Sorry, Remainers, but we are looking on the brighter side of life
There are two types of people in the world: those who believe in the future, and those who think the best lies behind us. As recent reports have suggested, the second category of person seems to be in the ascendant – nostalgia is on the rise in Europe, and everyone seems to think things were better when they were young.
Not only is the trend not letting up, it’s appearing in countries one wouldn’t expect. New research from the Pew Research Center has found that America, formerly the land where dreams come true, is among the most pessimistic about life now compared to 50 years ago, in 1968. Just 37per cent of people think life is better now, whereas 41per cent think it was better in 1968.
When you think about it, this is totally bizarre. The Sixties may have been the decade of free love (for some) and The Beatles, but compared to today, it was vastly less comfortable, safe and interesting. Good coffee was mostly anathema – let alone available on every street corner.
Women were stuck at home slaving over the stove and couldn’t get credit cards or mortgages in their own names. Teachers beat students. Parents hit their kids. Many diseases now treatable were a lost cause.
We’re no strangers to either nostalgia or self-recrimination in Britain – and, yet, a different pattern is emerging here. In the last five years Brits have become more upbeat about the country’s future.
Remainers will say that Brexit signalled the end of all things good in Britain, but data released by marketing firm OMD suggests many feel otherwise. About 20per cent of British people now feel optimistic about the future, compared to just 11per cent in 2013 – before Brexit. This is quite a rise, and goes together, OMD says, with people feeling less stressed and miserable. Apparently we are less worried about the economy and – interestingly – have been finding ways to adjust to uncertainty about leaving Europe.
Remainers will scoff, but I wouldn’t be surprised if in another five years, with Britain firmly outside the crisis-prone European bloc, our optimism will have risen even further.