Can anyone remember that? At the start of this period, most of us were between the ages of 25 and 35 and were in an “extended build-up phase” of life with the intent of settling down one day. We had no cell phones, no social media, and although email already existed, but it would be years before it was common. Contacts and appointments were made by phone or in Cor-rupt. There were no more options.
Also completely different in those days was the spread of the news. Unlike today when you are aware of developments thousands of miles away including images within a few minutes. Would we have loved to have been able to follow the riot images around “no house, no coronation” directly? What did the political and economic landscape look like and which developments and events in that period influenced our lives.
Below is an overview of these years. It is brief and incomplete, but the aim is to evoke a picture of that period and the circumstances in which we drank a beer in Cor-rupt.
Late seventies, early eighties:
- The 1979 oil crisis causes an economic downturn in the world. Together with the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the prolonged hostage-taking of US embassy personnel in Tehran and the Russian invasion of Afghanistan, led to great tensions in the world in 1980. The fear of a resurgence of the cold war and possible nuclear war was great. Especially among young people.
- Conservative governments came to power in England, Germany and America, among others. The “free market” became the new religion. Reducing the influence of the state (starting signal for privatization) and the supply side will determine prosperity, according to economist M. Friedman.
- Two Lubbers cabinets (CDA / VVD) and from 1982 a strict austerity policy has been pursued that lasts until the end of this decade. Mass unemployment and especially youth unemployment is combatted with the introduction of shortening of working hours, introduction of early retirement and wage reduction. It was only in the early nineties that the economy flourished again.
Saturday, October 29, 1983
That day, many of Cor-rupt’s regular visitors woke up as activists. Together with 600,000 thousand demonstrators we travelled to The Hague to protest against the placement of 48 cruise missiles.
Then on to exchanging great stories in the evening, but we had done our part.
The street scene:
- Emergence of the ATM (now gone)
- Rise of video stores (also gone. Now Netflix)
- The Walkman: Everyone’s ears covered. (now luxury AirPods)
- In Amsterdam, coffee shops become tolerated sales points for soft drugs. (how long will these last?)
- Not walking but skateboarding on the sidewalk. (Now adult scooters)
- Sportswear and sports shoes from brands such as Nike, Adidas, etc, have become everyday items.
Interesting facts:
- In 1982, reports of an unknown deadly disease in the US, later known as AIDS, appeared.
- In 1982 Britain goes to war with Argentina in the Falklands.
- Exotic vegetables and fruits are widely available, such as zucchini, eggplant, avocado, broccoli, kiwi and lychee.
- The general pessimism that flared up in the eighties is translated by Wim de Bie and Kees van Kooten into the term ‘doom thinking’.
- Rise of the CD (1982) that quickly conquered the market. (Now Vinyl is popular again)
- Breakthrough of the microwave.
- The Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident on April 26 1986
- Fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.
- Introduction of “world wide web” at the end of the eighties. The basis for mail traffic in the following years.
- More and more people buy a PC after its invention in 1981.
- The Dutch team wins European Football Championship in 1988 with 2-0 against Russia.
- We listen to music genres such as: New Wave – Talking Heads, Rock – Springsteen, Ska – Madness and Pop – Duran Duran.
- In Cor-rupt we mainly listen to folk music and cherish our own mega stars!
(John and Anneke P)