Assignment #4 The Ragan Revolution through President Obamma - Essay Example

President Ronald Reagan is believed to have changed the American trajectory in a way that no other president has ever done and his contribution to America is being felt in the current Obama’s era. Reagan put America on a completely different path which the country really needed at that period between 1960’s and 1970’s and that is what President Obama is trying to achieve through his policies. He introduced clarity, optimism, and the sense of entrepreneurship and dynamism. This can be seen by several historical events that took place during his era and are still impacting the current American society economically, politically and American culture. One of the major historical turning points during Regan’s error is AIDs epidemic. AIDs killed millions of people during this period but the main tragedy was not the disease but the lack of enough action to control it. One of the reasons behind this situation was the belief that AID s could only be contracted by homosexuals. President Reagan was reluctant thus did not fully support of the disease treatment as he didn’t want to anger the Christian conservatives (Field pp 4 2012). The American public only came to realize the reality of the disease after a hemophiliac teenager contracted AIDS virus through blood transfusion and the public confession of Magic Johnson announcing that he too had contracted the virus. The other event was the expansion of the southern states to the western dangerous regions as well as their efforts to tame new frontiers. During this period, the wives of the army men were made to enjoy a different status. This was completely different in comparison to the woman rights during the America colonization and civil war period. The areas allowed their women to take part in civil society and voting as well as assuming the judge position. The culture of the army wives gave women equal eminence at the time of frontier expansion. As this took place in the western frontiers, the rest of the states conserved their male order societies. This situation led to the frontier women to enjoy a status that was special following the forward posts isolation pockets and the community transformation into a society during threat and danger times so as to continue existing efficiently. The end result was that the women ended up sharing the same responsibilities with the men and their system allowed a combined authority while the eastern states stuck to their traditional culture of having the males dominate in everything (Findling and Thackeray pp72 2011). The AIDS epidemic situation in the 1980 led the Americans to lose confidence in the government following the many stigmas and prejudice concerning the disease. The government had ignored the disease terming it as a gay disease and did not offer any support to the public. This left the entire nation to live in fear as they remained uneducated on the transmission and the risks associated with AIDS. An AIDs activist’s movement had to step in and it did this by blaming the government for the thousands of the deaths across the country. By the year 1983, reports had it that more than three thousands AIDS cases had been reported in America and half of these cases had resulted in death (O'Reilly pp23 2008). In 1985, President Reagan had to give in to the pressure and he announced the AIDS epidemic to be a national disaster after which the government came up with several measures to prevent the disease from spreading. During the deregulation movement, Reagan did away with the domestic petroleum prices and allocation controls as well as lowering the tax on oil windfall profit. These steps both taking place in 1981 January and August respectively helped to bring an end to the energy crisis which had begun in 1979. Thus Reagan is still remembered for bringing an end to the tax on windfall profits in the year 1988 during the oil glut in the 1980’s. The deregulation movement had also some negative effects associated with it which include banks being allowed to have too much freedom. The excess freedom was also extended to the employers (Samples pp68 2010). There are many debates as to whether the 9/11 attack was a legal justification for the Afghanistan war. This is in relation to the international law put forward by the United Nation with regards to war. Measured by the UN Charter, the war led by the US in Afghanistan can be considered as being illegal. This is because with reference to the international law, international disputes have to be tabled before the UN Security Council and it is only after such a step that the council can authorize the use of any kind of force (Troy pp81 2005). Without such an authorization, any military action against any nation is seen as being illegal. In addition, according to the UN Charter, if a country is attacked, it may respond using its military in self- defense. However, looking at the 9/11 attack, this condition was not fulfilled as the attack was not conducted by another country; the 19 men charged following the attack were not from Afghanistan hence Afghanistan did not stage the attack. By looking at the Obama’s policies such as the Health Bill and the War on Afghanistan, our minds are taken back to the Reagan Era to what is being referred to as the Reagan Revolution. The current policies have received both praised and criticisms just as what was witnessed during the Reagan Revolution. Reagan has been accused by many following the way he reacted to the AIDs epidemic but also praised for his efforts to stablize the economy of the United States hence the Reagan Revolution has impacted the today’s United States in both negative and positive ways. References Field, H. (2012). The New Nationalism: How The Next Great American Debate Will Restore Our Country By Recasting Our Politics. New York: Ebookit.Com. Findling, J., and Thackeray, F. (2011). What Happened?: An Encyclopedia Of Events That Changed America Forever. California: ABC-CLIO. O'Reilly, M. (2008).Unexceptional: America's Empire in the Persian Gulf, 1941-2007. Lanham: Lexington Books. Samples, J. (2010).The Struggle to Limit Government: A Modern Political History. Washington: Cato Institute. Troy, G. (2005). Morning In America: How Ronald Reagan Invented The 1980s. Princeton: Princeton University Pres Read More