People will talk Abt how it's normal to be nostalgic and sad things aren't the same as they were when you were younger but I think for all of us who grew up in the 90s thru early 2000s it's particularly bad. we've seen capitalism getting so much worse with the technological advancements and rise of the internet in the last few years it feels like everything has been whittled down to.. nothing?
what the hell are kids even.. supposed to do now? Use shitty social media sites full of disinformation and grooming and constant barrage of ads , play video games that pressure you into spending money constantly? Watch shitty YouTubers and content farms made to exploit them too ? Like idk it seems like being a kid these days is a fucking nightmare,
Like even tho it was always a ploy to get money I look back fondly on going to McDonald's when it was still decked out with fun interior design and a play place, you know. I miss little things like that a lot but I guess fun isn't allowed anymore, every restaurant has to look like a bank, we have to up productivity as much as possible and remove any semblance of joy. Everything feels so sterilized and devoid of life bc money is the top priority.
Specialty stores and malls can barley stay afloat because of Walmart and Amazon, parks are usually small and surrounded by busy streets that make them hard to walk to, neighborhoods also are surrounded by roads, if someone can actually afford to live in a neighborhood house and not an apartment complex even, also if you go outside just to hang out with your friends it's super likely to get stopped by police officers who tell you merely existing outside of your house isn't allowed because it's "loitering" or fuckin whatever
On a similar note I remember with every passing year it felt like less and less people decorated or went out for Halloween. And people always told me "oh you're just getting older" and. No I don't think that's the case. I don't think things suck because I'm "getting older" I think things suck because we live in a capitalist hell scape and everything is getting more expensive by the second meanwhile everyone is exhausted and broke, everything sucks. Like, I'm sure it always sucked but it seems like it's definitely gotten a lot worse. It feels like all the small somewhat enjoyable aspects we had of living in capitalist America have been taken away because they stopped being profitable and we're now left with nothing in its place.
