In Nicholas Lemann’s essay, “How the Seventies Changed America,” he pointed out, from the vantage point of 1991 (the year the article was published), that the 80s had been shaped by three major events:

1. The 1973-1974 OPEC oil embargo which doubled gas prices (website prices showed prices going from .35 to .65 – .70 or $1.88 / $3.76 in 2012 dollars).   This embargo empowered the Sunbelt parts of America and oil-producing regions like Texas and reduced the importance of regions like the Midwest Rustbelt (auto production areas like Detroit) which didn’t adjust with the times with fuel-efficient cars until the 1980s.  Average weekly earnings peaked in 1973 because of inflation, and productivity stopped growing.

 

2.  Middle-class upward mobility began to slow down if not reverse.  There were lots of factors involved in this, including the inflation accompanying the gas price hikes.  The white middle class took a page out of the minority rights movements and began to see themselves as a persecuted group.  One of the major reasons that the middle class was being “persecuted” was through high property taxes and just taxes in general.  In California, for example, Proposition 13 promised to cut property taxes (which had risen b/c of inflation), and the proposal passed two to one in 1978 despite opposition from many politicians.  So, across the country, there was a general tax revolt that average middle class Americans felt and raged against (maybe raged is too strong of a word), but by 1980, they voted with their hearts and their pocket books and Ronald Reagan swept incumbent Jimmy Carter out of office during the recession of that time.

3. Republicans switch tactics – Former California governor Ronald Reagan challenged President Gerald Ford by gaining traction on a “soft foreign policy” of detente.  Reagan wanted a stronger foreign policy, something more muscular instead of what Nixon and Kissinger had forged and Ford continued.  Reagan didn’t want to give up the Panama Canal either.   In addition, the Republicans stopped attacking government programs (b/c they were popular with the middle class) and began attacking the funding or the taxes that paid for what appeared to be wasteful prgrams like welfare and other entitlements for the poor.   By attacking wasteful spending, Republicans began to appeal to the “oppressed” middle class who paid for these programs.  These blue-collar voters who switched allegiances became known as “Reagan Democrats.”

So, Nicholas Lemann’s article was published in 1991, 21 years ago, and we should assess how things have changed since 1991 to see if Lemann’s predictions about the 70s are correct.  To answer this question, you may have to ask your parents or look online for some answers, so please cite your sources!  

To find out if he’s right, consider the following questions.  Since 1991, has:

– oil played a significant part in America’s foreign and domestic policy?

– the South continued to grow in economic and political strength while the Rustbelt weakened in population and political influence?

– the middle class shrunk?  Has the middle class had a tougher time paying the bills?

– the Republican Party been successful with its anti-tax, anti-big spending message?

– the Republican Party been successful at maintaining Presidential success?

– there been a continued fight against property taxes?  Wasteful governmental spending?

 – Have other trends emerged in the past 21 years that Lemann’s article doesn’t account for? 

 

Pick at least three of the questions above to discuss plus the italicized blue question and answer this blog with a thoughtful, intelligent answer by Monday, June 11 before your class begins.   250 words minimum.  Please make sure you answer all four questions b/c some of the early answers haven’t done this.  Plus, I realize this is before finals, but please do a good job.  Every point counts.