Party like it’s the 1980s

by Julian Zelizer,

While the [new show “The Goldbergs”] will showcase the lighter side of American culture in the 1980s, we should remember the decade was anything but simple when it came to politics. There were huge changes that took place in this pivotal decade that continue to shape politics today.

Tax cuts and deregulation: The roots of our current economic policies lie in the 1980s. With Ronald Reagan in the White House, Republicans were able to have a huge impact on taxation and regulation. One of Reagan’s signature changes was the tax reduction of 1981, which significantly lowered income tax rates and weakened the ability of the federal government to raise revenue.

The Reagan administration was also very successful at promoting economic deregulation. The idea of deregulation had already gained bipartisan support in the 1970s. Democrats like Sen. Ted Kennedy pushed for the deregulation of the airline industry to help consumers, while conservative economists like Milton Friedman championed deregulation to free up markets. But Reagan sold the idea like no other politician before him. He believed that markets were superior to government at almost every turn. His aggressive push for deregulation of markets would continue to influence debate in the 1990s as Democrats joined the GOP in dismantling New Deal programs that had monitored financial markets. The nation paid the price with the devastating financial collapse of 2008.

The end of the Cold War: The end of the Cold War started in the middle of the 1980s. While young Americans such as Barry — the middle child in the television show and the family upon which it is based — were mostly worried about what cassette tapes they should buy and getting their first car, Reagan entered into a series of historic negotiations with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev between 1985 and 1987 that culminated with the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 1987.

Following the treaty, the Soviet Union would collapse in the years when George H.W. Bush was in the White House. Since the 1980s American foreign policy has been characterized by a shifting and murky battle against rogue states and terrorist networks.

Liberalization of social and cultural values: Even with Reagan and Bush in the White House, American culture continued to embrace the values from the Age of Aquarius. During this decade, Americans were listening to more explicit lyrics in their music, watching television shows and movies that had more sexuality and violence, and listening to radio shows such as Howard Stern’s which abandoned the social inhibitions of the 1940s and 1950s.

Beyond entertainment, public health crises — most importantly the spread of the deadly AIDS virus — required policymakers to have more honest talks with the public about sexual relations.

As homosexuality became less of a taboo, more gay Americans came out of the closet.

Americans were also living in a country that was becoming even more ethnically and culturally diverse, as the waves of immigration that had swept into the nation since the immigration reform of 1965 remade the cities and suburbs.

The 24-hour news media: In 1980, CNN began, and the erosion of the era of network news dominance was under way. The network news established in the 1960s had revolved around three nightly news shows, each approximately a half-hour in length. CNN broke the mold when it began the 24-hour news cycle from its Atlanta studios.

Once the Fairness Doctrine, which had required stations to give opposing viewpoints equal airtime, came to an end in 1987, the cable networks could air more partisan newscasts.

As viewers watch the antics of the Goldbergs, remembering or learning about what life was like in long-ago suburbia, it’s worth thinking about the bigger changes that were taking place outside the home that have continued to shape our politics. The 1980s are much more than nostalgia.

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