When was culture at its peak? When we were young

For most of us, the middle school years are difficult. Our hair is crazy, our hormones are at war, we're getting acne, we can't figure out how to fit in a group and we're convinced that everyone is constantly thinking about and judging us.

Are we cool? Are we a dork? Why do we keep getting zits?

Those are tough years. But you know what's great during those years?

The economy. Movies. Television. Music.

That is true regardless of when middle school happened, at least according to an analysis of a YouGov survey by the Washington Post Department of Data, which concluded that we all think that what happened when we were 12 to 15 years old was the peak for those areas.

As someone who thinks "Welcome Back Kotter" and "Afternoon Delight" and the first "Rocky" movie were high points in American culture, and that Gerald Ford might have been right when he pushed people to wear Whip Inflation Now (WIN) buttons, the "middle school was the peak for culture" theory rings true.

For decades I've heard people lament the current state of culture and wonder why it can't be like it was back in the old days. "The old days" were always a specific time in their life that I didn't find particularly compelling (unless they were my age).

Because I was blessed to remember "Happy Days" and "The Waltons" and "Chico and the Man."

The Post survey was fascinating in its specificity. It concluded that the 2,000 surveyed Americans couldn't agree on a specific year that music, fashion, the economy, TV or movies were best. But a deeper look revealed specifics related to the age of the person being questioned.

As mentioned, the Post's crack team found that most of us feel like music was at its best in the years when we were 12-15. That's from seventh grade through the sophomore year in high school. Does that seem right? It doesn't seem like "Jive Talkin'" (one of the great songs of all time that was a hit when I was 13) to me.

But our views go beyond that window.

We think communities were closest in whatever years we were 4 to 7 (when we didn't realize that our parents weren't really friends with our neighbors, they just tolerated them). 

The Post study found that we think families were happiest, morals were best and news reporting was most reliable in whatever years we were 8 to 11.

And we think fashion and sports were best during the years we were 16 to 19. 

This makes a lot of sense once you hear other people's opinions. When you hear someone say that music was at its best in the early 1960s or the late 1980s or 2000, you can do the math and confirm that they were 12 to 15 at that time. When we say we miss the times when neighborhoods were closer and we really took care of each other, you can guess that they're talking about the years when they were a small child and it seemed like their parents really liked the family that lived next door.

And when they lament the latest fashions, you can figure they're comparing them to whatever godawful fashions were hot when they were in their late teens.

So it's debatable when we had the best TV or the best music or the best economy or the best fashion. But it's unquestionable that when we're nostalgic, it's not so much for the music or entertainment of an era, it's for when we were young.

This means that for a generation of young people, the music, TV, economics, fashion and sports of 2024 will be considered the best ever, because they are in the golden years right now.

By the way, "Golden Years" by David Bowie is a great song.

It came out when I was 13.

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@outlook.com.