Not Our First Rodeo: Reflections on Iran, Inflation, and Déjà Vu

One of the many challenges of growing old is putting aside the idea that past is prologue. Many of my younger friends have asked me questions about current events that make this point painfully clear – a reminder that we don’t share common experience that might drive common perspective.

So – I offer some ramblings – and encourage dear readers to do their own research into the myriad of issues I raise herein. 

In the case of Iran, Dementia-addled leaders, American military, Tariffs, and pendulum swings, for many of us 63+, not our first rodeo. When we entered high-school, the military draft had just ended for Vietnam – a war we were set to as we learned how to drive.

The Watergate Scandal was fresh in the Nation’s mind, creating divisive political change, and the wounds of Kent State protests were still painful. National policies were not aligned with the existing World Order. As a result, our military and economy were in terrible malaise.

For kids of the WWII/Korean War generation, losing the war in Vietnam wore heavy on our big brothers and sisters and families who lost loved ones struggled with making sense of their loss. Public vitriol was extremely bitter.

Our national economic policies were terrible – unable to adjust to successive global price shocks in the energy sector, our industries were starting to feel the impact of global competition, and inflation rates and interest rates were creating massive unemployment, cost increases, and barriers to the American Dream. As an example, how many people today would sign up for a 17% fixed rate mortgage? 

President Carter was a well-meaning man, but his economic policies and approach to military readiness proved to be naive. In the case of Iran, the end result was that for the first time in modern history, we watched as zealots overthrew the Peacock Throne, and turned what had been a staunch American ally into a fundamentalist theocracy that captured the U.S. Embassy with 53 American hostages and held them for 444 days.

When I say watched, I mean literally watched on one of the three TV channels that broadcast nightly news during the dinner hour – imagine the influence these moments had over viewers – our own “Internet” with only three websites. 

We learned among other things that the self-loathing and doubt that had taken root in our national psyche had real-World consequences. The Iranian zealots – emboldened by what they viewed as presidential weakness – made it personal against Carter, and didn’t release the hostages until the day of his successors inauguration.

President Reagan ran on planks that to modern eyes would look like the MAGA movement. Imagine Jimmy Carter, who had endured 444 days of Iranian humiliation, a failed rescue attempt (google Operation Eagle Claw), only to see your adversary give your political rival the closure you couldn’t attain.

Unfortunately, it was the first in a series of incidents that further embittered and emboldened the U.S./Iranian relationship. As interested, google – variously – The U.S.S. Stark Incident, the USMC Beirut Barracks Bombing, the U.S.S Vincennes Tragedy, the U.S.S. Cole bombing, Pan Am Flight 103 – a mere flavor of things.

It was one of the reasons that we supported Sadam Hussein during the Iran/Iraq War (read about child martyrs if you want a perspective on this), and yes, gave him biological/chemical weapons capabilities – and knew he was purifying “yellow cake.”

President Reagan started strong, but about the middle of his second term, became as dementia-addled as Joe Biden. Not our first rodeo – we watched the Reagan Whitehouse implode with the same type of “loose-cannons” as those that took advantage of the Biden team.

Again, Iran played a role – google “Iran Contra Affair.” As young twenty-somethings, we at least were enjoying better economic prospects – more jobs, better cost of living, and lower inflation. The term “Rust Belt” hadn’t taken root yet – the hubris of letting government decide which industries should remain, and which should be abandoned hadn’t happened yet (i.e., NAFTA), and the steady outsourcing of American jobs to cheap maquiladoras across the border was just beginning.

In Michigan, we waited for the consumer benefits to kick-in even as the loss of jobs and lowered standards impoverished our local communities. As mines shuttered, we hoped for promised benefits that never came, and watched more and more local business close, victims to national chains and economies of scale that favored consumers over jobs. 

Flash forward 45 years, and imagine our surprise!! We face similar debates, albeit with old eyes this time. We remember the days when the Iranian people – a glorious, ancient culture – were our friends and allies, and our nation forced to reckon with the fundamentalist regime that tragically took hold.

We remember what it felt like when America put the World’s interests before our own, and the degradation of our way of life. We’ve lived with political shenanigans our entire lives, and understand that “the pendulum swings” because political parties have forgotten that a game where one side wins and the other side loses is unsustainable. We remain skeptical of government policies and promises, no matter which side of the issues we support. 

So – to my younger friends who sometimes ask me about these issues, I offer only: Res Ipsa Loquitur. You’ll figure it out. My views are my own. Buy me a cup of coffee, and I’ll tell you about the 1900s, when we had to use rotary-dial technology to communicate……