1985-86. Pop culture was completely dominated by Madonna and Michael Jackson, who were not appreciated by the youth of their time the way they are appreciated now. US Politics was, of course, completely dominated by one man. And the Rev. Jerry Falwell and the Rev. Pat Robertson made the covers of Time magazine (on Sept. 2, 1985 and Feb. 17, 1986, respectively). Intellectuals of the day decried the political apathy of youth as well as the vacuousness of popular culture.
Believe me, Millennials: if you missed the mid-80s, you didn't miss much (IMHO).
Well the alternative was the war that did not happen - it was not so far fetched that the computer glitch in the USSR could have been read as an attack and we would not be talking today.
Gorby came to power right as the Russians were testing nukes.
I was 11 & 12 but was already aware of things like the Beirut Bombing in '83 - I did a news clipping report in 4th grade on it.
So this gen X-er & Prince fan disagrees:)
Someday I think the 1980s will be remembered as a decade when anti-gay sentiment was running high, just as the 1950s are (to an extent) remembered that way with respect to racism, McCarthyism, and anti-Semitism.
I've never heard that anti-semitism was an issue in the 1950s.
