Are you glad you were born then .or better now?

[ivor bigun]

As i come to the last chapter or chapters (i hope) i look back at the life i led and look at the life people live today .i was born in a small seaside town ,had masses of freedom out all day with my mates ,then had a good job ,left it and went to live in London in the late 60s and early 70s ,so much fun and freedom ,the only real riots i remember where the newcomers rioting in Brixton , life was easy and safe for the most part .

now i look at todays youth , they dont seem to have the freedoms we had ,can you imagine letting your 9 year old out to wonder around in the country with their mates all day and come home when it gets dark ,

Now the streets seem to be full of people from other lands ,and so much of the time all they seem to do is moan and want to make the country more like it was back home .Children live on social media ,HOUSING costs so much as there is a shortage of it ,when i was born there were 3 billion on the planet ,now 7 billion and by 2050 12 billion ,as far as i can see its only going to get worse ,so did we have the best of times? 

 

 

[CharlieH]

YES ! I dont think the future is going to be rosy either, but for the youngsters it will probably be their "best of times".

[mstevens]

Born in the early 1970s and have had a good life so far....but I reckon my parents’ life was even better. Life was more relaxed and there was less worry. While there was less to do, much of. what they did do was probably better than today such as destinations with no crowds etc.

 

And for those generations that follow mine, hmmm, I think they might look back at what we had with envy. I just am not that optimistic that the future will be more as much fun or as enjoyable as the past. If there is one thing I have learned it is to enjoy life and have fun while you can. The future is not certain and fun things today might not exist in future....or might be frowned upon!

 

Edited March 28, 2021 by mstevens

[Surelynot]

My father told me he was sat on a charabanc 1926, he would have been 8 yo, listening to a conversation........

 

.......there were two old guys sat on the seat in front of him......... their conversation followed "exactly" the same lines the post which started this thread.......minus the technology stuff obvs.

[xylophone]

I believe I was born at the best time and came through the following decades where there was so much change in the world, that it was breathtaking.

 

Born in 1947 in a small Sussex town, where everybody seemed friendly, and there were huge open spaces, with very large forests and streams/rivers nearby, so that meant I could play all day long, often leaving home in the morning and not coming home till it was very dark, yet no one seemed to mind.

 

The seaside was about 30 miles south and as my dad worked on the railways, we often got free passes to go there, not that I liked the sea and sun much as I was very pale skinned and would always suffer for a few days afterwards.

 

People of my era witnessed the progression of pop music from rock 'n' roll through to the Beatles, Moody blues, Pink Floyd and moving through to The New Romantics, U2, Guns n Roses, and so many more, and many of their songs are still played today.

 

In that time, television went from a tiny oval screen to something which would fill the whole wall in the house, electronic gadgetry moved on at an exciting pace and we now have the iPhone generation.

 

The first men walked on the moon, cars became far different machines from the early days, to the very sophisticated ones now, and of course the electric cars which we now see.

 

Complicated Surgical procedures became the norm and heart transplants, something never considered previously, are carried out.

 

So much more one could write about, but I believe people of my generation have lived through what I consider to be the most exciting times, and as for me, during those exciting times I made the most of them as well as travelling to work in Libya, the Sahara desert, Nigeria, Norway and the North Sea and travelling for sightseeing to many other countries.

 

Certainly can't complain and would love to write a book about my exploits and adventures, because they are both at once exciting and at times unbelievable.

[ezzra]

1950 vintage here.. my parents should have gone to the movies that night, but here i'm... still, life is a life and one should make the best of it despite mounting obstacles and difficulties...

Edited March 28, 2021 by ezzra

[KhunBENQ]

Born 1957, 10 years too late.

It needs a lot of optimism to see a rosy future with the exploding world population.

Big wars on energy, food and water in sight.

The other "big" problems look like peanuts compared.

Just distracting from this number one problem that almost no one wants point to.

[bert bloggs]

1 hour ago, Surelynot said:

My father told me he was sat on a charabanc 1926, he would have been 8 yo, listening to a conversation........

 

.......there were two old guys sat on the seat in front of him......... their conversation followed "exactly" the same lines the post which started this thread.......minus the technology stuff obvs.

Yes they had just gone through a war ,so i am sure an 8 yr old sitting on a bus in 1953 would have heard the same conversation dont you? We have never had to encounter a war or the shortages or the deaths,so it really cannott compare ,we just had the good times. 

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, ivor bigun said:

.i was born in a small seaside town ,had masses of freedom out all day with my mates ,then had a good job ,left it and went to live in London in the late 60s and early 70s ,so much fun and freedom ,the only real riots i remember where the newcomers rioting in Brixton , life was easy and safe for the most part .

Me too!

I think being born a few years earlier would have got me a slightly bigger pension.

Being born 10 years later would have got me hardly any pension.

 

As far as i can see being born in the mid 50s was just about the best time to be born in the history of man.

Plenty of money, many choices of jobs, free education, pensions, easily affordable homes, no war, we had it all.

And now at the end, younger Asian women and an easy retirement with free entertainment (internet, movies, music, books, Xbox 360).

My life has been way better than I or my parents could have imagined. 

Edited March 28, 2021 by BritManToo

[simon43]

Replying to the OP, I was born in 1959 in Leicester.  Life was pretty good, but I recall being removed from the general primary school (with many other kids), after the teachers started to teach Urdu to the indigenous kids like me.  We went to a private school and happily mixed with Pakistani kids who learnt English!

 

Many things that have changed for the worse (IMHO) in the UK and other 'Western' countries, have not made their mark in Asia.  Here in Laos, I am treated with great respect by the local students.  I can say 'Sabai dee' to the local kids when on my morning walk, and no-one accuses me of being a pervert.  Those same kids can play safely on their own, swimming in the nearby Mekong river.  The indigenous Lao population is still vastly in the majority, but the few foreigners in town are treated with respect (if they earn this - you can't expect respect from others if you're not respectful yourself).

 

For me, life was good growing up in the 60's in the UK.  Now in my 60's, life is good in Luang Prabang.  I would not like to return to live in the UK now ....

Edited March 28, 2021 by simon43

[Jingthing]

Of course I'm not thrilled to be growing older.

So on one level in a fantasy world I'd like be stuck at an age like 23 forever. 

But back to reality.

I think I drew a very fortunate card.

Born into the era where the world was exploiting ancient fossil fuels with abandon, basically free wealth if you were born in a wealthy country which I was.

Experienced the full deal of the psychedelic 60s, had the luxury to contemplate my naval for many years rather than worry about survival until well into my 30s, wasn't oppressed by social media hell in my youth, learned how to do math before computers, used to even write physical letters and post them in mail boxes, experienced directly the early history of the Gay Liberation movement, experienced directly the early history of the computer revolution, travelled all over the world before Covid, "escaped" the rat race at a youngish age to the expat nirvana of Thailand (ha ha). Sure there were a lot of downsides. The impact of worrying about HIV is probably top of the list. Now young people see it as just another treatable chronic disease.

[ivor bigun]

I am also glad that i live here in Thailand now ,its only when you are back in the UK you realize how much freedom we have here compared with so many parts of the UK ,I am always wary of speed cameras there ,the simplest things ,like parking cost an arm and a leg ,talking to my daughter last night she said petrol is now one pound thirty seven a littre ,how in gods name can you run a car on a pension? also so many parts of Britain are now looking like foreign lands ,most dont integrate ,unlike us here in Thailand who on the whole are married to locals ,not all huddled in one area.

if its like that now Imagine what it will be like in 20/30 years.

[Denim]

14 hours ago, ivor bigun said:

most dont integrate ,unlike us here in Thailand who on the whole are married to locals ,not all huddled in one area.

 

Pattaya , Phuket, Ko Samui, Hua Hin  and Chiang Mai not withstanding. 

[Surelynot]

1 minute ago, ivor bigun said:

f its like that now Imagine what it will be like in 20/30 years.

More integrated............first and second generations always find it difficult to integrate due to racism, lack of opportunity and inequalities...... all of which tend to force minorities to migrate, internally, to ghettoes.

[Denim]

16 hours ago, BritManToo said:

many choices of jobs,

 

Also born in 1957 and agree , plenty of jobs. You could pick and choose where you worked.

 

In our local free newspaper there would be half a page of houses for sale and 10 pages of job vacancies , something for everyone.

 

Last time I saw that paper there were about 40 pages of houses for sale and half a page of vacancies and many of them were for ' escorts '.

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, Denim said:

Pattaya , Phuket, Ko Samui, Hua Hin  and Chiang Mai not withstanding. 

Where I live in Chiang Mai the village of 250 houses has 3 western people (no Chinese), Me (a Brit speaking English and Thai), a German (speaks German, Urdu and Thai), an Italian (only speaks Italian). Hardly 'huddled'.

[simon43]

[quote]

...Last time I saw that paper there were about 40 pages of houses for sale and half a page of vacancies and many of them were for ' escorts '.

[/quote]

 

I guess there's not much demand for 64 year old male escorts? ????

[bert bloggs]

2 hours ago, Denim said:

 

Pattaya , Phuket, Ko Samui, Hua Hin  and Chiang Mai not withstanding. 

I live just outside Pattaya ,two falangs both with Thai wives and kids unlike say Birmingham in England where thousands of Immigrants live ,married to women covered in black robes and all in streets side by side, but keep on trying 

[Denim]

4 hours ago, simon43 said:

[quote]

...Last time I saw that paper there were about 40 pages of houses for sale and half a page of vacancies and many of them were for ' escorts '.

[/quote]

 

I guess there's not much demand for 64 year old male escorts? ????

 

Well, I can still do a good turn with a hot customer.

 

Provided I don't get more than a customer a week I  think I could cope. Although, at 64 I admit that potential customers could be thin on the ground.

[4737 Carlin]

16 hours ago, Surelynot said:

due to racism, lack of opportunity and inequalities

 

Yes, it must be tough when the host country gives you privilege over the natives. 

 

https://metro.co.uk/2018/01/19/bbc-criticised-for-banning-white-job-applicants-for-trainee-role-7243601/

[theonetrueaussie]

I am only 37 but I remember my grandpa saying he didn't like the world when my dad grew up there was less freedom and the world seemed more dangerous....then my dad said the same and now I find myself thinking the same....the world keeps getting more violent, less safe, less freedom and it will only continue to get worse it seems!

[thaibeachlovers]

Wouldn't everyone say they were born in the best of time, because they don't know what it was like when I was born. The thought of corporal punishment and cops that clipped bad kids around the ear might seem terrible.

 

Far as I'm concerned, PC and fear of everything has ruined the western world, but that's because I know what a better life was.

 

We all got sold down the river to corporations and the love of money, IMO

[sandyf]

21 hours ago, xylophone said:

I believe I was born at the best time and came through the following decades where there was so much change in the world, that it was breathtaking.

 

Born in 1947 in a small Sussex town, where everybody seemed friendly, and there were huge open spaces, with very large forests and streams/rivers nearby, so that meant I could play all day long, often leaving home in the morning and not coming home till it was very dark, yet no one seemed to mind.

 

The seaside was about 30 miles south and as my dad worked on the railways, we often got free passes to go there, not that I liked the sea and sun much as I was very pale skinned and would always suffer for a few days afterwards.

 

People of my era witnessed the progression of pop music from rock 'n' roll through to the Beatles, Moody blues, Pink Floyd and moving through to The New Romantics, U2, Guns n Roses, and so many more, and many of their songs are still played today.

 

In that time, television went from a tiny oval screen to something which would fill the whole wall in the house, electronic gadgetry moved on at an exciting pace and we now have the iPhone generation.

 

The first men walked on the moon, cars became far different machines from the early days, to the very sophisticated ones now, and of course the electric cars which we now see.

 

Complicated Surgical procedures became the norm and heart transplants, something never considered previously, are carried out.

 

So much more one could write about, but I believe people of my generation have lived through what I consider to be the most exciting times, and as for me, during those exciting times I made the most of them as well as travelling to work in Libya, the Sahara desert, Nigeria, Norway and the North Sea and travelling for sightseeing to many other countries.

 

Certainly can't complain and would love to write a book about my exploits and adventures, because they are both at once exciting and at times unbelievable.

I was also born in 1947 and would totally agree, I doubt if there will ever be a period in history with so much progressive changes.

It is not only about physical change there is also mental acceptance. I remember buying my first microwave in 1980, my wife's grandmother was over and asked what it was. I tried to explain that if I put a cup of cold water in for a few minutes it would come out piping hot, she refused to believe until I actually did it. These days people will readily accept any concept put forward, even tracking devices in vaccine.

 

I was brought up in a small town on the north east coast of Scotland, nobody locked there doors and we made out own fun, no TV till the mid 50's and that was very limited. I started work at 11, milk delivery before school and message delivery after. These days social services would have a field day but it never did us any harm. I left school at 15 and trained in the RAF on electronics, was taught thermionic valves and mag amps, unheard of now.

 

The changes have been very beneficial in many respects but other problems have been brought into play along the way and I do believe that life for those growing up today has become much more challenging, borne out I think by the current focus on mental health.

[sandyf]

18 hours ago, ivor bigun said:

,most dont integrate ,unlike us here in Thailand who on the whole are married to locals ,not all huddled in one area.

You cannot really compare the two situations. The majority of foreigners that stay in Thailand have come to Thailand as individuals and have made relationships with local partners, whereas many immigrants to the UK have come as families. I would suggest that most foreigners that have come to Thailand as a family would look to other foreign families, just that the numbers are much smaller.

During the war there were Polish army camps where I lived and after the war many stayed and integrated into the community, again, men on their own. After nearly 70 years during the brexit campaign they were referred to as parasites.

The UK population also have a responsibility in respect of integration.

[PeachCH]

I'm really sorry for the "new" generation. Born in 1943, travelling all around the world, working in the Caribic, in Singapore and in Bangkok, now living in Manila. Despite planning a trip to Europe that I had to cancel because of COVID-19 , not very "sad" about. The "new" generation never will have the same opportunities I had. And now they even have to pay some of my retirement money with their tax payments.

Edited March 29, 2021 by PeachCH

[Kanada]

I was born in 1950 so the 60’s were my teen years....growing up on a farm in Manitoba Canada...my father was a veterinarian and a farmer...my Mother an English war bride...mostly a good life with small schools and good friends !

when ‘66 I got my first car...1956 Ford Fairlane and my world changed...I had just met what became my best friend who is three months older than me and had a ‘58 Ford and we were off and running!

Girls, gasoline and beer were what was important to us and of course the Saturday night dances and fights...we weren’t fighters like some of the guys but manages to get into trouble in other ways...Cars!

I'm 71 yesterday and my best friend Ray and I are still close!

I had a great growing up time...took until I was 30 to do it ????

The same older boys that would smack us around if they were bored were always there to protect us if needed! We showed respect...we didn’t borrow and we didn’t lend...we gave our time willingly to neighbours and friends and looked after their kids as they grew up as others had looked after us.

We didn’t know we had a great life...it was just our life!

We didn’t know we acted like idiots at times...it was just our life and I suspect young people now don’t recognize it either!

I have four good Sons and one grand daughter and my fear is I will lose one of them before I die but I wouldn’t change much if I went back.

There were damn fools in 1966 and there will be damned fools tomorrow...I was amazed by transistor radios and FM radio and TV....kids now are just as amazed at what’s around them as I was!

Good life ????

[JWRC]

Like my friend said, she is glad to be on her way out, and not the way in.

[FalangJaiDee]

Yea I’m 30 year old American. You boom boomers had it so easy. Now this world is a hellscape socially and economically. That’s why I’m in Thailand ????

[connda]

I'm absolutely glad I was born post WWII and enjoyed a time of prosperity and limited rational government and corporations.
Nowadays it feels like were are marching right back into totalitarianism with governments and corporations working together to feed off of the productivity and wealth of their citizens.  Prosperity is an illusion today as most citizens are bound to a pile of non-dischargable debt.  Government won't regulate and corporations predate.  This is not a good time.  I feel sorry for my grandkids. 

[Pedrogaz]

I was born in 53, an excellent year for claret, and I believe will prove to be a good year for both.