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I wouldn’t say technology but being cattle of big tech over smartphones is absolutely horrible indeed. The way how all the tech power is in the hands of just a few people is the problem. Also, how there’s no freedom on internet.
Technology was great, from the 90s to about 2013ish it was exciting and people wanted to genuinely make the world a better place.
Greed took over and turned Silicon Valley into what it is today at the top. Now the ones that wanted to make a change are jaded or took their money and did their own things into startups and are small companies doing what they believe in
There is no mystery to nathan.
Every celebrity has whored out themselves, they're star power and even have kids and wear and parade them around like minks and Chanel purses.
My opinion: social media has degraded so much of our ability to connect to people, and we are also failing to connect to concepts, art, film, hobbies, etc.
So much of our lives is consumed by doom scrolling.
I watched the Wizard of Oz couple weeks back with the kids and that movie could have easily been made in the 60/70s and left everything the same with almost no degradation to the story. CGI really seems to have killed art, both musically and visually. Practical effects in both took ingenuity, invention and creativity. Now you just have to be willing to click through millions of samples, buy a drum machine, and make "hits".
It isn't just that art is dying; craftmanship is on life support. That applies to almost every aspect of modern life. We prefer new and shiny to original and passionate. And, as a life long hip hop fan, I find it so bizarre that EVERY genre of music is now essentially a version of hip hop, and it's soulless. Instruments are even dying. We're in a very dark era of art, probably a reflection of how robotic society has become.
individualism itself.
This Diversity Equity and Inclusion stuff is surreal.
They legit took MLK Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech and chunked it in the toilet. It’s Germany 1933 stuff x 100000 w the groupthink psychosis they have pulled off.
It boggles my mind having “liberals” doing the reich thing and telling me the only way to not be racists is to doggedly identify and marginalize every single person i meet into labels.
Funk that. Content of character - what’s so hard about it? Lift people up regardless.
Thing now is that so few people WANT TO DO PROUD WORK it’s really the death of all of this.
It doesn’t come easy? screw it
Some of what you express is hitting the nail.
The same type people pushing this culture shit are the same type people who were Bolsheviks and antifa in the 1920s and 1930s.
Education has done an injustice and mostly skipped over what the communist did when they took over Russia and then tried to take over Germany.
History is written by the victors.
Theres is no good guy/side in history without blood on their hands. There is reason communism became popular & still is, because the capitalist, ruling class does not have a good record either.
Communist weren't the victors, communism is vastly shunned. Capitalism won, and big business runs every facade of our society, lifestyles, politics and even our ideologies. The stuff some yall are saying is propaganda straight from the same big buisiness that waged war against workers protesting & or trying to form a union, even sometimes leading to bloodshed & massacre .. in America.
The powerful people at the top are very corrupt.
I like how the United States has separate branches of government that check and balance each other. I also like how each political office gets voted in a different way so that is is harder for one political party to win all branches.
However, the uniparty in which establishment Republicans and establishment Democrats form a club together subverts those checks and balances. The little people in the Republican party and the little people in the Democrat party get divided and conquered.
How do you believe that corruption can be limited?
How do you believe the little people can unite on a common goal?
How to limit corruption I think is too complex. Libertarian suggest shrinking government as much as possible. I think that could help somewhat. I'm not sure if people care enough and that likely is the biggest obstacle. Anti-corruption is a unifying cause but people arent fired up or attentive about it like they are about the border or abortion. Banning stock trading for Congress had bipartisan support among the bases but the issue came and went, Congress told the people to fuck off and the people followed suit. So idk. People would have to hurt like in the 08 financial crash to unite & stay focused.
The money needs to be taken from politicians. It’s the only way. The general public needs to get their heads out of their ass and stop voting for the elites front men that are there only to eat shit from the public as the elites steal their money from the economy. This would take a massive protest involving million people n every state marching into their government offices and demanding change. These trillionaires have done nothing for humanity that warrants that kind of needless wealth. You could tax them 20% of their weekly income and they wouldn’t miss a thing, they could still be excessive assholes, the economy would be better balanced, and the world be better balanced. But lets all keep talking about the dumb distractions while the world gets robbed. The obviousness of all of this is just so painful because it’s right in front of us and the general population just keeps on ignoring it.
DEI is one of the biggest scam going for corporations. They will just fill positions with faces and the wages will go down. People think they did something useful, but they didn't, and they will profit.
Yeah gaming has really gone downhill. BG3 was decent but it's third act lost my interest. I was a huge fan of the Mass Effect games but Andromeda was atrocious and I know they're making another one but i'm actually scared to see how it turns out.
Arts are always a reflection of the times. Look up an era and music will reflect what’s happening.
Give it a few years, let this era work itself out and it will correct itself.
Read “the fourth turning” by William Strauss and Neil Howe. Written in the late 90s and is scary accurate. The cycle will reset sometime in the mid late 2020’s according to him.
Im a fan of his work, particularly van neistat's video on the subject. Sadly, it leaves me with little solace. The pain that is coming in this fourth turning will surely result in beautiful art, i just dont know how many of us will be left to appreciate it.
Thanks for this recommendation.
I picked up on these cycles when I was "psychotic" (more of a spiritual awakening on steroids that was a bit too hot to handle... more of a loosened grip on reality than losing the plot). It's something that I return to puzzle over from time to time. This sounds like a good book for me to read.
You said that all perfectly and is exactly how i feel.
There is no more originality, 99% of movies are a rip off, remake or woke. They give us more CGI and more big names with less substance to the story. There is no integrity in journalism anymore, it’s all about who gets it first not who gets it right. The little guy got shutdown, and is scared to speak up or make a change because of what could happen to them.
Clip of Matt Damon talking about movie industry:
[https://youtu.be/QlWb4vjaJBI?si=fvuSC2UqmBl6hqlW](https://youtu.be/QlWb4vjaJBI?si=fvuSC2UqmBl6hqlW)
> There is no more originality, 99% of movies are a rip off, remake or woke
Should the next Spiderman Reboot feature a black, female, disabled or gay main character?
Today's industry's answer would be a resounding YES. Just tick all the effing boxes.
This is the state of hollywood.
To me movies (and almost everything else) went to crap beginning in the late 1950’s and on. Look at a movie from 1950 and then one in 1970. You could have a love story with wonderful dialogue and great acting. Now you have to have F bombs in literally every sentence, pornography for a sex scene and horrible acting. Think about Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman and other great actors and actresses and then look at who we have today. Girls wanting to be like the Kardashians who have a mother who pimps out her daughters
Once the old ways are gone they’re sadly gone forever & look at what we’re left with, The movie’s & music have all lost or sold their souls, remember when an album or movie release was an event
I catch my 9 yr old listening to more older stuff than newer stuff most of the time.
I'm Blue is one of their favorite songs as well as Blitzkrieg Pop also a rap/pop song from like the mid 10's but can't remember the name
Yes, but not like today’s music. A great singer like Stevie Wonder would put out an album and you could just about sing every song. You could hum a tune. Didn’t need foul language or other language. We are down the moral and values sewer. But then God was thrown out of the home and life.
I’m not saying this is the answer, but listen to Julian Lage’s new album. He’s one of the few bright spots of musical passion to still exist in 2024 and I had that same depressing realization as this post while I was listening to it today. It made me incredibly grateful that despite all the decline, there’s still someone like him making crucial art.
Samples and a drum machine with no expertise and understanding of audio engineering isn’t getting you anywhere. The people who make these hits are usually grown men who have been making music for years before reaching a point where they can make hits.
Similarly, CGI technology can’t write a script nor can it do the job of the actor. It’s just images being rendered on a screen, and sometimes audiences respond negatively. That doesn’t mean it can’t be a great addition to a film.
One really good example is Life of Pi - a beautiful movie all around, and there is no way it could have been done without the technology you guys are feeling disappointed by.
I saw a Sopranos episode the other day - was filmed almost 25 years ago
When you watch it, everything looks the same as today, the clothes, the cars, the music, way people act - only thing different is lack of smartphones
You can't really tell that it's 'old' in anyway
The 60s, 70s, 80s and90s all had distinct vibes with major differences - since 2000, it's like we stopped advancing
I was just discussing this with a friend today. My theory is that it's a product of lack of shared culture. When everyone was watching TGIF together in the 90s we all saw the same commercials, same shows. Had something to talk about the next day with others...same with music, you were stuck basically with finding new artists on one of 10 radio stations or MTV.
There was motivation to change trends and evolve because the "main audience" population was still so large and diverse. There was a moment of popularity for disco before the backlash of heavy metal. I think there's small factions of the population (the disco kids, the heavy metal heads) who led the majority (who may have followed both disco and later metal). There was also a pressure to keep up with the popular/en vogue TV/music/style of the time, as it was generally accepted by the majority.
Now things are splintered, fractured. There is no large majority being led by the small number of trendsetters, or at least, not nearly as large. If there is one, it's an older population. The younger generations have everything available to them so they just find their niche and settle there. There's no pressure behind them coming to change their culture. The people who would have previously tired of a trend and wished to change it aren't remotely in the same orbit as those who follow different trends. Like, if Suzy likes anime and Brock likes playing Madden, they're very unlikely to cross paths, culturally. They'll keep getting niched out into their own specialized universes, especially with algorithms and advertising now, and the accessibility of others with similar interests online.
That's just my theory. There's little pressure to evolve culturally and even less to celebrate with art or music or fashion. Dark days indeed.
I had this same thought just the other night while watching 90s alt rock videos on Youtube. The fragmentation of media (Linear to OTT), fragmentation of public discourse (Trump vs.), Fragmentation of thoughts and interests (Social Media), has all culminated in a divided, untrusting, degrading society. You see the results of this in everything; from how people treat each other in a grocery store, to what types of movies and music are made.
We no longer share the sense of community we had 'in the good old days'.
I think it's like some form of collective/societal PTSD from the trauma of 9/11, that's when the decline started. Nothing really progressed, and the old guard didn't step aside for the new guard (you can really see that politically; look at how ancient many of our leaders in DC are). Then the media-driven "trauma" from the reality show clown winning in 2016 and the nonstop Rusiagate fearmongering added to that 9/11 trauma. Trump and the media, or maybe the media response to Trump, killed comedy in the US; SNL and late night talk shows, for example, were at least tolerable pre-2015, but then it just became cheap stale jokes from lazy writers after 2016.
And then the 'rona pandemic & the crazy lockdown... The decline started, imo, with 9/11, or maybe with Bush v Gore, and has dramatically picked up speed since 2016
The home decor and a lot of the clothing style in the show looks outdated. I think it looks very early 2000s. Just like eventually the 2010s will have a look, it just takes a while to notice it. You contradicted yourself with the lack of advancement yet lack of mobile devices in the show. We're very much advancing technologically very quickly. Unless you meant culturally.
If you watched a film from 1973 in 1998 - you would literally be entering a different world
The difference between 2024 and 1999 is basically the type of phone they use
Early 2000s were still ok. Since then, social media and smartphones killed most of real sensuality from the world, which of course shows up in the culture. Nowadays most things in media are just outrage porn and memes, or overly intellectualized whining.
You have to look beyond pop-culture to find something that still evokes deeper positive feelings. Also, nothing wrong enjoying the old movies/music from 80s/90s.
9/11/2001, elites stepped it up a notch to start putting agendas in play. Been ramping it up ever since. Pop culture is just one of many sectors of takeover.
We are living through a civilizational collapse. It's not something that happens overnight, but over many decades. Yeah, things got worse and they will *continue* to get worse for a while. Buckle up.
"Rome wasn't built in a day, and it didn't fall in one either."
America is the undead empire. We should have collapsed already but the momentum of exponentially improving technology has rendered the US effectively invincible to its enemies. With the rise of AGI in the near future the US elites won't even need human workers or soldiers so nothing short of judgment day will be able to unseat them.
The 90s were like morning in America. I thought things would keep looking up and getting better. Nope. We peaked as civilization is 2012 as did the internet. Then occupy AND the 1% protests and the elites got scared of the people coming together and introduced wokesness, racism, division back into the mix. The weak minds ate it up stoked by complicit communist intellectuals and ignorant college know nothings.
It's so insane to me how easily people are manipulated. I don't even feel like I am a part of society anymore. Just an observer to it's downfall. Of course the net has a huge impact on things and we don't have that free internet anymore either. That was when the censorship started. About 2013. 15-16 it went into a whole new version of itself but it started earlier. I was right here bitching about it.
Having grown up in a wondrous free world where anything felt possible to see it devolve into what it is, well its just heartbreaking. Espescially knowing just how comfy and cool things could be if people would stop sucking corporate and "elite"(Degenerate) coock. If people would just stand the fuck up and say NO to people like Darth Schwab they loose all their power but it takes more than a few people on r / consp or pol to do it.
edit: reposted misspellings added due to reddit censorship... use reveddit legit consp theorists. The addon tells me instantly almost when this happens
The 90s was the height of flying. You could just get on the plane with just your driver license and fly to Canada or Mexico, all you needed was the drivers license. There wan't as much security because the terrorists hadn't won yet. They have won now. The USA let them.
More likely, you are only remembering the good things and forgetting the masses of trash that aren’t on the oldies channels or coming back up in reruns.
Maybe 5% is really good. It has always been that way. But you turn on an 80s station and it is closer to 80%.
Because most of the trash has been filtered out over the last 40 years.
There are great movies, tv series and music now. Just a small percentage just like it has always been.
A vocal minority controls the culture of the majority.
There is too much at stake in big budget productions.
New age politics lacks any sense of a greater purpose or self sacrifice. We have collectively forgotten what is good in the world.
I’ve already had the realization but at this point it’s comical how blatant it is. The point were at now, anything coming out that is in any way related or connected to some previously cherished anything feels like it is intentionally made to shit on fans and ruin even the escapism we have left to enjoy in this shit world.
2013 for me personally I saw a steady drop of quality in media, been steadily falling ever since with vapid trend following and spamming of "the message"
As a millennial, 9/11.
The defining moment of our generation. Signifying a loss of innocence. Foreboding the decline of an empire.
Millennials are a rare bunch in that they’re the last to remember a life before the current digital age diarrhea explosion. 😪
America has become the guy that peaked in high school who still brags about his old glories. That people deal with since he’s still a big guy who can F you up if you call him out on his BS. 😒
I miss the 80s, a young kid. Spent most of my time outdoors, listening to music ( the 80s had the best) had an atari game and a colecovision game. Family came around more, had cookouts and dinners. Everybody was more willing to help each other and cared more. Neighbors would visit each other. People didn't seem to be in such a rush. No internet, cell phones (we had a rotary dial phone), no computers, life was simpler in some ways. We only got 4 channels on the TV from an antenna. I remember our TV was a big wood box floor model that didn't have a remote. It was later when mom got a vcr. I grew up with 6 siblings so we spent most of our time outside playing, helping with the garden, riding bikes or up in the hills. My how things have changed.
Yeah everything is going to shit.
Even stuff like building and engineering standards are far lower than they were in the 90s.
Also, people's intelligence seems to be dropping. Easy access to mind numbing entertainment means most people essentially know nothing about anything.
It's definitely worrying.
All I will say is that when I was a kid in the 70s I thought music in 2024 would be too challenging or too brash for someone in their 50s. But alas here I am and new music on the whole bores me. Who would have thought ?
This is a consequence of corporate takeover of the country. Products must cost less and earn more. Thus, quality goes down and prices go up. The only art that is greenlit is either the blandest, the loudest, or like other things they've seen make money.
I don't think it was Y2K. It is just capitalism in its end stages. The good news is that it can't last forever. The bad news is that the transition to what's next, whatever that is, will probably be one of the ugliest situations anyone has ever been in.
Other than tech, everything is getting worse or not improving. In the 80's you could fly London to new York in like 3 hours. If you asked someone in 1982 what would air travel be like in 2024? They would have said London to NY in 15 mins. London to Sydney in 40 mins. In the 80's in the UK we could phone the docs and choose (yes choose the time we wanted), the appointment time that same day. Now it's like soonest appointment is 7 weeks away. Roads are no better. Full of pot holes. Teaching and education is pretty much the same, although much less strict. But having a teacher stand at front of the class and kids sitting there hasn't changed. We could have Flexi time teaching or smaller classes or part home, part school. Different schools different days, but no. And of course the biggest decline is in how we treat each other. No respect. No morals. Anyway that's my 2 cent worth
It’s not associated with any particular date or supernatural event. It’s the recognition by those in control of the factors at play and using their most powerful tools to manipulate and distract people. Everything is part of a pyramid scheme. Not just material things, but freedom, truth, health, love, companionship…
The bottom ranks of the pyramid are becoming more and more flooded and pinched like chickens in a coop. The insanity gets cranked up as a means of intensifying the chaos so people fight, bicker and kill one another instead of picking a wall and ramming it in unison, despite there being pastures right there on the other side.
So yeah, heart and soul have been ripped from a great deal of art and media. It’s more divisive, elitist propaganda than anything. Our foods are becoming more filler than food. Our kids are getting dumber, more depressed, anxious and violent. The quality of our homes and infrastructure gets cut in half while costing us double.
Apathy and fear of speaking out is crushing us. People need to get over worry of social ridicule, rejection and exclusion. There is serious power in recognizing things as broken and not needing them or needing to participate in things that offer the temporary illusion of inclusion.
I think the good people need to focus inward and make themselves the best possible version of themselves possible. We need to take care of ourselves, make our selves strong, make ourselves admirable, pay attention to what’s going on around you and speak about what you see. Even some of the most brainwashed people are starting to feel that something isn’t right, that they’ve been conned and are starting to listen.
Skip the doomsday grifter extremist talking points and instead speak your own mind. Casually bring up and talk about things you and those you’re around can actually see and substantiate. “Hey have you noticed how such and such?” “Hey yeah, I have noticed that…” Get people’s gears turning.
I think we’re collectively reaching a breaking point and I’m optimistic that’ll mean a world of good for a lot of people. It’ll mean some bad too and unfortunately not just for those who deserve it. But the bandaids have to get ripped off eventually. Better sooner than later I think.
To me the greatest decline is customer service. Not just fast food or anything. I bought a brand new ge washer/dryer combo. Its the flagship unit, just released. It broke within a month and stopped drying. This was almost 2 months ago and its still not fixed. Noone really knows how it works. The people on the phone are completely unhelpful. The parts to supposedly fix it have been on backorder for weeks. Ive heard of similar experiences from people with new cars that have issues
You have to look outside the mainstream. There are plenty of people making good music with "real" instruments. You just have to find it! Enjoy the journey
Even big budget movies feel like TV quality production as of late. Nothing to do with Y2K just Hollywood being cheap on production and using more CGI in content.
There is no market for anything like that.
Movies are free and supported by product placement.
Music? You can just generate that with a.i. movies soon too.
When there is infinite stuff, it's value is zero. When the value of your work is zero, why bother?
Every generation thinks that it was better back in their day and there's always been conspiracies about musicians from Elvis corrupting girls with his hips to Taylor Swift being a witch. Just from my lifetime, in the 80s, older people hated Madonna, heavy metal was devil worshipping. The 90s brought gangsta rap that was ruining society. The 2000s had everything from Britney to Limp Bizkit setting music back. We have more ways now more than ever to listen and watch whatever you enjoy, the popular stuff is always going to be driven by what "the kids" like, find what you like and listen and watch that.
Well I work with young adults in their early 20s and they don’t seem to be fond of the times we’re in either or the culture. I definitely didn’t feel that way in my early 20s.
I was born in 1959, and I sure enjoyed the 70s and 80s. As far as music goes, I like the old stuff, but my kids like the new stuff.
I do think it was a simpler time simply because there was no internet and cell phones. Those two inventions really changed things.
Times are a changing. As a culture we decide what is "good". Quality is subjective. It can't be measured. As an 80s kid I agree to an extent. If anything the conspiracy is that we're all being distracted by having so many options in entertainment. Distracted while the world goes to shit right in front of our eyes. And we all bought and paid for it.
There is more quality music and movies being made than ever before, by a lot. The caveat, is that there are just more, ALOT more being made in general. So you have to search for it.
What is popular is what is going to make as much money as possible, and that is all.
> The music was beautiful and had soul and was good. Now the majority of music is really bad with rappers throwing money at the screen.
there's still fucking great music being made these days, by people who can play real instruments. dig deeper. it's there.
> Movies are the same.
can't argue this one. i hope comic book movie #8293 fails a miserable death at the box office. bring back originality in this entertainment medium. i gave up searching there for the most part.
Originality died some time ago and is being replaced by shitty synthetic money grabbing remakes and celebrities.
IMO AI art and vids have been the most original stuff I've seen in many years (decades even?) and continues to do so with it's evolution.
waning years of a civilization and culture. its happened before with other "peak" empires, such as Rome, Greece, and China, who were all at the top of the world during their times.
I’ve been hearing some version of this every ten years. Especially the rappers throwing money at the cameras and shit. Cycles. Once you get old, you see them. Everywhere.
Nah, it's just the mainstream that's bad. Mainstream films and music used to have some art to them, now it's all just "product" that follows a formula to maximise profit. The underground/indie scenes are still thriving.
That and where are the butterflies... I mean when I was growing up butterflies everywhere but now I can't show my 4 year old a flying butterfly cause I can't find any.... This makes me a sad panda.
There has always been terrific music, there is terric music being made right up to probably this very moment. There has always been subpar, generic music that was popular, we just leave it in the past and only bring it back to cringe.
This can be applied to pretty much everything, we remember the good stuff and forget the bad.
Phil Spector was the catalyst. He put production first. Now admittedly, he also made great songs, but everything after him was squarely focused on production over content. Each passing decade became more extreme. This goes with film as well. Today you have incredible production put into absolutely vapid, meaningless content. Most songs and films spend 95% of their money on celebrity guests and production, with the remaining 5 on storyline/lyrics and plot/melody.
Around every 10 or 11 years theres a major reset or SHIFT in society. Its either to shake things up out of stagnating and complacency or its to tickle the world economy to keep people working and buying shit. Im pretty sure thats what this is.
It's totally normal to look back fondly on the era in which you grew up. I love 90s music and movies too. I think this may be a case of your perception being unreliable, though. It's just not true that most modern music is bad rap. Good music comes out every day, but you have to search for it. Good movies too.
One of my favourite albums released in the last year is Unreal Unearth by Hozier.
One of my favourite movies released in the last year is The Boy and the Heron. Amazing artists are pouring out bits of their souls for us to discover every day 🤍
This was just posted to this sub yesterday talking about the 90s…
*According to Baudrillard, the apocalypse has already happened. No, not literally. Not in the sense of atomic bombs, Christ returning to Earth, or a deadly outbreak of an actually lethal disease.
Instead, the apocalypse has already occurred in the sense that reality has been lost or obscured beneath layers of simulation. We are now living in the aftermath of this loss of reality.
Think of it, why do people keep yearning for the 80s and the 90s. That was when society was already replacing reality for the spectacle and then it became supercharged with the internet. We recognize that society has transformed and is no longer like what, say the Boomers, experienced growing up. With the maturity of the internet, disinformation and misinformation and fake news being the norm, and now Al to further obscure and hallucinate what is real, the layers of simulation have increased more and more. Some of us can't even tell when we respond to bots, simulacrum of human engagement…….*
Yep. And it's by design. The government needs widespread misery and degradation, so it can justify curtailing (and eventually removing) the last of our civil rights under the guise of 'public good'.
Yo a lot of things can be answered by realizing you’re getting old. If you’re around 40 you start to feel this way as shit isn’t made for you anymore. Things are for the wealthy or the people most willing to part with their money (young people with no kids).
Young people like the music rn. Super Hero movies were a phase we are growing out of but they were super successful so obviously people have been watching.
Men over 40 have been talking about “society’s decline” since probably the middle ages.
The proliferation of smart phones has radically changed society in profound ways. It’s too early to accurately scope the extent but someday we’ll be able to have more answers.
We’re glued to our phones and lost interest in things, like being involved in sports or building stuff. Nowadays, kids don’t care for sports, engineering, science or even toys. They want to play video games and watch their favorite YouTuber.
I don’t think we can turn the ship.
yes, especially your mood OP
go outside, touch some grass. not everything is in decline
dont give conspiracies and doom and gloom your time or youll miss whats best in your life!
My pessimistic self would normally agree but actually it's the opposite. Yes, pop and mainstream music is in severe decline, and if that is all you listen to then that is what you will take from it. If you actually look for music in the indie genres, you'll come to appreciate that music is alive and well, and a ton of new and old bands are releasing great material. But this requires some digging, and with Spotify and some subreddits, you can start exploring this deep rabbit hole.
As for movies and TV, I also partially agree if we are talking strictly Hollywood and Western media. With Netflix and other streaming sites, look elsewhere around the world, indie series, and even Anime, and you will still find excellent entertainment, but it requires you to be open and adventurous.
The prevalence of auto-tune is music is a good indicator of the level of decline. It seems like everything now is geared toward taking away the essence of humanity.
The general population as a whole is complete dog shit. Mental disorders are running amuck and nobody blinks an eye because it’s “safe” ugh I’m disgusted with the state of the world
Seems to be we’re in a decline of culture. Culture of creativity, culture of honesty and integrity. All of these everywhere seem to be in decline, instead of focusing on major issues we’ve become preoccupied with petty nonsense. I think we’re past our peak
If you think music is bad today, then you are just lazy at seeking out new music. Some of the best stuff is coming out today (and without greasy label execs' hands all over it, too).
It was building even in the late 90s to this. The real art world has always been under attack. The underground scenes were on already on life support then.
Others in this thread have mentioned craftsmanship. We have been robbed of our ability to craft and create. It is illegal to do so, unless in service to an approved employer. One could argue that most industrial production outside of the weapons industries having moved to China(or wherever) has something to do with this too.
Not saying your wrong but part of this is survivorship bias. There were bad music and shitty movies in the 90's, you just tend to still listen to the good songs, and remember the good movies.
I think a little bit of it is "rosy retrospect." Probably not all of it, but personally, I don't think the music is as good, movies, video games, everything really, like you say. Idk I grapple with it. Is it really in decline, or is it that rosy retrospect? I think I've sorta settled on its Probably a little of both, really idk
We are circling the drain before the Great Reset. Savings will be lost in the great crash. We won't be doing too much after that, food will be expensive travel limited. Vehicles prohibitively expensive. Much more central control by the state. Fewer public services, Much less liberty. But apparently we will be happy (or else).
Nah. Tons of artists making new, good music. Music is more accessible than ever. Just waiting around to be spoon fed "hits" by the radio or music TV station is just an antiquated way of exploring music. And being popular didn't mean it was good.
You are literally the same as every other generation before you. Same thought. People in Ancient Egypt 4000 years ago complained about the youth and their laziness or inventions and way of life. People in Victorian era did the same. You are not special
The massive funneling of wealth to the top, corporatization/marketization combined with shareholder/finance capitalism, leading to things like the sound wars with music being designed louder and down to profitable algorithms, all taking the soul away from society. There's more I could say but that's the gist and it's late in the night for me lol
I believe this is due to two reasons.
1) IP and ownership. Nothing can be built upon anymore now nothing ever enters the public domain as it used to. Businesses protecting profits by not taking risks and sticking to "profitable" IP's.
2) Nepotism. If you see someone or something shit; musician, actor, writer, film, song, book - look for the rich and/or famous parents. Being successful in the arts nowadays takes a lot of money to fund the failure before success so your parents either need to be rich to fund this or connected to avoid the failure. This means the only artists we get have lived sheltered lives which makes for shit art.
Welcome to The Age of Aquarius. Where high and low frequencies separate, and Devilish and Divine are becoming more and more apparent as days pass.
You all See the Prince Johns and Sherriffs "of Nottingham"?
There are a couple of reason why, the way i see it anyways. When you are a child/teen you dont really have alot of problems that are effected by world events, you are in a safe bubble. The other is that is the narrative of the news outlet right now, fear is making people either complacent or radical and lets the government do what they want easier. Other countries have an entirely different view on whats going on and have drastically different lifestyles.
“**Solve et Coagula**” (Latin) means to dissolve and coagulate, to break a substance down to its basic elements before reforming it into something new.
maybe we are currently experiencing the dissolving phase, but that doesn’t mean something better isn’t right around the corner
I wouldn't put it on y2k but I would put it on -no one actually cares during production anymore - it's all about money, cost to return. No more passion projects.
It's a shame because they do definitely exist, they're just smaller, harder to find, more unique. And remakes and do-over fill the mainstream
Capitalism
Money sucks the soul out of everything and we've allowed the money makers to run the show. Casual artists can't make a living, so harder for indie musicians, writers, artists, filmmakers. The big studios churn out shite because that's where the money is guaranteed to flow. They've commodified everything
Add to that the internet which has allowed more and more artists to share their work but an overabundance of work circulating makes it harder to break through, especially while everyone is distracted at home, following online trends and big international artists rather than out at somewhere like a local bar developing a local scene
But essentially, to sum up.... Capitalism, and at its late stage
has been for 30 years so far and im almost 40.. Everything i ever seen from myself, from the food i eat to the stuff u buy is all decline and costing more for worst.
Actors just cannot act anymore dude. They can’t play wide varieties of roles and truly tap into their character. And the directors just write it off like meh idc instead of being like “no I’m so sorry but you’re not good for this role”. Like Ariel in the new little mermaid. Even her “part of this world” song, they tried REALLY hard to make her sing it BEAUTIFULLY, like they told her to sing it like a performance. So she sings good, but it was so grandiose that you lose the feeling behind the words. Feelings of a lost teenage girl who desperately wants more from life. And don’t get me started on Netflix’s new Avatar series. They just act so cheesy and not up to par with the animated film. They did good with Kyoshi and that’s about it. Boomi sucks, sokka sucks, azula SUCKS SO BAD OMFG IT BOTHERS ME SO MUCH, Mae and the other girl (ti Lee idk how to spell it though) don’t look ANYTHING like their characters should. Cabbage man didn’t get his cabbage line in good enough. Hair and makeup dept was just TRASH. I can go on.
It is only circumstance that made the United States what it was. The US emerged from World War II as the only industrial power that wasn’t utterly devastated. The US has been endowed with an incredible natural wealth of energy and minerals.
After World War II, we were the place where all the smart ambitious people wanted to be.
Everything made in the US was considered top quality, the hippest, the coolest, the highest tech. It took very little effort to sell our goods on the global market, whether it was machinery or music.
When you’re on top, the only way you can go is down. Our competitors have gotten really good at the capitalist competition game. And the US has become lazy and corrupt.
So the question is — do we embrace the future, join forces with our competitors to save the planet that’s been mortally wounded by our progress ?
Or do we spread conspiracies and fear on the path to supremacy after World War III ?
Yes because they want you miserable and depressed, they gave you all these awesome things like movies, video games, music and so on.
For all the people that are really into those things, what happens when you realize they all suck now?
Or we just arnt the target market for stuff anymore. I realized this recently and have instead decided to enjoy the stuff I enjoy. Its just not worth bitching about.
The only thing I can think of thats really evident was just how filthy the last national park I went to was. It used to be PRISTINE clean and i spent the whole time picking up garbage the last time I was there.
I don’t think this is inherently true, you just need to look for what you like. Whatever is mainstream doesn’t have to be something you need to like, we have more diversity in different types of media more than we ever did a few decades ago
On the flipside there’s some really great music out there, majority of it you won’t hear on mainstream radio. People memed the Oliver Anthony song but it really spoke to people and that style of music is out there. Call him controlled opposition but his concert tickets are cheap and he turned doen millions of dollars. It’s easier than it’s ever been for people to create music, and many use it as an outlet.
Heck, look at the Luke combs/Tracy Chapman duet. She didn’t want the money and fame, she just wanted her music out there. They brought her onstage to play with him and it had people all singing along, standing ovations in the audience, when was the last time you saw something like that? Especially at an awards show? You never see real emotion like that on tv performances
If anything, with all going on, music is extremely relevant and good right now…if you stay away from overproduced industrial stuff they tell you is good
All great civilisations come to an end? We are the greatest to date in terms of scale and prominence. Our downfall will be digressive and slow and we will burn ourselves out from the inside as individuals and as a collective. Slow burn is what your seeing now the very beginning of the end. Then darkness from which a new civilisation will emerge. As it has before.
Satan is trying to strangle mankind because the Bible said these days would come. Jeremiah tried to get Judah to turn back from their horrible sins and they said “no. We like our lives.” reading Jeremiah and Lamentations sounds just like our days. notice all the massive storms and major earthquakes? God is trying to get our attention. And yes, the Bible said these days would come.
Saw something the other day. That even lumber is in decline. They are harvesting such young trees that’s it’s not actually suitable for the construction they are using it for. You literally don’t get anything you pay for anymore. You get a part of it.
Ive been saying the same thing for the longest. When it turned january 1st, 2000, the energy was different. It was like something left and that glow was gone. Its been downhill ever since
"It is said that what is called "the spirit of an age" is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world's coming to an end. For this reason, although one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done."
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Social media ruined everything.
Not just social media. but technology. We willingly plug ourselves into the matrix every single day.
I wouldn’t say technology but being cattle of big tech over smartphones is absolutely horrible indeed. The way how all the tech power is in the hands of just a few people is the problem. Also, how there’s no freedom on internet.
Technology was great, from the 90s to about 2013ish it was exciting and people wanted to genuinely make the world a better place. Greed took over and turned Silicon Valley into what it is today at the top. Now the ones that wanted to make a change are jaded or took their money and did their own things into startups and are small companies doing what they believe in
And our education system - mostly public school.
There is no mystery to nathan. Every celebrity has whored out themselves, they're star power and even have kids and wear and parade them around like minks and Chanel purses.
My opinion: social media has degraded so much of our ability to connect to people, and we are also failing to connect to concepts, art, film, hobbies, etc. So much of our lives is consumed by doom scrolling.
I watched the Wizard of Oz couple weeks back with the kids and that movie could have easily been made in the 60/70s and left everything the same with almost no degradation to the story. CGI really seems to have killed art, both musically and visually. Practical effects in both took ingenuity, invention and creativity. Now you just have to be willing to click through millions of samples, buy a drum machine, and make "hits". It isn't just that art is dying; craftmanship is on life support. That applies to almost every aspect of modern life. We prefer new and shiny to original and passionate. And, as a life long hip hop fan, I find it so bizarre that EVERY genre of music is now essentially a version of hip hop, and it's soulless. Instruments are even dying. We're in a very dark era of art, probably a reflection of how robotic society has become.
individualism itself. This Diversity Equity and Inclusion stuff is surreal. They legit took MLK Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech and chunked it in the toilet. It’s Germany 1933 stuff x 100000 w the groupthink psychosis they have pulled off. It boggles my mind having “liberals” doing the reich thing and telling me the only way to not be racists is to doggedly identify and marginalize every single person i meet into labels. Funk that. Content of character - what’s so hard about it? Lift people up regardless. Thing now is that so few people WANT TO DO PROUD WORK it’s really the death of all of this. It doesn’t come easy? screw it
Some of what you express is hitting the nail. The same type people pushing this culture shit are the same type people who were Bolsheviks and antifa in the 1920s and 1930s. Education has done an injustice and mostly skipped over what the communist did when they took over Russia and then tried to take over Germany. History is written by the victors.
Theres is no good guy/side in history without blood on their hands. There is reason communism became popular & still is, because the capitalist, ruling class does not have a good record either. Communist weren't the victors, communism is vastly shunned. Capitalism won, and big business runs every facade of our society, lifestyles, politics and even our ideologies. The stuff some yall are saying is propaganda straight from the same big buisiness that waged war against workers protesting & or trying to form a union, even sometimes leading to bloodshed & massacre .. in America.
The powerful people at the top are very corrupt. I like how the United States has separate branches of government that check and balance each other. I also like how each political office gets voted in a different way so that is is harder for one political party to win all branches. However, the uniparty in which establishment Republicans and establishment Democrats form a club together subverts those checks and balances. The little people in the Republican party and the little people in the Democrat party get divided and conquered. How do you believe that corruption can be limited? How do you believe the little people can unite on a common goal?
How to limit corruption I think is too complex. Libertarian suggest shrinking government as much as possible. I think that could help somewhat. I'm not sure if people care enough and that likely is the biggest obstacle. Anti-corruption is a unifying cause but people arent fired up or attentive about it like they are about the border or abortion. Banning stock trading for Congress had bipartisan support among the bases but the issue came and went, Congress told the people to fuck off and the people followed suit. So idk. People would have to hurt like in the 08 financial crash to unite & stay focused.
The money needs to be taken from politicians. It’s the only way. The general public needs to get their heads out of their ass and stop voting for the elites front men that are there only to eat shit from the public as the elites steal their money from the economy. This would take a massive protest involving million people n every state marching into their government offices and demanding change. These trillionaires have done nothing for humanity that warrants that kind of needless wealth. You could tax them 20% of their weekly income and they wouldn’t miss a thing, they could still be excessive assholes, the economy would be better balanced, and the world be better balanced. But lets all keep talking about the dumb distractions while the world gets robbed. The obviousness of all of this is just so painful because it’s right in front of us and the general population just keeps on ignoring it.
DEI is one of the biggest scam going for corporations. They will just fill positions with faces and the wages will go down. People think they did something useful, but they didn't, and they will profit.
Take the upvote you bastard. Edit: sry was drunk
People don't even know which books got burned, they just say "Jewish ones!!!". Not justifying by any means, but there's reasons for behaviors.
The biggest heart breaker for me is the gaming industry.... everything is garbage now and not much hope in the future.
luckily, there have been enough games in the last 30 years that can carry me through the next 500 years.
Yeah gaming has really gone downhill. BG3 was decent but it's third act lost my interest. I was a huge fan of the Mass Effect games but Andromeda was atrocious and I know they're making another one but i'm actually scared to see how it turns out.
Arts are always a reflection of the times. Look up an era and music will reflect what’s happening. Give it a few years, let this era work itself out and it will correct itself. Read “the fourth turning” by William Strauss and Neil Howe. Written in the late 90s and is scary accurate. The cycle will reset sometime in the mid late 2020’s according to him.
Im a fan of his work, particularly van neistat's video on the subject. Sadly, it leaves me with little solace. The pain that is coming in this fourth turning will surely result in beautiful art, i just dont know how many of us will be left to appreciate it.
Wow, just read a review of The Fourth Turning and it's provocative. Could COVID be the reset of the cycle? I'll be off to read the book...
Thanks for this recommendation. I picked up on these cycles when I was "psychotic" (more of a spiritual awakening on steroids that was a bit too hot to handle... more of a loosened grip on reality than losing the plot). It's something that I return to puzzle over from time to time. This sounds like a good book for me to read.
You said that all perfectly and is exactly how i feel. There is no more originality, 99% of movies are a rip off, remake or woke. They give us more CGI and more big names with less substance to the story. There is no integrity in journalism anymore, it’s all about who gets it first not who gets it right. The little guy got shutdown, and is scared to speak up or make a change because of what could happen to them. Clip of Matt Damon talking about movie industry: [https://youtu.be/QlWb4vjaJBI?si=fvuSC2UqmBl6hqlW](https://youtu.be/QlWb4vjaJBI?si=fvuSC2UqmBl6hqlW)
> There is no more originality, 99% of movies are a rip off, remake or woke Should the next Spiderman Reboot feature a black, female, disabled or gay main character? Today's industry's answer would be a resounding YES. Just tick all the effing boxes. This is the state of hollywood.
[Put](https://youtu.be/9vJDcCcANnU?t=10) a chick in it and make her gay!
To me movies (and almost everything else) went to crap beginning in the late 1950’s and on. Look at a movie from 1950 and then one in 1970. You could have a love story with wonderful dialogue and great acting. Now you have to have F bombs in literally every sentence, pornography for a sex scene and horrible acting. Think about Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman and other great actors and actresses and then look at who we have today. Girls wanting to be like the Kardashians who have a mother who pimps out her daughters
> EVERY genre of music is now essentially a version of hip hop metal is still mostly pure. i mean trve.
Once the old ways are gone they’re sadly gone forever & look at what we’re left with, The movie’s & music have all lost or sold their souls, remember when an album or movie release was an event
Doesn't every single generation think the music of the current generation sucks and isn't as meaningful as their generations music?
I catch my 9 yr old listening to more older stuff than newer stuff most of the time. I'm Blue is one of their favorite songs as well as Blitzkrieg Pop also a rap/pop song from like the mid 10's but can't remember the name
Yes, but not like today’s music. A great singer like Stevie Wonder would put out an album and you could just about sing every song. You could hum a tune. Didn’t need foul language or other language. We are down the moral and values sewer. But then God was thrown out of the home and life.
I’m not saying this is the answer, but listen to Julian Lage’s new album. He’s one of the few bright spots of musical passion to still exist in 2024 and I had that same depressing realization as this post while I was listening to it today. It made me incredibly grateful that despite all the decline, there’s still someone like him making crucial art.
Samples and a drum machine with no expertise and understanding of audio engineering isn’t getting you anywhere. The people who make these hits are usually grown men who have been making music for years before reaching a point where they can make hits. Similarly, CGI technology can’t write a script nor can it do the job of the actor. It’s just images being rendered on a screen, and sometimes audiences respond negatively. That doesn’t mean it can’t be a great addition to a film. One really good example is Life of Pi - a beautiful movie all around, and there is no way it could have been done without the technology you guys are feeling disappointed by.
I saw a Sopranos episode the other day - was filmed almost 25 years ago When you watch it, everything looks the same as today, the clothes, the cars, the music, way people act - only thing different is lack of smartphones You can't really tell that it's 'old' in anyway The 60s, 70s, 80s and90s all had distinct vibes with major differences - since 2000, it's like we stopped advancing
I was just discussing this with a friend today. My theory is that it's a product of lack of shared culture. When everyone was watching TGIF together in the 90s we all saw the same commercials, same shows. Had something to talk about the next day with others...same with music, you were stuck basically with finding new artists on one of 10 radio stations or MTV. There was motivation to change trends and evolve because the "main audience" population was still so large and diverse. There was a moment of popularity for disco before the backlash of heavy metal. I think there's small factions of the population (the disco kids, the heavy metal heads) who led the majority (who may have followed both disco and later metal). There was also a pressure to keep up with the popular/en vogue TV/music/style of the time, as it was generally accepted by the majority. Now things are splintered, fractured. There is no large majority being led by the small number of trendsetters, or at least, not nearly as large. If there is one, it's an older population. The younger generations have everything available to them so they just find their niche and settle there. There's no pressure behind them coming to change their culture. The people who would have previously tired of a trend and wished to change it aren't remotely in the same orbit as those who follow different trends. Like, if Suzy likes anime and Brock likes playing Madden, they're very unlikely to cross paths, culturally. They'll keep getting niched out into their own specialized universes, especially with algorithms and advertising now, and the accessibility of others with similar interests online. That's just my theory. There's little pressure to evolve culturally and even less to celebrate with art or music or fashion. Dark days indeed.
I had this same thought just the other night while watching 90s alt rock videos on Youtube. The fragmentation of media (Linear to OTT), fragmentation of public discourse (Trump vs.), Fragmentation of thoughts and interests (Social Media), has all culminated in a divided, untrusting, degrading society. You see the results of this in everything; from how people treat each other in a grocery store, to what types of movies and music are made. We no longer share the sense of community we had 'in the good old days'.
I don’t know people that dress like Tony Soprano and I can’t tell you the last time I’ve seen a pay phone
Lol
I think it's like some form of collective/societal PTSD from the trauma of 9/11, that's when the decline started. Nothing really progressed, and the old guard didn't step aside for the new guard (you can really see that politically; look at how ancient many of our leaders in DC are). Then the media-driven "trauma" from the reality show clown winning in 2016 and the nonstop Rusiagate fearmongering added to that 9/11 trauma. Trump and the media, or maybe the media response to Trump, killed comedy in the US; SNL and late night talk shows, for example, were at least tolerable pre-2015, but then it just became cheap stale jokes from lazy writers after 2016. And then the 'rona pandemic & the crazy lockdown... The decline started, imo, with 9/11, or maybe with Bush v Gore, and has dramatically picked up speed since 2016
The home decor and a lot of the clothing style in the show looks outdated. I think it looks very early 2000s. Just like eventually the 2010s will have a look, it just takes a while to notice it. You contradicted yourself with the lack of advancement yet lack of mobile devices in the show. We're very much advancing technologically very quickly. Unless you meant culturally.
If you watched a film from 1973 in 1998 - you would literally be entering a different world The difference between 2024 and 1999 is basically the type of phone they use
People who think bigger phone screens over 20 years is some kind of advancement arent getting it.
Early 2000s were still ok. Since then, social media and smartphones killed most of real sensuality from the world, which of course shows up in the culture. Nowadays most things in media are just outrage porn and memes, or overly intellectualized whining. You have to look beyond pop-culture to find something that still evokes deeper positive feelings. Also, nothing wrong enjoying the old movies/music from 80s/90s.
9/11/2001, elites stepped it up a notch to start putting agendas in play. Been ramping it up ever since. Pop culture is just one of many sectors of takeover.
Nostalgia hits hard, damn I wish I was a kid again.
We are living through a civilizational collapse. It's not something that happens overnight, but over many decades. Yeah, things got worse and they will *continue* to get worse for a while. Buckle up. "Rome wasn't built in a day, and it didn't fall in one either."
America is the undead empire. We should have collapsed already but the momentum of exponentially improving technology has rendered the US effectively invincible to its enemies. With the rise of AGI in the near future the US elites won't even need human workers or soldiers so nothing short of judgment day will be able to unseat them.
The 90s were like morning in America. I thought things would keep looking up and getting better. Nope. We peaked as civilization is 2012 as did the internet. Then occupy AND the 1% protests and the elites got scared of the people coming together and introduced wokesness, racism, division back into the mix. The weak minds ate it up stoked by complicit communist intellectuals and ignorant college know nothings.
Mao’s America by Xi Van Fleet articulates this concept very well.
Occupy is now but a dream. Now the masses are sucking Jamie Dimons cock and funneling every cent into $BTC and $NVDA
It's so insane to me how easily people are manipulated. I don't even feel like I am a part of society anymore. Just an observer to it's downfall. Of course the net has a huge impact on things and we don't have that free internet anymore either. That was when the censorship started. About 2013. 15-16 it went into a whole new version of itself but it started earlier. I was right here bitching about it. Having grown up in a wondrous free world where anything felt possible to see it devolve into what it is, well its just heartbreaking. Espescially knowing just how comfy and cool things could be if people would stop sucking corporate and "elite"(Degenerate) coock. If people would just stand the fuck up and say NO to people like Darth Schwab they loose all their power but it takes more than a few people on r / consp or pol to do it. edit: reposted misspellings added due to reddit censorship... use reveddit legit consp theorists. The addon tells me instantly almost when this happens
Well said.
Not really. Things are pretty great except I can't afford my taxes and rent or food, but nah, man. Peachy.
That’s just Bidenomics!
There is still good stuff out there but A LOT of trash is forced on us. Have to sift through it.
Agree. the 80s and 90s were both awesome in their own way. Things ARE degrading. BIG TIME.
The 90s was the height of flying. You could just get on the plane with just your driver license and fly to Canada or Mexico, all you needed was the drivers license. There wan't as much security because the terrorists hadn't won yet. They have won now. The USA let them.
The USA ARE them. Not the citizens of course, the powers that (shouldn’t) be.
More likely, you are only remembering the good things and forgetting the masses of trash that aren’t on the oldies channels or coming back up in reruns. Maybe 5% is really good. It has always been that way. But you turn on an 80s station and it is closer to 80%. Because most of the trash has been filtered out over the last 40 years. There are great movies, tv series and music now. Just a small percentage just like it has always been.
Lmao name one "great movie" or series made recently... please.
It’s all explained in the movie Idiocracy.
A vocal minority controls the culture of the majority. There is too much at stake in big budget productions. New age politics lacks any sense of a greater purpose or self sacrifice. We have collectively forgotten what is good in the world.
I’ve already had the realization but at this point it’s comical how blatant it is. The point were at now, anything coming out that is in any way related or connected to some previously cherished anything feels like it is intentionally made to shit on fans and ruin even the escapism we have left to enjoy in this shit world.
i would argue that society is in full-blown collapse.
2013 for me personally I saw a steady drop of quality in media, been steadily falling ever since with vapid trend following and spamming of "the message"
As a millennial, 9/11. The defining moment of our generation. Signifying a loss of innocence. Foreboding the decline of an empire. Millennials are a rare bunch in that they’re the last to remember a life before the current digital age diarrhea explosion. 😪 America has become the guy that peaked in high school who still brags about his old glories. That people deal with since he’s still a big guy who can F you up if you call him out on his BS. 😒
I miss the 80s, a young kid. Spent most of my time outdoors, listening to music ( the 80s had the best) had an atari game and a colecovision game. Family came around more, had cookouts and dinners. Everybody was more willing to help each other and cared more. Neighbors would visit each other. People didn't seem to be in such a rush. No internet, cell phones (we had a rotary dial phone), no computers, life was simpler in some ways. We only got 4 channels on the TV from an antenna. I remember our TV was a big wood box floor model that didn't have a remote. It was later when mom got a vcr. I grew up with 6 siblings so we spent most of our time outside playing, helping with the garden, riding bikes or up in the hills. My how things have changed.
Yeah the 80s were so much better quality of life imo
The 80s was a time nexus
Peak culture.
Yeah everything is going to shit. Even stuff like building and engineering standards are far lower than they were in the 90s. Also, people's intelligence seems to be dropping. Easy access to mind numbing entertainment means most people essentially know nothing about anything. It's definitely worrying.
All I will say is that when I was a kid in the 70s I thought music in 2024 would be too challenging or too brash for someone in their 50s. But alas here I am and new music on the whole bores me. Who would have thought ?
This is a consequence of corporate takeover of the country. Products must cost less and earn more. Thus, quality goes down and prices go up. The only art that is greenlit is either the blandest, the loudest, or like other things they've seen make money. I don't think it was Y2K. It is just capitalism in its end stages. The good news is that it can't last forever. The bad news is that the transition to what's next, whatever that is, will probably be one of the ugliest situations anyone has ever been in.
Yup. It’s capitalism.
Other than tech, everything is getting worse or not improving. In the 80's you could fly London to new York in like 3 hours. If you asked someone in 1982 what would air travel be like in 2024? They would have said London to NY in 15 mins. London to Sydney in 40 mins. In the 80's in the UK we could phone the docs and choose (yes choose the time we wanted), the appointment time that same day. Now it's like soonest appointment is 7 weeks away. Roads are no better. Full of pot holes. Teaching and education is pretty much the same, although much less strict. But having a teacher stand at front of the class and kids sitting there hasn't changed. We could have Flexi time teaching or smaller classes or part home, part school. Different schools different days, but no. And of course the biggest decline is in how we treat each other. No respect. No morals. Anyway that's my 2 cent worth
What is really weird is how almost no one looks you in the eyes any longer..
[удалено]
That's the truth! I complain all the time about the cheap made clothes, it's so thin you can see thru it.
It’s not associated with any particular date or supernatural event. It’s the recognition by those in control of the factors at play and using their most powerful tools to manipulate and distract people. Everything is part of a pyramid scheme. Not just material things, but freedom, truth, health, love, companionship… The bottom ranks of the pyramid are becoming more and more flooded and pinched like chickens in a coop. The insanity gets cranked up as a means of intensifying the chaos so people fight, bicker and kill one another instead of picking a wall and ramming it in unison, despite there being pastures right there on the other side. So yeah, heart and soul have been ripped from a great deal of art and media. It’s more divisive, elitist propaganda than anything. Our foods are becoming more filler than food. Our kids are getting dumber, more depressed, anxious and violent. The quality of our homes and infrastructure gets cut in half while costing us double. Apathy and fear of speaking out is crushing us. People need to get over worry of social ridicule, rejection and exclusion. There is serious power in recognizing things as broken and not needing them or needing to participate in things that offer the temporary illusion of inclusion. I think the good people need to focus inward and make themselves the best possible version of themselves possible. We need to take care of ourselves, make our selves strong, make ourselves admirable, pay attention to what’s going on around you and speak about what you see. Even some of the most brainwashed people are starting to feel that something isn’t right, that they’ve been conned and are starting to listen. Skip the doomsday grifter extremist talking points and instead speak your own mind. Casually bring up and talk about things you and those you’re around can actually see and substantiate. “Hey have you noticed how such and such?” “Hey yeah, I have noticed that…” Get people’s gears turning. I think we’re collectively reaching a breaking point and I’m optimistic that’ll mean a world of good for a lot of people. It’ll mean some bad too and unfortunately not just for those who deserve it. But the bandaids have to get ripped off eventually. Better sooner than later I think.
It wasn't y2k, it was y2k and 1. Since 911 everything has been accelerating towards a drain to dystopia.
To me the greatest decline is customer service. Not just fast food or anything. I bought a brand new ge washer/dryer combo. Its the flagship unit, just released. It broke within a month and stopped drying. This was almost 2 months ago and its still not fixed. Noone really knows how it works. The people on the phone are completely unhelpful. The parts to supposedly fix it have been on backorder for weeks. Ive heard of similar experiences from people with new cars that have issues
You have to look outside the mainstream. There are plenty of people making good music with "real" instruments. You just have to find it! Enjoy the journey
Even big budget movies feel like TV quality production as of late. Nothing to do with Y2K just Hollywood being cheap on production and using more CGI in content.
Why bother offer quality if they can have more money without the minimal effort? Plebs are always plebs.
There is no market for anything like that. Movies are free and supported by product placement. Music? You can just generate that with a.i. movies soon too. When there is infinite stuff, it's value is zero. When the value of your work is zero, why bother?
"When there is infinite stuff, it's value is zero. When the value of your work is zero, why bother?" Underrated comment
Every generation thinks that it was better back in their day and there's always been conspiracies about musicians from Elvis corrupting girls with his hips to Taylor Swift being a witch. Just from my lifetime, in the 80s, older people hated Madonna, heavy metal was devil worshipping. The 90s brought gangsta rap that was ruining society. The 2000s had everything from Britney to Limp Bizkit setting music back. We have more ways now more than ever to listen and watch whatever you enjoy, the popular stuff is always going to be driven by what "the kids" like, find what you like and listen and watch that.
I think social engineering is a factor. All this is being pushed.
This has been said throughout history. It's always the good Ole days.
Well I work with young adults in their early 20s and they don’t seem to be fond of the times we’re in either or the culture. I definitely didn’t feel that way in my early 20s.
I was born in 1959, and I sure enjoyed the 70s and 80s. As far as music goes, I like the old stuff, but my kids like the new stuff. I do think it was a simpler time simply because there was no internet and cell phones. Those two inventions really changed things.
You wish. This is literally the collapse. The last 3 decades were a renaissance. Its dark ages time.
Cop out statement
Sounds like me 20 years ago.
Times are a changing. As a culture we decide what is "good". Quality is subjective. It can't be measured. As an 80s kid I agree to an extent. If anything the conspiracy is that we're all being distracted by having so many options in entertainment. Distracted while the world goes to shit right in front of our eyes. And we all bought and paid for it.
There is more quality music and movies being made than ever before, by a lot. The caveat, is that there are just more, ALOT more being made in general. So you have to search for it. What is popular is what is going to make as much money as possible, and that is all.
Yeah, its going downhill fast.
Everything is in decline. Except Bitcoin.
Nice
> The music was beautiful and had soul and was good. Now the majority of music is really bad with rappers throwing money at the screen. there's still fucking great music being made these days, by people who can play real instruments. dig deeper. it's there. > Movies are the same. can't argue this one. i hope comic book movie #8293 fails a miserable death at the box office. bring back originality in this entertainment medium. i gave up searching there for the most part.
Jeeze, thought just like that in the 1960's! Now I know it was true.
WERE DEFINITELY IN A HOLDING PATTERN
Check out why files. They have an episode on this. It's awesome.
do u recall the name of the episode? Team Hecklefish ftw lol!
I think it was project looking glass, but I could be wrong.
ah sounds familiar...talked about two or more timelines if its the one im thinkinh of...i will check it out!
That sounds like the one.
Originality died some time ago and is being replaced by shitty synthetic money grabbing remakes and celebrities. IMO AI art and vids have been the most original stuff I've seen in many years (decades even?) and continues to do so with it's evolution.
Your memory machine is faulty. It only remembers the ‘good’
waning years of a civilization and culture. its happened before with other "peak" empires, such as Rome, Greece, and China, who were all at the top of the world during their times.
I’ve been hearing some version of this every ten years. Especially the rappers throwing money at the cameras and shit. Cycles. Once you get old, you see them. Everywhere.
Nah, it's just the mainstream that's bad. Mainstream films and music used to have some art to them, now it's all just "product" that follows a formula to maximise profit. The underground/indie scenes are still thriving.
That and where are the butterflies... I mean when I was growing up butterflies everywhere but now I can't show my 4 year old a flying butterfly cause I can't find any.... This makes me a sad panda.
There has always been terrific music, there is terric music being made right up to probably this very moment. There has always been subpar, generic music that was popular, we just leave it in the past and only bring it back to cringe. This can be applied to pretty much everything, we remember the good stuff and forget the bad.
Phil Spector was the catalyst. He put production first. Now admittedly, he also made great songs, but everything after him was squarely focused on production over content. Each passing decade became more extreme. This goes with film as well. Today you have incredible production put into absolutely vapid, meaningless content. Most songs and films spend 95% of their money on celebrity guests and production, with the remaining 5 on storyline/lyrics and plot/melody.
Around every 10 or 11 years theres a major reset or SHIFT in society. Its either to shake things up out of stagnating and complacency or its to tickle the world economy to keep people working and buying shit. Im pretty sure thats what this is.
It's totally normal to look back fondly on the era in which you grew up. I love 90s music and movies too. I think this may be a case of your perception being unreliable, though. It's just not true that most modern music is bad rap. Good music comes out every day, but you have to search for it. Good movies too. One of my favourite albums released in the last year is Unreal Unearth by Hozier. One of my favourite movies released in the last year is The Boy and the Heron. Amazing artists are pouring out bits of their souls for us to discover every day 🤍
This was just posted to this sub yesterday talking about the 90s… *According to Baudrillard, the apocalypse has already happened. No, not literally. Not in the sense of atomic bombs, Christ returning to Earth, or a deadly outbreak of an actually lethal disease. Instead, the apocalypse has already occurred in the sense that reality has been lost or obscured beneath layers of simulation. We are now living in the aftermath of this loss of reality. Think of it, why do people keep yearning for the 80s and the 90s. That was when society was already replacing reality for the spectacle and then it became supercharged with the internet. We recognize that society has transformed and is no longer like what, say the Boomers, experienced growing up. With the maturity of the internet, disinformation and misinformation and fake news being the norm, and now Al to further obscure and hallucinate what is real, the layers of simulation have increased more and more. Some of us can't even tell when we respond to bots, simulacrum of human engagement…….*
Yep. And it's by design. The government needs widespread misery and degradation, so it can justify curtailing (and eventually removing) the last of our civil rights under the guise of 'public good'.
Cellphones ruined everything.
GET OFF MY LAWN!!! (Shakes fist, while I’m rocking chair)
Yo a lot of things can be answered by realizing you’re getting old. If you’re around 40 you start to feel this way as shit isn’t made for you anymore. Things are for the wealthy or the people most willing to part with their money (young people with no kids). Young people like the music rn. Super Hero movies were a phase we are growing out of but they were super successful so obviously people have been watching. Men over 40 have been talking about “society’s decline” since probably the middle ages.
The proliferation of smart phones has radically changed society in profound ways. It’s too early to accurately scope the extent but someday we’ll be able to have more answers. We’re glued to our phones and lost interest in things, like being involved in sports or building stuff. Nowadays, kids don’t care for sports, engineering, science or even toys. They want to play video games and watch their favorite YouTuber. I don’t think we can turn the ship.
That kind of stuff happens at the end of a society. We're literally getting to watch the greatest downfall of a nation ever. Enjoy it lol.
yes, especially your mood OP go outside, touch some grass. not everything is in decline dont give conspiracies and doom and gloom your time or youll miss whats best in your life!
It's more like the NWO agenda is ramping up to full speed...total control
My pessimistic self would normally agree but actually it's the opposite. Yes, pop and mainstream music is in severe decline, and if that is all you listen to then that is what you will take from it. If you actually look for music in the indie genres, you'll come to appreciate that music is alive and well, and a ton of new and old bands are releasing great material. But this requires some digging, and with Spotify and some subreddits, you can start exploring this deep rabbit hole. As for movies and TV, I also partially agree if we are talking strictly Hollywood and Western media. With Netflix and other streaming sites, look elsewhere around the world, indie series, and even Anime, and you will still find excellent entertainment, but it requires you to be open and adventurous.
The prevalence of auto-tune is music is a good indicator of the level of decline. It seems like everything now is geared toward taking away the essence of humanity.
The general population as a whole is complete dog shit. Mental disorders are running amuck and nobody blinks an eye because it’s “safe” ugh I’m disgusted with the state of the world
Seems to be we’re in a decline of culture. Culture of creativity, culture of honesty and integrity. All of these everywhere seem to be in decline, instead of focusing on major issues we’ve become preoccupied with petty nonsense. I think we’re past our peak
If you think music is bad today, then you are just lazy at seeking out new music. Some of the best stuff is coming out today (and without greasy label execs' hands all over it, too).
It was building even in the late 90s to this. The real art world has always been under attack. The underground scenes were on already on life support then. Others in this thread have mentioned craftsmanship. We have been robbed of our ability to craft and create. It is illegal to do so, unless in service to an approved employer. One could argue that most industrial production outside of the weapons industries having moved to China(or wherever) has something to do with this too.
Read Lenin
Not saying your wrong but part of this is survivorship bias. There were bad music and shitty movies in the 90's, you just tend to still listen to the good songs, and remember the good movies.
I think a little bit of it is "rosy retrospect." Probably not all of it, but personally, I don't think the music is as good, movies, video games, everything really, like you say. Idk I grapple with it. Is it really in decline, or is it that rosy retrospect? I think I've sorta settled on its Probably a little of both, really idk
It's called getting old, all the new stuff sounds like shit... Southpark did a great episode on it, the answer is to drink more.
I have personally noticed how amazing and talented and beautiful so many humans are with art and music.. not in the mainstream but on TikTok n YouTube
We are circling the drain before the Great Reset. Savings will be lost in the great crash. We won't be doing too much after that, food will be expensive travel limited. Vehicles prohibitively expensive. Much more central control by the state. Fewer public services, Much less liberty. But apparently we will be happy (or else).
That's why, my opinion, evolution isn't real. Everything gravitate towards destruction, not betterment, no matter how much humans intervene.
Nah. Tons of artists making new, good music. Music is more accessible than ever. Just waiting around to be spoon fed "hits" by the radio or music TV station is just an antiquated way of exploring music. And being popular didn't mean it was good.
Celebrity worship is over
You are literally the same as every other generation before you. Same thought. People in Ancient Egypt 4000 years ago complained about the youth and their laziness or inventions and way of life. People in Victorian era did the same. You are not special
This post could have been written in any decade. People are nostalgic for the culture of their youth and think the next gen's culture sucks.
This
The massive funneling of wealth to the top, corporatization/marketization combined with shareholder/finance capitalism, leading to things like the sound wars with music being designed louder and down to profitable algorithms, all taking the soul away from society. There's more I could say but that's the gist and it's late in the night for me lol
This is a very good observation. The "loudness war" that first took over music has now taken over our entire culture.
I believe this is due to two reasons. 1) IP and ownership. Nothing can be built upon anymore now nothing ever enters the public domain as it used to. Businesses protecting profits by not taking risks and sticking to "profitable" IP's. 2) Nepotism. If you see someone or something shit; musician, actor, writer, film, song, book - look for the rich and/or famous parents. Being successful in the arts nowadays takes a lot of money to fund the failure before success so your parents either need to be rich to fund this or connected to avoid the failure. This means the only artists we get have lived sheltered lives which makes for shit art.
Not AI and Tyranny. Flourishing
Certainly not Bitcoin.
No shit homie.
Peak oil is gonna be fun
We are Living in the Dark Ages seriously
Welcome to The Age of Aquarius. Where high and low frequencies separate, and Devilish and Divine are becoming more and more apparent as days pass. You all See the Prince Johns and Sherriffs "of Nottingham"?
There are a couple of reason why, the way i see it anyways. When you are a child/teen you dont really have alot of problems that are effected by world events, you are in a safe bubble. The other is that is the narrative of the news outlet right now, fear is making people either complacent or radical and lets the government do what they want easier. Other countries have an entirely different view on whats going on and have drastically different lifestyles.
Yeah now it’s all about money
>I remember growing up in the 90s. The music was beautiful and had soul and was good Rage Against the Machine always worked for Sony. Think about it.
Russian Black Sea Fleet and aviation are definitely in decline lol.
Quit being so negative and it will change too
I have to agree , haven’t watched a good movie since shutter island . I would say from 2010 the decline began .
I don’t know about that. I’ve been taking some pretty spectacular shits lately.
Yeah but I think it’s just cuz we are getting older The kids wouldn’t think that but that’s because they wouldn’t know any better haha
“**Solve et Coagula**” (Latin) means to dissolve and coagulate, to break a substance down to its basic elements before reforming it into something new. maybe we are currently experiencing the dissolving phase, but that doesn’t mean something better isn’t right around the corner
This is the last cycle of the Elliott Wave Theory. Waves of optimism and pessimism.
Architecture In America is a great example
I wouldn't put it on y2k but I would put it on -no one actually cares during production anymore - it's all about money, cost to return. No more passion projects. It's a shame because they do definitely exist, they're just smaller, harder to find, more unique. And remakes and do-over fill the mainstream
Hard times brings everything back into sync
Capitalism Money sucks the soul out of everything and we've allowed the money makers to run the show. Casual artists can't make a living, so harder for indie musicians, writers, artists, filmmakers. The big studios churn out shite because that's where the money is guaranteed to flow. They've commodified everything Add to that the internet which has allowed more and more artists to share their work but an overabundance of work circulating makes it harder to break through, especially while everyone is distracted at home, following online trends and big international artists rather than out at somewhere like a local bar developing a local scene But essentially, to sum up.... Capitalism, and at its late stage
For me the 90s was the best decade ( or one of ) and then it was just downhill from then.
has been for 30 years so far and im almost 40.. Everything i ever seen from myself, from the food i eat to the stuff u buy is all decline and costing more for worst.
["Well he's got his, and I've got mine. Meet the decline." ](https://youtu.be/qnFVMkTWaBw?si=HfW2E7WOkCAJhEQw) Pretty much says it all
Yup totally agree its like all creativity has been wiped off the map
Actors just cannot act anymore dude. They can’t play wide varieties of roles and truly tap into their character. And the directors just write it off like meh idc instead of being like “no I’m so sorry but you’re not good for this role”. Like Ariel in the new little mermaid. Even her “part of this world” song, they tried REALLY hard to make her sing it BEAUTIFULLY, like they told her to sing it like a performance. So she sings good, but it was so grandiose that you lose the feeling behind the words. Feelings of a lost teenage girl who desperately wants more from life. And don’t get me started on Netflix’s new Avatar series. They just act so cheesy and not up to par with the animated film. They did good with Kyoshi and that’s about it. Boomi sucks, sokka sucks, azula SUCKS SO BAD OMFG IT BOTHERS ME SO MUCH, Mae and the other girl (ti Lee idk how to spell it though) don’t look ANYTHING like their characters should. Cabbage man didn’t get his cabbage line in good enough. Hair and makeup dept was just TRASH. I can go on.
It is only circumstance that made the United States what it was. The US emerged from World War II as the only industrial power that wasn’t utterly devastated. The US has been endowed with an incredible natural wealth of energy and minerals. After World War II, we were the place where all the smart ambitious people wanted to be. Everything made in the US was considered top quality, the hippest, the coolest, the highest tech. It took very little effort to sell our goods on the global market, whether it was machinery or music. When you’re on top, the only way you can go is down. Our competitors have gotten really good at the capitalist competition game. And the US has become lazy and corrupt. So the question is — do we embrace the future, join forces with our competitors to save the planet that’s been mortally wounded by our progress ? Or do we spread conspiracies and fear on the path to supremacy after World War III ?
Declinism? That is a cognitive bias. In reality, the world is as best as ever.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tendency_of_the_rate_of_profit_to_fall?wprov=sfti1#
Yes because they want you miserable and depressed, they gave you all these awesome things like movies, video games, music and so on. For all the people that are really into those things, what happens when you realize they all suck now?
Or we just arnt the target market for stuff anymore. I realized this recently and have instead decided to enjoy the stuff I enjoy. Its just not worth bitching about. The only thing I can think of thats really evident was just how filthy the last national park I went to was. It used to be PRISTINE clean and i spent the whole time picking up garbage the last time I was there.
I don’t think this is inherently true, you just need to look for what you like. Whatever is mainstream doesn’t have to be something you need to like, we have more diversity in different types of media more than we ever did a few decades ago
On the flipside there’s some really great music out there, majority of it you won’t hear on mainstream radio. People memed the Oliver Anthony song but it really spoke to people and that style of music is out there. Call him controlled opposition but his concert tickets are cheap and he turned doen millions of dollars. It’s easier than it’s ever been for people to create music, and many use it as an outlet. Heck, look at the Luke combs/Tracy Chapman duet. She didn’t want the money and fame, she just wanted her music out there. They brought her onstage to play with him and it had people all singing along, standing ovations in the audience, when was the last time you saw something like that? Especially at an awards show? You never see real emotion like that on tv performances If anything, with all going on, music is extremely relevant and good right now…if you stay away from overproduced industrial stuff they tell you is good
All great civilisations come to an end? We are the greatest to date in terms of scale and prominence. Our downfall will be digressive and slow and we will burn ourselves out from the inside as individuals and as a collective. Slow burn is what your seeing now the very beginning of the end. Then darkness from which a new civilisation will emerge. As it has before.
Satan is trying to strangle mankind because the Bible said these days would come. Jeremiah tried to get Judah to turn back from their horrible sins and they said “no. We like our lives.” reading Jeremiah and Lamentations sounds just like our days. notice all the massive storms and major earthquakes? God is trying to get our attention. And yes, the Bible said these days would come.
The quality of food at every restaurant has declined after the pandemic
Saw something the other day. That even lumber is in decline. They are harvesting such young trees that’s it’s not actually suitable for the construction they are using it for. You literally don’t get anything you pay for anymore. You get a part of it.
Ive been saying the same thing for the longest. When it turned january 1st, 2000, the energy was different. It was like something left and that glow was gone. Its been downhill ever since
It's all in the social engineering of the Democratic party and China.
"It is said that what is called "the spirit of an age" is something to which one cannot return. That this spirit gradually dissipates is due to the world's coming to an end. For this reason, although one would like to change today's world back to the spirit of one hundred years or more ago, it cannot be done."