Life styles in the 1980s including issues with crime, drugs, and AIDS.

In 1980 the media showed american society to be wealthy and successful. Expensive things were emphasized and important. New stories on young people making multi-million- dollar deals were made and emphasized. The baby boom was the main cause of why wealth became so important. The top 5% of Americans were earning 21% of the nation's income by mid 1990's. Entrepreneurs were working on creating a new approach for retailing that could reduce prices for americans. It was known as discount retailing, it was the selling of large amount of goods at a very low cost. It was trying to sell things quick to get a whole new inventory in a short period of time.

New Technology and the media were rapidly becoming more popular. Turner created this new type of broadcasting. It was called WTBS and was the first “superstation" which had low cost sports and entertainment programs from satellite to cable companies throughout the nation. This changed broadcasting and helped spread cable television across the country. New networks appeared soon after that. Each network specialized in one type of broadcasting like sports, movies, or news. CNN which stands for cable news network was the first 24 hour news station in the nation. BET which stands for Black entertainment television was the first and largest black- owned company on cable television which developed in 1980. MTV was instant hit but it had violence and sexual content. Music videos by MTV boosted Madonna and Michael Jackson.

The "Just say no" method was created by first Lady Nancy Reagan who was trying to discourage teens drug use, but it continued to occur, and actually spread. It was saying that instead of taking drugs because you are offered them you should just say no to them.
MADD was a grassroots organization that was looking for a more effective solution on underage drinking and drunk driving. Congress then decided that they would cut highway funds to states if they didn't raise the drinking age to 21. All states quickly gave in.
DARE stood for Drug abuse resistance education program. It seemed close to impossible to get people to stop using drugs and so they thought they should educate them with this program. It actually didn't help anything, it may have even made it increase the use.

THe cocaine use increased as time went on and kept spreading. It went from cities to small towns to rural areas. In the late 1970's there was a huge amount of cocaine powder that shipped in so the price went way down, making it easier then ever to purchase. It was an issue because the users were more hostile and aggressive. Which made city neighborhoods dangerous. The "Druggies" would commit crimes to get money for drugs. Also, the "just say no" method did not work. People continued to use marijuana and amphetamines and others.

AIDS stands for Acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Random young healthy men were becoming sick and dying. It would weaken the immune system. In addition to that, HIV causes AIDS which is spread through bodily fluids. Over 100,000 cases of AIDS were found in the U.S. by 1988. Because people were getting sick and dying with this, the gay and lesbian community increased.