Blog #37 – How Much Did the 70s Impact America?
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?
– Have other trends emerged in the past 21 years that Lemann’s article doesn’t account for?
Yes, other trends have emerged in the past 21 years that were not accounted for in Lemann’s article. For example, many more women are graduating from college, and our world has been forever changed by the new advancing technologies. From iPods and cd players to smart phones and computers, we live in a society where it is rare to not own some sort of technology like this. So much info can be easily spread over the Internet, just like the info on Iraq and Afghanistan was leaked on wiki leaks. Things are advancing in ways that we may never have thought possible.
-Makenzie S
The South did, in fact, did keep growing with the downfall of the rustbelt. The jobs in automotive services weakened and began to see decline in numbers. The oil embargos also contributed alot to this because the Big 3 had not adjusted to the prices that people were paying per gallon on their cars. They had not ever taken into account that these cars were eating up fuel and a incredibly costly rate that would take out alot of the middle-class’ disposable income. This then shrank the middle class and changed the upcoming decade. The middle class was hit the hardest with these new adjustments. Just as they had emerged very strong and prosperous after the 1950s they saw the economy and nation putting them back in balance. Oil had played a very significant part in American foreign and domestic policy because it has become the prized possession. The gold that America is constantly searching for is “black gold”. It is the most valuable resource out there and is almost like when a person takes out gum in school. When a country shows it has oil all of a sudden that country has alot of friends but every actually really wants that oil, or gum. Yes, alot of new trends have occured in the past 21 years such as the reduction of large cars that ear fuel and the newer fuel efficient cars that can get alot more miles to the gallon. These have all been shaped by other country’s oil. Also we saw a long reign of a Republican, George W Bush, for 8 years. This was a negative trend that seemed to have happened because of his father’s reputation and his father’s reputation came from Reagan’s reputation.
I already did 3 questions, here’s my fourth and final:
Other trends that have emerged can be seen in electronics, fashion and archetectural design, and politcial. In the example of electronics for instance, people would rather stay inside rather than get the neighborhood friends together for a good Ol’ fashion game of kick the can. Clothing goes through different trends every 10 years or so so I won’t really touch on that but you can see houses becoming more sleek and modernized, building up instead of out, instead of the house with a picket fence. And in political ways, we’ve had our first black prez and gays can serve openly in the military!
1. Has oil played a significant part in America’s foreign and domestic policy?
Oil has played a big part in America’s foreign and domestic policy sine 1991. Our dependence on foreign oil supplies has increased within the past 21 years. Our foreign and domestic policies could affect the amount of foreign oil we are able to obtain. For example, because of other countries actions we have and have had an oil embargo with countries overseas, like Iran. But now, since oil seems to have more importance in 2012 than it did in the 70’s, it seems like America would try and do anything to keep getting oil because our country wouldn’t be able to function without it.
2. Has the South continued to grow in economic and political strength while the Rustbelt weakened in population and political influence?
The Rustbelt has weakened in population and political influence in the past decade. For example, Detroit’s population continues to go down daily. But, that seems to be because of violence, political corruption in the city, and unemployment. People chose to move out of the rustbelt states for many reasons. It seems like the population has weakened the most, instead of political influence, considering Obama is from Chicago, and Mitt Romney is from Grand Rapids. The South has continued to grow definitely in population and somewhat in political influence. Like in Austin, Texas, they have been having a huge upswing in population.
3. Has the middle class shrunk? Has the middle class had a tougher time paying the bills?
Yes, based on the graph that I found online, the middle class has fallen from 45.6% in 1990 to 42.2% in 2010. This drop is actually the drop of people falling to the lower class, not the upper class, and falling below the poverty line. According to economicsfanatic.com, the number of people in poverty in the US has grown from 32 million in 1990 to 46.2 million in 2010. This is mainly because many of the growing income gap between the middle class, those in poverty and the upper 10%. The middle class have had a much harder time paying their bills because their income has only increased 25% in the past 30 years but for the top 20%, their income has increased 95% and for the top 1%, 281%. Since the middle class is falling behind, many of them can’t afford to pay their bills and are falling out of the middle class, and below the poverty line.
blogs.reuters.com/david-rohde/2012/01/13/white-house-the-american-middle-class-is-shrinking/
http://www.economicsfanatic.com/2012/03/poverty-and-income-inequality-in-us.html
4. Have other trends emerged in the past 21 years that Lemann’s article doesn’t count for?
Yes, new trends have emerged in the past 21 years. There has been so much talk about healthcare (obamacare) and of education reforms in the past few years. This is mostly because of the competition between other countries and their school rankings.
Oil has played a significant role in America’s foreign policy. Since 1990 America has been very proactive in the Middle East (huge exporter of oil). The first Gulf War was to liberate Kuwait, who is a huge exporter of oil, because oil is much cheaper when you are buying from an Allie rather than an enemy. The Middle East has not been the only example of American foreign policy affected by oil. We can look at China, Mexico, Venezuela, and Canada all of whom the U.S. keeps in “good” relations with to keep that ever so precious oil flowing. Since the U.S. has pursued such relations there is a very slim chance that an oil embargo such as the OPEC one in the 1970’s will ever have the same crippling effect due to.
The work force has shrunken though various laws and other initiatives to help grow the middle class which have failed and pushed more people lower. The middle class has been vastly affected by the baby boomers leaving the work force as well the economic burden that comes with the baby boomers leaving the work force which creates fewer jobs which brings the unemployment rate up. This lack of jobs also creates a much smaller middle class. Since the majority of baby boomers are now on social security this raises taxes which put even more strain on the all ready dwindling middle class.
Yes, property taxes have increased and what some consider “wasteful” government spending. Taxes have increased due to the large number of people retiring (baby boomers) which leads to a smaller tax base. People now understand that things will get more expensive and are looking for ways for the government to make money as well as make things cheaper. Many people want certain well fare programs to be cut because they are seen as “wasteful” to make things cheaper. In theory this is a great idea but many people rely on these welfare programs to get by every day. It is certain that property taxes have increased but the idea a “wasteful” government spending is in the eye of the beholder.
As for many republican presidents there is a slim chance for the next couple years that the U.S. will not see a republican in the oval office for a couple reasons. The first would be the two terms George Bush held in office. These two terms saw many difficult choices many of them were seen as wasteful or ill-advised. The other big reason why it will be a while till a republican reaches office is the division in the party. The tea party seems very unstable as well as very radical and unappealing to many lower class and minority citizens.
Many trends have occurred in the past 20 years. The new advances in technology have made it easier to be entertained on the go as well as it is much easier to share information. Due to this ease of sharing there has become a more transparency in our government secrets (wikileaks among other things). The one trend I intend to talk on is the music industry. There has been a major shift in the way music is made as well as the way it is purchased or “shared”. Music in the early 1990’s and even late 80’s was still made by people playing physical instruments and actually singing. Now most popular music (there are still plenty of great acts that can actually make music just less popular ones) is written on a computer by one person the sung into another computer by another person. This is not necessarily a bad thing it just shows the change in the times and technology. Music is also obtained in a different way. People used to go to record stores and buy vinyl, tapes, or CD’s. Now people can get instant downloads from iTunes and other music providers that can be placed on multiple devices. This enables more music to be shared but there seems to be a much smaller profit for the musician than if a CD was bought.
1. The south has not gained any power in the past 21 years, and the rust belt still holds most of the power. This is mostly due to the fact that the South has not played the oil card yet, and America refuses to use its oil reserve for whatever reason. Another reason though, that the south has not gained any power is because it is still a poor area, and the north, mostly the rust belt, has most of the middle class.
2. I think after the 2012 election, we will be able to decide this better because we just had a not so good Democrat President, and the last Republican President was not so good, so this election will be the key stone of the arch of which side the American people will choose to help get us out of the desert.
3. I do think that the middle class has shrunk, and for many reasons. One is that many jobs, including unskilled ones, have been outsourced to foreign countries for cheaper labor. A lot of this can be seen here with the automotive industries leaving, and other jobs, like tela-marketers, have been outsourced. Another reason is that some have been absorbed by the upper class because of taxes, and with America’s standard of living going down; people’s statues have been moved up. And the last reason is just that the last few years have been tough ones on middle class, so a lot of people’s statues have been knocked down.
4. Lemann has not predicted how major the role of modern technology has been in our everyday lives. People now have instant access to an infinite source of information. This is affecting the way we think and the way we make decisions, including the way we vote.
Mitchell August
Blog 6/9/12
APUSH
Question #1: Oil played a significant part in American foreign policy preceding the 1960’s. Middle Eastern countries and Venezuela realized America’s economic dependence on their oil. Without the oil coming from the Middle East, American did not have the amount of oil needed to run the country on a day-by-day bases. We were forced into becoming more dependent on these Middle Eastern nations and they were able to play with prices and keep us out of conflicts with them.
Question #2: YES! Believe it or not the middle class began to shrink as a result of many factors. This was the first time since FDR that the middle class had began to slow down in growth and ultimately flipped (into becoming smaller). High income tax contributed to the falling of the extreme middle class, as well as inflation and outrageous gas prices.
Question #3: By fighting income tax and spending the Republicans have been successful in starting to win over the middle class. Both of these fields appeal greatly to the middle class and reflect everything that the middle class themselves is fighting for and against. By fighting for these things the middle class voter would much rather vote for someone who is going to save them money and quite possible what is not best for the country, rather what is best for themselves.
Everyone’s Question #4: Yes thankfully other trends have emerged in the past 21 years such as equal rights. Finally Americans have broken the presidential color barrier (hopefully soon to be the Jewish one) and we have elected our first black president. States all across America are screaming for gay rights and people are fighting for and against abortion (not reflecting my own opinion on that). Women are now being even more integrated into the work force and America is becoming a more fare and equal place!