RUN, RONNIE, RUN!

Somebody started a poll on Topix the other day that had to do with the worst things about the 80’s. The poll was pretty innocuous enough, but among the ten least missed things about the 80’s in addition to ”no Internet” and the “$3.35 per hour minimum wage” was “Reaganomics.” Most of the responders to the poll recognized the survey as a fun way to recount the not-so-cool trends and gadgets of that decade, but one person whose isp said he was from New Jersey got especially touchy when he saw ”Reaganomics” up on the list of forgettable 80’s ephemera. This person turned a thread that could have been a nostalgic trip down memory lane into a political argument.

I thought the poll was interesting because it made me think about how, if one thinks about it, during the 1980’s we almost had to churn our own butter. It seems as if we often take it for granted that life has always been the way it is now with the Internet in almost every home (and pocket) and affordable technologies and safe cars that avoid collisions and practically drive themselves. Maybe there is something to be said about how all the amenities that have made our lives so much more enjoyable and easier have also perhaps fried our attention spans and retarded our ability to naturally enjoy life the way we used to. I don’t often compare the convenience of my iPod to the limited portability and scratchy sounds of my old records or cassette tape players anymore. This is mostly because those things seem like ancient memories, but I also wonder if it has to do with the fact that the ability to have so much at my fingertips so quickly has engendered in me a sense of entitlement so that I feel now that I should be able to automatically summon libraries of information with my fingers - that if I weren’t allowed to instantly access over 70 channels and 1,000+ songs and surf the worldwide super highway of information, than this would somehow be depriving me of my innate human rights and freedoms.

I tend to think I am more or less the same person I was in the 1980’s, that all of us mostly embody the same personality and conscience we had 20-25 years ago. Infants begin to display lifelong habits and personality traits as soon as they are able to take steps and utter words, so I don’t think it is too irrational to assert that my 1980’s child self was much different from the 33-year-old version of me today. But when I recall those old tv boxes with the rabbit ears, the Atari video games with the almost indecipherable graphics, or those unsightly hairdos we wore on our heads during the 1980’s, I am tempted to doubt my belief that a consistent state of mind traverses each decade.

As I sat at my computer like a fly on the wall reading the thread of comments as it unfurled beneath the worst things about the 80’s poll, I travelled down memory lane in my head despite the fact that the virtual conversation had veered away from memories and was turning into a political argument. I wanted to remember things like the tin foil we would wrap around the rabbit-ear antennas on our tv’s to try to get a better reception (imagine doing that with a flat panel tv) or I wanted to recall how dorky fat tires looked compared to the efficient wheels that are on today’s cars. There are definitely a lot of memories to consider about the 1980’s that will ultimately make each of us who lived through that decade realize that life was a lot more primitive back then than most of us probably realize on a daily basis. Besides not having cable and cell phones and cars that get good gas mileage or any kind of fashion sense or blogs or Netflix or (gasp!) Internet porn -  I wonder how we even survived! I wonder if kids today can imagine what it must have been like to have to look something up in the Encyclopedia instead of Googling it (the worst part about this was that every family’s Encyclopedia collection was usually 5-10 years old). Imagine not having e-mail but instead having to send letters via snail mail which usually took 3-5 days to reach their destination. And who remembers those big antennas that were atop each and every house?

As I recalled all the primitive technology from the 80’s and thought about how far we’ve come since that decade, I also forgot to realize how much living conditions advanced during the 1980’s.  The 1980’s is really two decades: the first half of the 80’s with all of its bushy sideburns and high socks shares more in common with the decade that preceded it, whereas 1986-1990 had more in the way of amenities making it a lot like today. The latter is because of two things: cable tv and the VCR (one can also add cassette tapes to this list – and even CD’s which made their debut in rich homes during the very late 80’s – as they had a lot more portability than those old records and turn tables). Cable and VCR’s first started appearing in homes in the mid-80’s, and in a few years they would become popular and affordable enough that many families would have them. The old Atari video games were also replaced circa 1986/87 by a new fad called Nintendo which offered much better graphics and sound than the previous gaming systems. With this explosion of technology came mobile car phones, more fuel-efficient vehicles, personal computers (with bulky monitors and no Internet of course) and movies with more believable special effects that are still relevant and watchable today. Paralleling this technological progression were styles and trends which, when imported into a present-day context, are still popular in many circles today.

By the time Reagan’s second term ended, we were living in a completely different world than the one we lived in when he was sworn into office just eight years previously. George Bush Sr.’s short tenure as president from 1988-92 marked a transitional phase: the Cold War was over, Generation X was coming of age, the Internet was about to make its debut in homes across America, marijuana had replaced cocaine and crack, and the first Iraq War exposed us to the changing ways in which wars are fought and revealed a new rising tension in the Middle East. By the end of the 80’s, America was standing on the threshold to a new future. The Internet was about to revolutionize the way we work and socialize, and tired of a compassionless government, Americans were ready to elect a president who held everybodys’ best interests in mind.

Realizing how much the Internet has facilitated and sped up our lives, I would have to say that “no Internet” was probably the worst thing about the 1980’s. I use the Internet for nearly everything: sending e-mail, shopping and banking, looking up information, socializing, publishing  my art and writing, getting my news, and sometimes even viewing tv shows and movies. The amount of time I spend in the virtual world seems worth it considering how much it opens up possibilities for me in the physical world. In fact, to call the Internet a “virtual” realm almost doesn’t seem right; the people we connect with via the Internet are living, breathing souls, and their virtual presences are nearly as lifelike as their computer generated representations. Despite all the good times I may have had during the 1980’s, I don’t think I could ever go back to a world that didn’t have the Internet. Not being able to go online and announce my disgust for Ronald Reagan and his policies with a chorus of other similar-minded people would amount to slow torture, and I am so allergic to pain that I wince if I so much as visualize what it looks and feels like to prick my thumb.

That being said, I loved what a Pennsylvanian who went by the name of Eric wrote and how he mostly held his own against a couple of republicans in an argument that ensued under the worst thing about the 80’s poll on the Topix website. I could try to summarize it, but I think it’s best to post the original transcript of the sparring which I printed out and have sitting right here before me. Check it out:

[en medias res]

Eric (PA): I think NANCY REAGAN was the worst thing about the 1980’s!

truth (Chicago, IL): Carter and his policies weren’t a pick? Interesting.

Ridiculous (Woodbridge, NJ): Carter was president 1976-80. He was only president really for 11 months in the 80’s. His policies were pathetic though. It’s interesting that so many people chose Reaganomics (76 votes). I have to wonder how many really know what the term means. It was President Reagan’s economic policies that led to the greatest prosperity the United States had seen since WWII at that point.

Big hair was definitely the scourge of the 80’s.

Educator (Tulsa, OK) : Reaganomics… A.K.A. the “Trickle Down” theory.

A bad economic idea that gave the wealthiest Americans very large taxes breaks while not giving any substantial tax breaks to the middle and lower classes, and in some cases raising their taxes.

The theory was that by allowing the richest Americans to become much wealthier, the money would be reinvested into the economy and filter down to the lower and middle class Americans to improve the quality of their life as well. An unforseen factor (duh) was that most of the wealthist Americans did not bother to reinvest their additional earnings and instead banked the money, resulting in many people to rename the “Trickle Down” theory to the “Reverse Robinhood” theory, or in some cases the “Piss On You” theory! [RIGHT ON, TULSA PERSON!]

Ridiculous (Woodbridge, NJ): Rather than just comment only with emotion let’s look at some facts. Reagan was president from 1980 thru 1988.
In that time:
-Unemployment went from 7.6% to 5.4%
-Inflation went from 10.4%-12.5%(estimates vary) to 4.2%-4.4%
-8 million new jobs were created
-We had the largest peacetime expansion of the economy in our history
-Personal wealth per individual rose $4000, more than anytime before or since
-Interest rates dropped dramatically. Are you old enough to remember double digit mortgage rates during the Carter administration?

When the top marginal tax rates dropped, combined with targeted deregulation, spending and investment did go up. Tax revenue increased. Like I said, largest peacetime expansion of the US economy in history. During this time military spending did increase. That increase in spending created a race that the Soviets were eventually unable to compete in. It led, at least in part, to the collapse of the USSR. With no more “Cold War” the US was able to decrease the amount spent on defense.

Much of what drive the economy is psychological. If consumers feel good about their jobs, their country and the future then they spend. Ours is a consumer driven economy after all. President Reagan made a great many people feel good about being American.

Eric (PA): Wow, Ridiculous, it looks like somebody drank the Kool Aid.

I hate seeing actors switch from a life of acting to a life of politics as if they know a thing or two about governing. I think they get so into their fantasy roles that they think they can do anything, like travel into outerspace to fight aliens, go on a hunt for the holy grail or travel into the future. Leave politics to the politicians and leave acting to the actors. The fact is Reagan was one of the worst presidents we ever had before Bush II. I think most people know this, but some members of the GOP still want to deify him (even thought he’s dead) because he’s all they have.

GOP = Get Over It Party (Ronnie’s dead)

[YAAAYYYY, ERIC!]

Eric: (PA): I also wanted to add:

Just like Ronnie in his later days, I think most members of the Grumpy Oldsters Party (GOP) today are suffering from Alzheimers as well. Can anybody name one young republican besides Meghan McCain? Ann Coulter doesn’t count because she’s actually 72, she’s just had a lot of plastic surgery to look like a 40 year old. The reason why these aging conservatives continue to worship the Ronster is obvious – they are becoming fossilized before our very eyes. Name one progressive thing the republican party has done of late? Right, you can’t. They are stuck in the past opposing everything new and practical that comes along. And I don’t know why they think the 80’s was such a bygone decade – it was actually a decade of decadence and Satan worship, pandemic drug use, perverted & crazy sex and greed. More kids dropped out, ran away, got raped, smoked crack and/or shot up in the 80’s than in any other decade.

Good times!

[YOU NAILED IT AGAIN, ERIC! HEE-HEE!]

wowwow (Buttplug, NY): How do you disagree with facts? I looked all of what that person said and the numbers are a little different depending on where you look but not much. It’s all true. I didn’t think it was so I looked. you can’t just come back with another opinion if you don’t have facts that contradict the other ones just cause you don’t like what the facts are. That is what kool aid drinkers do.

Eric (PA): Here’s a fact: since Schwarzenegger assumed governorship of California he has run that state into the ground. These are all the statistics and proof I need to know that actors who are trained in dramaturgy aren’t fit to be executives of world power governments. California has/had the world’s 4th (or 5th, I forget) largest economy, and last summer the state was broke. I like seeing Arnold as the Running Man, but I don’t like seeing him running a state the size of California. What’s even more surprising than Arnold being “Governator” is that there are enough brainwashed simpletons on crank in CA so eager to elect a cyborg as their leader.

WE LOVE YOU, ERIC!