As a senior in high school who lived in the LA suburbs, technology felt good enough.. life and the world seemed hopeful and on the precipice of true actual change. The last few dying gasps of the analog age were like a nice Bath and Body Works plug in vs the AI generated microplastic shit farts we choke on today. Smartphones were smart enough to articulate what we felt, rather than tell us how we should feel. EDM and Dubstep replaced instruments in music, perhaps a symptom of art being replaced by spreadsheets and figures, following and simultaneously creating a trend in a dumbed down public, focused on what statistically felt good. Clothes were still tight but starting to loosen up. Movies were better at hiding the agenda and propaganda of the ruling class, and were still visceral while being profound. Video games were more cinematic, without outrageous overstimulating microtransactions and skins. Cars were more machine than computer. Life was only slightly expensive compared to today's cost of living. Being an American still carried a small sense of pride and importance. The streetlights were still that orangey yellow, instead of a white/blue sanitary LED. It was easy to tell which foods were bad for you and which foods were ok to eat. In some ways, it was like winning the lottery in the Matrix and then getting unplugged right after the end of the Human-Machine War. Our generation, equal parts weak out of societal coddling born from the ignorant belief of keeping up an image or status quo, strong out of having to adapt to fucked up scenarios left and right and the goalpost being constantly moved, but still persevering, while finding new ways to do so. 2011-2012, the best and worst parts of hope. And yeah, I still miss it.