A the beginning of the 1980s there was a general feeling of gloom across America due to high inflation rates, the recently ended the Vietnam War, and anti-Americanism sentiment spreading in the Middle East.
During this time, however, President Reagan appealed to many Americans because he represented the older, better, stronger America. Despite all the problems the United States was facing, Reagan reassured the country. Reagan reduced the amount of welfare programs because he thought that people had become to dependent on the government and that the government should not be involved in the economy. Reagan also introduced "Reaganomics" to minimize government involvement in economics so the finance industry was able to make more money. Jobs became more prevalent in the finance industry because of this.
During the 1980s their was also an influx in the use of “crack” cocaine. This caused the violent crime rate to rise 33%. In poverty stricken neighborhoods, drug dealers were admired because they were the only people in the neighborhoods who possessed wealth. Drug dealers showed of their wealth with fancy cars, jewelry, and clothes.
When the AIDS disease arose, so did a lack of initial government response towards the terrible disease. This is likely because no one knew how you get the disease. Reagan was a conservative president and people who got AIDS were thought to have gotten it by “doing things other people didn’t approve of and wouldn’t do.” They thought it was something that only homosexuals were affected by. However, in the 1980s public awareness and attitudes toward AIDS and its victims gradually changed during the 1980s when celebrities began getting the disease. Soon the public realized that the disease did not only affect lowly people.
I really like this post! I think you give a really good insight and overview of what happened during the decade! I wish you talked a little more about each category but overall it is a great post!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Tara! You included a lot of good information which really helps me understand the decade. I also love how you organized your information, it makes it much easier to understand the information presented.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that Reagan dealt with all the controversies that arose during his time in office well? I honestly think that, even though I do not agree with everything that he accomplished, he was able to be extremely important to helping the American public to trust the government and its officials to be good people again. He seemed to very much identify with many Americans due to his policies on social and economic aspects of life, and like you mentioned, he was also a conservative, thus gaining him even more support from the majority.
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