Nostalgia ... again?

It hasn’t escaped me that Gen Z is having a moment with the past. I have seen it manifesting in the streets, online and in social media including a new resurgence and interest in vintage clothing, quilting, sewing, needlepoint, and crochet, Mah Jong, hairstyles, music including vinyl records, furniture, and literature; all cultural influences from the 1970’s through to 2016.

All of this is not just an interest in how things were, but a yearning for how it was as opposed to how it is now. Life is always a little tougher in the present. There is no hindsight to help us see the forest from the trees. Today we have an affordability problem, housing problem, AI uncertainty, foreign and national turmoil and credibility, social media depression and addiction, division, corruption, grift, graft, cronyism, nationalism, fascism, war and so much more. Life today is not easy and has a whole new set of problems and situation we must deal with.

Nostalgia is often seen through rose colored glasses. We don’t remember the turmoil as much as the wins. It is why we love nostalgia in the first place. Gen Z forgets that their contemporaries from years past fought the Vietnam war, protested in the streets, were fired upon at their Universities, had a President resign rather than be impeached, were lied to about weapons of mass destruction as the reason to enter a foreign war, gas shortages, housing crises, economic melt downs, stock market bubbles bursting, civil rights violations and violence, and environmental catastrophes. Things were different but certainly not a walk in the park where all was well.

I believe the difference is how we handled it. As the saying goes “People get the government they deserve” meaning if we don’t stand up, speak out, engage, and act, we will have others act for us. It seems to me, Gen Z seems to feel a certain amount of defeatism. an inability to act and to blame the situations themselves as insurmountable so why try? Looking back, diving into retro culture and incorporating it in their present lives feels safer and easier, providing a panacea to today’s problems.

This could not be a bigger mistake. Wishing it was more like the past and diverting your attention to how things were will not change how things are. In the USA we have relied on our younger generations to be the bell weathers, the outspoken and fearless activists to push us forward. Gen Z cannot afford to bury their heads in the past. It is now up to them to take the reigns and through turmoil and action mold the present world into one they want and are proud of. Burying their heads in their phones, recreating and recycling the trappings of years past will not be the path to make that happen. Grit, determination, courage, compassion, and unity will. Gen Z, if you want to be nostaglic? Don’t put on a pair of free city sweatpants, start speaking out and acting on building a better world. That will be the best way of honoring the past and future.