Ending the “Decadence”

As I’ve wound up my lectures this term, I’ve tried hard not to plod through the last fifty years as a series of decades–the 1950s, the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, the 90s–but instead to see the period as “an age” or as “ages.” How best to understand the world we’re living in now? How best to understand the first years of our time (whenever that may be).

There are lots of candidates. The Age of Conservatism plays well, which allows the story of the rights expanding language of World War II to parlay into the storms of the middle 1960s, which in turn prompted a conservative outburst, Reaganomics, our current political polarization, the Religious Right, and more.

The Information Age also has some merit. The decline of the 100-year industrial revolution in the 1970s meant economic doldrums for many Americans until the economy rebooted in the 1990s, leading us into the information age that we live in today. In this scenario we can easily introduce globalization and it’s discontents, the internet, 24-hour news cycles, the Lewinsky scandal, and more. This is certainly more of an economic explanation as opposed to a political or culture one, but you’d be foolish to think there’s not a relationship between the three, and that the economy has more often than not been in the driver’s seat in American history.

Then there’s the idea that “We Are All Multiculturalists Now” that Nathan Glazer told us about in 1997. This tells the story of the triumph of the idea that descent shouldn’t matter much in who gets basic rights, our love of diversity talk (and our negligence of class talk), the rise of “political correctness” (which most people simply call “good manners”), and yes, the presidency of Barack Obama.

I find these last few lectures fascinating because things that seemed so important to me in the mid-1990s, now seem so unimportant. I remember a friend in graduate school saying “the legacy of Bill Clinton’s presidency will be his embrace of free trade.” I thought he was crazy–his legacy will of course be Monica Lewinsky and the culture wars.

As I look over my lecture notes now, I’m pretty darn sure my friend was right.

(this post comes from Kevin Schultz; Blum merely re-posted it to get posts in chronological order).

16 thoughts on “Ending the “Decadence”

  1. The document I chose was document 6 in chapter 15 called “Reverend Jerry Falwell Calls America Back to the Bible, 1980.” The reason I chose this document is because it literally lists out the modern day controversial issues that government, especially the conservatives, deal with.
    In the document, Reverend Falwell wants America to revert back to the way it was when the country was formed regarding moral and religious dogmas. He says that even though 84% of American people believe in morality, then “why is America having such internal problems?” Even though he dictates that there are many sins committed in the 1980’s, he lists the ones that have, according to him, political consequence and implications that moral Americans need to be ready to face. Those are abortion, homosexuality, pornography, humanism, and the fractured family. According to Reverend Falwell, these are such issues that have deteriorated the morality of a great nation.
    From what I believe from this document’s standpoint is that these types of issues helped build and give rise to the new conservative right. This led the American people, of whom most are Christian and hold concern for these problems, to vote and hold President Reagan as an American hero of the 80’s and of the neo conservatives.

  2. The document I chose was document 5 in chapter 15 called “Country Singer Merle Haggard Is Proud to Be an ‘Okie From Muskogee,’1969”
    It was interesting reading the lyrics to this song. The song is a rebellion against hippies who are rebelling. I never really thought of different areas of the country not agreeing with the hippie way.
    I think more so than anything this song is a claim of manly hood. It seems as if Merle Haggard is equating the hippie lifestyle of drugs and rebellion to not truly being a man. He talks about how in Muskogee there’s still football and leather boots and there hair is short.
    Also the last verse says “We still wave Old Glory down at the courthouse, In Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA.” Merle Haggard is equating to rebellion in the west not being a man and more importantly not being and American.

  3. The document I will be discussing is document 7 in chapter 15. It is titled “President Ronald Reagan Sees a Revitalized America, 1985.” The title really speaks for itself and it also emphasizes Reagan’s neo conservative victory in the Whitehouse.
    In this document Reagan compares the United States to the time when George Washington was president to his time as president. He describes especially the growth we have gained as a nation since that time for example, he said that we have gone from having 13 to 50 states and have grown 60 times the population of the original 13 states. Through his dialogue he then slips how he and his new conservative ideals have changed the course of recent American history since he took office four years ago. He declares that he has “accomplished” the “new beginning;” in other words the new conservative. He at times throws his ideals such as when he mentions to renew faith, ultimate individual freedom, and a consistent orderly society aka law and order. I believe he was successful as a president because he cleverly made his new conservative message subliminal in this document so the American people may understand and look at him as a hero almost with ease because he touched upon sensitive topics like patriotism and morals.

  4. The article I will be discussing is Chapter 15, “TV’s Archie bunker Sings “Those were the Days,” 1971.”

    “Those were the good old days.” As the song reflects on the past, where they “knew who [they] were then.” Based on lecture people were in a malaise moment, and this song tells how people not knowing what their identity is. They are lost and confused, wishing the “good old days” because at least back then people were defined who they were, and they knew what their purpose was or what they were striving for. I think its shocking in reading that, “Mister we could use a man Like Herbert Hoover again.” The thought of even asking a man like Hoover shows that people are in a desperate need of any direction even from Hoover, who wasn’t really considered as one of greatest presidents in the US. I feel like the way they sing is the only way to express who they really are, that they are calling for something, their identity, sense of self, etc. I believe with everything happen around them at the time, it was just too much to figure who what is really going on in their society. However, why did he refer to Hoover, was it to link back to the Great Depression period? Was the Great Depression, with Hoover better than what they have now?

  5. In the document “President George H. W. Bush Declares the Cold War Over, 1990” the first President Bush sees a world that can come together in peace and freedom now that the Iron Curtain has collapsed. Yet just 15 years later the U.S. was involved in two wars simultaneously under his son’s presidency. And in the document “President George W. Bush Ranks Freedom Above Stability, 2005” the President calls for freedom in the Middle East even though we are in the two wars there, while invoking freedom limiting policies like the Patriot Act here at home. Oh the irony.

  6. The document I will be discussing is from Chapter 16 of Major Problems, document 4 titled “Two Workers Flee the Inferno in the Twin Towers, 2001.”

    This document was interesting to me for a couple of reasons. First, being that the September 11th attacks were so surprising, and that there was no time to plan, it was interesting to read two first-hand accounts of people that escaped the burning buildings. The testimony of Mike was specifically interesting to me because of the fact that he was blind. I would think that it would be difficult enough to escape a burning building from the 50+ level, using only the staircases, while being able to see. Mike, on the other hand, had to travel down the staircases with the additional challenge of being blind amidst all of the chaos of the other people trying to escape the building. One other interesting part of Mike’s testimony was at the end when he was describing that he was a physicist and that he was trying to think of ways to improve the staircase for the next time. In the time when he was trying to escape out of a burning building, Mike was instead thinking about how to improve the footing of the staircase for the next time. It is also of course, ironic, because the suggestion that Mike has for improvements on the staircase will never be made because the building will fall.

    Devin W

  7. The document I am going to discuss is “Country Singer Merle Haggard Is Proud to Be an ‘Okie From Muskogee,’1969” from Chapter 15 document 5. This song is so rebellious. Its a rebellion against crazy hippies rebelling.
    This song resembles Merle Haggard’s manly hood. He talks about drugs and rebelling just like a hardcore man does.
    This song is mostly about men rebelling and trying to be manly. Men during this time had nothing to do but work and be men. Definitely not like today’s world.

  8. I am going to be discussing the document “TV Archie Bunker Sings ‘Those Were the Days’” 1971
    I liked this song because it tied into the lecture about nostalgia which I thought was interesting. When Archie Bunker says “Girls were girls and Men were men” and “Everybody pulls his weight…those were the days” it reminds me of the show “Happy Days” which was also reminiscing about the past and wishing things were still the same. With the 70’s brought the generation of hippies, long hair, free love, psychedelic drugs and being “free” which cause a lot of Americans lie Archie Bunker and the Happy Days show to long for the more traditional days where things were more “under control”.

  9. I am going to be discussing the document “Army Veteran Robert Williams Argues ‘Self-Defense Prevents Bloodshed’” 1962
    I really enjoyed reading this article and was pretty much on edge throughout the entire thing. I almost felt like I was in the car and was about to be attacked by a mob. Its mind blowing to think that this person couldn’t have done a single thing differently and he still would have been blamed. I agree with the title self-defense prevents bloodshed, what was he supposed to do just let them lynch him? Its crazy that the people who saw the car crash happen were filled with such anger and disgust towards black people that just because they witnessed a car crash (that wasn’t even the black persons fault) they act in such hatred: “Somebody in the crowd fired a pistol and the people again started to scream hysterically ‘Kill he niggers! Pour gasoline on them!’ The mob started throwing rocks on top of the car” How could a group of people be so brain washed? Mob mentality or not, the way people treated other people in this time period is mind boggling.

  10. The Document I’m gonna talk about is from chapter 15, “Reverend Jerry Falwell Calls America Back to the Bible, 1980.” I used this document in my blog as well and I found it very interesting. The Reverend is criticizing new America and all the “progress” it has made. (Some consider it progress, he clearly does not.) He criticizes abortion, homosexuality, pornography, humanism, and the fractured family. The world is no longer simple, women and homosexuals now have rights, people are less afraid to get divorced, many don’t follow the Bible word for word. He calls for a spiritual revival in order to get through the twentieth century. I found this document interesting because he states that these problems have political consequences as well as moral ones. I always considered these to be personal choices, not decisions made for us by laws, but in reality they are. Most people don’t have a problem doing what they want until there is a law against it, then all hell breaks loose. Reverend Falwell makes some valid points in his argument and it was interesting to read his opinion on these issues.

  11. The document I would like to discuss is document 9 in chapter 15 entitled “Sierra Club Attacks the President’s Policy, 1988.”

    I find it interesting that despite the environmental friendly politicians lost the majority of the seats they were seeking, yet President Reagan motivated more people to join and become members of the Sierra Club. It’s sad that some of Reagan’s appointees in overseeing the environmental friendly projects failed so miserably.

    One question that spurned as I was reading the document, was what would have happened had half of those environmental friendly politicians won their respective seats? Would we still be facing the environmental problems of today’s society? Would global warming be at this level? Or would it be significantly lower?

  12. TV’s Archie Bunker Sings, “Those Were the Days,” is a great example of nostalgia for the 1950’s. In the 70’s there was a general sense of malaise, and a longing for happier times in the past. However, when people look back on the past, they seem to remember an unrealistic ideal. The line, “Girls were girls and men were men” is indicative of this notion. He liked the idea of clear gender lines, and conformity. However, the conformity of the 50’s was oppressive to many people. People were not allowed to just be who they wanted to be, but were forced into molds. People seemed happy because they were not allowed to show their discontent. He mentions needing a man like Herbert Hoover again. Hoover was hated by the end of his presidency because his lazier faire politics contributed to the Great Depression. People did not need welfare in the 20’s because they were investing irresponsibly. This came at a huge price for the nation. When he mentions, “Everybody pulled his weight,” he assumes that those without jobs want to be unemployed. Speaking from experience, most people without jobs do want to work. However, in the 70’s there was increasing unemployment combined with inflation making it difficult for people to make ends meet. This song makes me wonder what people twenty years from now will be falsely nostalgic for today?

  13. The document I would like to discuss is document 3 in chapter 15 entitled, “TV’s Archie Bunker Sings “Those Were The Days,” 1971.”

    I found it interesting that he made a reference to how “we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again.” Was President Hoover not highly disliked for his lack of governmental help during the Great Depression? The 70’s were also filled with rough times as evident in the video “Stayin Alive” by the Bee Gees, which had some Great Depression like qualities in that there was high unemployment. During another economic hardship, why would Archie Bunker want another man like Hoover who didn’t do anything to help quell the effects of the depression and actually worsened the effects with the Hawley-Smoot Tariff.

  14. I would like to Discuss the Article “TV’s Archie Bunker Sings ‘Those Were the Days.'”

    This article is extremly fascinating because of the statements Bunker makes in his song. When discussing Glen Miller he is referring to a time of affluence and happiness. (in his eyes) Is he saying that the 70’s are worse off than the era of Glen Miller, who was popular during the age of the Great Depression?

    What stood out to me was his political opinions. He says “Didn’t need no welfare state/everybody pulled his weight”. From what I remember from lecture, most of the American population was unhappy with President Hoover and his conservative ways of handling the Great Depression. I understand that History Textbooks tend to go with majority when stating statistics and that Archie Bunker was possibly the minority opinion. However, if he was the minority opinion, then why is this song so famous?

  15. I am going to discuss Rev Jerry Falwell “Calls America Back to the Bible, 1980”

    When I first started reading this I could see his point of view for America to need to unite back together, or “back to basics” with all the unrest going on the the time period. But, as a I turned the page, the topics he conlcluded as problems areas for America were quite shocking because few people today would have such controversal opinions on how America should think. I am very liberal person myself too so it just shocks me to think that leaders had such strong opinions on the matter of Abortion, Homosexuality, porn, religion and family life.

    The topic of gay rights and abortions are always going to be up in the air of opinions from religious people and those who see a more free world, but then to have such a prodominant topic about broken families and porn is something I never really heard before.I d0ont think the reason of discontent was from the spike in divorce rates. In all honesty, families were probably happier homes with divorce and the end of fighting and conflict in the home.

    Referring to his reasons just beacause of what the Bible says is not enough revelance to have such of an opinion today. Not everyone follows the Bible and its just crazy to think that Falwell’s religious opinions are the reason and of analization of how tohelp the Us. If he got his wish, The US would have only taken steps back. The defintion of America is the land of choice and freedom.

    “The authority of Bible morality must once again be recognized as the legitimate guiding principle of our nation…”- Thank God no one really took him too seriosuly!
    -Leanne Mansfield

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