We’re stuck in 2005 forever

[AFNick]

I would say 1999 was what people believe to the peak of American civilization and economic strength. By 2005, the decline and living in denial of change since the turn of the century had already kicked in.

[demonicaxeman]

2005 was a great year for me. I was 17 years old, Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith was released, I had my first girlfriend, I could have political debates online and in person, but you never felt the world was going to collapse. The world felt good at that time. Life has never felt stable since then.

[mirtexxan]

The peak was 1999. The Matrix was right.

[DarthHoosier]

It feels like the world was meant to be a film, with steady rising action throughout multiple centuries of progress, leading to the world wars and the climax of the Cold War, when the world was divided into two, we went to the moon, and we nearly destroyed ourselves. And then, it climaxed in 1983 with Stan Petrov deciding not to fire the nukes on his own whim, and what’s happened since was supposed to be the falling action before the characters sail into the sunset. The Soviet Union fell, democracy and free trade spread around the world, education rose, and all was well, and we sailed off into the sunset happily ever after with its conclusion being around 1999-2005. The issue being is that history never actually ends, unlike a fairy tale.

[PjPjPaul]

I would give anything to go back to 2005

[TairyHesticles]

I miss 2005. I graduated high school in 2006 everything changed so fast.

[silentnight]

Because these changes were brought top down, not grass roots. That's why people still think that way. We didn't change organically, we were forced to.

[m.p.]

2005 was way after the peak.
I want to say 1995 but coming up to the millennium most people were full of optimism.

[paulbier]

I'm 42 years old. 2005 and before, was a far better era for all of us. You're very young, but I follow your content because I like the way you think. The defining moment of change in this country, was 9/11/2001. Government got bigger, a 20 year war was started. Social media, apps, smartphones, have irrevocably changed the culture. We are the most connected and disconnected society. The government is far more authoritarian than ever. 2001 is the ultimate arbiter of OUR American society. We have to look back to that point and see the rapid changes in the first 10 years of the last decade to get a catalyst for what we as a society need to change.

[Aaron-zhkj]

I had a teaching moment related to this recently, telling my nephew that he should think about what he actually wants to do when he grows up before he just decides to go to college, since not all jobs are benefitted by going to college. My sister chimed in and said "don't discourage my little boy from chasing his dreams and going to college!". We're not in the same world as we used to be, and we definitely need to turn the tide around onalways just by default trying to send kids off to college. If we make that less the default, we'll get more trade jobs again, the universities will be less drunk with power and money and actually be held accountable, and kids won't be in sickening amounts of debt for no good reason.

[ConnorOfDestruction]

I wish we were stuck in 2005 forever, 2005 was lit

[shiptj]

Man, I wish. People still had hopes and dreams back then. Technology was not as evil back then, too.

[tankmchavocproductions]

Socially things have changed a lot since 2005. The big one is smartphones, so much has changed because of that. You can’t really go out anymore without a smartphone. Some restaurants require one for the menu. At my old job I could only access my paycheck through an app on my phone. Whereas in 2005 if you left your house, you left the internet behind you too. Also consider the things people said about the Internet in 2005. Never share your real name, never tell anyone who you are, stay completely anonymous, etc. Dating sites were frowned upon for this reason. Everyone was expected to meet somebody in person. Now dating sites are (unfortunately) the norm. Everyone liked skinny eyebrows and low belt lines. The clothes of the 2000s are very “quiet” and modest by our standards. But you can still get away with wearing them.
Technologically speaking it has changed so much as well. The 1980s-2000s were a very particular time in our history, where we had all these devices that could do more than ever before, yet had not yet been consolidated into one device. It was only in 2007 that 50% of new TV sales were of high-definition flat panel TVs. Most computer monitors were big, displayed in 4:3 and most computers were running Windows XP. Digital cameras had just barely started selling more than film. The Nintendo DS had just come out and introduced the crazy idea of a “touch screen”. The Wii, a console that ran at standard definition, didn’t exist yet. Blockbuster still existed and you could still buy movies on VHS. Video calls were still a thing of the future, and most cars were repairable and came new with manual transmissions.
Politically things have changed as well. Anyone from 2010 would be considered far right today and any liberal from today would get sucker punched in 2010. 9/11 just happened, which ended the feeling of the 90s, but it was before the Great Recession, which some say never truly ended.

[ChineseGlobalism]

I would do anything to go back to 2005. It was back when nothing really mattered.

[CleberSantos-iobk]

I think 2008 was a very important year, just like 1914.

[storkrm]

Bro, I lived through ‘05. I loved ‘05. Bring me back to MySpace and girls in Juicy shorts. I’m so there.

[Anonymousfromthe]

This is beyond on point. I never thought of things like this.

[APx]

I think society has been stagnant since the general public has had access to smartphones, around 2009 or 2010, after or around the Recession of 2008. I don't think much has changed since, and it's odd thinking back to when I was growing up seeing how the 80s and 90s, and even early 2000s had their own impact on American culture, but I didn't really see that passed 2008. It's all been the same since.

[Just_Being_Me-yk]

I was 20 years old in 2005. I absolutely miss it to be quite honest. Felt like things were a lot simpler than they are now.

[americancapitalist]

I’m loving these shorts. Really fascinating topics.