tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13265393.post8088789614185186919..comments2024-03-25T10:43:22.482-01:00Comments on 80s Actual: Materialism/Conspicuous Consumption In The 1980s - A Working Class PerspectiveUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13265393.post-15294951970942208052010-12-03T23:39:54.215-01:002010-12-03T23:39:54.215-01:00Great article! The people shrieking "greedy &...Great article! The people shrieking "greedy '80s!" now have no idea of the kind of the poverty many of us experienced before the 1980s - they're basically smug, useless 21st Century finger pointers! It just makes them feel better.Anna Wnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13265393.post-87150686929270637412010-11-26T00:02:57.520-01:002010-11-26T00:02:57.520-01:00I agree, beyond the music the 70's looks like ...I agree, beyond the music the 70's looks like a really depressing time to live through; not an 'innocent' and 'carefree' one that is constantly fed to us. My dad agrees too, he said the only technological advancement he'd benefitted from in the 70's was a colour tv from around 1976 whilst in the 80's seemingly being bombarded with microwaves, colour tv with remote, micro computers, central heating, cd players, even a bloody indoor toilet...and it being UPSTAIRS!<br /><br />Being born in 1990 i was thrust from birth into the benefits of thatcherism. Dont get me wrong i think she was a horrible bitch for what she did to the miner's, steel workers and dockers and such (plus the horrid side of privitisation; making things like water and gas way more exxpensive than in the past) but there's no denying that without her tory government's push for the masses to have nice things was beneficial for future generations (like mine).<br /><br />The image of 'greed' is one of, dare i say, jealousy or bleeding hearts who had it but dont want to admit anymore that they did.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13265393.post-71965970582282211602010-11-20T01:21:24.344-01:002010-11-20T01:21:24.344-01:00Things are a lot more boring now than they were in...Things are a lot more boring now than they were in the 1980's. We seem to be stuck in an endless era that began circa 1994 and just goes on and on. Technology may move on, but people are so BORING. Thanks for the reminders of a decade which was anything but boring.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13265393.post-65846946249665399102010-11-19T11:59:33.265-01:002010-11-19T11:59:33.265-01:00Well, I loved the idea of a '70s revival, alth...Well, I loved the idea of a '70s revival, although I have few fond memories of that decade, I loved the negative energy and anger of Punk. It was when the decade was made out to be a fantasy 1960s, all "peace and love", that I grew puzzled, and when 1980s pop culture began to creep into it, I was even more puzzled! <br /><br />It's worth remembering as well that the kids "dropping out" and turning to hippiedom in the mid-to-late 1960s were of moneyed backgrounds. You couldn't AFFORD to drop out if you were working class! My mother worked in a launderette and my step-father worked for a removal firm - both worked long hours in the '60s - and beyond - and both recall the hippies as "druggie wasters".<br /><br />Youthful idealism is a fine thing, but to give full vent to it you need the time and energy. And, if the 1960s were anything to go by, plenty of drugs and casual sex, too!Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02476860681853867684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13265393.post-31807744075519154222010-11-19T07:03:15.772-01:002010-11-19T07:03:15.772-01:00You nailed it! Well done.
I must be about the sa...You nailed it! Well done.<br /><br />I must be about the same age as yourself so we both remember the 70s as kids. When some whiney little know-all starts lecturing me about the evils of Thatcher's Britain in the 80s, I tell 'em, "Don't believe everything your lefty failure lecturers tell you - the 70s were pretty nasty."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13265393.post-10972139241566446522010-11-15T23:37:26.708-01:002010-11-15T23:37:26.708-01:00To Dave M;
We first rented a VCR in 1984, had col...To Dave M;<br /><br />We first rented a VCR in 1984, had colour TV by 1981, and got a microwave in 1986.Salnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13265393.post-24364781567361566912010-11-15T23:34:27.145-01:002010-11-15T23:34:27.145-01:00You've brought some reality to bear and for th...You've brought some reality to bear and for that I thank you!Salnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13265393.post-62561249671922919542010-11-15T17:59:43.082-01:002010-11-15T17:59:43.082-01:00I used to work shifts in 1988 when I was 22, 1 sho...I used to work shifts in 1988 when I was 22, 1 short week, 1 long week. My take home wages on the short week were £88-something, and my wages for my long week were £130-something.<br /><br />I like this article - there's definitely something rotten in the way the current day totally scapegoats the 80's.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13265393.post-78201964712410076412010-11-15T17:51:49.140-01:002010-11-15T17:51:49.140-01:00When I started work in 1988 my wages were well ove...When I started work in 1988 my wages were well over £100 a week.Sammy Wattsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13265393.post-84175240903415214032010-11-15T17:41:13.779-01:002010-11-15T17:41:13.779-01:00Things are much worse for youngsters working nowad...Things are much worse for youngsters working nowadays. Employers are not bound to pay you an adult rate until you're 24 or 25 - around halfway to 50! Thanks to New Labour, which was a damn sight worse than old Tories.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13265393.post-36970632118538182842010-11-15T17:34:21.806-01:002010-11-15T17:34:21.806-01:00Youth pay rates were always less - and still are, ...Youth pay rates were always less - and still are, though, Dave. My wife was on £10 a week when she left school in 1974 - terribly low even then. When I left school in 1981, I was on £34 per week!! By midway through the 1980s, then in my early twenties, I was comfortable.Drewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02476860681853867684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13265393.post-31492951220061022262010-11-15T17:11:55.332-01:002010-11-15T17:11:55.332-01:00Yeah I'm with you on most of your points. As I...Yeah I'm with you on most of your points. As I recall we didn't actually get truly affordable VCRs, TVs, Microwaves etc until the late 80s though. I'm pretty sure as the decade closed for example our TV was still rental and a good holiday to spain or wherever was still a real stretch, nowhere near as affordable as it is now. <br />Maybe the most significant fact missing from your commentary though is the fact the average man in the streets wages were still below what we would consider 'decent' by todays standards, even adjusted for inflation. When I started work in 1989 for example <i>My</i> first wage was no more than £50 a week...!Dave Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13265393.post-79127704680229365692010-11-15T00:13:44.288-01:002010-11-15T00:13:44.288-01:00The filthy working classes, rising up from their 1...The filthy working classes, rising up from their 1970s hovels in the 1980s and wanting nice things? The swines!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com