Was Life Better in the Past?

No, it was different

Photo by Kai Pilger on Unsplash

We inhabit different worlds. Physically, we live in the present age. When discontent about life in the present arises, our minds start visualising life in the past, often with wistful yearning.

Older people tend to make historical comparisons of social, economic, and cultural lives in different times. The general refrain is “life was better in the past.”

I have come to realise that we need to reframe how we talk about the past, not romanticise it as a lost utopia. The objective way to describe the past seems to be, “Life was different.” This reframing avoids moral judgment.

For example, in India, people who have crossed sixty mourn the collapse of the joint family system. Older parents live alone in many cities with the children having fled the nest in search of jobs elsewhere, including abroad.

In a joint family, two generations often lived under one roof. Children grew up with a sense of shared togetherness. Resources were pooled efficiently. Whether it was fortune or adversity, family members stood together as a team.

The joint family had its downsides. Women’s education was neglected and they lacked financial independence. Patriarchal norms discriminated against women.

People bemoan the decline of the institution of marriage in contemporary society. They complain about a “divorce epidemic.” Divorce was rare in those days. Did that mean couples lived blissful lives? No, they didn’t. Many women “adjusted” to unhappy marriages mainly because they were not financially independent.

I wouldn’t trade my present life with the past. Life was difficult in my younger days, though we faced hard times collectively. We experienced food and milk shortage. I remember standing in a queue for hours to buy a few kilogrammes of rice.

Telephone and car ownership were luxuries.

Living standards have improved substantially in India during the past three decades. The last decade has seen uninterrupted economic growth. Millions of people have been lifted above the poverty line. India now produces surplus foodgrains and milk. Educational and healthcare facilities are excellent.

I have to say some good things about the past too. As children, we used to play outdoors a lot, unsupervised by elders. Today, children don’t play outside with their neighbourhood or school friends.

We celebrated festivals with joy and gusto. Today the festive spirit is lacking. Relatives visited each other without “advance notice.”

In conclusion, I avoid glorifying the past and demonising the present. It is pointless to compare lives in different times judgmentally. Life in every era is shaped by unique technological, economic, and social conditions.

The past was not better; it was just different.

Thanks for reading!