Do You Ever Wish You Could Live In A Different Era?

I wish I could try out the Ancient Greece era. In Athens, specifically. The birth of drama, art, writing, philosophy. Just...epic. Plus HOMOSEXUALITY WAS ACCEPTED? I'll take it.

 

Im not sure Id want to go live in the past, or have been born in another time. But Id love, love, love to visit a lot of past eras. Id really like to experience NYC during all the times of the past two hundred years. Just take a little time travel tour of it. Especially seeing Coney Island in its heyday, the construction of the subway, the waves of immigrants, the tenements, the art and literary movements... Im very fascinated by the history of this city and to see a lot of first hand would be like a dream.

In general 20th century history interests me, if I really trusted that time machine, I would love to see Weimar era Berlin. But again, Id have to trust the shit out of that time machine, because it would not be a good time period to get stuck in!! But again, the art scene, the music, the writers, the sort of explosion of culture and decadence really appeals to me, as well as the morbid curiosity of a city during such a tumultuous time, and the sort of shadow of doom that hung over it.

To take it further, Id want to see the countries of my ancestors pre european colonization, unfortunately I really dont know too much history outside of American and European, so it would be very insightful to see the world and cultures my ancestors came from. I would also love to be a witness to early civilizations such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, The Sumerians...

Basically Id be all over time if I had the ability. But nothing seems like it would be worth actually living there and giving up the modern era as home.

 

If my sexuality wasn't a factor... then Ancient Rome during the time of Marcus Aureleus or Julius Ceasar. Or maybe Caligula, just because he's such a fun guy. Seriously, he named his horse senator! Senator Buttercup! How entertaining would that be? hehe (i'd just run away when he tried to massacre the citizens)

I personally think the 50's would suck. I mean, if you weren't a white, protestant, cis-gendered male, you were out of luck. It was all conformity, conformity, conformity... and if you were different? Well, that's okay! There's a little thing called ostracism! (You dirty commie! lol)

 

It's difficult to judge, but I'd say life has been better in the last 15 years across most of the world than at any other point in history. According to me, at least.

And the internet.

 

Oh, Caligula. That man was so insane, he could be my friend. I'd enjoy living under him, as well. :roflmao:

 

I'd given thought, before, to Ancient Greece (at the height of its power), Ancient Rome (at the height of its power), and maybe even Ancient (I think this is the correct Middle Eastern city) Baghdad (at the height of its power/back in the 10th century or so before it all went to hell).


In the end, though, the time we live in now is relatively speaking one of the better times ever for technological advancement, medical ability, etc. And for all the bigotry we complain of, there honestly aren't many times this world has been so relatively liberalized, tolerant, and accepting. Overall, anyways. Obviously some places are a heck of a lot worse than others...


Correction: Best ever time for technology and medical ability. My "relatively" was going to be about peace, but I suppose that's arguable.

 

Even though it would have been nice to live in the 50's & 60's for various reasons, I would not have liked to live in that era as being Gay was illegal in the UK, as it was in the States, take Alabama for instance, Same-sex sexual activity has only been legal in Alabama since 2003, when the United States Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas struck down all state sodomy laws. The state's sodomy law, although unenforceable, has not been repealed by the Alabama Legislature.

So being Gay during this period was not a good experience, in the UK the famous Mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, and computer scientist Alan Turing was charged with gross indecency, Turing's homosexuality resulted in a criminal prosecution in 1952, when homosexual acts were still illegal in the United Kingdom. He accepted treatment with female hormones (chemical castration) as an alternative to prison. Turing died in 1954, just over two weeks before his 42nd birthday, from cyanide poisoning.

So as you see, as nice as it would have been to live in this Era, it was not so good if you were Gay.

 

hahaha ikr?! Insane emperors are the best! Although Commodus was pretty fun as well. Did you know he made people unwittingly eat his poo? :roflmao:

 

Actually, there were some really weird restrictions with it, so it wasn't as fun as you might think. But at least it didn't have the baggage and stereotypes back then that it does now. Also, the same kind of moral guardians ruined things back then too, remember Socrates.



I don't like this kind of fantasy because everyone tends to romanticize the past, but I guess I could have fun anytime after sanitation and indoor plumbing were perfected. :dry:

I like the past, but the thought of no showers or toilets horrifies me...

 

I always say that I'd love to be an adult in the early to mid 18th century, but then I remember two things: 1.) I'm Black. 2.) I'm gay.

 

This! Everything sucks now

 

Good point, there's a reason period pieces can be cringe-worthy :jawdrop:

Not that things are peachy now, but still...

 

The fashion back then was awesome.

 

Eh, skip it, don't want to hijack the thread.


Honestly though, I think our period of time is underrated, if we're going to be hatin' on it

 

Amen.

Would you risk it and have yourself be born 50 or 100 years in the future, rather than some era of the past? It could go either way....

 

Visiting the past is one thing, living in the past is another