Quote:
Originally Posted by Cape Cod Todd
I think there was a feeling that America was Awesome and we could do no wrong, the world looked up to us and we all had bright futures ahead in fact "our futures were so bright we had to wear shades" (that was a song back then).
In the midst of the 80's was a swell of Patriotism with Bruce Springsteens huge hit "Born in the USA" .
The 80's were a time of greed and wealth for some but if you were not rich it didn't matter you could still squeeze into your acid wash jeans and tease your hair to the moon or don a Tshirt and roll up those sleeves on your sport coat and all was good.
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I think you pretty much nailed it.
I still can't fully explain the surge in patriotism during Reagan's 2nd term, but it was certainly prevalent from '84 to '86. I can remember the 200th anniversary of the Statue of Liberty in July 1986 and that seemed like a big event at the time. Maybe it's because during the 70's we kinda hated ourselves for getting involved in the huge mess of the Vietnam War, and we finally felt like it was OK to feel good about ourselves again. Reagan declared America was the "Shining City on a Hill" in 1984 and we all bought into it, and that fueled the good-times music of the era. Like you said, there was a focus on greed and everyone wanted a big house and new BMW but I remember in my little town I grew up in, it was more about basic values like treating people decent and just having FUN.
I remember the 80's starting off gloomy (Iran hostage crisis, recession and Reagan shooting) and then kinda ending gloomy, too (another small recession). But for that period '83 to '87 it was all about the good feels!
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