I was born in 1993. Makes me a bit young for 90s nostalgia, eh?

Well, I have numerous reasons for feeling nostalgic.

As I was growing up, I was stuck in a time-warp of sorts; my family was about 5 years behind in technology. Growing up with an Atari 7800 and an early 486 computer (in 1996), and later an SNES (in 1998) and an N64 (in 1999) probably led to me adopting more of an attitude of someone born in the mid-to-late 80s rather than one born in the 90s.

I have hated the past decade. First, 9/11 changed the attitude of the entire country, which changed overnight from euphoria and prosperity to fear. Then, everything just progressed from that. The liberalism of the 90s was knocked aside for neoconservatism. We were drawn into two wars. The economy tanked, and it still hasn't recovered.

The music of the 00s was significantly worse than the 90s, in my opinion, as well. In the 90s, the subcultures were a lot less stupid. Really, "emo", "scene", "gangsta" and this "indie hipster" sheesh is just stupid. At least the 90s actually had a decent goth scene and grunge kids, who didn't listen to pseudo-80s electro-pop while shopping at trendy stores to rebel against society by buying from a chain store.  I'm not a big fan of rap, but at least 90s "gangsta" music was actually semi-decent, with obvious funk roots. Now it all sounds like mass-produced crap where over-privleged kids rap about how hard life is in the hood that they have never set foot in. Don't even get me started on rock and metal, which definitely peaked in popularity and quality (well, at least for metal, rock peaked earlier, but it was still good) during the 90s. Pop music has deteriorated as well. I'll admit, I'm a fan of late-90s Eurodance, which for all musical intents and purposes is sheesh, and is DEFINITELY mass-produced crap. However, its one redeeming quality is that it didn't take itself seriously at all, which is something that modern pop music has seemed to forget. Apparently it has forgotten about subtlety, as well, as we now have artists like Lady Gaga (who plays the "I'm a freak and unique" role too blatantly) and Ke$ha (whose songs are solely about being a skanky drunk). At least Aqua had the decency to use double-entendres instead of just flat-out saying "I'M DRUNK AND LIKE TO HAVE SEX". Stores like Hot Topic killed counter-culture, by putting it in a package and selling it.

I feel that the 00s has ruined computing, as well. Web 2.0 needs to die, this stuff is ruining the internet in the same way Eternal September ruined Usenet. Everybody having a computer with internet access and being able to put their thoughts out there with no technical knowledge whatsoever is absolute hell for those who want semi-intelligent discourse. I much prefer crappy Geocities webpages to crappy MySpace pages. Hell, Web 2.0 has even killed design. If I see one more website with a white-and-light-grey color scheme with beveled edges I might just punch my CRT monitor. PC gaming peaked in the 90s, as well, and now it is struggling on life support thanks to the consoles of the early 00s. Even the 90s underground computer scene was better, things were actually challenging and somewhat elite. It took skill to make a cool-looking graphics demo or an interesting hack, one actually had to code well, and your average hacker was some teenage kid with too much time on their hands instead of Russians who want to scam people into buying their fake Anti-Spyware software.

But the real reason for why I love the 90s so much, yet loathe the 00s?

What the past decade has done to my area, along with my idea of what my teenage years would be like.

I live in an area with ~100,000 people. In the 90s, each nearby city had its own thing. However, the one I was in had the best things. There was a large main street with two malls and a variety of different stores, many of which were not mega-chains. One of these malls was absolutely amazing. Built in 1990, it contained carnival rides, bumper cars, its own movie theater, at least a hundred stores, mini-golf, and an arcade, hell, it even had a train that went around it. Well, as the 90s ended, it closed and the building was bought by another company. It is now a giant sporting goods store. In the mid-2000s, new development by mega-chains such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart across the town turned the old main street into a ghost town of abandoned buildings. There are now only two choices for where to buy groceries, and both are mega-stores. There is one place left to buy computer hardware. There is one mall left, which only contains about 30 stores, all of which are small and can be found in every mall across the United States.

When I was a child, I had an idea of what my teenage years would be like. I imagined myself going to the mall with friends, watching movies, going to the arcade, shopping around at the interesting stores, all with a soundtrack of cheesy late-90s europop playing in the background. After this, we would walk around the main street, going to the many different stores and other fun places. This would end with us returning home and playing a variety of great computer games on a LAN. (That last one is actually pretty accurate, but many of those "great computer games" are from the 90s, seeing how everything made after that was made with the PC as an afterthought.) The point is, there is nothing left to do here anymore.  Hell, I can't even go bowling, it is $60 for a single game with 4 people. 2000s development killed my town. To add insult to injury, the only amusement park in the area closed recently, as well. Even school isn't what it used to be in the 90s; students used to be able to leave the building freely before 2003, before the school started fearing lawsuits, and rules were more lax.

Sometimes I think I should have been born ten years earlier.

So, to make this more interesting, a question for everyone: has anything changed in your area since the 90s?

Dude, I totally feel you. I was lucky enough to be born in 1981, and i got to experience a lot of the things, (both good and bad), you listed in your rant. You are spot-on with the mass-production of counter-culture.

I never really subscribed to any specific genre of music, but I can tell you that I hate what passes for "music" these days. Granted, there are some diamonds in the rough, (The Birthday Massacre, Shiny Toy Guns, Nine Inch Nails, and a limited few older groups who've stuck around). I find myself listening more to instrumental music than anything else out there, (Movie scores are a treasure-trove for great original music).

The whole gritty urbanization movement sucks. Long gone are the days of unique smaller stores to make way for the globalized Wal-marts for the masses. Individualism is dead, likely destroyed by the "You're with them or you're with us" mentality set into place by the fear-mongering stirred up from Sept 11th. Commercialism, with it's new medium, (the internet), has taken a new ugly dominant shape as well. It is impossible to navigate anywhere, online or in the real-world, without being bombarded by hundred, if not thousands, of commercial messages for everything from body wash to refinancing your home. Kids are raised to have a "gimme" mentaility. Less people do anything the hard way. (Some people I know don't even know what a command prompt, much less DOS, is). Life in the present is like a real-world version of the movie Idiocracy. Things are constantly being over-simplified and dumbed down.

I only see things getting worse.

You're right, I remember back in the 90s, even though globalization was very much already happening, it wasn't to the point it is now. There's still regional variation, but certain chains, like Starbucks, Wal-Mart, and the like, are everywhere. In the 90s, McDonalds and Burger King seemed to be the only constants.

You're right, I remember back in the 90s, even though globalization was very much already happening, it wasn't to the point it is now. There's still regional variation, but certain chains, like Starbucks, Wal-Mart, and the like, are everywhere. In the 90s, McDonalds and Burger King seemed to be the only constants.


Not all globalization is a bad thing. I'm all for certain resaturant chains expanding, (can we PLEASE get a In and Out and Whataburger in the Midwest???).

It's just that some companies have expanded in a way that is harmful to communities and small business. Walmart comes to mind. They actually don't have the lowest prices on everything. With a sales ad and coupons, you can save a LOT more money going to an actual grocery store instead of Walmart. The other negative effect of Walmart seems to be the negative type of behavior it creates amoung it's shoppers (see peopleofwalmart.com for specific examples) and it's employees, (unfair treatment of female and minority employees, and keeping low income people in a consistant low income state).

Well, my city always had a Wal-Mart, but it wasn't until the "Super Wal-Mart" was built that all of the local competition died.

I would argue that these super-stores are harmful to other large companies as well; it seems like the recent recession created virtual monopolies by killing off all but the "strongest" chain stores. An example is this: in 1999, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, and Target were all on semi-equal footing. Today, K-Mart and Target are barely alive, closing many of their stores. The local K-Mart is nearly abandoned, with only a few workers working at any given time and is pitifully understocked. In 1999, Best Buy, CompUSA, and Circuit City were the three big electronics stores. Today, Best Buy is just about the only choice for electronics; they are practically a monopoly in most areas. Just last month, the local computer store across from the Best Buy closed, despite having better prices and selection.

Well, my city always had a Wal-Mart, but it wasn't until the "Super Wal-Mart" was built that all of the local competition died.

I would argue that these super-stores are harmful to other large companies as well; it seems like the recent recession created virtual monopolies by killing off all but the "strongest" chain stores. An example is this: in 1999, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, and Target were all on semi-equal footing. Today, K-Mart and Target are barely alive, closing many of their stores. The local K-Mart is nearly abandoned, with only a few workers working at any given time and is pitifully understocked. In 1999, Best Buy, CompUSA, and Circuit City were the three big electronics stores. Today, Best Buy is just about the only choice for electronics; they are practically a monopoly in most areas. Just last month, the local computer store across from the Best Buy closed, despite having better prices and selection.
Well "Target " is still plugging along ok but I agree with you on Kmart though barely hanging on. Remember that store "Bradlees" too? The 4 Bradless that I know of that existed, 2 are still empty, 1 is now a "Best Buy" where I live in NJ and the other one I think its a small clothing store now in a big strip mall.

BTW, I didn't buy my labtop that I am now at "Best Buy" I bought mine at "Staples"!

You're right, I remember back in the 90s, even though globalization was very much already happening, it wasn't to the point it is now. There's still regional variation, but certain chains, like Starbucks, Wal-Mart, and the like, are everywhere. In the 90s, McDonalds and Burger King seemed to be the only constants.
What about "Wendys"?

Speaking of Globalization, there were alot less Toyota's Honda's, Nissan;s, and Hyundai on the road in 1999 than they are now. I mean sure the Accord and Camry were popular back in 1999 but the Sonata? No. The Altima was not a big player in the mid-size car market in 1999 like it is now. The Domestic Big 3 or 2.5 back in 1999 still had like 68% of the US Car Market. I;m not hating on import automakers(I own one) but I'm just saying.

The opening post said something about 90's liberalism. if your talking about politics, yes Bill Clinton in 1993-1994 he was pushing liberal democrat policies. When the Republicans came into power in the 1994 mid-terms Clinton moved to the center or even right of center. He basically followed the policies that the Republican Leadership(Newt Gingrich, Dick Armey, and Tom DeLay) were pushing from 1995-1998/1999.

neo conservatism  existed in the early to mid 00's(not the late 00's) because the Democrats took over the House annd Senate in the 2006 mid-term elections.

Well, I was primarily referring to American society in general. It seemed to shift right a large amount after 9/11. Also, while Clinton may have been more moderate during his second term, at least he wasn't so hawkish as to get us into two wars and far right enough to give the upper class an obscenely massive tax cut, as Bush did.

Well, I was primarily referring to American society in general. It seemed to shift right a large amount after 9/11. Also, while Clinton may have been more moderate during his second term, at least he wasn't so hawkish as to get us into two wars and far right enough to give the upper class an obscenely massive tax cut, as Bush did.


Clinton did get us in the Balkins though, which we(the US) had no business of being into.

Well, I was primarily referring to American society in general. It seemed to shift right a large amount after 9/11. Also, while Clinton may have been more moderate during his second term, at least he wasn't so hawkish as to get us into two wars and far right enough to give the upper class an obscenely massive tax cut, as Bush did.


He (Clinton) should've done something in 1993 when the WTC had an explosion...but he didn't. I don't care for the last three Presidents that we had.

As for the 90's...we didn't have cheap reality shows and stations didn't totally jump the gun with reality shows and have identity crisis!

I wish the 2010's...we could watch all the TV Shows that we remember from our childhood back on TV Stations that sold us out the last decade!

Well, I was primarily referring to American society in general. It seemed to shift right a large amount after 9/11. Also, while Clinton may have been more moderate during his second term, at least he wasn't so hawkish as to get us into two wars and far right enough to give the upper class an obscenely massive tax cut, as Bush did.
First off the Iraq War we shouldn't have gotten into. The war in Afghanastan(spelling) we had to do because of 9/11. Secondly, everybody got a tax cut not just the rich. The Tax cuts weren;t paid for that was the biggest problem with the Bush Tax Cuts and the Tax Cuts should have been like for people making 250,000$ and down like Obama is doing now.

He (Clinton) should've done something in 1993 when the WTC had an explosion...but he didn't. I don't care for the last three Presidents that we had.

As for the 90's...we didn't have cheap reality shows and stations didn't totally jump the gun with reality shows and have identity crisis!

I wish the 2010's...we could watch all the TV Shows that we remember from our childhood back on TV Stations that sold us out the last decade!
In my opinion Bush(W.) second term in office sucked and Obama is just too liberal I think with the way he governs. I did like Clinton, and Bush(W.) first term in office.

First off the Iraq War we shouldn't have gotten into. The war in Afghanastan(spelling) we had to do because of 9/11. Secondly, everybody got a tax cut not just the rich. The Tax cuts weren;t paid for that was the biggest problem with the Bush Tax Cuts and the Tax Cuts should have been like for people making 250,000$ and down like Obama is doing now.


I am going to have to agree about Afghanistan.  The atomsphere at the day after 9/11 was extremely strong and it felt right going after Afghanistan.  The thing was very tricky though, as the media was trying to not paint Islam into a bad image, because our enemies were muslims.  There was even a televised session where all the religions banded up and prayed at a church.

Personally, I was all for it until I read a book about how there was a oil-pipeline that was supposedly drilled between Armenia and Pakistan.  Even then though, what the Taliban did to the country and their people made me believed the war was justified.  Yes, this goes more beyond "your values of life is wrong but mine was right" but I really couldn't help it when a female muslim looks like a ninja and citizens get stoned to death in public for stealing.

In my opinion Bush(W.) second term in office sucked and Obama is just too liberal I think with the way he governs. I did like Clinton, and Bush(W.) first term in office.


Truthfully...many Presidents that have two terms tend to lose its lingo after the 2nd Term.

to thread opener, I really sympathise with you.
in 1999, when everyone were hoping for Playstation 2 I got A playstation 1.

well, a mall in my area had a kick ass arcade with a lot of old school kick-ass games. A LAN shop was closed , so bummer.
having a computer in the 90's actually required knowing how to use it.
Yahoo killed geocities, a relic of the 90's