Father of Star Wars? Murder
in the Air, starring one-day
President Ronald Reagan.
President Ronald
Reagan: The 'Last Political Cowboy' (Rzeczpospolita,
Poland)
"If
Ronald Reagan knew that weapons can bring peace - particularly in the hands of
the 'good' cowboy - he also knew that government should stay away from the
ranch. ... Today, 20 years later, the rules adopted by Reagan remain the
economic bible of American conservatives, who criticize the social welfare
state of President Barack Obama. ... Reagan was the last American political
cowboy. He left behind a model of capitalism that promises prosperity for all
Americans, as well as a handful of catchy witticisms and memorable scenes
worthy of a good western."
Thirty years ago, on March 23rd 1983, U.S. President
Ronald Reagan gave a televised address in which he announced a program called "Star Wars."
With malicious intent, some biographies of Reagan credit
him with coming up with the idea of the Strategic Defense Initiative (so-called
"Star Wars") while mentioning a scene in which an airship is destroyed
from one of his films, 1940's Murder in the Air.
But back in the 1980s, the idea of
destroying enemy missiles by laser elicited an incredulous smile
from British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Regardless of how real the
concept of "Star Wars" was at the time, the U.S. president's intensification
of the arms race between 1981 and 1985 hastened the collapse of "The Evil
Empire" (as Reagan called the Soviet Union) and communism throughout the
world.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
Reagan's policy relied on two elements: the military
doctrine of "peace through strength," and in the economic sphere, a deep
conviction that Roosevelt pulled America out of crisis not with the social
policy of the New Deal, but
with the economic boom a few years later that was brought about by the war.
Few people remember that during the first two years of
Reagan's presidency, America lived in the shadow of former President Jimmy
Carter, a Democrat (regarded as one of the ten worst in American history),
which meant serious economic problems, including double-digit unemployment.
If Ronald Reagan knew that weapons can bring peace - particularly
in the hands of the "good" cowboy - he also knew that government
should stay away from the ranch. For the average American, his era is associated
with tax reduction (average 25 percent), a reduction in regulation (some
economic documents from the time are a single sheet of paper) and a reduction in
government spending. Reaganomics
- as the new economic trend was called - started to work after two years,
providing 20 million new jobs and seven years of unprecedented American economic
growth. Today, 20 years later, the rules adopted by Ronald Reagan remain the
economic bible of American conservatives, who criticize the social welfare
state of President Barack Obama.
Ronald Reagan was the last American political cowboy. He
left behind a model of capitalism that promises prosperity for all Americans,
as well as a handful of catchy witticisms and memorable scenes worthy of a good
western: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" (1987, Brandenburg
Gate) or "I'm not afraid of the deficit. It is big enough to take care of
itself."
of the arms race between 1981 and 1985 hastened the collapse of "The Evil
Empire" (as Reagan called the Soviet Union) and communism throughout the
world. 
