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The 1980s was the most influential decade in the history of the United States because it changed the course of the U.S. through drugs, culture, and terrorism.
To set the scene for the 1980s, the Vietnam War had ended 5 years before 1980, resulting in an American loss. Anti-Communist sentiments were at a high, and the Cold War was at one of its many peaks before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 80s were probably the most intense period of the Cold War. Problems in the Middle East were heating up once again, this time between Iraq and Iran. Furthermore, the Soviet Union had recently invaded Afghanistan resulting in yet another proxy war between the US and the USSR, simultaneously setting up the US for the War on Terror after we gave Jihadists American weapons to fight the Russians. The 80s was a cluster of new drugs, new diseases, new wars, and new technologies.
Cocaine had been recently “invented” in the jungles of Colombia by crushing coca leaves and mixing them with a myriad of chemicals to achieve the highly addictive white powder known as cocaine or crack. Cocaine is important to the story of America in the 80s because America was the prime destination for the new commodity. When cocaine hit the streets of America it became a #1 best-seller almost immediately; it soon replaced Marijuana, LSD, and other drugs that were formerly wildly popular in the 60s and 70s. As Cocaine became more and more popular in America, it took the form of crack in the inner cities. Crack was much cheaper than Cocaine, which separated the two drugs into different classes; pure Cocaine was for wealthy people with steady jobs, celebrities, millionaires, etc, while Crack was for lower middle-class people, people in inner cities with limited resources. This meant that anyone, rich or poor, could get their hands on Cocaine or Crack easily, thus destroying poor communities to this day. This transformation of the drug market can only be seen as negative because of the amount of destruction it did to countless Americans.
On a more positive note, things were looking up in the economic sector of America because of policies put into place by President Reagan. Before Reagan, the Energy Crisis of 1979 and the 1973 Oil Crisis plunged the US into a recession lasting until 1982. This coincided with Reagan’s steep cuts in domestic spending leading to minor problems within the republican party. After this minor recession, Reagan implemented economic policies dubbed “Reaganomics”. These policies cut regulations on business and encouraged free trade, while also encouraging future economic problems. His reforms were in part to blame for the 2008 Housing Crisis because of de-regulation. Social reforms of the 80s were plentiful, but the most notable was the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This epidemic put everyone on edge because anyone could get it, but people who were infected were stigmatized because of the stereotype that it was a “gay disease”. It took years for people to understand what AIDS was, AIDS can be spread through sexual contact, drug use, and birth, it is a virus that attacks the immune system and is currently un-curable. In 1984 the FDA licensed the first blood test for HIV which helped increase detection of HIV. The epidemic had a noticeable social impact because the disease was very common in the LGBT community, because of this, the FDA enacted regulations banning gay men from donating blood. During the 80s, politics shifted as they do periodically. The shift of the 80s was called “New Conservatism”, it consisted of a shift from a moderate, centrist identity within the republican party to a more extreme right-wing view which Reagan exemplified perfectly, propelling him to two terms in office.
At the turn of the decade, the American economy was in rough shape, the US had recently lost the Vietnam war only 5 years prior, and problems in the Middle East were intensifying yet again causing an Oil Crisis in 1979 that helped to lead the US into a recession that lasted until 1982. This inspired President Reagan to attempt to resolve America’s economic issues through his economic system “Reaganomics” which could be compared to trickle-down economics, where the flow of money starts at the top of society and then as it is spent flows downward towards the lower classes of people meaning that there was a large divide between the wealthy and poor. The economy of Reagan’s presidency affects us today because of the 2008 Housing Market crash which resulted from the loosening of financial regulations under Reagan. The 2008 recession caused many people to lose their homes, savings, and livelihoods. The economy was prevented from growing quickly because Europe was still under the chokehold of the USSR making it hard to export products to many countries.
One of the defining features of the 80s was its pop culture. Many famous movies and songs like “Back To The Future” and “Eye Of The Tiger” were released and became instant classics. MTV was established in 1981 and soon brought new music, music videos, and movies to anyone who had a TV. MTV was a pivotal piece of 80s culture because it shaped the landscape for similar platforms in the future like YouTube or perhaps Netflix which are as popular today as MTV was then. Another part of new pop culture is the place where it exists. Technology in the 80s advanced in tandem with the new culture providing us with the basic things we use every day such as personal computers, cell phones, video games, cable TV, and many more. These advancements allowed for the invention of the internet and the digital age that we currently live in to be possible.
The 1980s impacted what America has developed into today through culture, and technology, as well as social, political, and economic reforms and changes. It was the most important decade because it more significantly shaped our world today than any other decade before or after the aforementioned transformations.
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