1990s: The Decade of Digital Revolution & American Transformation - Essay Sample

Introduction

The 1990s were a significant era for the American people. It was so because the United States of America had made great strides in the communications field by the development of the internet. It affected the way the American people view their role in the world, government, democracy, and popular culture (F. McDonnell, 2014). In the 1990s, the American government decided to privatize the internet and release it to the public. Initially, after the development of this technology, the US government thought it wise to keep it from the public to be able to understand it better. After the release, it was able to .penetrate through the facets of the American society till it became a household name. Take note that in 1996 there were only forty million people who had access to this technology.

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Nevertheless, by the end of 2013, over 2.5 billion people have access to the internet. The internet impacted American society in the 1990s in very many ways. For instance, the American people could now access information much faster and easier than ever before. For instance, in the documentary, the narrator states that the internet made it possible for the information to cross-national and ideological boundaries in the twinkling of an eye (F. McDonnell, 2014). It symbolizes the revolutionary of this technology. The internet also made it possible to link one another via the World Wide Web. As a result, this has created a global community. For instance, alexander, one of the interviewees in the documentary, says that he was able to find friends from Australia from his home (F. McDonnell, 2014).

In the Persian Gulf War, the United States of America had the best military forces in the whole world. In the documentary, the narrator states the reason for their military prowess was that they had faced a terrible defeat in the Vietnam War, and thus was thoroughly prepared for this war (F. McDonnell, 2014). Although the Americans were ready, their economy was not looking good at all. The Federal Reserve had warned that America could be going for a possible recession. The warning came to pass as the start of the Persian Gulf War triggered the recession the Federal Reserve had warned the people.

The first impact of the war was that the prices of fuel rose to about forty dollars per barrel. In the documentary, the narrator says that this was due to Saddam Hussein's distractions of the oil filed (F. McDonnell, 2014). Major Brian long, a gulf war veteran, explains in the documentary that they could see long, dense dark clouds of smoke hanging over the skyline of Kuwait (F. McDonnell, 2014). The war also had a positive impact on it as it created a sense of unity to the American people. During wars, it is usually crucial for people to put aside their differences and unite in their objectives. It was the case in American society in the 1990s. For instance, in the documentary, the narrator explains that on June 10th, 1991, the American people honored the American soldiers with a military parade (F. McDonnell, 2014). It was informed by their overwhelming show of power in the Gulf war.

In the end, the Persian Gulf war solidified the position of the united states of America as a superpower. Superpower is basically a nation that has control over the vast majority of global affairs because of its economic and military strength. In the documentary, General Colin Powell states that the Persian Gulf War had elevated them to the status of being number one and number two in the world (F. McDonnell, 2014). The ultimate goal of the Persian Gulf war, as stated by general Collins Powell, was to usher in the new world order.

There were various terrorist threats to the United States of America in the 1990s.it should be noted that most of these threats were domestic. It was rather odd as it was perceived that terrorists come from the Middle East countries. There was a domestic terrorist attack in the city of Oklahoma on April 19th, 1996 (F. McDonnell, 2014). The attack was carried out by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, who had military training.

Their motive for the attack was poor handling of the Waco Siege by the government, which led to the death of over seventy-five people. The terrorist attack was the worst ever in American society. In the documentary police officer by the name, Don says that when he first arrived, he could not believe what he was looking at the scene. There was a small child who did not have an entire face (F. McDonnell, 2014).

There were so many celebrity stories in the 1990s because the press, radio, and television had blurred the lines between personal life and entertainment life. There was no distinction between the two. It led to popular culture in society to be intertwined with celebrity culture. The impact of this is the alteration of real-life into a form of entertainment. In the documentary Neal Gabler, a cultural historian says that celebrity is one of the most remarkable concepts in entertainment as it pushes the agenda of a person as entertainment themselves (F. McDonnell, 2014).

It has led to other conventional methods of entertainment to be pushed to the side. For instance, in the documentary, it displays the intricacies involved in President Bill Clinton's situation with Monica (F. McDonnell, 2014). It was never fathomed the idea that the private life of the president could be a matter of importance to the government and constitution of the United States of America. American society's fascination with celebrity shows how much the American people love the idea of an underdog rising to the occasion. The people can relate this to the American dream, which was to come to this foreign country and try to fulfill all dream s and aspirations. Thus this fascination with celebrity is not going to end any time soon.

There are several other significant events in American history that the documentary did not cover. For instance, it did not cover anything to do with the Los Angeles riots of 1992. The riots lasted for six days (R. Watts, 2020). There were massive looting, murder, and arson, which took place within this period. The riots were caused by the rising tensions between the black community and the law enforcement officers. The positive impact of the riots was that it led to the reform of the law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles.

Another significant event not covered by the documentary was the bombing of the world trade center in 1993 (V. Parachini, 2000). The attacks were carried and plan by several people, including Ramzi Yousef, Mohammad Salameh, and Ahmed Ajaj. The motive of the attack was that the US was interfering with the affairs of the Middle East. The event is vital to American society as the emergency procedures implemented after the attacks played a significant role in the evacuation process during the September 11th attacks.

References

F. McDonnell, J. (2014). The Century: America's Time - The 90s And Beyond: Then And Now [Image]. Retrieved 13 May 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtSNgdkwXk

U.R. Watts, P. (2020). Mapping narratives: the 1992 Los Angeles riots as a case study for narrative-based geovisualization. Taylor & Francis. Retrieved 13 May 2020, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08873631.2010.494401?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=rjcg20.

V. Parachini, J. (2000). NCJRS Abstract - National Criminal Justice Reference Service. Ncjrs.gov. Retrieved 13 May 2020, from https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=190319.