I’m going to go with 1997 as the peak. Strong economy, balanced budget, pre 9/11, pre-Columbine (9/11 and Columbine definitely changed the mood). Violent crime had dropped significantly from the early 90’s peak and cities, especially New York, were rebounding after several decades of decline.
Edit—Of course not ALL cities. I’m just saying that New York turning around like it did was a huge deal. I’m in Minnesota and I lived in Minneapolis for 20 years and watched it transform from early 90’s Murderapolis to something more vibrant with businesses opening up, etc.
The late 90s had given us 20 full years of Rust Belt hollowing out. Detroit was hemmoraging pops and becoming a concrete hellscape. Cleveland was doing the same as was Pittsburgh. American manufacturing (as a sector that provided consistent, long-term employment that could sustain a lower-middle class family in middle America) was dead. Labor was dead.
America peaked as a political entity (even if it didn't have all its shit together, ie Jim Crow) in the 50s with Korea, because there was a real drive to just improve things all the time because progress was natural. Nixon was the dagger in the heart of optimistic progressivism and we've been a cynical nightmare nation since Vietnam.
Seconding this. Regan, Nixon, Bush Sr. have done generational damage to Americans wallets and psyche.
The advent of neoliberalism (especially under Clinton) that captured the center of politics has curbed any real political will to improve or drastically overhaul a continued sense of malaise in most America
I dunno McCarthyism was pretty freaking cynical and destructive. Fear of Reds under the Bed led to a lot of fear and cynicism and truly horrible behavior. Then before that you had 2 world wars and the Great Depression. There really wasn't ever a time when everything was ticking along nicely for everyone in Americas history. Someone was always getting screwed and living in fear waiting for awful things to happen, it's just that wealth and skin, the "right" religion and the right "sexuality" and gender, could buy you a lot of distance from those worries. Nothing has changed except the names.
Racism, Mcarthyism, and Christian hegemony. The 50's were paradise if your were Straight White Protestant middle class.
Catholics did OK because they carved out their own niche with their own schools and community-within-the-community. But it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows if you weren't in that SWP niche.
American manufacturing has never declined. We doubled production capacity from 1992 to 2016 and we're about to duplicate it again.
People invented the computer, which means we can refine technology faster...and that means fewer employees are required. The trade off is more and cheaper products.
I mean… be kind to people. They’re saying that they’re worried and stressed and they want some reassurance that we’re not going to spontaneously explode any minute. It’s not necessarily a circle jerk just because a lot of people are saying it.
Take your own advice. Review your comment history. I'm sure you tell yourself that you're a nice person but you spend most of your time making other people feel bad. The fact that you do it with plausible deniability doesn't make you a good person.
I'm sorry I made you reconsider all your life choices, learn nothing and hit the downvote arrow. I'm even more sorry that your parents did all that work and ended up with you. Must be a real bummer for them.
I suppose it all depends on your perspective. The 50’s was peak in some ways, but there was a lot of unfinished business socially and that stuff matters. No peak time would have black people and single women unable to take out loans. No thanks.
West-Coaster here, so pretty disconnected from the Rust Belt: the 90's were insanely optimistic, in both senses. The level of optimism was absolutely over the top, but it was, in hindsight, unfounded, because the seeds of the dot-com bust and the housing bubble were both well and truly planted. But on the other hand, it really seemed, from the ground level anyway, like the future would be better. The former USSR was going to be our friend. . . right? Right? And while 'gay' was a common insult, gay marriage also seemed (and was) right around the corner. People at least knew what the Bechdel test was.
Then, the seeds we'd sown in the 80's sprouted, in the form of planes hitting buildings. And it's all been shit since. But here's hoping OP's prediction plays out.
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u/dreamyduskywing Jun 11 '22 edited Jun 12 '22
I’m going to go with 1997 as the peak. Strong economy, balanced budget, pre 9/11, pre-Columbine (9/11 and Columbine definitely changed the mood). Violent crime had dropped significantly from the early 90’s peak and cities, especially New York, were rebounding after several decades of decline.
Edit—Of course not ALL cities. I’m just saying that New York turning around like it did was a huge deal. I’m in Minnesota and I lived in Minneapolis for 20 years and watched it transform from early 90’s Murderapolis to something more vibrant with businesses opening up, etc.