Back to the Future: How 1980s ‘greed is good’ culture spawned Donald Trump

AlterNet logoIf you were a 20something in 1980something you’re probably loving the recent pop culture revival of that decade. Stranger Things, has a fourth season due out this yearAmerican Horror Story: 1984 is streaming on Hulu  and if I had anywhere to go I might rock some chunky pearls and taffeta, too, but as charming as this nostalgia is there was nothing quite like being there. The 70’s was my favorite decade aesthetically, but, truth, it was homespun, handmade, gritty and populist. The most popular TV shows were about poor and working class people, we never questioned polyester) and in 1977 President Jimmy Carter blew off riding in the presidential limo and walked from his swearing in to the White House, in part, as he wrote in his diary, to show his intention of “a reduction in the imperial status of the president and his family.”

It was a lovely moment but when the 80’s rolled up in a Mercedes, snorting champagne and telling us it was okay to like money it was a breath of fresh designer air. Being 70’s kids, we inhaled.

There’s one tinge of ickiness stuck to the otherwise joyful 80’s nostalgia wave, which is that it was the decade from which seeped Donald Trump. It made me wonder, was the fun-loving 80’s was in its ability to spawn someone so awful? Why was the 80’s so besotted with money in the first place? Continue reading.