Reagan Revolution Through President Obama - Essay Example

? Running Head: REAGAN REVOLUTION The period from Reagan Revolution through President Obama The Reagan administration proved to be a failure in major ways for its primary policy of emphasizing private profits over public responsibility. It was an era of greed, irresponsibility and negligence. The Reagan economy resulted in making the rich richer while for most Americans there was economic stagnancy. With Obama becoming the president his principle responsibility was to pull the country out of its severe economic depression. His defenders claim that his financial policies have managed to avert a second economic depression. Although this cannot be proved without doubt, it can be strongly held that Obama administration has managed to curb the growing economic decline. This paper focuses on the major events of the era between the Reagan Revolution leading to the Obama administration. Historical turning points Barack Obama’s victory Barack Obama winning the 2008 presidential election is important because of several factors other than the fact that he is the first African-American to become the president of America. In 1980, with Ronald Reagan becoming the president of America the Republicans were pulled into power. Since then it has been seen that the Democrats were taking a backseat. Since Reagan’s victory till 2008 Bill Clinton has been the only one Democrat to become the president. George’s Bush’s re-election in 2004 revived hopes among Republicans but was soon shattered after four years. Obama who belongs to Democratic party instilled hope in the minds of unprecedented numbers of supporters and has stood against all attempts to tarnish his image. (‘Reagan Revolution’ gets bushwhacked, 2008) Impact When Obama became president in 2008 his most important responsibility was to rescue America from the severe economic recession, which was an outcome of deregulation during Reagan’s reign. In November, 2008 employment was declining at an alarming rate and credit markets were over stretched. In January, 2009 Obama decided to release the “second $350 million of TARP funds”. With these funds the policy makers can afford to have critical resources to make plans to stabilize the American economy. (Council of economic advisors, 2010, p.50) Even before he took office a change could be seen in the perspective of the whites regarding African-Americans. Research has shown that 22 percent of Americans view Obama as an exemplary figure when they think of African-Americans. If Obama administration continues to be successful then he can activate positive feelings in majority of people regarding the blacks (The Obama effect…., 2009). Overturning the Reagan Revolution Barack Obama in his inaugural speech pronounced that he would use old and traditional values to effect progressive changes. His approach towards politics would carry a sense of mature collective responsibility instead of the juvenile approach of individualism. He would uphold the democratic role of the US government and would continue to maintain the leadership position of the country in the global front. Obama has defended the traditional values like “honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism”. With this he has broken the established values of Reagan era. Obama has emphasized on the effectiveness of the government over its size thus overturning the Reagan revolution (Dionne, 2009). Impact With advocating the values “tolerance and curiosity” Obama has actually supported the concept of innovations by those who are determined to take risks. Obama as president believes in stressing on the security of the nation as he thinks that “power alone cannot protect”. He stressed on regulations on the market to keep it under control. His aim is to promote equality as according to him “the nation cannot prosper when it favours only the prosperous”. (Dionne, 2009) Impact of 1980s AIDS epidemic American life is largely a manifestation of religious beliefs. AIDS epidemic during the 1980s had a major impact on the Americans as they interpreted the epidemic based on their religious views. Many people of particular religious afflictions publicly commented on their limited perspective of AIDS. In the first few years of the epidemic the common attitude of religion was uncaring towards those struck by the epidemic and uncooperative towards preventive measures. To get cooperation from religious institutes and other social organizations, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) started in the year 1989 “programmatic relationships with business and religious sectors”. Through this program CDC provided AIDS related information to the member organisations which the latter spread in the society through their media counterparts. Since the religious organizations have a positive influence on the society and are respected by the common Americans they could make a strong impact on the people by focusing on HIV issues through their communication networks. Further the religious organizations collaborated with public health services to provide information regarding HIV prevention measures to the CDC member organizations. (Religion and religious groups, 1993) Effects of deregulation movement of the Reagan era Increased debts Deregulation means reduced role of the government on the industrial sector of the society. The origin of the present economic crisis in America took place in the Reagan era. In 1982 Reagan signed the Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act to provide solutions to the troubled institutions of savings-and-loan which are known as thrift institutions. But it turned out to be an utter failure as it turned the moderate troubles of the institutions into disastrous problems. The final effect is the current severe economic crisis. During Reagan era small number of people grew richer while the working class suffered. The financial rules made by Reagan increased both public and private debts. This resulted in borrowers making defaults in later years when housing bubble burst and unemployment increased. (Krugman, 2009) Insolvency of financial institutions The regulatory actions taken by Reagan in the 1980s crippled the American economy which has now reached an alarming stage. Deregulation gave greater opportunities to investors to make higher profits by putting money on riskier ventures on the basis of financial leverage which means increased borrowing. With increased level of borrowing financial sectors became exposed to risks as their investments began to churn in losses. When larger financial institutions hold assets of each other it creates potential for real economic crisis. Hundreds of financial institutions in America including commercial banks and insurance companies became insolvent. (Field, 2010) US war with Afghanistan and Iraq The US war against Afghanistan was essentially illegal because it did not abide by the international law on war. According to the law when one nation makes armed attack on another nation, only then the attacked nation can use military aggression for defense. In this case Afghanistan did not attack since the 19 convicted men were not Afghans. Also permission from UN Security Council is needed to start a war and in this case the council did not permit the war. However there were some moral rationales behind the war. The 19 convicted men were Muslims and were members of al-Qaeda whose founder Osama Bin Laden was in Afghanistan. The war became inevitable when Afghanistan refused to surrender Osama. (Griffin, 2010) The reason that Bush gave for Iraq war was protection of Iraq’s large oil fields from terrorists. He argued that the war would hinder terrorists from making Iraq a base to enroll followers and preparing them for wars. (Bush gives new reason for Iraq war, 2005) An international poll revealed that many people from all over the world took an unfavorable view on America especially on Bush. When people were asked who they think is a threat to world peace United States got more votes than al-Qaeda terrorist group. More people felt that America is more dangerous than countries like Iran and Syria. The poll also revealed negative views of people on America’s war on terrorism in the Middle East. (World Opposed…., 2003) Conclusion The continuous economic depression has created disparities within the American society thus threatening its position as superpower in the global arena. Although it has always been a land of unlimited opportunities but the success has become fragile. If there is no fast solution for overcoming the economic downfall, then the global economy is at stake. The growing disparity between the rich and the poor violates the core image of the United States. References Bush gives new reason for Iraq war, (August 31, 2005) Boston, retrieved on May 28, 2012 from: http://articles.boston.com/2005-08-31/news/29217272_1_democratic-presidents-roosevelt-oil-fields-iraq Council of economic advisors, (2010) Economic Report of the President, Washington: DIANE Publishing Dionne, E.J. (January 22, 2009), Obama Aims to Overturn the Reagan Revolution Quietly, Realclearpolitics, retrieved on June 8, 2012 from: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/01/obamas_target_extreme_individu.html Field, A.J. (June 25, 2010), Today's problems began in Reagan's era of deregulation, The Monitor, retrieved on May 28, 2012 from: http://www.themonitor.com/articles/reagan-40230-began-santa.html Griffin, D.R. (2010), Did 9/11 Justify the War in Afghanistan? Globalresearch, retrieved on May 28, 2012 from: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=19891 Krugman, P. (May 31, 2009), Reagan did it, The New York Times, retrieved on May 28, 2012 from: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/opinion/01krugman.html ‘Reagan Revolution’ gets bushwhacked, (November 11, 2008) TheNational, retrieved on May 28, 2012 from: http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/americas/reagan-revolution-gets-bushwhacked Religion and religious groups, (1993) NAP, retrieved on May 28, 2012 from: http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1881&page=117 The Obama effect: Researchers cite President's role in reducing racism, (February 12, 2009) Psychology & Sociology, retrieved on May 28, 2012 from: http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/02/12/the.obama.effect.researchers.cite.presidents.role.reducing.racism World Opposed to Bush and Iraq War: BBC Poll Says, (June 18, 2003) english.people, retrieved on May 28, 2012 from: http://english.people.com.cn/200306/18/eng20030618_118439.shtml Read More