Many grow nostalgic for those "simpler" times. Shows like Stranger Things capitalize on that sense of nostalgia. But if you were alive back then, and if you were old enough to understand the evening news, you'll remember watching it and feeling afraid. You'll remember things like Star Wars (not the movie) Soviet incursions into Afghanistan, and threatening words from the Kremlin. You'll remember thinking that nuclear war was an immediate possibility.
If, like me, you're a fan of the Thrash Metal released around that time, you'll also remember a lot of nuclear-themed songs. In the wake of New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, the 80s saw the development of two diametrically opposed styles of music, both very indicative of the era. On the one hand there was Glam Metal, which in a sense represented 80s excess, and on the other hand there was Thrash, which eschewed the party aesthetic in favor of faster tempos, more distortion and social commentary. That social commentary also had a Cold War component, with songs like "Fight Fire with Fire" and "Peace Sells" being two prominent examples.
The band name Megadeth, by the way, is an intentional misspelling of "megadeath," a term encompassing one million deaths, usually in relation to nuclear warfare. Another famous thrash band, Nuclear Assault, formed shortly after Megadeth.
So yeah, the prospect of nuclear annihilation was on our minds at the time. I can remember watching movies like The Day After, and wondering how close we were to the end of civilization as we knew it. Would cooler heads prevail? Or would someone in Washington D.C. or Moscow press the button? None of us knew where things were headed, and it wasn't until the end of the decade, with the fall of the Berlin Wall, that this widespread fear was finally - or so we thought - put to rest.
Reading the headlines in 2022 triggers a similar anxiety. In 2022 Russia's attempting to annex Ukraine, and is apparently willing to use nukes to speed up the process. North Korea is firing missiles over Japan, and is probably selling weapons to Russia to use against Ukraine. China, a relative newcomer to the game of nuclear brinksmanship, hasn't mentioned nukes yet, but they continue to threaten Taiwan, and they are part of North Korea's supply chain. It all seems quite insane when you think about it, almost as if the Cold War never ended.
Has it ended? I really don't know, but I do know that the world we live in seems increasingly divided between communist (or seemingly communist) and non-communist (or seemingly non-communist) states, with COVID-19 and climate change accelerating the process. And while COVID and climate change don't excuse Russia, North Korea and China from their actions, they do put these actions into their proper context. And yes, there are also other, historical and political reasons for what we read in the news, but I doubt matters would have advanced to this point in the absence of both pandemics and unpredictable weather.
The 80s Part 2: Electric Boogaloo. Back then we would have talked about the ozone layer and AIDS alongside whatever the communists were doing, and there are probably other parallels I haven't thought of yet. In 2022 there are probably also loud, controversial bands that speak to such concerns, but if they're out there I've haven't heard them yet. I really hope they're out there. Some kid like I was, back in the 80s, probably needs them.
As for where I'm at with all of this, I just hope that all of those in power can think about the next generation, and the kind of world this next generation is going to inherit. Is this world going to be something dystopian, like Escape From New York or The Road Warrior? Or is it going to be something more positive, like Back to the Future II or 2010? All I know is that in 2022 I often find myself feeling a familiar sense of anxiety. In the presence of that anxiety I begin to wonder if we've truly progressed beyond the frightening political alignments of forty years past.
Russia, communist or not, still wants to gobble up adjoining countries. China seeks to exert a kind of ethnic authority over surrounding nations. North Korea, not really a concern in the 80s, only replaces countries in the Middle East which would have filled that role. No, North Korea doesn't have OPEC to manipulate, but their lack of reliance on international institutions is even more worrying.
In 1980 I was five years old, and by 1989 I was going from junior to senior high school. There are certainly things I miss about that decade. I miss the movies, I miss the comic books, I miss the toys, I miss the Thrash Metal. But what I don't miss is that feeling of existential dread. I can only hope that with the easing of the pandemic (outside of China at least) this sense of dread passes from the scene once more, to be forgotten alongside so many other unpleasant things.
I'm not the praying type, but I offer my best wishes for the health and prosperity of those living everywhere, all over the world. Perhaps these disputes and acts of aggression will disappear once the world comes closer to the "normal" we all remember. Perhaps one day we'll only be recalling these things through songs, and perhaps we'll be wondering why our parents and grandparents worried so much about them.
"What was the problem, really?" our grandchildren will say, "In the end it all turned out fine!"
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