The Bummer Decade Existentialism and the Unraveling of Liberalism in the 1970s I The 1970s the Hangover from the 1960s party a Disillusionment cynicism diminished expectation and a new suspicion of government b Death of the Liberal Consensus i The product of a perfect storm of historical events and conditions II Vietnam and The Reaction against Rage a Political effects of the credibility gap i Americans lose trust in the gov t ii Loss in Vietnam is a hard blow because we have never lost something so important b Watergate i Reinforces the credibility gap c Growing disgust with radicalism Weathermen d Conservatives See This is what liberalism has Panthers etc brought you i Conservatives and liberals turned off by hippies III The End of Prosperity a Global economic competition b Guns and Butter inflation from spending on Vietnam and the Great Society at the same time c The Oil Crisis of 1973 4 i Because of Yom Kippur war ii stagflation inflation stagnant growth 1 Prices go up but wages don t iii The misery index d Conservative Response i Economic problems excessive government regulation 1 excessive taxation 2 inefficiency a the problem of welfare handouts b gov t social programs creating moochers who would rather get a gov t handout than work e The appeal of conservative arguments to Democratic hardhats i Working class democrats hardhats join the republican party IV Race the Southern Strategy and Busing a The Southern Strategy i Goldwater s southern success in 1964 1 Southern whites thought Goldwater was against desegregation so they voted for him ii GOP Lesson win over southern segregationist Democrats without alienating other Republicans and win national power 1 Using broad strategic language state s rights getting government off your back cracking down on the lazy and the criminal etc b Busing and the limits of white Northern liberal support for civil rights i Hypocritical because they were okay with desegregation in the South ii Protest desegregation of schools KNOW WATERGATE no notes about it
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