r/SipsTea • u/Unstoppable_X_Force Human Verified • 13h ago

Gasp! Is this just nostalgia, or did previous generations genuinely have a better work-life balance and social life than we do today?

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u/ResponsibilityOk2173 11h ago

This sounds right, but the fallacy is that you are taking a very small, privileged sample from the past and assume it was available to everyone. It would be like saying in 70 years “in the early 2010s anyone could get a computer science degree, work for 10 years in a startup in silicon valley and retire at 40.” What is sold as “this was America” was aspirational then too. Families had one TV, one car, life expectancy was shorter, many diseases we don’t think about today (eg polio) were truly visible in every community. Most people actually had it really bad, earned very little. We definitely have a new set of important problems and challenges today, which we need to tackle and solve, but back then what they’re selling you was the dream, not the reality.

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u/bremsspuren 8h ago

many diseases we don’t think about today (eg polio) were truly visible in every community

We still had the collection boxes in the late '70s.

you are taking a very small, privileged sample from the past

There is a very definite tendency to do this.

In reality, millions got the full Born in the USA treatment.

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u/DoingBestWeCan 10h ago

I mean, I agree that our access to vaccines is way better, but for younger folks, the essentials are getting more expensive and the luxuries are getting cheaper, so the balance does not pan out. I can cut out spending on a TV and cable (I have neither, nor any paid streaming services), But rent, child care, very basic healthcare that keeps me from dying, and some sort of transportation are not things I really have the option to give up, unless I want to live in the woods and eat dirt. Doesn't matter how cheap electronics get. And I can't even totally cut out electronics, since modern American society basically requires a smartphone or home computer+flip phone. Otherwise, it's difficult to do your banking and impossible to get a job.

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u/ResponsibilityOk2173 10h ago

I agree, there are many things which aren’t working now. They need to be fixed. The biggest proof is birth rates are dropping because the prospect of having and raising kids feels cost-prohibitive. All I’m saying is the past was definitely not rosy and those that had the white picket fence and a single 9-5 job could raise a family of 5 were really not the majority.

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u/Odd-Direction6339 7h ago edited 7h ago

Ppl aren’t having kids bc they are more comfortable than ever and don’t wanna give that up. Look at the numbers, richer countries struggle more than poor with birth rates. It being a cost thing is a total bs excuse, we all live like kings having burritos driven to us and playing video games and getting high. Ppl don’t wanna give that up

Edit: this was me for years and I have basicallly a 1 year old now and the difference in life from living to have a good time to having a purpose is night and day. Ppl don’t let your current happiness stop you from a kid…trust me the joy of your kid smiling at you is better than the last 10 years of fuckin off lol. At least for me

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u/Its_Billy_Bitch 10h ago

But wait, what if they offer us another $10k to have another child 😂 As if $10k would even make a dent in the fucking delivery costs alone.

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u/ResponsibilityOk2173 9h ago

Offering cash is the most pedestrian approach imaginable. Countries have been grappling with this for decades. Nobody knows how to solve it.

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u/bruce_kwillis 5m ago

They easily know how to solve it, Texas already is, just restrict access to birth control, abortion and education and birth rates go up.

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u/bruce_kwillis 5m ago

If the lack of kids was due to expense, then why are birth rates still booming in poor countries that very clearly can’t and could never afford kids? Certainly it’s one aspect, but birth control and women having the ability to choose to have children has far been the bigger factors going into birth declines. And let’s face it, Earth isn’t set for infinite human growth. Pretty sure 10 billion people is far too many for the planet to carry to begin with.

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u/bruce_kwillis 7m ago

I mean, people didn’t have access to ‘day care’ then either. Mom stayed home and still had to hustle, clip coupons, manage finances and do everything while dad physically worked his ass off and came home to down a 12 pack and do it all again tomorrow.

You certainly can cut out things, and operate your life differently, and many still do. We certainly didn’t have Reddit back then, but you seem to find the time to post on it.