When was America great ?

[Dill]

(07-07-2023, 07:33 AM)Arturo Bandini Wrote: You know, the agenda now is to make America great again but since I don't really paid attention to your whole history, I would like to know for you guys, when it was the last time America was great ?

And why did it start to fall right after that ?

What would it take to make it great again ?

Interesting question, Arturo.

The answers you get may depend a lot on how you are defining "great." 

In terms of sheer military power and diplomatic influence, our heyday was probably the 90s, immediately after the fall of the Soviet Union.

We still have the most powerful military and largest economy, but China is ascending and we have thrown away a great deal of our influence and the respect of other nations. Those we WANT to respect us (I include France) see us as increasingly erratic, with an unstable and increasingly unpredictable foreign policy. 

If you mean "great" for the majority of Americans who are not Black or Hispanic, then probably the period between the end of the Korean war and 1968, when divisions over civil rights and the Vietnam War eroded trust in government, followed by Watergate and then the '73 oil boycott. By mid '70s, and heavy stagflation, we didn't realize it but the period in which children regularly advanced over their parents in terms of wealth and education was passing. The Reagan administration ushered in the era of neoliberalism, cutting taxes on the rich unraveling the welfare state, and increasing defense spending. The wealth gap sprang wide, then wider. 

For Black and Hispanic citizens, speaking as an outside observer, opportunities greatly expanded following the Civil Rights Act and the implementation of AA in education and business. That expansion lasted roughly a generation, until resistance consolidated under Reagan, whence followed a period of trench warfare in which civil rights gains were contested on many fronts, slowed, and finally began to reverse after the election of George W. Things are still MUCH better than they were in 1964, or even 1984, for that matter, if you belong to one of those groups. 

If "great" is defined by quality of life--community, family connections, leisure, work satisfaction--then I'm not sure. For "white" Americans, that period may have been in the 50s and early 60s. For the largest minorities, probably post 80s to Trump's election.

Probably the greatest negative effect on U.S. military power, economy and qualitive of life followed from the Vietnam War, which began the deepest and most serious divisions in the U.S., accompanied by economic decline (for the middle class), followed by the organization and consolidation of what used to be a far or "fringe" right, starting under Reagan, but getting its biggest boost from changes in communications technology and law, which enabled the rise first of right wing talk radio, then Fox and Newsmax. Suddenly 10s of millions were learning that "the left" was steering the country wrong but a new class of politicians would save us if voted into power. Gingrich changed the tone of Congress to "attack," and the RWM convinced its followers this newly savage rhetoric was caused by "the left," who either started it or deserved it. Thus began the increasing domestic paralysis. 

By 2016, the damage was irreversible. A large plurality now bases its voting on an alternative version of reality which has become utterly real for millions.
One new false narrative follows another (the Mueller Report vindicated Trump! Impeachments were a 'witch hunt'! Joe Biden got millions from China!). In previous generations, the Trump administration would have appeared a disaster to both parties. Now, even after Trump attempted a coup, 10s of millions have set that aside to worry about Dem "weaponization" of government, for them now the "real" threat. A huge segment of our politics has simply flown free of responsible factual grounding, and is ready to fight for its alternative version of reality, now best dramatized by a Jordan-led Congressional hearing on "whistleblowers"-- all fire and then fizzle.  I don't see this getting better soon, as defense of democracy is increasing framed as "attacks on Trump" by that nebulous entity now know as "the left."