If there's one drug you can accuse me of being highly addicted to, it's nostalgia. I will absolutely accept that claim and put myself forward as a victim to its tantalizing lure, rich in memories of a time that felt like a golden era.
After all, what's not to love about a time in your life when there were less responsibilities, more freedoms and the opportunities to recover from a night without worry?
But here lies the danger.
To suggest a time of the past was indeed the golden era of life that you need to live in again is to completely disregard where you are in the moment. It negates your responsibility to create a better future, not only for yourself, but those closest to you. It spits in the face of the advancements that have made life better for many (think of those with AIDS who can now live a full life thanks to medical research). It also casually ignores the many negatives from the years past, quietly sweeping them under the rug in lieu of the rose coloured lenses we put on.
As much as I love my 90s music, I need to remember it was born out of a generation who was depressed, angry and disgruntled with the state of the world and this was their way of expressing it... or escaping from it. As progressive as we thought we were, I currently teach in a Catholic School where I have students who are openly gay and this barely registers as a topic of conversation among their peers. That would've been unheard of back then.
Now, I do think we made some serious missteps in society, mainly social media. That particular addition has shifted us from caring about the argument to only focusing on who is saying it. This means it has given the opinion of stupid people with confidence the same voice as people who actually know what they're talking about, and we are all versed in who wins popularity contests. Mind you, that's just scratching the surface.
However, I can't live in the past because that's not how time works for us. The generation of young people are growing up in a world that is where it's at and we have to meet them in the moment. They have no idea what it's like to exist in a time of legacy media and "latch-key" kids. Asking them to join us on getting society back to some nostalgic time in our heads is the equivalent of our parents asking us to join them on their nostalgic trip back. There might be an allure to it, but we have to be honest in asking what's worth keeping from that time and what's worth fighting for now.
In the meantime, nostalgia must remain a drug: an illusory feel-good escape that ignores the dangers of overdosing on it.