Quote Originally Posted by Taunton Blue Genie View Post
I think the golden lifespan was being born around 1950 and dying just before Covid hit. Free university education, apprenticeships, experiencing the relative liberation of youth in the 60s, the associated music of that period, easy access to mortgages (and when endowment mortgages were profitable in the main) and easier access to major sporting occasions (before they were considered to be fashionable), less surveillance, a state retirement age at 60 etc.
Of course there were drawbacks such as recessions, negative equity, lower life expectancy, limited choice, less car ownership, more sexism and a lot else - but it wasn't a bad timeslot in general.
My youngest is 36 and he reckons 'our' time[s] was the best. Not financially, but just the way we worked, lived our lives and the total lack of neurosis and anxiety that seems to permeate every ounce of modern society. There's a chap and his Mrs over the road from me who have worked from home since Covid. His highlight is the morning walk to the shop to return with 2 polystyrene cups of coffee. They never go out, Tesco deliver their shopping, and order everything via Amazon. He probably thinks he's living the dream.