There was a change in the US after the 60s. We had optimism then. We put a man on the moon! We were going to end poverty! Perhaps it started with Nixon/Kissinger’s plan to fund the military build up of Iran (then, later, Iraq) as the US enforcer in the Middle East by encouraging the oil-rich Arab states to collude to raise oil prices, ra…
There was a change in the US after the 60s. We had optimism then. We put a man on the moon! We were going to end poverty! Perhaps it started with Nixon/Kissinger’s plan to fund the military build up of Iran (then, later, Iraq) as the US enforcer in the Middle East by encouraging the oil-rich Arab states to collude to raise oil prices, rather than raise money through taxation. Perhaps it had to do with the backlash against Civil Rights by people willing to cut off their noses to spite their faces, voting against programs that would have helped them in order to punish black uppityness. Maybe it was Watergate and Nixon’s subsequent pardon. Maybe it was Reagan, with his “government is the problem” line of BS. Maybe it was the endless stream of infomercials and books telling us that only fools worked for a living and smart people developed “passive income streams” in real estate, investing, and MLM. Maybe it was the assassinations of JFK, MLK, & RFK.
Or a shift in popular entertainment from the lead characters being upholders of decency (think The Waltons) and the rise of the anti-heroes (think Dallas).
Almost forgot: unions, which used to be for protecting workers from abuse & getting them a fair shake, became protection for laziness & incompetence. Workers, who once understood the concept of standing together, became got the “I’m in it for me” attitude and voted to screw other workers in contract negotiations.
As the wife & sister in law of factory workers, I’ve got stories. (Yes, not all workers.)
There was a change in the US after the 60s. We had optimism then. We put a man on the moon! We were going to end poverty! Perhaps it started with Nixon/Kissinger’s plan to fund the military build up of Iran (then, later, Iraq) as the US enforcer in the Middle East by encouraging the oil-rich Arab states to collude to raise oil prices, rather than raise money through taxation. Perhaps it had to do with the backlash against Civil Rights by people willing to cut off their noses to spite their faces, voting against programs that would have helped them in order to punish black uppityness. Maybe it was Watergate and Nixon’s subsequent pardon. Maybe it was Reagan, with his “government is the problem” line of BS. Maybe it was the endless stream of infomercials and books telling us that only fools worked for a living and smart people developed “passive income streams” in real estate, investing, and MLM. Maybe it was the assassinations of JFK, MLK, & RFK.
Or a shift in popular entertainment from the lead characters being upholders of decency (think The Waltons) and the rise of the anti-heroes (think Dallas).
Thoughts?
Almost forgot: unions, which used to be for protecting workers from abuse & getting them a fair shake, became protection for laziness & incompetence. Workers, who once understood the concept of standing together, became got the “I’m in it for me” attitude and voted to screw other workers in contract negotiations.
As the wife & sister in law of factory workers, I’ve got stories. (Yes, not all workers.)
WTF are you talking about?
When your “security state” killed your own president, the Republic was over.