Huge paradigm shift in 1990?

I was saying in another thread how I believe the 21st century began not in 2000 or 2001, but way back in 1990.

If you read any magazine article or book written in the late 1980s or early 1990s, you can tell there was a major shift in the way people thought and the way the world worked around that time.

Tons of things happened in and around the year 1990. The Soviet empire collapsed, along with all its satellite states. That is the equivalent of America breaking up into independent states and then Canada too.

The World Wide Web was invented in 1989. Only seven years later, every person in the western world was aware of it. Today, twenty years later, it is the very center of life.

The precursors to the "War on Terror", which actually is not a religious or cultural war, but a war between the global trade mafias, began during this time. Once the Soviets collapsed, capitalist governments used Islamic terrorists as the new scapegoat to save the military-industrial complex.

People changed. The kids changed. Ritalin, Prozac and other mind-altering drugs became the popular "cure-all" for the anxieties of the digital age.

Everything became "for the children", but this statement is hollow with irony. Today is a far more miserable time to be a kid than the '60s, because kids are stuck inside, both their parents work long hours and are never happy, and pop culture just straight-up stinks. Abusive parents are considered worse than war criminals in today's society, yet we go out and buy our girls Bratz dolls.

The use of swear words rose dramatically after 1990. I attribute this to two musical trends which both took off around 1990 - gangsta rap and riot grrl music. Teenage girls cuss as much (or more) than teenage boys these days. It is considered feminist to cuss if you're a girl.

Irony and sarcasm became the epitome of cool. The music of the 1990s and 2000s resembled the two states of bipolar disorder - angry and depressed, and manic and sexual.

Society became a mix of futuristic and primitive. The post-1989 world, while computerized and multicultural, is also a throwback to the caveman days of tattoos, body piercings, "doing as you feel" and biting realism.

We are deep into the 21st century. Almost 20 years deep. It began early.





[edit on 10-6-2009 by Donnie Darko]

reply to post by Donnie Darko


Interesting ideas, but I'm pretty sure the 21st century means literally the 21st century. The 21 period of 100 years AD. It's a measure of literal time, not enlightenment. So while I think you're incorrect on that aspect, I do agree with the fact that the world started changing on the '90s. Gotta love the digital age!

Typo edit



[edit on 10-6-2009 by Heatburger]

Great topic. Star and Flag!

For years I have been saying that some type of paradigm shift occured somewhere between 1989 and 1992. It was during that time that all things traditional began to fade out and everything alternative and "progressive" became all the rage.

The effects and implications of the shift seemed to be lost on most people. It all seemed pretty obvious to me though.

Thanks for making this thread. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who noticed.

reply to post by Donnie Darko


jI agree 100% . Elsewhere I read that is started with the "Convergence" in 1987. The Great Awakening is upon us and I think its ABOUT TIME!!! Like Art Bell used to say ---- Wanna take a RIDE? !!!!!! I am an optomist so I look for great things to come instead of all the doom and gloomers.
GREAT POST!!

Coincidentally I remember my father talking about the last "division" in the Mayan Calendar (that coincide with paradigm shifts of sorts, agriculture, the industrial revolution, etc.) happened in the '90s, and surely enough it's a noticable change.

I don't know if this is exactly true, but my dad heard it on talk radio and told me about it a few years ago. Thought it made sense and would add an interesting angle to the thread with the Mayan Calendar. Anyone know more about this?

reply to post by Donnie Darko

The music of the 1990s and 2000s resembled the two states of bipolar disorder - angry and depressed, and manic and sexual.

Mod Edit - Mod Note: One Line Post – Please Review This Link.


[edit on 10-6-2009 by elevatedone]

Originally posted by mblahnikluver
reply to post by Donnie Darko

 

The music of the 1990s and 2000s resembled the two states of bipolar disorder - angry and depressed, and manic and sexual.

What? It is so true?

Originally posted by Lightmare
Great topic. Star and Flag!

For years I have been saying that some type of paradigm shift occured somewhere between 1989 and 1992. It was during that time that all things traditional began to fade out and everything alternative and "progressive" became all the rage.

The effects and implications of the shift seemed to be lost on most people. It all seemed pretty obvious to me though.

Thanks for making this thread. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who noticed.

I wonder when the exact date was. I don't think there was one, but it happened within about four years, and very quickly.

But yeah, I think the change is very obvious. Even in say, 1997, the 80s already felt 20 years ago. While the early '90s is only starting to seem old now.

The change from the late '90s to early '00s wasn't nearly as significant. Things got a lot worse after 2000 imo, but it was still the same trends - it's just the negative side of postmodernism has become more apparent in this decade.

reply to post by Donnie Darko


I know! That's why I was shocked. I didnt know what to say but that..lol I see it fully and I am 100 percent bi-polar. Never looked at it that way.

Originally posted by mblahnikluver
reply to post by Donnie Darko

 

I know! That's why I was shocked. I didnt know what to say but that..lol I see it fully and I am 100 percent bi-polar. Never looked at it that way.

I'm sorry you suffer, I have OCD and sometimes I feel like I'm bi-polar though I'm not.

reply to post by Donnie Darko


I dont feel I suffer really. I know how to deal with it and it took a lot of time. I have some OCD tendencies esp with cleanliness and organization.

When I read your post it totally made sense.

Originally posted by mblahnikluver
reply to post by Donnie Darko

 

I dont feel I suffer really. I know how to deal with it and it took a lot of time. I have some OCD tendencies esp with cleanliness and organization.

When I read your post it totally made sense.

Thanx.

reply to post by Donnie Darko


No problem.
second line so I dont get in trouble again.

Aside from the fact that 1990 was probably one of the worst in my life (teen angst, depression,) I wholeheartedly agree with you, Donnie Darko.

Have you noticed that music hasn't changed all that much since the '90s? Neither has fashion. I see people wearing things today that they could have easily worn in 1997. Compare that to 1977 and 1989: not a chance.

The other things is nightclubs. I'm astounded that, at least in my town (Ottawa, Canada,) clubs that opened in 1995 are still around! In my day a club would stay open 4 or 5 years at the most. Punk is still around, so is goth, and skaters. Sadly we are still suffering with bad post-grunge rock.

Some other new phenomena: Kindergarden and Gr. 8 "graduations", Gr. 8 proms, helicopter parents, attachment parents, grade inflation, no more waiting 6 months+ for cool European or Japanese stuff to make its way to N.A.

I'm sure there's lots more...

Originally posted by Heatburger
Coincidentally I remember my father talking about the last "division" in the Mayan Calendar (that coincide with paradigm shifts of sorts, agriculture, the industrial revolution, etc.) happened in the '90s, and surely enough it's a noticable change.

I don't know if this is exactly true, but my dad heard it on talk radio and told me about it a few years ago. Thought it made sense and would add an interesting angle to the thread with the Mayan Calendar. Anyone know more about this?

There may be something to this. Carl Johan Calleman in his book The Mayan Calendar and the Transformation of consciousness discusses a regional underworld with a day 7 of 5869 BCE - 2011, a national underworld as a last day (day 7) of the regional underworld from 3115 BCE to 2011, and a planetary underworld from 1755 CE to 2011 CE. Within the planetary underworld day 7 according to him began in 1992.

Note. The rest of this are my ideas attempting at tying these ideas together

If we consider each of these specific dates as more of a window of change from old to new with the windows closing as times change more rapidly then it would not be hard to consider the window of change for the day 7 of the planetary underworld to blossom in a window of say, 1989 - 1995. Using the same logic and as a matter of illustration with the national underworld being 13 times longer than the planetary underworld. The window for the changes could be considered 13 times longer. So the national underworld window was possibly 78 years as we moved from the longer national into the planetary underworld. Interestingly that would put the "window" at approximately 1716 - 1794.

Back to Calleman's book

In 1999 he interprets that we moved into the universal underworld. According to his interpretation of the Mayan calendar, we are currently in day 6. This period would last until Nov. 8 2009 to be followed by night 6 and finally day 7.

Thanks for the post! S&F.

Originally posted by serpentine7
Aside from the fact that 1990 was probably one of the worst in my life (teen angst, depression,) I wholeheartedly agree with you, Donnie Darko.

Have you noticed that music hasn't changed all that much since the '90s? Neither has fashion. I see people wearing things today that they could have easily worn in 1997. Compare that to 1977 and 1989: not a chance.

Definitely! What's funny is what are seen as typical 90s things, such as flannel and backwards hats, are still common. Not as common as in the '90s, but still common enough that I see them every day.

The early '90s do seem old because they are now so damn long ago and are just a little way into the change. Plus I think 1990 and 1991 could even be considered an extension of the "cultural 80s", and the events then kinda continued what started in 1989. But after 1994, you can easily mistake a scene for today.

A show like Boy Meets World could easily be set in 2009. A movie like Juno could easily be set in 1995. The main difference is the lack of portable digital technology in the '90s and the fact people were happier then and actually had money to spend.

I think the period from 1991 to the present feels like one long decade. A bit like how 1920 to 1945 was all kind of the same style.

[edit on 10-6-2009 by Donnie Darko]

Interesting topic. Well thought out. Star and flag.


My opinion on the subject is that, while the year 1990 and the years directly following did in fact contain interesting events, a much more dramatic example of any 'paradigm'shift( new age-speak for rapid social/cultural changes?) would have to be the period from 1963 onward to the early 1970's.

Certainly it could be argued that given the revolutions in all things cultural and social that time period was much more impacting on todays world than any in post WWII history.

And that isnt to take away from your point. Rather, its to point out that in actuality the last 50 or so years have been very defining as a whole for the world we now find ourselves in.


(And also, upon reflection, it might be a good idea for us all to realize that the 'shifts' we speak of are primarily of the technological and pop cultural type( and primarily western) and a certain trickle-down effect must be in place as they relate to different peoples, nations and cultures. In some regions of the world and for some people of the world, the end of the cold war or the forward march of the internet probably mean next to nothing.)


All in all, a thought provoking post.

reply to post by Donnie Darko

It is an old idea... the 180 years of the Renissence is called for example the long century because it was such a discrete block of time.

The 19th century ended with the out break of WW1 is another example.

Just a thought - but I think that the Internet has a lot to do with the continuation of certain trends and ideals.

Think about this -- prior to the Internet, you would go to a department store and purchase what was on the rack. That determined which trends would be most prevelant.

Now, with the Internet, if I want to buy parachute pants (everybody smiling at that flashback?), I can find some retailer somewhere to ship them to me.

I believe the Internet allows us to hold on to whatever trends and cultural changes we want to. You would be hard-pressed to find a "Vanilla Ice" CD anywhere in a store -- but voila -- there it is on iTunes!! (Not that I downloaded it of course ).

Same goes for other countries and cultures picking up trends. It's a lot easier for people to purchase clothing directly from Paris to the US -- and vice-versa.

Hehehe.

I was born in '83. I hated the 80's. I hated the clothing, I hated the music, I hated the hairstyles, I hated the movies (with the exception of Terminator,) and I hated the language.

I consider myself a product of the 90's. I pretty much ignored culture (for being stupid) until the mid-90's. When I look back, I perceive a mid-90's culture shift. Everything in the early 90's just seems... 80's to me.

And I disagree that stuff from the 90's is just now starting to fade. I've seen it happening for years. The movies have moved away from plot lines to special effects (and I love it. I don't care *why* the Terminators are here anymore, I just like seeing them explode!) The clothing styles are completely different. The late 90's were the era of girls wearing ultra-short miniskirts and belly shirts - and oh yes, I loved that, too. Now it's all blue jeans and hoodies. Bland!

Oh, and there was no Emo in the 90's. I really, really, really, really, REALLY miss there not being an Emo scene.