culture in an age of money
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Culture in an Age of Money. By Nicholas Mills. Back to our Future . By David Sirota. Mills: Zeitgeist of the ‘80s. The 1970s was a “decade of humiliation.”. The New American Spirit. Sirota: Zeitgeist of the ‘80s. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Culture in an Age of Money
By Nicholas Mills
Back to Our Future
By David Sirota
“ZEITGEIST”
Mills: Zeitgeist of the ‘80s
TRIUMPH.POWER.STATUS.
‘80s spirit was
based on…
The 1970s was a “decade of humiliation.”
Vietnam War
Stagflation
Watergate
Reagan’s Plan
The New American Spirit
“In the culture of triumph, the past was
modern because it held the key to the
future.”
“Image was crucial because we needed to see ourselves afresh.”
“Getting rich was justified because it left the nation better off.”
“Cutting aid to the poor was justified
because welfare hurt initiative.”
Romanticizing the ‘50s
& Criticizing the ‘60s
The ‘80s Obsession with the ‘50s
The ‘80s Disdain for the ‘60s
Sirota: Zeitgeist of the ‘80s
“The 1980s defies taxonomy… there are
just no catchphrases or grand unifying theories
to sum up such a monumental late-century
clusterfuck” (Sirota xviii).
1980s Cultural Memes
Ultra-conservative Reagan Revolution“Me Generation” selfishnessMTV Music and Teen Culture
Rampant drug abuseNationalist backlash to Vietnam War
A meme is an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture.
Mixed Messages of the 1980s“JUST DO
IT!”“JUST SAY
NO!”
The 1980s Economy
Reaganomics
#1- Cutting personal taxes
#2- Ending Anti-Trust activity
#3- Reducing government spending
#4- Controlling money supply to reduce
inflation
Reagan’s Economic Policies
“What I want to see above all is that this remains a country where someone can always get rich.”-
Ronald Reagan
“To be American was to be powerful, and to be powerful was to be rich.” -
Mills
The “Flaunting It” Era and the “Me Me
Me” Generation
Trump Tower
Trump Shuttle
Trump Princes
s
‘80s Economic Heroes
Donald Trump
Alex Keaton
Yuppies
Wall Street: A Modern Gold Rush
“Never have so many unskilled 24 year olds made so much money in such a little time as we did in this
decade.” – Michael Lewis
The ’80s marked “the creation of a paper economy in which the buying and selling of companies [became] more profitable than
running them” -Mills
“HOSTILE TAKEOVER”
“LEVERAGED BUYOUT”
“JUNKBOND” “GOLDEN PARACHUTE”
‘80s Economic
Lingo
In the 1980s, the living standards of the bottom 1/5 of the population dropped
by 8%, while that of the top 1/5 rose by 16%.
Why was this the case?
According to a scholarly article from Pitzer College
entitled “Economic Inequality: The Silent Depression”:
• There were more tax advantages for the rich
• Tax dollars went primarily towards paying the interest to those who own capital
• There were decreased government policies for aiding the poor
• There were decreasing incomes for the lower class
1980s Geopolitics: The Cold War
USA vs. USSR
1980s Foreign Policy1983: The US Invasion of Grenada Prompted by fear of Soviet-Cuban
militarization Followed the massacre of 241 marines by
Lebanese terrorists 19 killed; 115 wounded. 8,612 medals awarded
“This is a lesson for us all in Vietnam…let us tell those who fought that war that we will never again ask young men to fight and possibly die in a war that our government is afraid to let them win.” –Ronald Reagan
“The Vietnam Vet, crippled and depressed, was replaced with John
Rambo” -Mills
John Voight in Coming Home
Sylvester Stallone in
Rambo
“America the Grand” Image
Nancy Reagan’s White House China= $209,508
1984 Los Angeles Olympics Opening Ceremony= 6 million dollars
Reagan’s Inauguration Ceremony= 8 million dollars
The 100th year anniversary of the Statue of Liberty Celebration on July 4th 1986…
…included1.4 million-watt laser beams, the largest assembly of ships since WWII, the largest fireworks
display in US history, a cast of twelve thousand, including two hundred Elvis impersonators, three hundred Jazzercise dancers, and an eight-hundred
chorus, all performing on a twenty-tier stage with five waterfalls= PRICELESS*
*30 million dollars
America was in love with luxury.
“May you have caviar wishes and champagne dreams!”
The Dark Side of the ‘80sIran-Gate
1986
Greed & Drug Abuse
Stock Market Crash 1987
“Who says you can’t have it all?”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LknoheZqGbs
Sirota wonders if since the ‘80s, we
have begun to “morally rationalize
selfishness”…(70).
“What happens to us in the future? Do we become assholes or something?”
--Marty McFly (Back to the Future)