Whenever I contemplate how much the world has changed over the course of my life, it seems quite incredible. Let us compare forty years - 2023 and 1983. Daily life in 1983 would have been very different from daily life in 2023 - so much so that a person flung back to that year would be a fish out of water.
In terms of numbers, 1983 was as far from 1943 as it is from today. Yet, after watching parts of a film made in 1983 (and set in a place I knew well during that time), I find myself thinking that the cultural changes that took place between 1943 and 1983 were much greater than those that occurred between 1983 and 2023. To put things another way, the tectonic shift that Woes so ably describes may well have been the aftershock of an even greater catastrophe.
Feb 26, 2023·edited Feb 26, 2023Liked by Millennial Woes
'The crowd has found the door into the secret garden. Now they will tear up the flowers by the roots, strip the borders and strew them with paper and broken bottles.... To let - a valuable site at the crossroads of the world, at present on offer to European clients. Outlying portions of the estate already disposed of, to sitting tenants. Of some historical and period interest. Some alterations and improvements necessary.'
These are the closing words to 40 Years On, written by Alan Bennett and first performed in 1968. We, in 2023, are now nostalgic for the time of Bennett's own nostalgia. He looked back, with a fondness few of his contemporaries would share, to the period following the Great War. I would urge all of you to watch David Lean's This Happy Breed (1944 - the full Technicolor movie is on YT). It shows what must have been a truly glorious time to have been alive.
I'm old enough to remember 1983 very well. Of course I would leap at the chance to return to that time, even though Britain was already a rotting carcass when Naked Eyes covered 'Always Something There to Remind Me' and the Soviet film 'Nostalghia' confused the critics.
The past is a labyrinthian hall of mirrors and there's probably no way out, for the likes of us. A fantastic first post Woes. I wish you the best of luck with Substack.
Good article Woes - you have to wonder how many older people self censor - I think I recall British WW2 soldiers being surveyed and nearly all of them saying that if they knew how the West turned out, they never would have bothered. There is also the thing where their actions speak louders than their words...why it's surprising to me how many older wealthy white people are liberals, it's seems that they are amongst the first to "white flight" out of an area when diversity hits their neighbourhoods. Certainly a very strange phenomena and one worthy of scientific study.
Hmmm. There are no options to edit when I hit the three dots only delete hide and share. Maybe I’ll just copy delete and repost like you suggested. I thought there would be an easier option. Thanks for your advice.
I was born in 1965, so I remember 1983 quite well. I'd quibble over certain details, but I'd agree with the general thrust of your comments. One point I would make is that antiwhiteism was on the rise even then. In 1988, an equal opportunities officer from Southwark council explained to me quite candidly that the purpose of EOps was white replacement (although she didn't use that term). Obviously London was ahead of the curve, but the uneasy atmosphere already existed regarding race. As far as the internet and mobile phones are concerned, I do wonder how we managed, but the fact is we did. To be honest, the biggest difference I feel is personal hygiene. The Supplementary Benefit application form from the 1980s asked if you 'needed' to take a bath more than once a week. Imagine.
Excellent article, however with a disappointing ending. As someone born in 1963 I remember 1983 very well. The destruction of the west was well underway. The attacks on our civilization began long before I was born. Looking back at the last 100 years is like watching the collapse of a tall building. Each generation experiences the destruction of its particular floor. They hear embellished stories about the glories of the past and blame their elders for failing to stop the destruction in mid-collapse. In the year 2023 who would I speak to? No one today wants to hear a lecture from me about taking responsibility for their current circumstances. The demonization of the older generations is complete. As per the plan. No one will listen. And so the let down you describe goes both ways. Fantasizing about the past doesn’t help. Younger people have to focus on the present and the future. The perpetrators of our destruction are not previous generations. It is a movement that transcends the generations and has adherents and victims in each generation. More and more people are understanding this and that gives me hope for the future.
May 31, 2023·edited May 31, 2023Liked by Millennial Woes
I long to revisit the days of the parade scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Even more, watching a Little House on the Prairie episode. Allusions to entertainment shows for cultural examples may seem daft, but they offer good common ground for sharing experiences of this type.
"Perhaps the most disturbing thing here is that, while young people are troubled by their disconnection from a past that they instinctively feel was (in many ways) better than today, those old enough to remember that past treat it as something dirty, disgusting and shameful, or at best embarrassing. The obvious answer here is that those older people are correct, while the young, who weren’t around back then and so don’t really know what they’re talking about, are simply wrong."
I read this a few times and still can't understand what you mean. It isn't obvious to me, and I'm old. I remember the past with fondness not disgust. Why should the past be remembered as something dirty or embarrassing?
In terms of numbers, 1983 was as far from 1943 as it is from today. Yet, after watching parts of a film made in 1983 (and set in a place I knew well during that time), I find myself thinking that the cultural changes that took place between 1943 and 1983 were much greater than those that occurred between 1983 and 2023. To put things another way, the tectonic shift that Woes so ably describes may well have been the aftershock of an even greater catastrophe.
'The crowd has found the door into the secret garden. Now they will tear up the flowers by the roots, strip the borders and strew them with paper and broken bottles.... To let - a valuable site at the crossroads of the world, at present on offer to European clients. Outlying portions of the estate already disposed of, to sitting tenants. Of some historical and period interest. Some alterations and improvements necessary.'
These are the closing words to 40 Years On, written by Alan Bennett and first performed in 1968. We, in 2023, are now nostalgic for the time of Bennett's own nostalgia. He looked back, with a fondness few of his contemporaries would share, to the period following the Great War. I would urge all of you to watch David Lean's This Happy Breed (1944 - the full Technicolor movie is on YT). It shows what must have been a truly glorious time to have been alive.
I'm old enough to remember 1983 very well. Of course I would leap at the chance to return to that time, even though Britain was already a rotting carcass when Naked Eyes covered 'Always Something There to Remind Me' and the Soviet film 'Nostalghia' confused the critics.
The past is a labyrinthian hall of mirrors and there's probably no way out, for the likes of us. A fantastic first post Woes. I wish you the best of luck with Substack.
Good article Woes - you have to wonder how many older people self censor - I think I recall British WW2 soldiers being surveyed and nearly all of them saying that if they knew how the West turned out, they never would have bothered. There is also the thing where their actions speak louders than their words...why it's surprising to me how many older wealthy white people are liberals, it's seems that they are amongst the first to "white flight" out of an area when diversity hits their neighbourhoods. Certainly a very strange phenomena and one worthy of scientific study.
This walk down memory lane has inspired a comparable peregrination, albeit one that passes through a somewhat more martial neighborhood.
https://tacticalnotebook.substack.com/p/1943-1983-2023
Does anyone know if there’s a way to edit a comment once you’ve posted it?
Hmmm. There are no options to edit when I hit the three dots only delete hide and share. Maybe I’ll just copy delete and repost like you suggested. I thought there would be an easier option. Thanks for your advice.
I was born in 1965, so I remember 1983 quite well. I'd quibble over certain details, but I'd agree with the general thrust of your comments. One point I would make is that antiwhiteism was on the rise even then. In 1988, an equal opportunities officer from Southwark council explained to me quite candidly that the purpose of EOps was white replacement (although she didn't use that term). Obviously London was ahead of the curve, but the uneasy atmosphere already existed regarding race. As far as the internet and mobile phones are concerned, I do wonder how we managed, but the fact is we did. To be honest, the biggest difference I feel is personal hygiene. The Supplementary Benefit application form from the 1980s asked if you 'needed' to take a bath more than once a week. Imagine.
Excellent article, however with a disappointing ending. As someone born in 1963 I remember 1983 very well. The destruction of the west was well underway. The attacks on our civilization began long before I was born. Looking back at the last 100 years is like watching the collapse of a tall building. Each generation experiences the destruction of its particular floor. They hear embellished stories about the glories of the past and blame their elders for failing to stop the destruction in mid-collapse. In the year 2023 who would I speak to? No one today wants to hear a lecture from me about taking responsibility for their current circumstances. The demonization of the older generations is complete. As per the plan. No one will listen. And so the let down you describe goes both ways. Fantasizing about the past doesn’t help. Younger people have to focus on the present and the future. The perpetrators of our destruction are not previous generations. It is a movement that transcends the generations and has adherents and victims in each generation. More and more people are understanding this and that gives me hope for the future.
Boomers have been the weakest link. Goodbye!
I long to revisit the days of the parade scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Even more, watching a Little House on the Prairie episode. Allusions to entertainment shows for cultural examples may seem daft, but they offer good common ground for sharing experiences of this type.
"Perhaps the most disturbing thing here is that, while young people are troubled by their disconnection from a past that they instinctively feel was (in many ways) better than today, those old enough to remember that past treat it as something dirty, disgusting and shameful, or at best embarrassing. The obvious answer here is that those older people are correct, while the young, who weren’t around back then and so don’t really know what they’re talking about, are simply wrong."
I read this a few times and still can't understand what you mean. It isn't obvious to me, and I'm old. I remember the past with fondness not disgust. Why should the past be remembered as something dirty or embarrassing?