I mean, he was right. Peeking at the history of the 1970s energy crises, it looks like it was the right medicine at the right time. I think maybe the problem was threefold:
Asking Americans to be uncomfortable. By this point, I’m sure it was already a preposterous proposition, especially to boomers, who were the first generation that grew up with mainstream car culture. They also grew up accustomed to a very high standard of living compared to their predecessors.
It looks like the energy crisis only continued to worsen as the US went into the election. That probably didn’t help. I’m not sure how much of that was the result of Carter’s actions here, but I’m guessing that this speech left him very little room to displace responsibility.
Too much too fast. Especially given that there’d already been an energy crisis before his presidency, it seems like it would have been prudent to start working towards some of these goals well in advance of crunch time. By the time 1978 rolled around, he was (we were) already under the gun.
I’m not sure if it’s accurate or not my point is that Jimmy Carter spoke to Americans like they were adults able to take charge of their destiny and they chose the guy who told them that all their problems were caused by ‘Cadillac-driving welfare queens’ and ‘strapping young bucks buying T-bone steaks with food stamps’.
Oh, they nailed it. My mom to this day still talks about people “living 10-20 to a house, ain’t none of them got jobs but they all got nice cars!” And of course by “people” she means “brown people that are inherently lesser than her” because she’s a slimy bigot.
I mean, he was right. Peeking at the history of the 1970s energy crises, it looks like it was the right medicine at the right time. I think maybe the problem was threefold:
Asking Americans to be uncomfortable. By this point, I’m sure it was already a preposterous proposition, especially to boomers, who were the first generation that grew up with mainstream car culture. They also grew up accustomed to a very high standard of living compared to their predecessors.
It looks like the energy crisis only continued to worsen as the US went into the election. That probably didn’t help. I’m not sure how much of that was the result of Carter’s actions here, but I’m guessing that this speech left him very little room to displace responsibility.
Too much too fast. Especially given that there’d already been an energy crisis before his presidency, it seems like it would have been prudent to start working towards some of these goals well in advance of crunch time. By the time 1978 rolled around, he was (we were) already under the gun.
Would you agree that’s accurate?
I’m not sure if it’s accurate or not my point is that Jimmy Carter spoke to Americans like they were adults able to take charge of their destiny and they chose the guy who told them that all their problems were caused by ‘Cadillac-driving welfare queens’ and ‘strapping young bucks buying T-bone steaks with food stamps’.
Ahhh, gotcha. Well, maybe you’re on to something there.
Oh, they nailed it. My mom to this day still talks about people “living 10-20 to a house, ain’t none of them got jobs but they all got nice cars!” And of course by “people” she means “brown people that are inherently lesser than her” because she’s a slimy bigot.
Holy shit, are we siblings?!
For your sake, I hope not.