splitov27 - stock.adobe.com For people who came of age in the late 20th century, memories of riding bikes until dusk and living entirely offline are often shared with fondness. But are the stories of an apparent golden era rooted in reality or are they just a byproduct of aging and the brain's selective filtering that favors a cozy, idealized version of the past? What about all those not-so-nice things back then? What about the progress the world has (gradually, in fits and starts) made? In a thread on r/NoStupidQuestions, redditors weigh in on whether life in the 1980s and 1990s was genuinely better, or if Generation X and older millennials are simply romanticizing their youth. The comments span undeniable highlights of those days (cheaper housing!) and harsh reality checks. The price of living For many commenters, the most obvious difference between the past and present comes down to dollars and cents. Even when adjusting for the glossy glasses of childhood, the sheer cost of housing and daily expenses stands out as an undeniable shift. Comment in r/NoStupidQuestions Some things were better, some things were worse. Life used to be a lot more affordable for people several decades back, especially housing and education. Comment in r/NoStupidQuestions This is the right answer. Gen-X were famous as latch-key kids, coming home to an empty house after school because both parents were working. The idea that The Simpsons and Married With Children show what life was actually like for a below-average income working class family is not true. Those families would have had two parents working to live the lives they had. But housing was definitely cheaper than it is now. Expenses in general have gone up more than incomes, especially minimum wage or non-corporate jobs. Comment in r/NoStupidQuestions It's not just nostalgia. Some things genuinely were better economically, but every generation has a tendency to remember the good parts and forget the struggles. Comment in r/NoStupidQuestions But housing was definitely cheaper than it is now. Absolutely. It wasn't unusual for a restaurant server to be able to afford to rent a small one bedroom on their own. A teacher could afford to buy a house. Those both seem appropriate to me and neither are the case anymore where I live. That restaurant server has a roommate or is living with their parents and the teacher has the small one bedroom apartment, despite having a college degree. Life offline Beyond finances, people often miss the simplicity of a disconnected world. The era before smartphones and algorithmic feeds forced people to find entertainment in their physical surroundings. Logging on, if you did, was intentional and limited. Comment in r/NoStupidQuestions The beginning of the internet was less filled with trash. Television was worse because you couldn't watch what you wanted when you wanted to, but that made you less addicted. Not knowing what every random person in the world was doing all the time was nice. Not having your parents know where you were all the time was also nice. I prefer the music in the 90s, but I'm sure that's just because that's what I grew up with. Things advance and life is technically better and more convenient, but I don't know if people are happier Comment in r/NoStupidQuestions Millennial here, it was awesome. Only thing I would have liked was faster internet. But, that's where we started to stray from the light, so maybe not... Comment in r/NoStupidQuestions Before smart phones the internet was a place you had to go to, not a place you carried with you. When I was in high school and college I had to make a decision to get online, wait my turn, and sit in a common room to use the internet. I always had a reason to go there, research to do, or chatting with friends online. Once cell phones became popular the internet was always with you, beckoning you to get online with its notifications. Being online no longer feels like a conscience decision anymore. We are always online now. The loss of optimism Another camp notices a shift in the collective mood. Those who grew up in the latter years of the 1900s describe a baseline level of hopefulness about the future that feels harder to find now. Comment in r/NoStupidQuestions There was optimism then. The optimism is all but gone now. Comment in r/NoStupidQuestions I think it is a mix of nostalgia and also the back that back in the day we had hopes of improving our lot and we thought our nation was the greatest. Now, not so much. Comment in r/NoStupidQuestions This is so so true. In the 80s and 90s, it certainly felt like most kids would have it better than their parents. I don’t think that’s the case any more. Comment in r/NoStupidQuestions Rose colored glasses for sure. There were a lot of scary problems. The difference is that there were up indicators, reasons to hope, as well as down indicators. Now it seems like it is all down indicators. Comment in r/NoStupidQuestions This is the big one for me. There were a lot of things that were worse, especially if you were not a straight white man. But it felt like everyone was hopeful. Everyone thought their kids would have it better than they did. I look around now and I think a lot of people, myself included, think kids born today will have it worse than their parents. The hard truth Some redditors note that it was not kind for everyone back then. Depending on the way you grew up or your background, life today may be easier, more open, and more understanding, after all. Comment in r/NoStupidQuestions I was born in the early 1980s. I was a teenager before a majority of Americans believed that my parents’ interracial marriage was moral and acceptable. So no, not everything was better Comment in r/NoStupidQuestions I'm still traumatized by Boomer parenting methods and bullying from school. Closely examining previous decades reveals a complicated picture. While advances in modern medicine, convenience, and safety — along with some breaking down of unfortunate stigmas and bigotry — are undeniable improvements, the financial pressures and constant digital noise of the present day leave people longing for... something else that can be hard to define. The debate ultimately highlights that progress generally comes with trade-offs. What do you think about life decades ago versus now? Read the full discussion on r/NoStupidQuestions, and find more conversations like this in r/Millennials, r/GenX, and r/decadeology. This story highlights the perspectives of Reddit users, not Reddit, Inc. Some posts or comments may be lightly edited for clarity. Questions or concerns? Contact us at upvoted@reddit.com.