“In my time it was better.” We're checking to see if our parents and grandparents truly had it easier

This sentence, like a generational bridge, connects almost all household conversation about the past and present. “In my time...” – our parents and grandparents begin beginning a communicative about a planet that seems simpler, more predictable and, most importantly, easier from our perspective. In their communicative the work was sure, the flat was almost guaranteed by the state, and the interpersonal relations closer and more authentic. But is this image, filtered by nostalgia, full true? Did generations of our parents and grandparents, increasing up and surviving in the times of the Polish People's Republic, truly have an easier way through life? To answer that question, you request to quit emotions and sentiments, and alternatively objectively compare key aspects of life – yesterday and today.

Apartment – dream of your own “M” erstwhile and today

One of the most frequently cited arguments is the issue of housing. Today, having your own flat is synonymous with a huge, 30-year mortgage credit, laborious building of credit capacity and surviving in constant uncertainty associated with interest rates. From this perspective, stories about flats from a large disc, awarded by workplaces or cooperatives, sound like a fairy tale.

• Reality of PRL: It is actual that the state has mostly assumed the burden of providing shelter for citizens. There were housing books, and the imagination of getting the keys to his own “M” was real. However, this reality must be confronted with facts. We were waiting for an flat assignment. A twelve or even 20 years. The quality of the building was low and the metre was limited to a minimum. It was a strategy that offered a certain predictability and securitybut the price was full failure of freedom of choice, decades of waiting and acceptance of the imposed standard.
• Reality Today: The modern generation faces tremendous financial pressure. Real property prices in relation to earnings are astronomical, and obtaining credit is simply a complicated process. But in return, we get something that was unattainable to our parents: Freedom of choice. We can decide the location, the meter, the finish standard and, most importantly, we have access to the marketplace immediately. The problem is not the availability of housing, but availability of funding. This is simply a fundamental change that makes comparison highly difficult.

Work and stableness – occupation safety versus flexibility

“It utilized to work in 1 company all your life” is another crown argument. During the times of the Polish People's Republic there was a warrant of employment. Unemployment as a phenomenon did not officially exist. Everyone had a job, which gave a fundamental sense of stability.

• Reality of PRL: However, this stableness had a price. It was forced stability. The labour marketplace was centrally planned, which meant lack of freedom to choose the career path. frequently worked in a profession and a place that was imposed, without real chances of improvement or change. A celebrated saying “whether you stand or lie down, 2 1000 are due” It perfectly reflects both the certainty and the mrage of that system.
• Reality Today: Today's labour marketplace is simply a completely different world. On the 1 hand, we are dealing with a phenomenon ‘waste contracts’, deficiency of social safety for many groups and large force to constantly rise qualifications. On the another hand, today's generations have an incomparably larger freedom and flexibility. The anticipation of changing jobs, rebranding, setting up their own business or distant work for a company from the another end of the planet are privileges that our parents could not even dream of. Today's challenge is not to find any job, but to find a occupation stable, well paid and satisfactory.

Access to goods and technology – empty shelves versus the planet at hand

This is an aspect where the contrast is the most striking and which most frequently escapes in nostalgic memories. Life in the Polish People's Republic was marked by permanent scarcity and conflict for basic products.

• Reality of PRL:Empty shelves in stores, Meat and sugar cards, long-time toilet paper queues, oranges available only since Christmas, 1 Fiat model that you waited for years. It's not anecdotes, it's a everyday reality. deficiency of access to information (beyond state propaganda), limited travel opportunities and almost full deficiency of contact with the Western planet created a grey reality and full limitations.
• Reality Today: We live in an era culture of immediate gratification. Each product, from all corner of the world, is available on 1 click. The net gives us unlimited access to knowledge, culture and entertainment. inexpensive airlines have opened the world. Smartphone in our pocket gives us opportunities that for the generation of our parents were the domain of discipline fiction films. In this respect, the present generation is incomparably easier, more interesting and more comfortable.

Expert comment: Nostalgia is simply a filter that embellishes the past

The phenomenon “in my time was better” is thoroughly studied by psychologists. Nostalgia acts as a selective filter, which makes us remember affirmative emotions and events much better over the years (first love, encounters with friends, sense of community) and we dispel the negative ones (fear, frustration associated with shortages, feeling of hopelessness). We remember the taste of orange soda, and we forget about the hr of standing in line for it.

It is crucial in comparison with generations to realize the fundamental exchange that took place after 1989. Our parents' generation lived in a strategy that offered a certain kind of freedom and choice in exchange for their freedom. carded but predictable stability. Today's generations function in a strategy that offers almost unlimited freedom and sea of opportunityBut the price for that is lack of security, large force and the request for individual hazard management (professional, financial, psychological).

Therefore, the answer to the question of whether it was always easier is: No, it was just different.. The challenges were different. The skills needed to last and accomplish the satisfaction of life were completely different. Our parents had to be masters in “fixing” and “combination” to get the basic goods. We must be masters in information management, individual brand building and navigation in an unstable market. alternatively of bidding on who had worse, it is worth to appreciate that each generation is fighting its own unique fight for a good life.