Are any of the folks who think things are so terrible today able to remember '79 - '82 or the '70s in general?

Question

I mean, really, folks, let me hep ya out here:

1979 - 1982
Unemployment: 8%
Interest Rates: 13%
Mortgages: 18% - 20%
Economy: Stagnant
Political: Malaise (diagnosis of Jimmy Carter)

I've come to assume the following about the folks making most of the noise regarding how really, really terrible things are today; they have no experience with:

1 - terrible times,
2 - history,
3 - comparative analysis, and (yes, that's an AND, not an OR)
4 - independent study.

I find myself asking the following:

1 - If the educational establishment values this thing they call "critical thinking" so much, how come young people can't do it?,
2 - Where have folks' perspective gone (maybe they didn't have it to start with?)?, and
3 - Whatever are these characters going to do and say when hard times actually arrive again? (Scary thought, that one, eh?).

Please skip the George Bush/Iraq War thing for the following reasons:

1 - Presidents come and go, and
2 - We're ALWAYS at war.

Answer 1

I wasn't around but my mother was and yes she has told me how hard it was, this being said she can see that her Children will suffer harder times than she did

Not being able to get a house or even rent people and myself included no matter how hard I save I will not be able to afford to leave my mothers home until I am at least 30

OK at least 30 years old still living with my mum!!

My mum cannot afford to help me on to the market the wages are low so can't get a mortgage to cover even a bedsit or rent one!

Yeah the interest rates are lower but gone are the times you can buy a house for £15k!!!

In other words the house prices have gone up so much since the 70's but the wages haven't gone up enough to compensate this

Answer 2

The 70s were difficult. However, things are different now. We are kind of back in the 70s. We haven't progressed. I remember the 80s and the 90s. I understand about comparative quite well. In fact, there are articles out there that compare different decades. But also, you are kind of comparing apples and oranges. It's complicated. Of course as we learn more, things become more complex and more difficult to change/address. We are much more aware now than in years past. The information is out there. Actually, from what I've read, we are like where we were in the 70s. The numbers may be different but there is a problem with how the numbers are arrived at. (Business Week) With multinationals, it's hard to find the truth. Accounting is not an exact science. More people are struggling then before. I think we are in a recession. People higher up in the food chain are not going to feel it as quickly. People nearer the bottom feel it immediately. Also, we have become accustomed to a certain lifestyle but we are beyond that. People are struggling meeting basic needs and there are more. Jobs are unstable. What does the future hold? How much more progress can we make? Innovation is something that takes time and risk. We seem to be quite risk averse. I think the times now are very much like the 70s. There are articles out there that exist that draw similarities and of course differences. Try Googling it.
You might be able to find it on sites like www.salon.com or www.truthout.org. There is less competition and more industries that are mature. That does not spell good economic times. It spells bad times ahead.

Mortgage rates may be low but housing prices are astronomically high. $400,000 for a modest home where I live, even with a 6% mortgage rate. I'd be surprised if it wasn't close to back in the 70s when housing prices were not nearly as high.
A 1 bedroom condo in a suburb (20 miles west of Boston) is starting at $419,000.
I can't afford to even live near my family. It is too expensive. Even if I could find a house in my price range, it would need a lot of work. It is very difficult for young people today and the future does not look bright.
Things rebounded from the 70s but where is the evidence that times will improve? It's slim.

Answer 3

I remember. I remember gas lines for .19 a gallon gas. Bought my 1st house @ 11.5 interest rate. But we were working and knew it would become better. Silly us. Little did we know regression was on the horizon.
With all this said you sound like someone reminiscing about The Great Depression. We are here, now and need to deal with what is. Hopefully learn from the past but not dwell in it.

Answer 4

I was too little to remeber back then but i have heard that the economy in 1980 was in the shithole.


Yes, I have read some other answerers, Yea my parents paid 40,000 for a house in 1978 that is now worth around 220,000.

Answer 5

The past is gone, so don't b*tch about it anymore. And it is an outrage you think the Iraq War is to be ignored. People die every day over there, and not just Americans, but hundreds of Iraqi civilians, victims of senseless hate crimes by extremists. You just want to sit your fat @ss on the porch in a rocking chair and b*tch about how tough you had it.

Answer 6

I'd LIKE to be able to give an informed and intelligent answer to your question with the detailed follow up up. But I honestly can't. Yes, I WAS alive during that time period, but I wasn't even of legal age until 1980...and after that, I simply didn't CARE about the economy or U.S. politics. Thank you for providing a thought provoking question though. It IS appreciated.

Answer 7

oh my goddd. That replaced into relaxing relaxing relaxing now my Daddy's take the T chook away. Doh ..... the place replaced into I? truly sturdy (you're actually not making those issues up are you? Hehe ought to keep in mind that one. With acknowledgements to the coastline Boys for kindly no longer giving me permission to reproduce their lyrics. playstation have you ever tried to spell acknowledgements? bloody stupid (bleep) (bleep) notice

Answer 8

It has to do with the fact that the people who grew up in those times had babies, and then those babies had babies, and today kids in general are messed up because of their parents and grandparents

Answer 9

Nope, I was too young then.