The ’20s Are Starting To Rhyme With The ’80s, With ‘Maverick,’ Malaise, And MoreLife is not so good right now, but as Mark Twain never said, ‘History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.’BY: RICH CROMWELL
AUGUST 01, 2022
The year was 1984. President Ronald Reagan was cruising to reelection. Van Halen’s “1984” was second on the Billboard charts. George Orwell’s “1984” hadn’t yet become an instruction manual. “Top Gun,” inspired by a 1983 article titled “Top Guns” and published by California magazine, was then but a gleam in Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer’s eyes, though it would go on to become a classic tale of how reckless men are a testament to America’s greatness in the face of Soviet aggression.
Life was good, particularly after Reagan had successfully battled both Jimmy Carter’s stagflation and the malaise it brought on. Mullets were a hot hairstyle for men. For women, it was ozone-depleting bouffant bangs teased toward the heavens with massive amounts of hairspray. Gen X kids were off starting fires, sneaking into drained pools to skateboard, and otherwise engaging in all kinds of shenanigans about which our parents had very little clue. Joe Biden was merely a senator.
Today, mullets are back, if not the bangs. “Top Gun: Maverick,” the long-awaited sequel to the original, is making money hand over fist. Joe Biden, first elected to the Senate in 1972, is still in the swamp, this time as the ostensible leader of the free world and heir to Jimmy Carter. Russia is being belligerent. Stagflation and malaise again rule the day.
In other words, life is not so good right now, but as Mark Twain never said, “History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.” And in the couplet that is “Top Gun” to “Top Gun: Maverick,” there is hope.
* * *
Source:
https://thefederalist.com/2022/08/01/the-20s-are-starting-to-rhyme-with-the-80s-with-maverick-malaise-and-more/
