# Which decade would you choose?



## Morrus (Dec 31, 2020)

If you had to be trapped in a decade from the 20th century, and live there, which would you choose? You don’t get to use your future knowledge to your advantage; you have to live the decade as it was but you’re your current age (you don’t get to be younger again!)

And - importantly - why?


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## monsmord (Dec 31, 2020)

1970s. If in my 20s-30s and somehow not drafted into the US Army.


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## Morrus (Dec 31, 2020)

monsmord said:


> 1970s. If in my 20s-30s and somehow not drafted into the US Army.



Nope, you’re your current age!


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## Dannyalcatraz (Dec 31, 2020)

80s or 90s.  Because of the music.


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## MarkB (Dec 31, 2020)

Either the 80s or 90s. A tough choice - the 80s had better music, but the 90s had better TV shows.


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## Sacrosanct (Dec 31, 2020)

The 80s.  Even at my current age.  Everything went in the 80s, and it was OK.  From fashion to music, every couple months fads changed, resulting in it being OK to dress or listen to anything.  Fantasy and Sci Fi were also anything goes.  Looking back a lot of 80s stuff seems so ridiculous, but that's what made it so great.  Same with gaming.  New RPGs were being created everywhere, and since it was still a new hobby, the creativity was off the hook.  Imagination ran supreme.  When you didn't have access to all the information at your fingertips (internet), you came up with your own rulings and interpretations based on what you wanted; you didn't wait for some official tweet and did what they said.  Nearly everyone homebrewed and created their own campaigns and adventures.  And adventures weren't these huge slogs that took months; the vast majority were modules that were completed in a couple days at best and you could move on to different PC or different adventures before returning to the other campaigns.


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## monsmord (Dec 31, 2020)

Morrus said:


> Nope, you’re your current age!



Ugh! Fine! The 60s. Mostly for the music, art, home styling, and food. As I write this, I'm digging on some lounge music courtesy of YouTube - in the 60s I could get my hi-fi going, sit by the fireplace in the middle of my plushly-appointed sunken living room, sip my third pickletini, nibble on hors d'ouevres, and chat with the well-dressed folks at my every-Saturday-night cocktail party.


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## MarkB (Dec 31, 2020)

Morrus said:


> You don’t get to use your future knowledge to your advantage



On a bit of a tangent, this had me picturing going back to the 90s, rewriting D&D 5e from memory, and unleashing it upon my local gaming groups. But I had to wonder whether it would even have been popular back then, or if we needed to go from there to here in order to appreciate it.


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## Mercurius (Dec 31, 2020)

It is hard to answer this question without touching upon politics, as that would be a significant factor. Either way, I'd probably choose the 70s. I find the late 60s to mid-70s to be one of the most fertile periods artistically, musically, and culturally. I love the mixing of genres, funk, some prog rock, etc, as well as New Hollywood film, New Wave sf and Ace SF classics, the blossoming of fantasy fiction during the Ballantine Adult Fantasy run (1969-74) and the Daw line, and of course D&D in 1974.

There was a sense of hope in the 70s. The cultural revolutions of the 60s, the end of the Vietnam war, and a still thriving American economy and middle class. Yes, there was the hanging cloud of the Cold War, but a higher percentage of Americans could live some semblance or version of the "American Dream."

Or to put an image to it:


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 31, 2020)

Morrus said:


> You don’t get to use your future knowledge to your advantage; you have to live the decade as it was but you’re your current age (you don’t get to be younger again!)



90s! The reason I would choose them is because of the age I was at then and lack of any real responsibility.  It was a lot of fun.  If I had to be my current age, and cant use any of my current knowledge then Id expect it to be pretty lame; work, stress, aches and pains so it doesn't seem like it'd be much different than today so I'll stay where I am. I wouldn't want to croak on the couch drinking a Budweiser and watching an episode of Rosanne.  Although I suspect that if I somehow gained the ability to time travel then something else is cosmically amiss and the events that played out in the "New 90s" would be different than the history we know.  George H.W. Bush puking on Japans Prime Minister starts WWIII, Ross Perot is the US president and Kurt Cobain lives to the ripe old age of 28. If that's the case I'll go back in a second.


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## R_J_K75 (Dec 31, 2020)

MarkB said:


> But I had to wonder whether it would even have been popular back then, or if we needed to go from there to here in order to appreciate it.



I 100% believe that there needed to be the natural progression of editions.  3E definitely paved the way, so without it there wouldn't be 5E.


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## Henry (Dec 31, 2020)

Morrus said:


> If you had to be trapped in a decade from the 20th century, and live there, which would you choose? You don’t get to use your future knowledge to your advantage; you have to live the decade as it was but you’re your current age (you don’t get to be younger again!)
> 
> And - importantly - why?



1980s. A lot of my reasons are influenced by me living in the U.S. Making assumptions that (1) I am still living where I lived, and (2) I could have skillsets I have now that also exist in the decade, then:

U.S. Economy was doing phenomenally, and the U.S. still had a pretty healthy middle class.
U.S. was not involved in any major conflicts, other than the last remnants of the Cold War.
Both computers and Unix were things in the 80s -- I could have made a very comfortable living working for a larger university or corporation, even using the skills I have today. (Here, I'm being a little interpretive with "can't use your future knowledge to your advantage" - if I had the EXACT skills I had in the 80s, I'd be a kid and not know jack ! So I'm assuming skill sets that would have been available in the 80s )
TV had some of the most awesome shows ever produced running. Heck, everything from Dukes of Hazzard to MacGyver to Airwolf to Golden Girls were on. 
I could even still play D&D, and possibly with some of the same people I played with back then (my D&D groups from back then was a mix of teens and twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings.)
Now, 80s weren't all wine and roses, I'm not ignorant - plenty of racial injustice and profiling, totally hidden because of no phone cameras yet or camcorders (camcorders existed, but not common), the AIDS epidemic, unrest all over the globe, still threat of nuclear war (even though we know in hindsight it didn't happen), but based on where I lived at the time, it was a relatively privileged life for me and my family, and I'm pretty sure I could have recreated such for myself and a wife and kids at the time as a university sysadmin or corporate drone.


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## Ryujin (Dec 31, 2020)

The 1990s. Music was OK, if not great overall. Most of the medical advances we currently have, that have an effect on my life at my current age, already existed. And maybe, just maybe my employer (a computer manufacturer) would listen to me this time when I said, "You really need to look into this World Wide Web thing. It's growing quickly and could be a great advertising medium." They could have been another Dell. Instead they no longer exist.


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## Maxperson (Jan 1, 2021)

The 90's.  Good music. Not a lot of horrible things like the 2000's.  Decent tech.  Not as much global warming.  Good MTG sets.  I'd be playing 2e forever, but it had the best lore.


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## aco175 (Jan 1, 2021)

Pre-social media, but post internet.  Might be a loop on a one-year span.


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## opacitizen (Jan 1, 2021)

What do you mean trapped in a decade? Like they would last forever, repeating from 0-9? After 1999, I'd be back in 1990? Also, what does "live there" mean? For how long? Would I be aging as the decade loops over and over and over, or would I also be rolling back? Would I be forgetting the past 10 years with each reset?


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## Maxperson (Jan 1, 2021)

opacitizen said:


> What do you mean trapped in a decade? Like they would last forever, repeating from 0-9? After 1999, I'd be back in 1990? Also, what does "live there" mean? For how long? Would I be aging as the decade loops over and over and over, or would I also be rolling back? Would I be forgetting the past 10 years with each reset?



Inquiring minds want to know!


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## Levistus's_Leviathan (Jan 1, 2021)

I'd do 1990s. That way I get to *not *live in this decade anymore, but not be so far back that there are huge wars going on or anything.


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## billd91 (Jan 1, 2021)

1990s. I think people forget that there was a lot of optimism floating around. The Cold War seemed to be over. Iraq was contained. NATO worked together.


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## cbwjm (Jan 1, 2021)

1980s, 1990s. Diabetes medicine is still good and I'd likely be able to afford to buy my own home. Nobody looks good (seriously, why all the shoulder pads and big hair?) But since I don't know what I know now I'll be none the wiser. Since I'm 41 I'll likely end up being overwhelmed by the technological advances of the next couples decades, hopefully I'll have kids to annoy who grew up with it and can solve my IT issues.


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## Sacrosanct (Jan 1, 2021)

One more reason for the 80s: MTV played music videos.


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## R_J_K75 (Jan 1, 2021)

Sacrosanct said:


> One more reason for the 80s: MTV played music videos.



Two words thatll make you rethink that...Billy Squier.


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## Sacrosanct (Jan 1, 2021)

R_J_K75 said:


> Two words thatll make you rethink that...Billy Squier.



Pffft.  Peter Gabriel Sledge Hammer, Duran Duran Wild Boys, Michael Jackson Thriller, A-Ha take on me.
Point being, they at least players music videos and weren’t all reality TV

It was also a decade that didn’t rely on crappy CGI for an easy way out like so many 90s movies did (ahem Lawnmower man lol)


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## ccs (Jan 1, 2021)

AcererakTriple6 said:


> I'd do 1990s. That way I get to *not *live in this decade anymore, but not be so far back that there are huge wars going on or anything.



Well I guess that'd depend upon _where_ you were living.  There was plenty of awful naughty word going on in the 90's.  Wanna sign up to live in Bosnia circa '92-'95?  Indonesia?  Assorted African countries?


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## R_J_K75 (Jan 1, 2021)

Sacrosanct said:


> Pffft.  Peter Gabriel Sledge Hammer, Duran Duran Wild Boys, Michael Jackson Thriller, A-Ha take on me.
> Point being, they at least players music videos and weren’t all reality TV
> 
> It was also a decade that didn’t rely on crappy CGI for an easy way out like so many 90s movies did (ahem Lawnmower man lol)



Yeah but they changed their format even in the 90s, the Real World, Yo, MTV Raps, TRL, Spring Break.  So by 1990 or so they were well on their way.  I stopped watching the channel with any regularity by 93, I cant even remember the last time I watched it, even just flipping through channels.


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## Sacrosanct (Jan 1, 2021)

ccs said:


> Well I guess that'd depend upon _where_ you were living.  There was plenty of awful naughty word going on in the 90's.  Wanna sign up to live in Bosnia circa '92-'95?  Indonesia?  Assorted African countries?



As someone who was in Bosnia in 96-97, yeah.  
Also, Somalia....


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jan 1, 2021)

Actually, Yo, MTV Raps started in the late 1980s, as did Headbanger’s Ball and 120 Minutes Into the Future.


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## doctorbadwolf (Jan 1, 2021)

Morrus said:


> If you had to be trapped in a decade from the 20th century, and live there, which would you choose? You don’t get to use your future knowledge to your advantage; you have to live the decade as it was but you’re your current age (you don’t get to be younger again!)
> 
> And - importantly - why?



1990. Every decade has generally been better than the last for the last several hundred years, outside of decades swallowed by war, and the Great Depression, by any “outside perspective” measure, like life expectancy, literacy, violence, etc.

I’d rather live right now that I’m the 90’s, but I wouldn’t willingly go back further than...2010.


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## doctorbadwolf (Jan 1, 2021)

ccs said:


> Well I guess that'd depend upon _where_ you were living.  There was plenty of awful naughty word going on in the 90's.  Wanna sign up to live in Bosnia circa '92-'95?  Indonesia?  Assorted African countries?



I assume the premise is that you’d be in the same general culture and region that you’re in, otherwise we can’t assume an informed choice.


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## R_J_K75 (Jan 1, 2021)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> Actually, Yo, MTV Raps started in the late 1980s, as did Headbanger’s Ball and 120 Minutes Into the Future.



I was thinking that but wasnt sure.  There was a documentary about MTV recently.  It was interesting seeing how much influence they had in the 80s and they said that when they were bought out they made a conscious decision to change their format.   The highlight was the Marc Googman David Bowie interview.


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## ccs (Jan 1, 2021)

Morrus said:


> If you had to be trapped in a decade from the 20th century, and live there, which would you choose? You don’t get to use your future knowledge to your advantage; you have to live the decade as it was but you’re your current age (you don’t get to be younger again!)
> 
> And - importantly - why?



Other than my current age & restricted from using future knowledge, are there any other restrictions?
For example;
1) Primarily do I get to start with a clean bill of health? 
Because if Me-as-is landed anywhere in the 20th century I'd be *dead* in short order as the medication for my CLL doesn't exist yet.  If I was _lucky, _had resources, and landed in a western country/Australia/Japan I'd be living in a chemo ward.  And then I'd still die.

2) Do I get to pick where I'm living out this decade?  Or at least starting from?
3) What resources do I have access to to start with??  The clothes on my back + wits?  An average years salary?  3d6x10 starting GP....

But if I've got a clean bill of health & can pick my starting location?  Then regardless of my resources start me in the USA, 1900-1990.  Exact decade = dealers choice.
Oh, the WHY!  Because they're all interesting/challenging & I have a skill set that'll work regardless of the decade.


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## pming (Jan 1, 2021)

Hiya!


Morrus said:


> f you had to be trapped in a decade from the 20th century, and live there, which would you choose? You don’t get to use your future knowledge to your advantage; you have to live the decade as it was but you’re your current age (you don’t get to be younger again!)
> 
> And - importantly - why?



80's...easy. But for a more "invigorating" experience, I might go with the 40's.

80's because that was "my decade" (from 11 to 20). I learned D&D in '81, and it would be GLORIOUS to be able to talk to RPG'ers about their games. Sooo much creativity and positivity of all the "new RPG's coming out" (like Gamma World, Star Frontiers, Gangbusters, RuneQuest Deluxe, Powers & Perils, etc). Oh, and the hair and music!  Music was AMAZING, and there's just something so... "wholesomely sexy" about the way the fairer sex dressed. 

Then again... the 40's had a distinct "style and flair". Men wearing suits and hats, women wearing dresses and hats. Men doing 'manly' stuff... Women doing 'womanly' stuff... And everyone minding their own business; maintaining a "work life" and a "home life"....not blending it all together in some amorphous grey mish-mash of ambiguity. Yeah... "Good old fashioned social, moral and family values".  Only thing that would suck is all the "implied and expected religiosity" of America/Canada...being a Satanist I don't think I'd be very accepted. But hey, I could totally fake it for a decade just to have some fun in that time period! 

_shrug_ Probably the 80's. I could invest in certain companies and ventures and be a billionaire when I get back to 2021. 

^_^

Paul L. Ming


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jan 1, 2021)

‘Bout the only genuinely good thing about the ‘40s for most people was the style.  And you can have that today.


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## R_J_K75 (Jan 1, 2021)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> ‘Bout the only genuinely good thing about the ‘40s for most people was the style.  And you can have that today.



I could see a little thing called World War II throwing a monkey wrench in the decade.


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## Sacrosanct (Jan 1, 2021)

R_J_K75 said:


> I could see a little thing called World War II throwing a monkey wrench in the decade.



Even if you ignore WWII and only focus on the US, you still had internment camps, lynchings, Jim Crow laws, zoot suit riots, and husbands who beat their wives and kids with complete impunity. And about a million things women weren’t allowed to do, punishable by law. Forget about being gay, that is a death sentence.


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## R_J_K75 (Jan 1, 2021)

Sacrosanct said:


> Even if you ignore WWII and only focus on the US, you still had internment camps, lynchings, Jim Crow laws, zoot suit riots, and husbands who beat their wives and kids with complete impunity. And about a million things women weren’t allowed to do, punishable by law. Forget about being gay, that is a death sentence.



Thats a pretty long and atrocious list.


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## Sacrosanct (Jan 1, 2021)

R_J_K75 said:


> Thats a pretty long and atrocious list.



It’s also a short list of what was going on, which is the sad part.


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## Dannyalcatraz (Jan 1, 2021)

OTOH, hats like fedoras, trilbys, panamas, ivys, newsboys and the like were ubiquitous.  And if you’re willing to put up with the absolute lack of hat/coat checks or hooks in public spaces, you can still wear them today.



Spoiler: Me wearing hats


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## Marc_C (Jan 1, 2021)

The 1920s. Art Deco, jazz, fashion, foxtrot and the general sense that WWI had been so horrible people wanted to live life to the fullest. They wanted to break barriers. Artistic experimentation was ground breaking. In Hollywood. At 55, I would be an accomplished film director.


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## Zardnaar (Jan 1, 2021)

Hard decision. Pre 80s would have sucked closer to WW1 people still thought of themselves as British, Scottish or citizens of the empire. 

 Nightlife didn't exist pubs had to be closed by 6pm up to1967. Options for everything very limited pre 80's/90's.

  Coffee was black or white. Cane and strap were still legal until1986 at school. 

 90's I suppose. They were bad enough as teenager vs adult.

  Screw it ill pick the 1980's. I could go beat up some people who abused some friends and basically get away with it.


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## dragoner (Jan 1, 2021)

Depends on countries, 1940's Czechoslovakia is out, half my Mother's family were killed there or in Austria, being Jewish. 

Country I was born in? That ceased to exist in the 90's, Russia became a hellscape afterwards, so no to that also; 70's for that then.

The US? I'll go with the 90's though.


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## freyar (Jan 2, 2021)

1990s. There were a lot of tremendously exciting developments in my field, and I was a few years too young to see them happen. I'd love to see that live at my current level of training, even if I don't get to keep specific knowledge of developments since then.


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## GreyLord (Jan 2, 2021)

2010s [or later, not sure if the future is an option though].

You have all the things from the past decades if you want them.  You like 80s music...you can listen to the entire decade's worth if you want to.  You like 90's movies...you have the entire decade that you can go back and watch, and thanks to the internet most of the good stuff will be available somehow.  You like 2000s RPGs...you can still buy them...even if it's in the used format.

Disregarding the terrible 2020 (and that's more a 2020 decade than a 2010)...it just gets better and better.  All the stuff from the previous decades are still around...and you get more to look forward to.


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## Tonguez (Jan 2, 2021)

Morrus said:


> If you had to be trapped in a decade from the 20th century, and live there, which would you choose? You don’t get to use your future knowledge to your advantage; you have to live the decade as it was but you’re your current age (you don’t get to be younger again!)
> 
> And - importantly - why?




The 80’s, it was my teen years, but the 80’s was also an era of optimism where humanity still thought that it could keep reaching to an amazing vibrant future. Yes that sometimes lead to the culture of excess but the 80’s was all about rapid growth, technology became available to consumers which saw the rise of the synthesizer, the boom box, hime video and the home PC.
There were still the issues of poverty, famine in africa, gangs, the cold war, Thatcherism/Reaganomics and the nuclear threat, but at the time it looked like those issues could be solved and issues of racism and sexism could be overcome.

It was a great time to be ...


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## Tonguez (Jan 2, 2021)

GreyLord said:


> 2010s [or later, not sure if the future is an option though].
> 
> You have all the things from the past decades if you want them.  You like 80s music...you can listen to the entire decade's worth if you want to.  You like 90's movies...you have the entire decade that you can go back and watch, and thanks to the internet most of the good stuff will be available somehow.  You like 2000s RPGs...you can still buy them...even if it's in the used format.
> 
> Disregarding the terrible 2020 (and that's more a 2020 decade than a 2010)...it just gets better and better.  All the stuff from the previous decades are still around...and you get more to look forward to.




Morrus said 20th Century, so I assume 2010 isnt allowed


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## R_J_K75 (Jan 2, 2021)

Tonguez said:


> technology became available to consumers which saw the rise of the synthesizer, the boom box, hime video and the home PC.



Dont forget the Keytar.


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## Zardnaar (Jan 2, 2021)

Needs moar sax.


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## Sacrosanct (Jan 2, 2021)

Tonguez said:


> The 80’s, it was my teen years, but the 80’s was also an era of optimism where humanity still thought that it could keep reaching to an amazing vibrant future. Yes that sometimes lead to the culture of excess but the 80’s was all about rapid growth, technology became available to consumers which saw the rise of the synthesizer, the boom box, hime video and the home PC.
> There were still the issues of poverty, famine in africa, gangs, the cold war, Thatcherism/Reaganomics and the nuclear threat, but at the time it looked like those issues could be solved and issues of racism and sexism could be overcome.
> 
> It was a great time to be ...



Yeah, it's one thing people don't realize unless they lived in the 80s in the US. Justified or not, most Americans were very optimistic. We were highly regarded globally. Pop artists were singing songs about how great the US was. You can disagree with Reagan but you can't deny how the country rallied around him. I recall the bloodbath that was the 84 election vividly. And remember how the it was when the wall came down?

In hindsight, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but in the 80s, the US was top of the world. We certainly aren't that now. 

Also, it was a decade when you had that magical moment of pre-computer revolution, and post computer revolution. Where you still road your bikes to friends houses to hang out in basements, but also played Atari, Commadore64, and Nintendo. It was a decade where you had both worlds.


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## R_J_K75 (Jan 2, 2021)

Sacrosanct said:


> I recall the bloodbath that was the 84 election vividly.



Unsurprising considering who Reagans opposition was...Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferrero.  Shocked they didnt make a Joe Bob Briggs Drive-In segment out of it.


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## Sacrosanct (Jan 2, 2021)

R_J_K75 said:


> Unsurprising considering who Reagans opposition was...Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferrero.  Shocked they didnt make a Joe Bob Briggs Drive-In segment out of it.



Mondale losing wasn't surprising. Mondale losing 525 to 15 (or so) votes was.


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## Ulfgeir (Jan 2, 2021)

For comfort of living, then I would choose either the 80's or the 90's (and would be able to use some of my skills for work). Besides they had good music and TV-shows back then.

I would have like to visit the earlier parts of the century, to experince Art Noveau and Art Deco as they were at the time. The roaring 20's would have been fun if I were younger. but let's not forget that there were plenty of problems back then as well.


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## John R Davis (Jan 2, 2021)

Late 80s ( pre mass media, and massed internet)


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## Li Shenron (Jan 2, 2021)

I would choose the 80s because:


D&D was already developed enough to have endless fun, but the Internet community wasn't around yet to kill such fun
the best musicians had already written almost all their best songs but were still touring heavily
home videogames were easely available and they were all about sheer fun without the crap competitive culture


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## DammitVictor (Jan 2, 2021)

I'm dead. If I go back to 1-JAN-1990, I would be confined to a wheelchair, dependent upon insulin, and too emotionally disturbed and/or delusional to take care of myself by 1-JAN-1992. The medicine I need to be functional enough to manage my own medications wasn't available in the United States until 1996, and the medicine that allows me to walk wasn't FDA approved until 1998.

Fix all that crap, and I'd choose 1-JAN-1980 for all the reasons Li Shenron just described. If I can't exploit my "future knowledge"... I have literally no idea what I'd do with my life, since nothing my life's work is based on would have been released yet.


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## UngainlyTitan (Jan 2, 2021)

I do believe there is any decade of the twentieth century in Irish history that I would willing want to live in.

Edit: or re live in.


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## Gradine (Jan 2, 2021)

There's not really a good decade to be trans in. Its the 90s for me. Classic era of jrpgs. Also, I could track down child me and let them know they should probably be listening to all those clues. 

I imagine that scenario (you meet your future self, they have a different gender identity) is one that many trans people would have given tons of thought to, but not most cis.


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## generic (Jan 3, 2021)

To be honest, there's no other time I'd rather live in than the present.  I might want to live through the early 80s, but certain elements would end up being pretty hellish.  A focus on the birth of modern computing would be amazing to experience, the society not so much.


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## UngainlyTitan (Jan 3, 2021)

Gradine said:


> There's not really a good decade to be trans in. Its the 90s for me. Classic era of jrpgs. Also, I could track down child me and let them know they should probably be listening to all those clues.
> 
> I imagine that scenario (you meet your future self, they have a different gender identity) is one that many trans people would have given tons of thought to, but not most cis.



I think every one has contemplated giving advise to ones younger self.


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## ccs (Jan 3, 2021)

Gradine said:


> There's not really a good decade to be trans in. Its the 90s for me. Classic era of jrpgs. Also, I could track down child me and let them know they should probably be listening to all those clues.
> 
> I imagine that scenario (you meet your future self, they have a different gender identity) is one that many trans people would have given tons of thought to, but not most cis.




But, thanks to Morrus's stipulation that you can't act on knowledge of the future, you CAN'T give your younger self that advice....


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## Bedrockgames (Jan 3, 2021)

The 70s, so I can listen to those Black Sabbath and Deep Purple albums as they are released and see them in concert, then I could cruise through the 80s, which I have a pretty decent memory of, then check out for a bit in the 90s. Bonus, I could also buy D&D when it first comes out as well.


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## Gradine (Jan 3, 2021)

ccs said:


> But, thanks to Morrus's stipulation that you can't act on knowledge of the future, you CAN'T give your younger self that advice....



Ah, the stipulation was that I can't use my knowledge of the future for _my_ advantage. My intervention has already created a separate timeline which I am bound to live out on my own. No reason I should let this timeline's version of me suffer through what I had to. 



ardoughter said:


> I think every one has contemplated giving advise to ones younger self.



That scenario I agree is pretty common. The rarity I mentioned is in contemplating how you would react if your future self visited you, and they had a different gender identity and expression from you. For younger me, it would have answered some questions, but raised so, so many more.


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## schneeland (Jan 3, 2021)

Pretty easily the 90s. The wall in Berlin is down and Germany just re-unified, but social security nets are still pretty tight and you can still hope to buy a house with a middle class income. Also IT is starting to spread, so my skills are not totally useless.
On the media side, there's solid video games, Goth Rock&Metal, some TV shows which I remember fondly, and playing Shadowrun is still cool.
And on top of that, I actually get to enjoy it more since I am no longer an angsty teenager.


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## Zsong (Jan 3, 2021)

1920s. I like the music and the elegance. Cars were becoming mainstream.  Lots of art and men were men. Apollo was making it big. Lots of great art movements. And I love the farming life and rural life too. Lots of great bluegrass music being developed. Too bad the 1930s had to follow it.


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## Sacrosanct (Jan 3, 2021)

That’s the second post now where someone said “when men were men”.  What does that even mean?  Having grown up on a farm, and spent time in the military, I have an idea of what it’s usually meant to refer to (none of it good), but I don’t want to make assumptions.


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## Ryujin (Jan 3, 2021)

Sacrosanct said:


> That’s the second post now where someone said “when men were men”.  What does that even mean?  Having grown up on a farm, and spent time in the military, I have an idea of what it’s usually meant to refer to (none of it good), but I don’t want to make assumptions.



Presumably when toxic masculinity was the norm and "wimmin knew their place."


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## dragoner (Jan 3, 2021)

Makes me think of the old compilation record in the 80's: "When Men Were Men, and Sheep Were Scared" When Men Where Men...And Sheep Were Scared - Bemisbrain Records 1985


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## MarkB (Jan 3, 2021)

dragoner said:


> Makes me think of the old compilation record in the 80's: "When Men Were Men, and Sheep Were Scared" When Men Where Men...And Sheep Were Scared - Bemisbrain Records 1985



Makes me think of the Douglas Adams Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy quote describing the old days of the galactic empire. "Men were real men, women were real women and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri."


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## dragoner (Jan 3, 2021)

MarkB said:


> Makes me think of the Douglas Adams Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy quote describing the old days of the galactic empire. "Men were real men, women were real women and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri."



Yes! I remember that, he had the same sort of energy saying that. It is an expression past its expiration date.


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## UngainlyTitan (Jan 4, 2021)

The other thing about "Real men etc." is that it reminds me, that once you go past a certain period, and that period varies by location, one's behaviour, as a man or a woman, becomes more narrowly constrained by social norms. Stepping outside those norms could be dangerous. Unless one had money, the wealthy were allowed their little peccadilloes.


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## Orius (Jan 4, 2021)

None of them.  I wouldn't want to give up the conveniences of modern technology for anything the 20th century had to offer, even if the current culture wars make me sick.

The 80s would probably be my choice if I were forced kicking and screaming, but that's probably just childhood nostalgia talking before I was too young to notice real problems in the world. 

The 90s?  Overrated.  Too many squandered opportunities and mistakes from world leaders which just laid the foundation for today's problems.  The  initial Internet bubble just masked underlying problems under a false veneer of prosperity.

As for the rest, forget it.

1900s?  Still culturally in the abominable 19th Century.  Teddy Roosevelt is the decade's only saving grace.

1910s?  WWI.  'Nuff said.

1920s?  Better than most, assuming you live in the Anglosphere or even France.  You don't want to live in Russia, or China, or Germany, or just about anywhere else though.  And things do not end well at all.  It's also 100 years ago at this point, and I wouldn't want to go that far back.

1930?  Worst decade without a World War.  The Depression, the rise of fascism, Stalin running the Soviet Union into the ground, Japan rampaging through a civil war torn China; who the hell in their right mind would want to live in this decade?

1940s? WWII.  'Nuff said.

1950s?  Decent amount of postwar prosperity, but American culture is dominated by stodgy buttheads.  Okay, I'm white, straight, male, and not a liberal, so I'd probably fare better than others, but I don't have a rosy eyed nostalgic view of the 50s.  And it's still 70 years back, so everything is woefully outdated for me.  America the only place you want to be, because everyone else is rebuilding from WWII, decolonizing, or behind the Iron Curtain.  Well, there's Canada too I guess.  Maybe Australia and New Zealand as well.

1960s?  Gag.  Rising social unrest, Vietnam, hippies, and other various problems combined with a culture that mostly sucked.  And then by the end, all the pstwar prosperity is over. 

1970s?  Even worse than the 60s.  Stagflation and other economic problems galore, Watetgate and its aftermath, the energy crises, a total lack of style from EVERYONE (the 80's doesn't get a free pass on style at ALL though, WTF was that decade thinking!?) disco and so on.  I had the misfortune of being born in this horrid armpit of a decade.

So yeah, the 20th century was probably still on of the best centuries since _H. sapiens_ "evolved*", but I wouldn't want to return to it, at least not blind.  Gray's Sports Almanac style cheating is the only way I'd want to do it, though I'd likely go stocks instead (sell in 1987 and then again in 1999!)  Or have fun rampaging in New York's real estate market at the time where I can enjoy the sublime pleasure of stomping on people like Donald Trump and Leona Helmsley.  But I'm the kind of guy you would not want to give a time machine to, because I would deliberately start screwing with the timeline everywhere.

Note that some of this is very much tongue in cheek.

*"Evolved" in the sense one should expect from a very cynical misanthrope who notes with disdain and contempt how much human behavior is not at all far removed from the rest of the apes.


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## Ralif Redhammer (Jan 4, 2021)

Cosigned. There was so much happening musically back then - being able to see Sabbath, Rainbow, Bowie. To be there at the start of so many new genres - to catch bands like Bauhaus, The Damned, and Throbbing Gristle when they were new (of which, granted, I've seen all but TG).

But also, to be there at the start of the great 70s fantasy boom - to be able to casually stroll into a bookstore (also, heck, to just be able to casually stroll into a bookstore) and pick up the Ballantine Adult Fantasy line. And yes, to be there at the very start of D&D.



Bedrockgames said:


> The 70s, so I can listen to those Black Sabbath and Deep Purple albums as they are released and see them in concert, then I could cruise through the 80s, which I have a pretty decent memory of, then check out for a bit in the 90s. Bonus, I could also buy D&D when it first comes out as well.




I wouldn't mind having another go at the 80s as an adult instead of a kid.

Honestly, the only way I'd want to go back in time would be with a memory wipe. Knowing what's coming would just be a burden.


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## Helldritch (Jan 4, 2021)

The 80's.
1) I could get to see all my favorite greatest bands live in their prime!
2) I could get to talk with Gygax and all the other creators.
3) Seeing good (and not so good) music videos!
4) My line of work was great down in the 80's. (Power Engineer).
5) To play Intelivision and Atari again along with the Commodore 64. Ho god...
and Finally...
Arcades and Baseball! I'd get to see great games from the Expos again! (and this time live! not on T.V.)


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## Sacrosanct (Jan 4, 2021)

I think my second choice would be the 70s, because that was a decade where you could still just jump on your motorcycle and ride cross country, staying with local groups along the way and just existing.  Overall there were a lot of negative things about the 70s, but there were some good things too, namely in the arts.  To be able to see RUSH, Bowie, Queen, Genesis, Alice Cooper, Van Halen, LZ, Black Sabbath, etc before they became megastars, in local venues would have been awesome.  If I were an adult in the 70s, I would probably travel around the world just seeing bands.


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## Tyler Pickering (Jan 4, 2021)

90's. Golden era of Rap and still have the internet.


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## MarkB (Jan 4, 2021)

Tyler Pickering said:


> 90's. Golden era of Rap and still have the internet.



Ahh, the sweet sound of a 28.8k modem dialing up.


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## billd91 (Jan 4, 2021)

Sacrosanct said:


> That’s the second post now where someone said “when men were men”.  What does that even mean?  Having grown up on a farm, and spent time in the military, I have an idea of what it’s usually meant to refer to (none of it good), but I don’t want to make assumptions.



I think you can go ahead and make those assumptions. It's pretty much always a red flag phrase, if you ask me.


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## Haffrung (Jan 4, 2021)

It's funny how many of the choices are being made based on music, entertainment, and pop culture. Probably says more about our media-saturated mindset today than anything else.

Non-entertainment factors such as housing affordability, social cohesion, family life, access to jobs and education, etc. shape peoples' happiness far more than the pop music top-40, home technology, or the game systems available . Though I suppose it's difficult to talk about the former without veering into politics. 

So I'll go with the 60s. IMHO, it was actually the early 60s through mid-60s, rather than the late-60s, that saw a tremendous creative outburst in film, fiction, music, etc. The films of Kubrick, music of the Beatles and John Coltrane, and the New Wave of science fiction and fantasy must have been heady stuff to experience first-hand.


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## Gradine (Jan 4, 2021)

The 90's did have the _choicest _screensavers too


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## Lanefan (Jan 6, 2021)

Hard one.

I'd go with the 20's - well, '22 to '29 - were it not for all that prohibition nonsense.  If I can't party, I'm not going. 

After that, it's cross-decades that work best.

1945-1955 in Canada or the US would be cool, with all the post-war optimism and boom.

1975-1985 in many places would also be cool for the culture aspects, before the internet kinda ruined a lot of things.


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## CleverNickName (Jan 6, 2021)

I'm all over the place.  I'd pick the '30s for fashion, the 1970s for television and music, the 1980s for movies, TTRPGs, and video games, and the 1990s for video games and the rest of the music.  For food and technology, I think I'd stay right here.


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## Eltab (Jan 9, 2021)

80s.  

Since I can't just make myself rich, I will find my younger self and teach him how to construct a job search.  So he can get out of "earning college money" jobs and into "how I use my degree" jobs sooner. 

And on my younger self's wedding day, I will get the keys to the reception hall from the best man before he leaves for the night.


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## MarkB (Jan 9, 2021)

Eltab said:


> 80s.
> 
> Since I can't just make myself rich, I will find my younger self and teach him how to construct a job search.  So he can get out of "earning college money" jobs and into "how I use my degree" jobs sooner.
> 
> And on my younger self's wedding day, I will get the keys to the reception hall from the best man before he leaves for the night.



Those will definitely fall foul of the "can't use your knowledge of events to your advantage" clause.


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## R_J_K75 (Jan 10, 2021)

Dannyalcatraz said:


> OTOH, hats like fedoras, trilbys, panamas, ivys, newsboys and the like were ubiquitous.  And if you’re willing to put up with the absolute lack of hat/coat checks or hooks in public spaces, you can still wear them today.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I really like red hat in the first picture.  Is that custom made?


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## DrunkonDuty (Jan 14, 2021)

The 1920's because the Charleston is cool and antibiotics are for wimps. <jokes>

I enjoyed the 1970s. But then I was very young, life is a constant wonder when you're young. Maybe I just want to be young again...


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## DrunkonDuty (Jan 14, 2021)

billd91 said:


> I think you can go ahead and make those assumptions. It's pretty much always a red flag phrase, if you ask me.




How about "When men were real men, women were real women, and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri."


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## Vael (Jan 24, 2021)

As a gay man of mixed race, I'm quite happy to live now, thank you very much.


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## MNblockhead (Jan 24, 2021)

Morrus said:


> If you had to be trapped in a decade from the 20th century, and live there, which would you choose? You don’t get to use your future knowledge to your advantage; you have to live the decade as it was but you’re your current age (you don’t get to be younger again!)
> 
> And - importantly - why?




90s.  I'm almost 50. I want the best and most modern medicine available during the decade I'll be working towards 60 in.  

You didn't specify location, so I'm going with the USA (other locations may depend on wars, social unrest etc). I feel my country started to become more diverse and open minded in the 90s, yet this is before social-media-driven cancel culture and it was not as fractured and tribalist as things are now. I remember the early 90s as a time of great optimism. The End of History and all that.  You said I wouldn't get to use my future knowledge, so I would again get to be happy and naive.


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