EVENTS | 1980s

The period spanning the 1980s, dominated by the political leadership of Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom and Ronald Reagan in the United States, marked a significant shift in Western political and economic philosophy.

This era challenged prevailing Post-The WW2 Consensus, advocating for reduced state intervention, market liberalisation, and a revitalised sense of national purpose.

The policies enacted during these years had far-reaching consequences, reshaping national economies, societal structures, and international relations, and establishing foundational principles that influenced subsequent decades.

The Context of British Malaise and Thatcher's Ascent

By the early 1980s, Britain was widely perceived as being in a state of deep-seated dysfunction. Britain was bugged after World War II, a condition that persisted through the 1960s, 1970s, and arguably into the 1980s.

This implied a national malaise, characterised by economic stagnation, industrial strife, and a sense of decline. Margaret Thatcher rose to power in 1979 amidst this backdrop, convinced that past government attempts to manage the economy were "doomed and led to disaster," as exemplified by the crash of 1973. Her response was a radical departure from the post-war consensus, promising to "give up power and let the free market operate with as little regulation as possible".

Thatcher's political approach was characterised by a romantic vision of the past. She believed Britain was a country possessed by the memory of a golden age, a time when it was the most powerful nation on Earth.

This vision, drawing from a fictional history from Winston Churchill, who said the nation was built on Individualism and Liberal economics, and this allowed her to overwhelm her opponents by summoning up this historical narrative and invent a consensus of the nation.

She aimed to inspire the people with a vision of their greatness, asserting that an "impregnability" was granted to these ideas, making them unquestionable. Her conviction was that politicians who summoned this romantic vision gained immense power, though they risked becoming imprisoned by their dream and invoking forces they cannot control.

Economic Liberalism and the Free Market Revolution

At the core of Thatcher's agenda was a commitment to liberal economics. Her government's first significant act was to "get rid of exchange control" in 1979, which previously required permission to convert more than small amounts of money into other currencies.

This deregulation was seen as the path forward, a move to derestrict and deregulate the market. The vision articulated by Thatcher was of a society where the wants and desires of millions of individuals would be satisfied through the free market, which she believed would be the "engine to regenerate Britain".

This approach was heavily influenced by figures such as Friedrich Hayek, who argued that political planning of society inevitably led to "tyranny". Hayek's ideal government, "a computer that just says no," resonated with the desire for rational, objective systems over emotional and subjective values.

A key component of this economic revolution was privatisation.

The government began by selling off many state-owned industries, with "freedom being associated with the ability to buy shares in what used to be State monopolies" such as British Gas and British Telecom. This was framed as "popular capitalism". The underlying assumption was that wealth generated by a "wealth creating class" would "trickle down," ensuring the "cake keeps on getting bigger" under capitalism, benefiting everyone. This spirit of entrepreneurial enterprise was intended to foster a "fierce spirit" of wealth creation.

However, the pursuit of these economic models led to increased "vulnerability for the nation," particularly due to the opening of global markets and allowing foreign companies to acquire domestic assets. The wealth creation was largely for a "subset of the people" and proved "meaningless" to others, such as long-term public sector workers.

The Falklands War and Asserting National Resolve

The Falklands War of 1982 played a crucial role in bolstering Thatcher's political standing and reinforcing her vision of national strength. The conflict, occurring at a time when Britain's modernisation and infrastructure had declined, exposed the nation's inability to defend herself in a prolonged engagement.

Despite this, Thatcher's decision to retake the islands, fuelled by a sense of iron will and dedication, was widely seen as a reassertion of British resolve. The war tapped into a collectivist spirit and a history that, despite being a fiction in many aspects, is powerful and can rally the nation.

The Parallel American Experience under Reagan

Simultaneously, America was undergoing its own Ronald Reagan - Milton Friedman moment. Reagan's campaign message was simple, promising "Freedom at home and abroad". He took office in 1981, facing an economic disaster marked by terrible inflation that had destroyed traditional heavy industries and led to widespread unemployment.

Reagan's response was that "government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem". He believed in "taking government off the backs of the American people and turning you loose to do what I know you can do".

The American economy was to be rescued by "actualising individuals," identified through new market research techniques, who would become the motor for what would be called the new economy. The message of "individual Freedom" was found to appeal to a group at the top of the values hierarchy called "inner directeds," who were concerned about being individuals. This approach was considered completely new in its ability to identify voting patterns not correlated with traditional demographics but with shared values.

The Role of Corporate Raiders and the Shift in Power

The era also witnessed the rise of the Corporate Raiders in the 1980s and a significant shift in the balance of economic power. Individuals like James Goldsmith challenged the "corrupt liberal establishment in Britain," believing that "tolerance of extremists who are trying to destroy our society is not a virtue but cardice and treason". Goldsmith's attempt to disrupt established power structures, though initially failing in Britain, found fertile ground in America, where he arrived at a moment of extraordinary political change.

The actions of figures like Michael Milken destroyed a world that was run by privilege,"where power was determined by "Old School Ties" and professional politicians.

Milken felt he was "democratising the process of the getting of wealth and power," shifting control to the marketplace that would decide "day by day even minute by minute who will have power who will have wealth and who will not".

This new power, epitomised by the stock market, allowed figures like Tiny Rowland to overcome old institutions.

This period of dismantling of gential old England felt more sad than similar changes in America, because British institutions had roots going back many hundreds of years.

The Engineering of Consent and Political Propaganda

The Thatcher-Reagan years were underpinned by a sophisticated understanding and application of mass psychology and public relations. The influence of Edward Bernays, a nephew of Sigmund Freud, was paramount.

Bernays, considered one of the inventors of public relations, was fascinated by the idea that human behaviour was driven by unconscious sexual and aggressive drives.

He demonstrated to large American corporations how to sell many more products if they link them through images and symbols to those unconscious desires.

This Engineering of Consent involved manipulating the populace by "touching on their inner fears" rather than explaining things rationally, as people were deemed not rational. This strategy was seen as necessary to promote "the American way of life".

The techniques of Propaganda, honed during wartime, were recognised as applicable in peacetime. These psychological operations were considered to have never stopped since the World Wars.

The British ruling elites, unlike America, had always distrusted the idea of pandering to the masses. However, Bernays' ideas and techniques began to conquer Britain in the 1980s.

This was evident in the shift from the traditional "Patrician Elite" of the BBC, who saw popular programs as groundbait to lure viewers to more serious programmes, to a new media landscape where "communicating with the masses" was paramount.

Publishers like Rupert Murdoch framed this as a "democratic Revolution against an arrogant Elite who had too long ignored the feelings of the masses".

The Rise of Neoconservatism and Foreign Policy

In America, the Reagan years saw the ascent of Neoconservatism, a movement deeply influenced by the political philosophy of Leo Strauss. Strauss believed that the liberal idea of individual Freedom led people to question all values, all moral truths, threatening to tear apart the shared values which held Society together.

His solution was for politicians to "assert powerful and aspiring myths" that everyone could believe in, which might not be true but they were necessary Illusions. The central myth for America was its "unique Destiny to battle against the forces of evil throughout the world".

Young students of Strauss's ideas, including figures like Paul Wolfowitz, came to Washington to join the Reagan administration, becoming known as the neoconservatives. Their project was to "reinforce the self-confidence of Americans and the belief" in their nation's destiny. They believed that their ideal of Freedom was an absolute that "Justified lying and exaggerating in order to enforce that Vision," - the ends justified the means.

This led to policies such as Project Democracy, which openly promoted democracy abroad but also used covert means, including illegal arms sales, to fund anti-communist forces like the Contras in Nicaragua. The goal was to "make the sandinistas appear like they're going to conquer the United States" and to turn small threats into huge threats through "perception management".

The 1980s Neocon propaganda was far superior to later iterations, effectively portraying the Soviet threat and shaping public opinion. This ideological drive, shared by both neocons and radical Islamists, led to their temporary alliance against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

Social and Cultural Transformations

The era was marked by a broad societal shift towards Individualism. The aspiration was to "liberate Britain from all the old class divisions, old structures, old prejudices".

This new vision of society was to be based on "individual freedom," liberating people from "Arrogant Elites and state bureaucrats". The focus shifted to the self-created personality and the expressive individual, which became key to fulfilment in modernity.

The period saw a transition from a "self-directed society" to one where desires were increasingly artificial and "given to you" by the system, as opposed to being organically rooted in the individual or place.

However, this push for individual liberation also created new forms of control.

Instead of repressing individuals, power structures learned to control the self not by repressing it but by feeding its infinite desires. The growth of psychological market research, delving into people's "feelings about products" and brands, became a tool for managing society.

This created a new and increasingly controlling system of management driven by targets and numbers. The attempt to push everyone into the "mode of trying to be a cognitive Elite" and "live like a Bourgeois" was seen as unnatural to human life, as most human life is settled where people don't aspire to more.

Legacy and Continuity

The legacy of Thatcherism, in particular, was seen as transforming the hierarchical and differential Tory party into a "factionridden shell" and contributed to the decline of authority in most British institutions.

Many of the terrible things that Blair did were a continuation of that Legacy, as Blair himself acknowledged. This included an acceptance of the market-driven approach and a focus on Managerialism and targets and numbers in public services, reflecting the simplified economic model of human beings adopted by both the right and the left. The era effectively set the stage for subsequent political developments, creating a reality where politicians promised to protect from nightmares rather than deliver dreams.