’s where this “snowflake” thing comes from to denigrate younger generations (usually Millennials). And society dumps all the problems they’ve created on a defenceless group who’ve done nothing wrong. Never heard that before!
Piers Morgan is a classic example of this. He often complains about “snowflakes”, yet also seems to always be in a state of apoplectic rage about something or other. He drones on about “snowflakes”, yet flies into hysterics about things such as vegan sausage rolls.
Literally, he was in a state of near mania due to vegan sausage rolls as his brain couldn’t hack a minor change on a classic British comfort food. Snowflake!
“Films Were Better in the Good Old Days“
Dune: Part Two just launched recently and has met with rave reviews and looks awesome (we’ll be seeing it soon). But, of course, all modern films are rubbish and they were better in the good old days before people got offended about everything.
400 years ago we should imagine the equivalent was plays being better 30 years previously and that Shakespeare had “gone woke” by having lead female characters.
These days it’s never-ending complaining that all cinema isn’t as good as it used to be, with the standard explanation for this being feminists and left-wingers.
We’ve already done a podcast on this (Are All Modern Films Terrible?) with a focus on how this line of thought is a fallacy of incomplete evidence. Specious reasoning—cherry picking evidence to try and make a (flawed or entirely incoherent) point.
What we’ve also noticed is these types bend their stance as and when they need to.
This helps them to accommodate the need to see some films they like the look of, typically with the reasoning of, “All modern films are rubbish, but this specific one actually looks good and so I’ll debase myself against my better judgement and watch it. But all other films are rubbish.”
You’re Not Allowed to Have Fun Anymore Because Everyone Gets Offended
This one is baffling as those making the claim don’t realise they’re constantly offended by everything as well.
We always see it. Complaints about no freedom of speech, even though they’re there talking to the press and getting in print. The complaints over SpongeBob SquarePants being part of the “gay agenda” moral panic.
Cutting to the 20th century and here in England we had campaigner Mary Whitehouse trying to ban anything that didn’t appeal to her conservative sensibility. Then the government issued bans on horror movies.
Then you’ve got the outrage over The Sex Pistols’ God Save the Queen single, or how now in 2024 criticising the monarchy system in any sort of way leads to explosive temper tantrums and nationalistic fervour.
Meanwhile, shows as brutal and salacious as Game of Thrones and the amazeballs Shōgun mini-series go out and, mysteriously, no one seems to get offended by them. Almost as if the tabloids are working people up into a frenzy about nothing through hyperbole (or something).
Without The Older Generations Society Would Be Doomed
This all comes full circle to some of those grumbling away proudly announcing themselves to be the saviours of society.
The ironic aspect of that stance is after 13 years of Conservative government rule, the UK has lurched from one disaster to the next and is in a goddamn mess right now. It could barely be any worse.
However, none of this is their fault of course because it was better in the good old days when everyone was polite (but allowed to spew bigoted garbage whenever they felt like) and no one got offended by anything all the time (except with Christian right movements such as Mary Whitehouse seeking to ban anything she found offensive).
Cranky Conclusion: We’re Already Blaming Generation Alpha and Beta
What are the next young whippersnapper upstart generations to watch out for? These two feckless, workshy bunch of spoiled brats:
- Generation Alpha (2010-2024)
- Generation Beta (2025-2039)
We’re already getting on our high horse about Generation Beta. Bastards! Who the bloody hell do they think they are!? Thinking they shouldn’t work unpaid overtime, using their virtual reality headsets, and getting into AI operated hovercars!
When we were a lad, all we had were a SUPER NINTENDO and a standard VOLVO driven by our mother with an AUTOMATIC GEARBOX.
None of this “ROBOTS DOING EVERYTHING FOR US“… eeeee… never thought we’d see such dark days. They never say “please” or “thank you” either, it’s always “Thank you very much” and “if you please” and it makes our blood boil!
Conclusion? Society is doomed.
Did we learn nothing from the Watchmen? “Every day the future looks a little bit darker. But the past, even the grimy parts of it, well, it just keeps on getting brighter all the time.”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Possibly one if the reasons for English moodiness is also the regular rain. In the murk, doth do folks’ spirits drop. Not me, though. I love the rain. 🌧 ☔️
LikeLiked by 1 person