di marco
07-09-2006, 16:02
Retro Revival?
According to a new report, many of us think Britain is a worse place to live than it was 20 years ago. If you take into account that in 1986 there was no such thing as text messaging and all the shops closed on Sundays, that’s quite some finding, writes Hugh Wilson.
The survey, for the BBC, found that nearly half of those questioned (47%) thought the quality of life had declined in Britain since 1986, while only 24% thought it had improved. Another 27% said that Blighty was no better and no worse, while the remaining two percent were presumably either too depressed by the state of the place to fill in the form, or too busy leading happy and fulfilling lives to bother with a silly questionnaire.
There was a degree of unanimity about what had gone wrong with the country, though, even among those who quite like it in 2006. The fear of a terrorist attack looms large in the minds of British people, along with crime, antisocial behaviour, uncontrolled immigration and the state of the Brangelina relationship.
But trendy politicians on bicycles might be dismayed to learn that the imminent environmental apocalypse, and the possibility that humanity might either freeze or boil itself into extinction, is slightly less of a concern to the average Brit than running out of teabags or stubbing a toe.
The threat of terrorism has never seemed more real
Whatever the reasons, it’s pretty clear that a large percentage of us are not satisfied with the state of the nation, and don’t trust our leaders to do much about it. In fact, a quarter of us blame ‘cynical politicians’ for making things worse, the survey claims.
And you have to admit, the nation has reached a pretty low ebb when things compare unfavourably with 1986, the year in which unemployment hovered around the three million mark, interest rates nudged 11%, and Nick Berry from Eastenders had a number one hit with ‘Every Loser Wins’.
Of course, there are some very good reasons why we might not feel overjoyed with our lot at the start of the 21st century. After recent events, the threat of terrorism has never seemed more real, and our armed forces are involved in what appears to be an endless, and perhaps un-winnable, ‘war on terror’.
At home, meanwhile, our fear of crime soars, teenage gangs are described as ‘feral’ by a senior policeman, and superbugs sweep through our hospitals. When you take that lot into account, it’s hardly surprising that we sometimes remember the mid-80s - or anytime far enough in the past to be only vaguely recalled - as a halcyon time of peace and plenty. After all, some people long for rationing and the Blitz.
The re-emergence of David Hasselhoff is a cultural highpoint
It’s not surprising, but is it true? Was life in the mid-80s significantly better than life today? Or could it be that some of us might be looking back on 1986 with just the teeniest tint of rose on our spectacles, before quickly switching to the black tinted ones when we turn our gaze back on the present day?
There's nothing extraordinary about that, of course. When times are tough, it’s natural to think that things used to be better. And when age is catching up with you, it’s easy to look back 20 years and remember it as the time of your life, rather than the time of puff ball skirts and Kajagoogoo.
On the other hand, it’s just as easy to see all the bad things about the times we live in now, without remembering the good. We might be in more debt now than in 1986, for instance, but most of us also enjoy a higher standard of living. Certain crimes might be higher in 2006, but the average citizen’s chance of being a victim of crime was higher twenty years ago.
Then there’s the recent resurgence in popularity of David ‘The Hoff’ Hasselhoff, a cultural highpoint that that few of us dared to dream about just a few years ago.
And if, as the BBC survey claims, one of the reasons we think life worse today than 20 years ago is the threat of terrorism, well, it just goes to show how cuddly the IRA can seem when you have an international jihad to contend with.
2006 and 1986 can seem uncannily similar
But if the IRA seems comparatively tame compared to Al Qaeda, memories of the Cold War still have the power to strike fear into the hearts of those who lived through it. Like the war on terror, the Cold War also seemed endless and un-winnable, and promised a mutually assured destruction that invaded the nightmares of many a sensitive schoolchild (OK, me) in the 1980s.
Yep, we may be best pals with Russia and its enormous natural gas supplies now, but that shouldn’t blind us to the fact that in 1986 our respective leaders seemed quite prepared to blow each other to kingdom come, and take the rest of the planet with them. Frankly, it’s not surprising that The Smiths’ ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’ became the defining anthem for a generation of pasty sixth formers.
So things have changed since 1986, but not necessarily for the worse. And amid the talk of obesity time bombs and bird flu, one beacon of progress keeps flashing. Life expectancy in Britain has been rising by two or three months every year for the past 25 years. Perhaps some of the dissatisfaction we feel for the country today stems from the fact that, on average, we all have a couple of extra years to find something to complain about.
There’s no denying that the problems of 2006 are big and real, but it’s only the rosy glow of nostalgia that makes some of us look back on 1986 and see a golden age of stress-free living. In fact, if you take away mobile phones and substitute them with the Filofax, 2006 and 1986 can seem uncannily similar.
For Blair read Thatcher. For Bush’s ‘axis of evil’, read Ronald Reagan’s ‘evil empire’. For the new and untreatable superbug called MRSA, read a new and untreatable disease called AIDS. And for Ronaldo’s wink of guilt, read Maradona’s hand of God.
The fact is, if the BBC had commissioned their survey in 1996, 47% of respondents would have claimed that life was better in the mid 1970s. They’d all have remembered Z Cars, boiling hot summers and Vesta curries, while conveniently forgetting Mind Your Language, standpipes on the street, and what Vesta curries tasted like. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion, you see, but it’s also a big fat liar.
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was just wondering whether people agree that 1986 was much better than 2006? as i was surprised by the results of the survey
According to a new report, many of us think Britain is a worse place to live than it was 20 years ago. If you take into account that in 1986 there was no such thing as text messaging and all the shops closed on Sundays, that’s quite some finding, writes Hugh Wilson.
The survey, for the BBC, found that nearly half of those questioned (47%) thought the quality of life had declined in Britain since 1986, while only 24% thought it had improved. Another 27% said that Blighty was no better and no worse, while the remaining two percent were presumably either too depressed by the state of the place to fill in the form, or too busy leading happy and fulfilling lives to bother with a silly questionnaire.
There was a degree of unanimity about what had gone wrong with the country, though, even among those who quite like it in 2006. The fear of a terrorist attack looms large in the minds of British people, along with crime, antisocial behaviour, uncontrolled immigration and the state of the Brangelina relationship.
But trendy politicians on bicycles might be dismayed to learn that the imminent environmental apocalypse, and the possibility that humanity might either freeze or boil itself into extinction, is slightly less of a concern to the average Brit than running out of teabags or stubbing a toe.
The threat of terrorism has never seemed more real
Whatever the reasons, it’s pretty clear that a large percentage of us are not satisfied with the state of the nation, and don’t trust our leaders to do much about it. In fact, a quarter of us blame ‘cynical politicians’ for making things worse, the survey claims.
And you have to admit, the nation has reached a pretty low ebb when things compare unfavourably with 1986, the year in which unemployment hovered around the three million mark, interest rates nudged 11%, and Nick Berry from Eastenders had a number one hit with ‘Every Loser Wins’.
Of course, there are some very good reasons why we might not feel overjoyed with our lot at the start of the 21st century. After recent events, the threat of terrorism has never seemed more real, and our armed forces are involved in what appears to be an endless, and perhaps un-winnable, ‘war on terror’.
At home, meanwhile, our fear of crime soars, teenage gangs are described as ‘feral’ by a senior policeman, and superbugs sweep through our hospitals. When you take that lot into account, it’s hardly surprising that we sometimes remember the mid-80s - or anytime far enough in the past to be only vaguely recalled - as a halcyon time of peace and plenty. After all, some people long for rationing and the Blitz.
The re-emergence of David Hasselhoff is a cultural highpoint
It’s not surprising, but is it true? Was life in the mid-80s significantly better than life today? Or could it be that some of us might be looking back on 1986 with just the teeniest tint of rose on our spectacles, before quickly switching to the black tinted ones when we turn our gaze back on the present day?
There's nothing extraordinary about that, of course. When times are tough, it’s natural to think that things used to be better. And when age is catching up with you, it’s easy to look back 20 years and remember it as the time of your life, rather than the time of puff ball skirts and Kajagoogoo.
On the other hand, it’s just as easy to see all the bad things about the times we live in now, without remembering the good. We might be in more debt now than in 1986, for instance, but most of us also enjoy a higher standard of living. Certain crimes might be higher in 2006, but the average citizen’s chance of being a victim of crime was higher twenty years ago.
Then there’s the recent resurgence in popularity of David ‘The Hoff’ Hasselhoff, a cultural highpoint that that few of us dared to dream about just a few years ago.
And if, as the BBC survey claims, one of the reasons we think life worse today than 20 years ago is the threat of terrorism, well, it just goes to show how cuddly the IRA can seem when you have an international jihad to contend with.
2006 and 1986 can seem uncannily similar
But if the IRA seems comparatively tame compared to Al Qaeda, memories of the Cold War still have the power to strike fear into the hearts of those who lived through it. Like the war on terror, the Cold War also seemed endless and un-winnable, and promised a mutually assured destruction that invaded the nightmares of many a sensitive schoolchild (OK, me) in the 1980s.
Yep, we may be best pals with Russia and its enormous natural gas supplies now, but that shouldn’t blind us to the fact that in 1986 our respective leaders seemed quite prepared to blow each other to kingdom come, and take the rest of the planet with them. Frankly, it’s not surprising that The Smiths’ ‘Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now’ became the defining anthem for a generation of pasty sixth formers.
So things have changed since 1986, but not necessarily for the worse. And amid the talk of obesity time bombs and bird flu, one beacon of progress keeps flashing. Life expectancy in Britain has been rising by two or three months every year for the past 25 years. Perhaps some of the dissatisfaction we feel for the country today stems from the fact that, on average, we all have a couple of extra years to find something to complain about.
There’s no denying that the problems of 2006 are big and real, but it’s only the rosy glow of nostalgia that makes some of us look back on 1986 and see a golden age of stress-free living. In fact, if you take away mobile phones and substitute them with the Filofax, 2006 and 1986 can seem uncannily similar.
For Blair read Thatcher. For Bush’s ‘axis of evil’, read Ronald Reagan’s ‘evil empire’. For the new and untreatable superbug called MRSA, read a new and untreatable disease called AIDS. And for Ronaldo’s wink of guilt, read Maradona’s hand of God.
The fact is, if the BBC had commissioned their survey in 1996, 47% of respondents would have claimed that life was better in the mid 1970s. They’d all have remembered Z Cars, boiling hot summers and Vesta curries, while conveniently forgetting Mind Your Language, standpipes on the street, and what Vesta curries tasted like. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion, you see, but it’s also a big fat liar.
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was just wondering whether people agree that 1986 was much better than 2006? as i was surprised by the results of the survey