Are My Neighbors Crazy?
Most people today don't even know who lives right next door, back in the day that would be considered "suspicious" ...
I'm currently back in the same suburb that I grew up in as a kid, and there are some big changes. Back when I was a teen in the 90’s, we literally knew every neighbor. Not just the ones next door, but every single family, couple, bachelor, or widow, that was living on the whole block. Sure, some of them were assholes but you still knew them. Now only 20 - 30 years later, this picture perfect little suburb seems like the entire social fabric has changed, and here's how. In the 1980’s this little neighborhood that is roughly 1.5 miles wide, and about 2.5 miles long, only had about 950 residents. There was a small mechanic shop, a little grocery store, and an elementary school.
Every block had 4 or 5 lots that were untouched, still completely covered in raw untouched nature. Many of the people in the neighborhood had chickens back then, I remember some of them about 5 blocks down even had goats. They had 3 lots in a row, and it was all fenced in, the goats had a literal playground built for them. It was not an odd thing for people to have a pig or two. I can't tell you how many times as kids we found escapee piglets running free, and we had the time of our lives trying to catch them. Anyways, it was a great little neighborhood.
I don't know exactly when it changed, but people can't even have chickens here anymore. . . Anyways, now most of the blocks are fully developed, all built on or leveled without a single wooded lot left on them. One of the worst parts is, the new yards and houses are growing more and more plain. Very few of the new residents have planted any trees in their yards, and the landscaping that people are putting in has become lame and colorless.
Along with those changes, I also couldn't tell you what religion, political affiliation, or even the favorite sports team of most of the new neighbors. It's not for a lack of trying to be neighborly and cordial, you know the stuff, saying hello and giving a friendly wave when you see them outside in the yard. Or saying “Hi” when your walking past them as you both walk your dogs. People used to stop and say “Hi I'm Jim…” you would return in kind. Now they bury their face in their smartphone, and ignore you. Those days are gone in the suburbs.
Now I know this will sound hyperbolic at first, but I also remember when there were warnings on the local news after 9/11. These warnings said that if people isolated from their neighbors and community, that it was a sign of potential terrorism. Other signs of terrorism included, if they were doing any type of photography, or here's the kicker, if the people were known to be pro-communist, or even spoke about communist policies as a positive thing. With the paranoia that swept across America after 9/11 people were gladly reporting their neighbors. Remember the “See something, Say something” campaign.
Let's even take a look a bit further back in time, to the cold war era warnings to Americans. Warnings to watch out for communism seeping into America, coming from every president between Truman and Reagan.
March 21, 1947, President Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) issued Executive Order 9835, also known as the Loyalty Order, which mandated that all federal employees be analyzed to determine whether they were sufficiently loyal to the government.
Could you imagine what would happen today, if everyone that spoke in a positive way about communist political policy was detained and investigated. Right now in 2025, there at least a dozen or more American politicians who would have been arrested in 15 seconds flat if that policy was still the law of the land.
How The Fuck Did We Get Here ??
Was it from 9/11 policies where neighbors turned on each other, or perhaps even the covid policies. Either way, these suburbs aren't the same. This is even happening other suburban areas where some of my family members live. A few of them are even in different states, and they are all getting the same icky disposition. That drab antisocial feeling, with a bunch of new houses with a glowingly shitty aesthetic, to match the ever shittier neighbors. That leads me to one conclusion, and it comes in the form of a philosophical dilemma.
I think the more important question, is how do we get back to the 80’s and 90’s America.
This goes far deeper than stopping participation trophies from being a common thing.
It's getting back to a time when name calling was just part of growing up, inspiring legends like Eminem and many others to perfect their art style of battle rap. Where being bullied inspired you to work out and maybe take a kickboxing class, rather than bring a gun to school. Where the teachers cared about the students education, and not their gender identity.
How do we get back to Normal … please, share your ideas.
Links and Sources :
https://www.dhs.gov/see-something-say-something/recognize-the-signs
https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/red-scare
It took awhile but, growing up, I knew my neighbors. I still know a few of them when I went back a couple of years ago to visit.
The thing is, for me, personally, being the local outcast kinda turned me isolationist. The mentality wasn't that I had something to hide, it was "You mind your business, I'll mind mine, let's just not bother each other." and that was about it. I know a couple of my neighbors in the apartment building but let me put it this way, I probably wouldn't invite them to my gaming table because I don't think they'd be interested. We're all very different people.
When I move back down South to my hometown, eventually, things are going to be very very different. I'll have to start over for the most part but, at the same time, I've been gone for so long that there are people I met up with and had conversations with that didn't even recognize me so, should be fun.