would you live back in time?

[dhermann1]

No, Lizzie. I'm sure that if you had been born in 1913, you'd now be the Fedora Lounge's most popular 95 year old.

 

[pigeon toe]

A lot of my life today probably wouldn't translate well to the 1940's or earlier (and even later).

I am a female college student studying art and women's studies and will be going to get a Master's degree in the near future. I am single, live on my own with other young women and have a job.

The majority of my friends are not of my own race, and my boyfriend (who I am in an open relationship with) is Mexican-American and from a different class background than me.

So even if my friends were transported into the past with me, it's unclear whether the social segregation of the past would prevent us from having the relationships we do today, or if we would just be in the minority. Would me being a college student today have been possible in the past? Maybe, but I would be in a very small, exclusive group of women going on to getting professional degrees.

If I had lived in the past I know I wouldn't have been exposed to the myriad of wonderful educational and social experiences that I have today. I wouldn't be free to live my life as I wanted to, and those that I love wouldn't have been able to either. Freedoms are more important to me than fashion, design and good manners, so, no thanks, I'll stick with 2008.

 

[pigeon toe]

Actually, here before 1980 he was also considered white so as long as you went back before 1980, you would be fine.

It's a little more complicated than that, but yes, some Latino people were considered white in the past, mostly because they fought for the title, thinking it would bring equality in the social and legal spheres. However, that doesn't mean they were actually treated as white people, and I'm guessing that the title of "white" only really worked for Latinos that shared the same physical features as your average Caucasian.

My ex has darker skin and looks more indigenous than Spanish, and I look very white, so I think if we were a couple earlier than say, the 70's, we would have had a difficult time.

 

[jamespowers]

Interesting question to ponder. All other things being equal, and my basic nature being what it is, I'd say I'm better equipped to deal with the supposed conformity and naivete of a 1930s-50s world than I am with the relentless, corrosive nihilism of 21st century culture. Some folks may feel just the opposite, and that's fine -- but as far as I'm concerned, shove my birth date back to about 1913, let me live out my life and then shuffle off quietly sometime in the mid-1980s, and I won't feel that I've missed a thing.

Sounds pretty good to me as well. I want to make it through the 1980s though. When I think about it, that was my grandmother's experience period. She passed away in 2005 at 93. That would be a decent amount of time to live.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Sounds pretty good to me as well. I want to make it through the 1980s though. When I think about it, that was my grandmother's experience period. She passed away in 2005 at 93. That would be a decent amount of time to live.

I'd have wanted specifically to miss the 1986 World Series. Because if I wasn't already dead, that would've killed me.

 

[jamespowers]

I'd have wanted specifically to miss the 1986 World Series. Because if I wasn't already dead, that would've killed me.

lol lol lol lol lol lol Not a Mets fan I see.

 

[olive bleu]

Well, I'm with Lizzie..sure there are things about my present life that i am grateful for like modern medicine, and more freedoms and choices.And I have an adopted black son in an all white family which ,80 years ago, would not have been possible.But then again, there's a lot that would not have been possible.But, putting all that aside, if i think about MYSELF and MY own temperament, there is no question that i believe i would have been better suited to life then than now. Many days i feel like i just can't keep up. Life is just too noisy, too busy, just way too complicated. Maybe I died too young in a past life..who knows, but sometimes i feel like someone who is looking back and grieving for something that will never, ever, ever, be seen again.And it has nothing to do with fashion, good music, or better craftsmanship.I am not a "go-getter" and wish i had less. I prefer simplicity and wish I could return to a time when choosing to live with less was not considered "eccentric" or inclined to make others uncomfortable.

 

[Story]

would you live back in time?

Who says I haven't?

 

[reetpleat]

Well, my computer science degree wouldn't do me a darn bit of good in 1926...

As much as I'd like to say "yes, without a second thought!" I'd have to pause. Most of my joy of the past comes with the benefit of hindsight. Those who say that "things were better back then" have a "now" to compare it to.

In order to take a trip like this comfortably, I'd need to keep my memories of the present (the future?) and have some assurance that some things won't change. I'd give up advances in medicine if I could at least feel safe in knowing that The Bomb won't fall.

(Did that make sense?)

Good point. If you would be free of the risk of the a bomb, it might make the cuban missile crisis less scary. But that would be kind of benefitting from your knowledge. I suppose worrying about the bomb is no worse than worrying about the terrorists. of course, knowing what we know now about the propaganda of the time, i would feel less scared than most, even if I did not have a guarantee it would not happen.

 

[Slim Portly]

If you went back to 1924 you computer operators would still be able to work:

 

[reetpleat]

August 11, 2001

A whole month to convince everyone I know to help foil the plot that lead to the tragedy that is 9-11.

9-11? why not just kill Hitler and save millions. http://www.abyssandapex.com/200710-wikihistory.html

 

[reetpleat]

Interesting question to ponder. All other things being equal, and my basic nature being what it is, I'd say I'm better equipped to deal with the supposed conformity and naivete of a 1930s-50s world than I am with the relentless, corrosive nihilism of 21st century culture. Some folks may feel just the opposite, and that's fine -- but as far as I'm concerned, shove my birth date back to about 1913, let me live out my life and then shuffle off quietly sometime in the mid-1980s, and I won't feel that I've missed a thing.

Of everyone here, I felt quite sure you would be the most likely and best equipped.

Although, if I were writing a short story about it, you would be the one who had the hardest time adjusting. Just to add some irony.

 

[59Lark]

MY trade would still feed me even one years ago.

How about 1914, there is a pioneer museum nearby and its set in that year and I go there about twice a year to fix their ancient treadle sewing machines and they agree that even sent back I would probably be able to feed myself because of my trade probably better than today. The memory of the first time, i went to the pioneer village was the one lady thanking me for wearing period clothes to the village and my eldest stating lady those are dads everyday clothes. The suspendsers and pocket watch and fedora and plain clothes and collar shirt. The teens are too far back for me, want to avoid smallpox and such sickness. The simpler time does apeal to me, as the last of that world, the wood stove, and the farm life , you know sitting on the back stoop. The shucking corn and eyeing potatoes and well the computer has nothing on it. But you know you cant go home. 59LARK

 

[Diamondback]

As an analyst, I'd be dead--cut off from my datastream, I wouldn't last long--but I could probably fall back on my knowledge of personal-protection and gunslinging to sign on as somebody's bodyguard--and since my preferred tools were already available... Can I at least bring my reliable magazines back with me? '30s-'60s mags for the 1911 were crap, reliability-wise...

 

[reetpleat]

How about 1914, there is a pioneer museum nearby and its set in that year and I go there about twice a year to fix their ancient treadle sewing machines and they agree that even sent back I would probably be able to feed myself because of my trade probably better than today. The memory of the first time, i went to the pioneer village was the one lady thanking me for wearing period clothes to the village and my eldest stating lady those are dads everyday clothes. The suspendsers and pocket watch and fedora and plain clothes and collar shirt. The teens are too far back for me, want to avoid smallpox and such sickness. The simpler time does apeal to me, as the last of that world, the wood stove, and the farm life , you know sitting on the back stoop. The shucking corn and eyeing potatoes and well the computer has nothing on it. But you know you cant go home. 59LARK

I suppose if you went for about 1920 you could enjoy the jazz age, swing in New York, riotous night life in kansas City and New Orleans, but if you wanted to you could still go out west and be a real cowboy. or travel the world when it was extremely adventurous, but you could still take advantage of the amenities afforded a gentleman under colonialism, as in, travelling with a chain of guides and pack animals just for you and your large tent, phonograph, full dining service etc.

 

[Flivver]

I've wanted to live in the 1920s since I was in grade school. So I guess that being born around 1905 would have been ideal for me. That would have had me graduating from high school in 1923 and from college in 1927. The 1920s college experience is something I would have loved to experience.

I would have probably built my first radio set around 1920 and would have attended as many auto shows as I could. And hopefully, I would have been established enough in my engineering career by the advent of the Depression to have weathered that reasonably well.

Personality and interest-wise, I know I'd be better suited to those times anyway!

 

[Lillemor]

I believe there are times in history where I would've felt more accepted and normal and would've met more people who generally would've shared my views and led a similar lifstyle. There are older generations born pre -1940 that I usually have a much better chemistry with and where I feel on wavelength with them when we converse, where as many people born most 1940 can make me uncomfortably aware of how different, and in some people's eyes outright negatively provoking, some of my lifestyle choices are for someone of our time. Older people make me feel perfectly normal.

However, I'm not sure how good my husband's life chances were before beta blockers became the norm in treatment of hypertension. I don't know when this would've been. We nearly lost him when he was 34 because the diagnosis was late and the hypertension had been untreated for too long befor the diagnosis. So if I take that into consideration, I think I'm better off now.

 

[Edward]

Eep, no I think I'll stay here in 2008, thanks! I'd love to be a time tourist, but to go back and live there permanently would be a nightmare. I'd miss too many of the advantages we have in this era. I have - partly through my job - been very fortunate in the travel opportunities I've had, which would not have been anything like the case back in the thirties. When it comes to warfare, being a conscientious objector for the most part is much easier nowadays. Medically speaking, I'd probably find it very difficult indeed - the depression I suffered with very badly for some time before it was diagnosed would have gone undiscovered and I would be in a dreadful mess by now. That is, of course, assuming that my appendix (which came very close to bursting before I was rushed into theatre on Sunday night in 1996) didn't get me first! I also suspect that I may have found it potentially very difficult to be Irish here in London some decades ago - truthfully, it was only really around the time I moved over here permanently, in 1999 (and especially post 9/11 when the world had a new bogeyman) that for the first time I was able to go into shops etc here in London without being followed around very closely if they clocked my accent. The farther back you go, the more prejudice there was against the Irish over here, though probably the worst period for that to be fair would have coincided with the peak years of the IRA's military campaign, so you can understand folks' wariness to some degree. As to prejudice which didn't affect me directly, I'm glad I live in a world where black folks aren't forced to sit in the back of the bus, and where apartheid is a thing of the past. It really shocks me just how recently, in relative terms, that all went on.

I think, rather than going back in time 'for real,' I'm much happier preserving what is good about the past while living in 'the now.' I suppose in many ways the 'diesel punk' aesthetic suits me down to the ground: all the advantages of modern living, but with a distinct aert deco / Golden Age flair to it. That plus I still get to live in a world touched by Elvis, Johnny Cash and Joe Strummer, and the rest...

 

[pigeon toe]

Medically speaking, I'd probably find it very difficult indeed - the depression I suffered with very badly for some time before it was diagnosed would have gone undiscovered and I would be in a dreadful mess by now.

I actually didn't even think about mental health when I was originally pondering this topic. I've had my fair share of struggles with severe social anxiety, especially when I was very young, and I doubt I would have received as much help from my parents and teachers if I had been born in a previous generation.

However, I have a friend right now who is very into the rockabilly scene, knows every musician imaginable, knows how to jive, etc. He's definitely one of those people that I think would go back in time in a heartbeat, which makes him really fun to be around. It's nice to have more than one person in my life now who shares my love for the past, even though I would never think of going back in time.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

The famous footage of Howard Hughes in the beet field after the crash of the H-1 Racer shows him pinching the fabric of each pant leg in what modern mental health professionals have said is an obvious OCD tic. Had he been alive now, modern medicine would have easily managed his condition.