SNAFU!

I feel like this is old territory, but that it must be reviewed.

I recently discovered a podcast hosted by Ed Helms called “SNAFU”. For those of you who are not familiar with this particular acronym, it means “Situation Normal – All Fucked Up”. I believe that it originated with the military, and yet it seemed perfect for the modern civilian age. And then I listened to the very first episode.

In it, the possible destruction of the world in the early eighties was discussed. In November 1983, the world was on the verge of World War Three. This was also the year of “The Day After,” a film about the consequences of the conflict in one small part of the United States, and “Wargames,” Matthew Broderick’s debut on film as a computer geek who inadvertently almost begins a thermonuclear war.

I have seen both films and I have strong opinions on both of them. The first film was like a bad joke attempting a serious punch line. The latter was perfect for a little boy who could still be impressed by the 8-bit technology of the monitors and screens that Broderick surfed his way through (all pre-Internet).

It is interesting to hear Helms discuss how much he was also a fan of the film, and also to hear him to speak to Mr. B. about what the film meant to him and his society of the time. But it also made me consider the truth of the decade.

Yes, Millennials and Gen-Z-Y-Alphas and what have you, there were things that were much better forty years ago. For one thing, no one had to hear you whine and moan about how things were so much better now than before (the Boomers were just as annoying back then, too). No one had to have a trigger warning, safe space, or be told off online by a much better version of the computer system in Broderick’s film. And yes, the music and movies were much better (how could I possibly prefer all the auto-tuning compared to the very real unvarnished voices of my childhood and teen years?). But that is only one part of the story.

Here is a list of things many of you either forgot about or never heard of. You may be surprised and even shocked by the breakdown of the darker side of that era…but it is all true:

Satanic Panic:

There was serious concern in the media over the prevalence of heavy metal in teen life. Many parents, politicians, and “experts” thought that there was a direct link between the music and Satanism. I was a young boy in a Catholic elementary school when I had my first exposure to heavy metal (moving to the suburbs helped), and even at that age, I found it laughable that anyone would take the music and the imagery seriously. But there was a great fear out there. And it did not end at that music… Dungeons & Dragons was also considered a possible gateway drug towards worshipping God’s former favourite. There was even a film about the consequences of playing the game for far too long. And it starred…Tom Hanks!

Yikes.

Hijackings:

You think that 9/11 was the first time an airplane was used as a weapon of terrorism? Please… For those of us who are old enough to remember the eighties, hijackings seemed to be taking place almost every day. I still remember a famous newscast where a pilot was allowed to speak to reporters…through the open cockpit window! And the man behind him, loaded up with weapons, sat there and eventually covered his victim's mouth and pulled him inside. Consider the grim comedy of that moment and you will understand why Generation X was probably the least surprised by something like the jets flown into a symbol of Western financial power. And speaking of finance…

The Wall Street Crash:

I think that Oliver Stone was touched by genius, much like Matt Groening when commenting on politics. His movie, “Wall Street,” was released in 1987. You might remember the plot of the film: a young trader somehow finagles his way into the office of an experienced power player and becomes involved in insider trading. It ends very badly for both men and would go on to win an Oscar for its lead – Michael Douglas – and add a line to the zeitgeist: “Greed…is good” (ellipses necessary). Yeah, it really was good back then…until the market crashed a year later and people realized that the party might just be over. Most of us did not feel the first shockwaves of the fall of the house of Mammon, but it still plays its part in creating a great deal of skepticism about capitalism and how the markets work.

Mr. Stone, take a bow.

Apartheid:

South Africa has many problems today, and there are many scapegoats that can be blamed for them, but I will never shake the suspicion that depriving several generations of people the basic decencies of being able to live where they can, go to good schools, earn enough to have their own property, and enter a building from the same doors as a person with a different skin colour might have had something to do with the anarchy and violence that plagues day to day life in that particular hub of Africa.

Just a theory…

Reaganomics:

Oh, how could I possibly ignore this dismal economic theory? It was believed after the massive budget cuts and roll back on oversight of corporations that the rest of us potato eaters out there would benefit from the largess of the richest of the rich. It was called the “trickle-down theory,” meaning that the money made by the wealthy would eventually work its way down to us through their spending and creation of jobs (hint: it was rarely money that trickled down on the poor in that era). Now, it may seem strange to think that waiting for table scraps like a polite dog was the role model for the economic revolution that took place, but there we were. And the results? Homelessness exploded; the inner city became even more deprived and decimated by crime and drugs; the market crashed (see how these things are connected); the lowest 99% was squeezed to support the upper 1%. Fortunately, the current American government would never attempt something like this again…right?

Right?

Challenger:

This one is very personal to me. I was obsessed with space travel, as any young boy would be living in the era of the creation of the space shuttle and the prospect that one day, we would all be living in space stations, or even on other planets! I had a book that broke down how the shuttle was designed, how the astronauts were trained for their missions, and what would be the affects of different planets on the human body (if you really want to feel lighter, book a trip to Mercury). I was twelve years old when they announced that the next NASA mission would include a school teacher, and that her students would be watching the liftoff and flight. Our school announced that they would have a television set up in January of 1986 to watch it during the day.

And I missed it.

Fortunately, I went home for lunch that day. My plan was to skip school for the rest of the day – sorry, Mom – and watch the entire trip. I had the whole day planned out in my head and I was willing to accept the suspension or other punishment that would be handed out the next day.

There was no need to stay home.

I found out that I missed seeing the explosion by the time I got home and watched it on TV. It was very long walk back to the school after I finish what little I could eat and then an even longer day as teachers and the staff tried to explain what happened.

There was no need to explain a damn thing.

We knew what happened.

And…

?

Well, I am leaving this blank. You who grew up in my generation probably wonder why I have missed certain events on this list. Well, these were the events that mattered most to me. Chernobyl, Olympic boycotts, shootings of the Pope, the president, and John Lennon are all memorable events, but they felt much further away from me as a kid. Everything I have listed was close to me, even the hijackings (my family flew back to the Caribbean every year, so…).

I have nothing else to add…for now. Just realize that Generation X might be the last generation that was made numb by history. How could we really be shocked by what is taking place in the world today…

It is just a normal situation for us.

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You can find more poems, stories, and articles by Kendall Defoe on my Vocal profile. I complain, argue, provoke and create...just like everybody else.

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