I have been thinking about something over the past few years. After the Covid pandemic which lasted for over a year. The rapid change in culture from a Christian society to a more secular one throughout the 2010s and early 2020s with politics becoming even more polarized and woke and society becoming more openly left-leaning. The many business closures recently such as Rite Aid, OfficeMax in Placerville, several Walgreens stores, Big Lots, Party City, JoAnn Fabrics, several FYE stores, and the shocking closures of the Placerville Jamba Juice, GameStop, and the UPS Store in the Safeway shopping center. And even earlier business closures such as Borders in 2011, the Family Christian Stores in 2017, Toys R Us (the first version) in 2018, and others, as technology has made many things in life obsolete. With streaming slowly replacing DVDs, CDs, and VHS culture. And noticing the decline in women's fashion during this period also with women's jeans becoming less glamorous, with American Eagle changing their look in 2018. And trying to find a job and having a hard time finding one. And the challenges of growing up into an adult. Etc. I have noticed I am really starting to miss my childhood and teenage years. I try to stay positive and look for the bright side with all the change and think it is for the better. But it is hard to when I compare how things are now versus how things were in the past. But the thing that keeps bugging me is, when were things at their peak?? But the 2000s ended in 2012 (1), 13 years ago. The same as saying the 2010s ended in 2022 (2). The 1950s, the 1960s, the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s, the 2000s, or even the 2010s?? Or are the 2020s still really good too. It seems like all those answers are true. I was born in 2001, so I am part of Gen-Z. But in my opinion and from what I have learned, the morality of our country was at its best in the 1950s before the hippie revolution of the 1960s, while the music was at its best in the 1970s, the 1980s, and some of the 1990s. The politics I think were at their best in the 1980s with Ronald Reagan. The movies and TV shows I think were at their best in the 1980s to the 2000s and some of the 2010s. Culture and society was at its best around the 1980s-mid 2000s. California was at its best in the 1990s with Pete Wilson as governor. Fast food restaurants built in the 1990s and early 2000s are more appealing and more fun, especially with a PlayPlace. So are malls and businesses more fun with more theming.
And part of me wonders if I relate to today and its culture and wonder if I am stuck in the past:
- Getting into the ApologetiX in 2012 like it was 2001 and still listens to them today.
- Shopping at stores like FYE and Vintage Stock/Entertainmart like it is 2002.
- Analyzing demographics of places to see if there are enough people who shop at Christian bookstores, Bookstores, Music/Movie Stores, Video Rental Stores, and regular brick and mortar stores because I am living in 2008 (joking and not joking).
- Keep looking at McDonald's and Carl's Jr Google street imagery from 2007 to 2009 because they were still in the 1990s then.
- Listening to Petra (80s Christian rock band) and Glad (Christian acapella and rock band) like it is 1993.
- Playing the old Mario and Sonic games
- Like girls that look very pretty, like it is still 2005 (what does that look like??).
- Being a conservative in California and wondering why more people don't vote Republican because of the Democrats policies.
- Wondering if the reason for Trump's win in 2024 was that the Hispanic and Asian population and Middle class is still living in the 2000s, 1990s, or even the 1980s. And that I am stuck in it too. Because in the 2010s and 2020s, the people in the most up and coming areas vote for Democrats and for liberal agendas. Or are becoming more that way. But is it really still the 2000s in places like Florida, or are these places becoming more conservative than they were in the 2010s?California in 2004 Election
California in 2024 Election: I wish our state looked like this politically. As I am looking at them in 2020?? I am starting to have nostalgia for the 2000s because of this map. What year is this?? Did I just go back to 2006??
Places like Orange, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, San Diego, and Nevada Counties flipped to the Democrats since 2004. While Fresno, Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Merced, Riverside, San Bernardino, flipped back to voting Republican in 2024 after voting Democrat, and even Imperial County flipped to Trump, mainly because of the Hispanic population that is in the middle (2000s??). Lake County flipped to Trump in 2024 after not having voted Republican since the 1980s. But the rest of the places and the country have stayed similar politically since 2000. But coastal California has moved much more left.
Then again, why do I act like 2004 was this conservative time with George W. Bush and that the 2010s and 2020s are this liberal time with Gavin Newsom and Barack Obama and Joe Biden, but Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016, and then again in 2024 and not in 2004. And 2004 had John Kerry run against George Bush, a liberal Democrat.
- Visiting Six Flags Amusement Parks and obsessed about riding roller coasters like it is 2003 (what does that even look like??) and don't like them removing roller coasters like Kingda Ka and closing parks like Six Flags America because amusement parks should be doing well.
Being nostalgic for 2009 when people say say 2009 was the last year with an old world feel and I feel a ton of nostalgia for the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s having seen those things or went to those places in 2009, and then I realize, 2009 is modern(3). Etc.
Oh, malls like this were still around in 2009 with 70s storefronts...
80s and 90s things were still popular in 2009.
I am now hearing people saying that they are stuck in the 2010s (4). I don't know what that looks like. Like being stuck in the 2010s looks like the 2000s, the 1990s, and even the 1980s all lumped in one. What year am I stuck in?? Late 2000s/Early-Mid 2010s nostalgia?? Etc. Like I am nostalgic for the era that was 1988, 1991, 1998, 2003, 2008, and 2017 at the same time. What year was this?? Like the Dukes of Hazzard and Trump were in the same era?? And I realize, no, 2016 is completely modern and new.
But sometimes, it is weird to think of how long ago the 1990s and 2000s actually were. Like I tend to lump when Trump was president in 2017, or even his current term with the early-mid 2000s DVD/VHS era. And then realizing it was a much more recent era than then. The things from the early-mid 2000s in my head are only like from 5 to 8 years ago and like the late 1980s-early 1990s were in the mid-late 1990s, or the 1990s were in the mid-2000s. When normal activities were open and pre-COVID. Like being stuck in 2002 is going out and doing things and not wearing a mask and being a Republican or being in a place in California that voted for Brian Dahle or John Cox over Gavin Newsom, and that voted for Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris, believing marriage is between a man and a woman and there are only two genders, being a Christian who goes to church, going to stores and malls instead of the Internet, and eating inside restaurants and not just getting take-out, the indoor playgrounds are actually open, owning DVDs, CDs, and even VHS tapes?? Even though the early 2000s were 20+ years ago. (5) (6) Like the 80s were only 20 years ago. Like the NES was still current when the GameCube was made?? (7)
Early 2000s Nostalgia: 2004 and 2005 was around 1998-2000?? And the bottom picture seems like it was only in the past few years. 2006, 2015, 2022?? (8). I just listened to VeggieTales audio commentaries in 2023 and 2024. This was closer to 2024 than 2004?? This was around 2006-2014?? Stuff still fairly popular in 2025. Is it what the 1990s were in 2005?? I got back into VHS in 2019 to watch 90s VeggieTales to get nostalgic for 2004, 2005, and early 2006. Even 2008 and 2009. And watched the Internet Archive episodes in 2023 of the VHS VeggieTales while doing different work projects to get nostalgic for late 2019-early 2020 before COVID shut everything down, when things started getting back to normal. Life in 2004, the mid to late 1990s or the 2010s/2020s?? Why am I saying this?? Like the 1990s were 15 years ago, while the 2000s were only like 3 years ago (pop-culture wise). Am I dreaming this??
Like the 1980s make me nostalgic for the early and mid 1990s??
Some of the 1990s started looking more like the early to mid 2000s.
It is interesting that it feels like we are still processing 2020 and all the things of Covid and its shutdowns, and wondering when things are going to get back to normal, knowing it probably won't. And trying to close my eyes to all the awful things happening and find places that time forgot (9). And feeling like I am nostalgic for the past and forgetting that we are 5 years into the 2020s. Almost forgetting that the 2020s are back to normal (10). While 2023 and 2024 and 2025 with the mid-late 2000s as Barnes and Noble and Books A Million actually opening new stores (11) (But Borders closed in 2011 and the other bookstores started closing in that time period.), Dick's House of Sport opening new stores in malls, Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister opening new stores in upper-tier malls (they have hung on in the Class B and Class A malls that aren't as upper-class), new family fun centers, new roller coasters such as the new Vekoma Tilt Coaster Siren's Curse at Cedar Point, etc. 
2004 (in pop culture, not reality??), 2007, 2010, 2023, 2024, or 2025?? Am I really nostalgic for the past, or is the past a central part to present day life?? Because many of those things and shows I only discovered in the past few years. I believe it is more like living in a world that is from a past era that is still around. I'm not saying I don't like anything post 2012 or anything like that because I certainly do like new things, but in a world with a more traditional lifestyle.
(9) https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/retail/2025/09/12/barnes-and-noble-new-locations/86113390007/
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