the '80's

It's really funny how when you talk about the '80's here, it's a totally different thing than in the states. When I think of the '80's, I think of the Cold War, Ronald Reagan (and his crappy politics), conservativism, backlash against the political movements of the '70's, and Madonna and Michael Jackson, of course... (Being a historian, I want to make the side note that I know the struggles of previous decades continued in the '80's despite the dominant culture of backlash and that many new struggles of solidarity were also born. The stuff I mention above is like the VH1 flashback version of the '80's that many of us middle class Americans grew up with...).

So anyways, when people here talk about the '80's, they have a totally different picture in their heads, and a totally different feeling. They may also think of Ronald Reagan, but from the other side of his policies. They'll think of the war between the Sandinista army and the CIA funded Contras. Some who were in the army look back with pain and nostalgia to their days in the mountains-listening to breakdance/disco music brings these days back with clarity. Some look back with pride on the Sandinista government, and how their policies helped the country more than the neo-liberal policies of the succeeding administrations. Some are reminded of the '80's by the revolutionary folk songs sung by Carlos Mejía Godoy, and when they first learned to dance folklore when they were kids.

When people talk about the '80's here, I have to change my VH1 flashback to a revolutionary one...