80s discussion

[The Traditional States]

The 1980s are the most memorable for it's interesting culture. Feel free to discuss about it here, chief.

[Totally Not OEP]

A lot of interesting things in terms of geopolitics could've happened.

[Las Palmeras]

I was exposed to New Wave, 80's Pop, Hi-NRG and Italo Disco because of my parents. I feel eternally grateful.

[Cappuccina]

80s cars, music, and cinema!!! My favorite!

[Bear Stearns]

I enjoy the 80s aesthetic very much so, especially the music, movies, fashion, and financial environment. I also believe that culturally America was a lot better than it is today.

However, the problem with the 80s is that a lot of what made the 80s great also ended up making our day and age not so great. Reagan set the precedent for amnesty and surrounded himself with the precursors to Bush-era neoconservatism.

The 1980s weren't necessarily great, but compared to today, they seemed normal. The 50s were known for being conformist, the 60s were hippy, and the 70s were disgusting. And modern America post-9/11 is a hot bed of paranoia, political division, culture wars, cultural displacement, and neocon wars.

I think the reason why late 80s-early 90s nostalgia is so strong because it was when America literally just seemed like a normal place that people more or less respected.

[Cannot think of a name]

You know that song you kids literally have to trick each other into listening to because it's so ridiculous? People listened to that on purpose in the 80s. It wasn't even that guys only hit. Oh yeah, and those legends David Bowie and Mick Jagger? They did this..

The 80s were ridiculous.

[The Traditional States]

I was not born in the 80s, but in all honesty, 80s had the best movies and music. Back to the Future is one of my favorite movies< I also enjoy a lot of the artists during the time, like Motley Crue, Foreigner, Iron Maiden, Van halen, etc. I dislike modern music tbh, chief.

[Bombadil]

It took the 90's to get back to the authenticity of 50's Beat culture, the 80's were the apotheosis of any concept of counter culture being commoditised into factories of corporate productisation.

Then 2001 happened and it all went to shit again.

[Bear Stearns]

It took the 90's to get back to the authenticity of 50's Beat culture, the 80's were the apotheosis of any concept of counter culture being commoditised into factories of corporate productisation.

Then 2001 happened and it all went to shit again.

Certain cultural clashes were already in the making before 9/11 even started, so they would have still happened, but the attacks made everything much more extreme and also made our government more authoritarian. I'll bet that the modern free speech/hate speech debate wouldn't even exist if people didn't have the fear of terrorism in them and the government did already condition people with the PATRIOT Act. We'd still have the other cultural problems of today, like globalization, alt. right/social justice warriors, school shootings, but they likely wouldn't be as common.

On an interesting note, no 9/11 completely changes geopolitics. With no wars in the Middle East or issues with Islamism, China is the big clear enemy and Russia is a tentatively neutral to semi-Western power (it was trending that way until about 2003).

[Cynereth]

The period from 1983 to 2001 is probably the apex of culture. It was like one long gigantic victory party for the Cold War when things started calming down. The basis of the Digital Revolution was laid in this era for the most part: there was some awesome TV and film, incredible music, and the general vibe that things were A-OK. Not everything was copacetic, but it was still this seeming age of innocence.

Speaking as someone who is old enough to remember how things were pre-2001, and how things have been post-2001 in the U.S., I can say that the general mood in this country has never quite been the same. Even as technology has gotten so much better, it feels in a lot of ways that things have gone downhill.

[Bombadil]

It took the 90's to get back to the authenticity of 50's Beat culture, the 80's were the apotheosis of any concept of counter culture being commoditised into factories of corporate productisation.

Then 2001 happened and it all went to shit again.

Certain cultural clashes were already in the making before 9/11 even started, so they would have still happened, but the attacks made everything much more extreme and also made our government more authoritarian. I'll bet that the modern free speech/hate speech debate wouldn't even exist if people didn't have the fear of terrorism in them and the government did already condition people with the PATRIOT Act. We'd still have the other cultural problems of today, like globalization, alt. right/social justice warriors, school shootings, but they likely wouldn't be as common.

On an interesting note, no 9/11 completely changes geopolitics. With no wars in the Middle East or issues with Islamism, China is the big clear enemy and Russia is a tentatively neutral to semi-Western power (it was trending that way until about 2003).

I've seen an argument - and I might go find it, might not - that actually Kosovo was the ignition point. It brought a lot of relatively modern thinking into the tactics of islamic terrorism and fuelled a belief that the West was ignoring the plight of Muslims on their very own doorstep. It created a focal point from which Al Qaeda could take stronger root.

Anyhoo.. the 80's were pretty shit.

I did go find something - https://www.usip.org/sites/default/file ... Kosovo.pdf

[Cameroi]

what the 80s were memorable for me for, were 8-bit personal computers, and literary science fiction conventions.
those were the good side. the bad side was the knee jerk against what the 70s had accomplished.
this was in the u.s. other parts of the planet, milage may have varied considerably. as it does every decade.

[Bear Stearns]

Certain cultural clashes were already in the making before 9/11 even started, so they would have still happened, but the attacks made everything much more extreme and also made our government more authoritarian. I'll bet that the modern free speech/hate speech debate wouldn't even exist if people didn't have the fear of terrorism in them and the government did already condition people with the PATRIOT Act. We'd still have the other cultural problems of today, like globalization, alt. right/social justice warriors, school shootings, but they likely wouldn't be as common.

On an interesting note, no 9/11 completely changes geopolitics. With no wars in the Middle East or issues with Islamism, China is the big clear enemy and Russia is a tentatively neutral to semi-Western power (it was trending that way until about 2003).

I've seen an argument - and I might go find it, might not - that actually Kosovo was the ignition point. It brought a lot of relatively modern thinking into the tactics of islamic terrorism and fuelled a belief that the West was ignoring the plight of Muslims on their very own doorstep. It created a focal point from which Al Qaeda could take stronger root.

Anyhoo.. the 80's were pretty shit.

I did go find something - https://www.usip.org/sites/default/file ... Kosovo.pdf

There is merit to this. Kosovo also heralded that even though the Cold War was over, NATO was still very much going to stick it to Russia (there was hope in the early 90s that Russia would be able to join NATO and become part of the West). Kosovo killed it.

[Bombadil]

The 80s also saw the explosion of AIDS, which freaked everyone the fuck out.. and set back equality by a good 20 years.

[NERVUN]

*sighs* I wouldn't mind an 80's thread. However, I must ask that one with a more developed OP be created.