I like to play "what if" with history a lot. Which is weird because I dislike 99% of any alternate history SF. One of the big what-if games is what if Jimmy Carter beat Ronald Reagan in 1980? I know that we wouldn't be in the situation we are in right now. A lot of our country's problems predate that election by far, but then again, a lot of why our economy is currently fucked is because Reagan won that election. If Carter had won, we wouldn't dare consider corporations people, and money would certainly not have a First Amendment right. We wouldn't be run by oligarchs. The housing issue wouldn't entirely be resolved, but I can almost guarantee that the cost of rent wouldn't be as high as it is right now because we'd have regulations against corporations buying up rental properties and jacking up the prices beyond reason. Nothing can truly stop inflation, but we wouldn't be getting bled dry by it constantly. And so on.
You can't go back and change it. I have zero interest in the baby Hitler question because, first, who the fuck would kill a baby regardless of who it would grow up to be? And second, because if you somehow went back in time, I think you would fuck it up badly, and your failed attempt would cause baby Hitler to grow up and become the asshole Hitler that a lot of us know and despise (but not nearly enough of us, as I believe I've mentioned previously).
But we came pretty close to Reagan getting beaten in 1980, as I learned today. Read this. It's worth it.
Now, that doesn't really prove much. The evidence is circumstantial, a lot of it is based on hearsay, etc. If it was brought before a jury, they would probably not convict. BUT! There is a lot of coincidence here. A lot of what Barnes says makes sense to the point where it would seem to be the truth. I choose to believe it, not just because it fulfills a fantasy of mine (and it does), but also because it makes sense. It could be wrong, but I don't think it is.
Of course, nothing would ever stick to the Teflon President, but still. How fucking fucked up is it that at least one individual wanted Reagan to win so badly that he threw the game in Reagan's favor BY ENCOURAGING IRAN KEEP THE AMERICAN HOSTAGES LONGER. If that's true, that is a crime against humanity.
Let's say it didn't happen. Would we have still gotten Reagan in 1980? Maybe. Perhaps Carter couldn't have gotten the hostages home, anyway. We'll never know because we were never given a chance to find out. Imagine having the cards so monumentally stacked against you to the point where you're drummed out of the White House and considered a weak, ineffectual president for the rest of your life. All because you got a raw deal. There was a zero chance of you succeeding because of dickheads working on your opponent's behalf.
We could have gotten a much better world. Instead we were dealt an inside straight, and like idiots, we drew to it, only to wind up with jack shit.
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