In the years between 1968 and 1980, a way of thinking called new conservatism began to gain prominence for a combination of reasons. These reasons are, but are not limited to, political unrest, horrible economic conditions, and a growing liberal society among young American citizens. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayThe new conservatism emerged in politics because of the general distrust the American people had of big government due to the Watergate scandal. Nixon's betrayal of the American people and Ford's forgiveness of them caused Americans to lose faith in the integrity of their government. The continued failure of the American government in both foreign and domestic policy has led American citizens to fall back on conservative ideals. People were particularly unhappy with the Carter presidency. According to the 1980 Republican Platform, they think that “…as many humiliations, insults and defeats as have occurred in the last four years…”. They were extremely disappointed in the functioning of their government. Additionally, the government began to meddle in events that did not require government assistance. Barry Goldwater, a Republican senator, states that “the main evil is that the government is engaged in activities in which it has no legitimate business”. He is expressing his thoughts on the overwhelming effect the government was having on their daily lives. Many young liberals also shared this opinion. They believed the interference wasn't worth it. Like Milton Friedman, he stated that "...several decades of experience with government intervention...which of the major reforms of recent decades has achieved its goals?" People are starting to feel suffocated by oppressive government while no real, effective change is occurring. In the 1970s, the economy was in chaos. The unemployment rate was skyrocketing while inflation was rising at the same rate. This period of time, called “stagflation”, was mainly caused by the difference in oil prices in the Middle East. To counter this, the Ford administration launched the WIN campaign, which did not work as it should have. Essentially, the WIN campaign was not intended to reform any economic policy of any kind, but rather to encourage citizens to budget their money and support the policy before others. This ultimately did nothing and stagflation continued. Once President Reagan was elected, he implemented a system called Reaganomics. Another similar name for this is “trickle down economics”. This act cut taxes for businesses to increase spending. Under this system, the 1980s economy thrived under Reagan. This raised people's opinion of him a lot. However, Friedman thought that “…cooperation through the free market…” was the key to continued progress in the United States. He wasn't interested in Keynesian economics and didn't think it was an efficient system. Social conservatives of the time lived in fear of what they perceived as the deconstruction of American family values. Christian and Protestant groups were formed to uphold the teachings of the Bible in order to strengthen the lifestyle. In other changes, due to the new legality of birth control, women were able to freely explore their sexuality and did not have to close themselves off. Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, an action that angered many social conservatives, who said it was a direct violation of religious values and 1980.
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