Reaganism

Since the '50s, I have believed that our reproductive success would inevitably make the earth an inhospitable place, characterized by famines, diseases and wars. Since the '60s, I have worried about future energy availability and the fact that populations were already too dense to cope with the inevitable shortfall. Nixon took notice and advanced some energy-conserving proposals. In the '70s, inflation was rampant through the Ford and Carter administrations, and this was augmented by OPEC's embargo that resulted in severe gas shortages and price hikes. Carter began preparing us for some austerity, but he was hampered by the hostage crisis in Iran. Then along came Reagan. During the 1980 campaign, I objected to his "are you better off?" line, considering the internal complexity and external causes of our problems. It seemed simple minded or dishonest for Reagan to claim that he could cut taxes, increase spending and balance the budget. In fact, these measures quadrupled the national debt in just a few years. It also seemed that deregulation and globalization would bankrupt many US businesses, decimate our manufacturing sector and expand our trade deficit. It angered me to hear him say that the American worker could compete with any in the world, if the government were off their backs. The result was a massive transfer of satisfaction from middle- and working-class families to the very rich. It angered me that he interfered with international family-planning services. His belief that the market place would solve all problems seemed extremely short sighted, as it would accelerate the unsustainable over-exploitation of resources. Regardez the SUV. Reagan's policies succeeded in controlling inflation, which bankrupted many real-estate partnerships (to my detriment) but stimulated stock-market gambling (to my benefit). For me it was a wash. After 26 years, Reaganism is so pervasive as to seem like the natural order. One result is that the US is behind other developed nations in resource-conserving technologies. Another is that overpopulation is bringing misery to many areas of the world. Still another is trillions in debt to other nations. It's time to re-examine Reagan doctrines.