Universe On The Couch

Bill Clinton won the election with less than half of the votes as detailed in the last entry. It was probably a good thing he won. The past twelve years had allowed a mindset of anger and futility in many groups that were feeling left out of the political game and social relevancy. These included Blacks, women, the working class, the poor and liberals.

Clinton was born without status. He was the any boy can grow up to be President. Raised by his Mom in the South. Probably out-of-wedlock. Very smart, ambitious and most of all charming. Even his political enemies commented on his charm. He was hard not to like in person. He was a fun President, young and energetic. And the first Baby Boom President as well.

The economy turned around from the recent recession quickly. It only got better from there. Much better. The Great Boom of the nineties. While forces beyond Clinton were the cause, he did his best not to disrupt the party. The main area of growth was technology, mainly the PC and then the Internet. Jobs were plentiful. Many got rich or super-rich. Secretaries in the new start-ups became millionaires. Inflation was under good control thanks to former Fed Chairman Volker a decade earlier. Current Chair Greenspan was a public hero and named The Maestro. History would not remember him so well.

The stock market was the new buzz. Record numbers of citizens invested on their own or through retirement plans. The market soared to new heights. Newer companies made incredible gains. Qualcomm went up 2,000% in 1999! Stock options were making engineers millionaires by age thirty.

The coffers of local, state and the federal government overflowed. Spending the surplus was big talk. The Republicans wanted tax cuts, while the Democrats wanted more social programs.

Sure, there were problems, but who cares? Good times are here to stay. Everybody was going to get rich. Market cycles and normal valuations of companies no longer mattered. There was no place to go but up and America as number one in every meaningful category.

The George H. Bush years, 1989 to 1992, were essentially an extension of the Reagan years. He had been the VP under Reagan, and essentially continued the policies. Three events marked this administration. The first was the Fall of Communism. The second was the War in Iraq. The third was the economic and social downturn that led to his defeat in 1992.

In November 1989, the Berlin Wall came down. It was symbolic that the Cold War was essentially over. Capitalism, Democracy and the USA had won. The USSR could no longer compete with US military technology and the economic ability to produce those weapons. They had been outspent. They could no longer afford to support the anemic economies of their satellites.

This would lead to a discussion over following years of how to spend the "peace dividend" since the large spending on military would no longer be needed. This would prove to be a pre-mature discussion.

The end of the USSR and its empire of influence was widely cheered. However problems were created. Russia itself would have political and economic instability and be ruled mafia style by the old ruling party in a peverted criminal capitalism. Former Soviet republics rebelled and war followed. Former sattellites alos found ethnic conflict and violence once the biggest tyrant was removed. Prosperous West Germany strained under the weight of millions who were poor and had the welfare mentality and poor work ethic created by Communism. And finally, the weapons of the former USSR were not well accounted for. This included nuclear materials as well as biological agents.

In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait and threatened Saudi Arabia. The UN forces, led by the US and including Moslem/Arab allies, easily pushed Iraq out. There was great rejoicing and clear victory. Bush enjoyed great popularity at that time, 1991.

But the tide of public opinion would change. A minor recession pushed up unemployment. Bush was percieved as uncaring and out-of-touch with the common working person. He was seen as a leader of the old white boy power gang.

There were social problems as well. Many citizens, especially minorities felt left out of the prosperity and political process. this came to ahead when four LAPD officers were aquitted in the beating of Black motorist Rodney King. Riots followed in American cities.

Many were again unemployed. Bush was perceived as uncaring and out of touch. He told the citizens to stay the course and the economy would improve. He was right, but the people were impatient.

The eighties had a clear beginning: The election and inauguration of Ronald Reagan. The landslide victory over Jimmy Carter showed Americans had had enough of both an afraid to stand-up foreign policy and stagflation. He announced it's 8AM in America and time to get down to work. The hostages were released during the inauguration itself.

The beginning was rocky. Fed Chairman Volker aggressively raised interest rates to control inflation. This led to another recession and job losses. Then there were plenty of cuts in the budget, at least for social programs such as education. He then set about record deficits to build up the military. He was going to win the Cold War. And he did.

Unfortunately, he set the record for deficit spending. Fate would forgive him on this, setting a terrible precedent for the future. He added to the deficit with tax cuts to stimulate the economy. It appeared to work as over time the stock market and economy as a whole did quite well. Inflation got under much better control. people were back to work. People, especially higher on the demographic curve, were making more money.

Technology took off. The PC was the big issue. Considered not all that useful except for big institutions, the new microelectronics of the integrated circuit from the 70's allowed individuals to create their own computers. Now viewed as quite primitive, limited and bulky, they invaded homes and businesses. A whole new group of enteprenuers created a new way of work and play. And they got very rich doing it. Microsoft and Apple werre the two biggest stories here.

Yuppies werre the big social phenomena. The Boomers again. After the sixties of free love, LSD and political change to the seventies of casual sex, party drugs and "self-growth;" they turned to coupling, nesting, raising only children, caffiene, money and consumer status symbols. Of course this is a big generalization as before.

This fast-paced decade would go turbocharged in the nineties.

The sixties era slouched into the seventies with unclear boundries as do most eras. Did they begin with the Watergate? The end of Vietnam hostilities? Nixon resigning? The Arab Oil Embargo? I figure it was about 1973. It ended in late 1980 with the election of Reagan.

We begin the era in 1973. We went back to the Moon and even took a roadtrip there in our dune buggy. Then funding was cut as money got tight and the public lost interest. Nixon was into his second term after a landslide election. We were slowly getting out of Vietnam.

I would list five trends that defined the seventies: The social hangover from the sixties.
Post-Vietnam Syndrome. Loss of faith in government and country. Economic stagflation. And the Me Generation.

The Social Hangover. Sheer exaustion and a headache. Most of those older than the Boomers were sick of the whole thing. Many of the Boomers themselves were ready to get on with their lives. Sleeping around did not really liberate one's sexuality. LSD didn't make one a sage. Marx doesn't hold water in the real world. Communes gives the lazy an easy way to exploit those doing the work.

Post-Vietnam. Shame at all the destruction and lost lives for nothing. Shame getting your ass kicked by a third-world tiny country. Shame at spitting on the vets. Now the country wanted to simply ignore the whole thing. Pretend it never happened. And ignore the vets with their traumatized bodies and minds.

Loss of faith. A stupid war that never seemed to end despite the public wanting it to. A bungled burglary called Watergate. Secret tapes. The VP and then Nixon himself resigns in utter shame. He would have not only been impeached, but likely removed from office as well. If the boomers lost faith by 1968, many of those older had their doubts now. The kids born in the sixties learned that the government is corrupt and can't be counted on.

The Me Generation. Again we point an angry finger at the boomers. Seeing the We Generation was in many ways fruitless and that the old power structures were not interested in the potential for a much better world, they turned very local-to the individual. The pop psychology of the times was about ME. Selfish was in. Women demanded more rights. Marriages broke up as people wanted "freedom." Hedonism flourished. Casual sex was more active than free love ever was. More pot was smoked, perfect for detaching from the corrupt system. LSD was out, cocaine was in. The ultimate selfish drug. People also turned inward to yoga, meditation and Eastern religion. Interest in healthier lifestyles with diet and exercise was growing. Running became popular. This trend was hardly limited to the boomers either. Those a bit older were caught up in it too. Those younger were raised in its midst.

Stagflation. The economy tanked. Part business cycle after a long boom. Part a war hangover. And set-up by huge deficits per the triad of LBJ: Tax cuts, a long war and massive social entitlements. Nixon only made it worse with more handouts to get re-elected. Then he abandoned any kind of gold standard and eneded Bretton-Woods.

Now the effects were obvious. Many blamed OPEC, given the price of oil. But while it was in part to punish the US for its support of Isreal, much of it was to counter the devalued dollar. Inflation raged while jobs were lost. Spending power dwindled.

The Watergate incident and its aftermath led to the resignation of Nixon. Ford was now president, having taken the VP job when Agnew resigned after being caught up in corruption. So Ford inherited a mess. He was powerless to stop the mess. Nobody probably could have. But he was blamed.

Carter was elected in 1976. The nation had enough of the Republican mess. They thought the Democrats and their kind gentle leader could improve things. Despite being an intelligent and honest man, or perhaps becasue he was a decent and good man, he failed. Again, like Ford, perhaps he was not to blame.

Still, the economy dragged and inflation raged. Iran rovolted to Islamic Fundamentalism and took Americans at the embassy hostage. The USSR got bold and invaded Afganistan. There was a bond crisis and he was forced to raise interest rates to avoid fiscal collapse of the government. Most did not know this grave danger and hence the economy sunk further. The people were again ready for something different.

Well, not that different. Reagan again ran for President, finally winning the Republican primary. Tall, handsome and charming; he perfected his manner in a progression from radio sportscaster, actor, the SAG, commercials and TV, and then Governor of California. Clearly conservative, he campaigned on a platform of getting America back to work, on top of the world and behaving morally.