USA history: 1980s

It’s the beginning of the 1980s, and Americans hope this decade will be one of peace and prosperity — unlike the last one. The 1970s were filled with oil shortages, job losses, and a decline in the value of the dollar… crises that have caused a sharp slow down in economic activities — a recession. Newly elected president, Ronald Reagan, assures Americans that he has a way to rescue the economy. The federal government will solve the economic problems! By doing… well, nothing.

Reagan believes that if the government stops interfering with exchanges between businesses and buyers — the free market — the economic problems will resolve themselves. So he reduces the size of the federal government, gets rid of government rules that hold businesses back, and stops collecting so much tax from large companies — and their wealthy owners. Allowing people with money to keep it will encourage them to buy more goods, Reagan reasons. This will help businesses grow, the economy will improve, and the prosperity of the richest will ‘trickle down’ to everyone. For Reagan’s plan to work, all Americans need to do is spend… And spend they do.

Shopping becomes Americans’ number one hobby. In the first five years of the ‘80s, America’s 91 million households purchase 62 million microwaves, 63 million videocassette recorders, and 105 million televisions. It is the greatest spending spree since the boom that followed World War II. New shopping centres spring up to serve eager buyers — by 1985, there are more than 26 000 across the country. The shopping mall is challenged by one emerging competitor… …home shopping.

More and more businesses begin to offer their products via mail-order catalogues. From the comfort of their couches, Americans choose from pages of goods sold by department stores, tech companies, even art museums. Or they reach for the remote to join the new craze of television home shopping. Hosts parade kitchen gadgets, jewellery, and clothes going for ‘unbelievably’ low prices. For certain city dwellers, shopping is not simply a hobby; it is part of their identity.

Young, urban professionals, or yuppies, no longer define success in terms of a steady job and a loving family. Instead, they strive for higher and higher salaries, an elegant home or apartment, a membership to an upscale health club, and brand name clothes to show off their expensive taste. But the yuppie lifestyle isn’t for everyone… Conservative Christians, living mostly in rural and suburban areas, promote traditional values of family and humility. They become increasingly organised over the decade, forming groups that work together to influence American culture and politics. Together, these groups are known as the Religious Right.

The Religious Right supports conservative candidates running for political office and pushes for legal changes, like making school prayer compulsory and banning abortions. Christians are not the only group distanced from the yuppie lifestyle. Many Americans experience financial hardship in the ‘80s, despite Reagan’s assurances of trickle down prosperity. Incomes among African Americans do not rise in step with those of white Americans. And Reagan’s reliance on the free market means government funding for programs like rent-reduced housing and Aid to Families with Dependent Children is cut.

Hundreds of thousands of people, unable to pay rising rent costs, are forced onto the streets. Throughout the decade, the number of homeless people nationwide grows by almost 25 percent each year. The 1980s is a period of social extremes. The glamour of the yuppie lifestyle, the conservative values of the Religious Right, and the plight of those facing financial hardship compete for cultural and political attention.