The thing is our parents did a lot of things we dont do now. Doesn't mean they were crap. That was how they did things we have the awesomeness of knowledge and alternatives now that they didn't have. I was carried in a basket on the way home from hospital instead of a car seat as that was the done thing. Doesn't mean I'd not use a carseat and do the same.
Just to stir it up again - really? Honestly? They didn't have parenting books in the library, friends with other upbringings, a brain with which to think "I could try something else"? Many of the parenting philosophies have been around since before I was born. (Since before most of us were born, for that matter.)

OK, so I have parenting articles on the internet and internet friends too. Doesn't mean I can't compare them to parenting books (which I also have) and IRL friends (again, something I also have). I can say this - if my son EVER told me that he disliked the way I parented and my rules were inconsistent and unfair, I'd consider his PoV. It doesn't take a huge paradigm shift to see that children are also people and therefore have the right to an opinion. I would not punish him for MY mistakes made over many years, which finally lead to him having to say I was inconsistent and he didn't know where he stood from one day to the next. (I'd be tempted to, but I would consider his PoV.)

My parents did lots of things I'd love to do with Liebling, but I can't: increased traffic, for one example, means he can't play with his friends on the road and where we live now I wouldn't let him walk to the park on his own in a couple of years. Next house yes (no roads to cross) but this one no. I wouldn't be happy with not seeing him all day in the summer: we live in a fretful time with every worry blown over the papers. Not every parenting change is a good one.