We are too focused on nostalgia when we should be looking to the future

Identity politics and a long-drawn-out ‘culture war’ will not produce any winners, writes Jordan Tyldesley

‘Undoubtedly, we need to be brave enough to envisage the future’ (iStock/Getty Images)

There’s a cognitive phenomenon called rosy retrospection. You can sometimes spot this in a conversation with a grandparent, which usually goes something like: “In my day... [followed by unsubstantiated claims of limitless opportunity, safety and happiness]”.

Of course, they aren’t the only generation with a penchant for nostalgic fetishism. When I look back on my childhood, I remember warm hazy days spent in the garden playing on my swing and looking up at the clouds from morning till night. And on a wider level, historical reminiscence has filtered its way into all aspects of society.

Our collective fascination for and fixation on the past has created a culture war that has the potential to drive a wedge through our communities and politics like never before. If we are to steer away from cultural conflict, we must understand the climate that has not only created it, but allowed it to flourish.

In terms of the millennial generation, hipsters could be seen in a similar light. Behind the beards and obsessive appetite for avocados lay something much more beguiling – the way in which they sought the comfort of the decades that came before them.

They up-cycled objects, bought vinyl, wore second-hand clothing and rejected anything that looked remotely like it may have been produced for a mass market. It isn’t unfathomable to understand why this entered the millennial psyche – when the future is uncertain, the knowable nature of the past can be unchallenging and soothing.

But this unbridled love-affair with nostalgia has evolved into something quite different. The “rosy” tint has turned into a rather murky grey. There is nothing wrong in examining our past, but revisionism has the potential to become an unhealthy obsession.

If an examination of past events has now been labelled something those on the political left do, I believe those on the political right are suffering from a form of nostalgic addiction not too dissimilar to hipsters. From Donald Trump’s campaign to “make America great again” to Brexit, many long for an idealised time that may or may not have ever existed.

However, the key difference is outlook. It could be argued that Leave won because its exponents recognised that, while many such voters possessed a longing for something Britain once was, they were also more inclined to take political risks given their confidence in what came before.

“Wokeness”, like most well-meaning movements, has lost all meaning. Claiming to be the owner of some heightened sense of awareness or knowledge base has started to come across as condescending to the majority.

However, there has to be an understanding between generations. Millennials have been disproportionately affected by the global financial crisis of 2008 and the subsequent years of austerity. Is it any wonder that they focus so intently on the past when they have been seemingly robbed of their present and future? The struggle for many in acquiring access to assets, secure careers and a meaningful safety net is precluding them from holding more of a stake in society. They are disillusioned by the system so therefore look introspectively towards aspects of their identity to find common ground with others. When almost everything else can be taken from you, your identity becomes strangely valuable.

So where do we go from here? Undoubtedly, we need to be brave enough to envisage the future. We need to meet somewhere in the middle. The history books should, of course, be kept open so that we can engage with the past in a constructive way. We should be cautious about our pursuit of “rosy” imaginings – and remember that one day in the future, we too will be judged differently.

We are losing our ability to create, to dream and to conceptualise a society that is different to the one before. It starts with a clean sheet and a desire to recognise our similarities rather than our differences. Identity politics and a long-drawn-out “culture war” will not produce any winners, just a lot of wasted effort, energy and – most importantly – time.