Feeding the Moonfish (Historical Context)

Historical Context

The 1980s brought a lot of uncertainty. The economy was unstable, communism and the cold war still loomed large, and Americans were losing confidence in the president. It is against this backdrop that Weichmann wrote Feeding the Moonfish. While there are no direct references to the time period, the play does express an element of uncertainty as to the true nature of subjects ranging from marriage to the nature of the characters themselves and, by extension, of life in the twentieth century.

Aids Crisis

In 1981, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was discovered by physicians. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), a virus that attacks white blood cells and T4 lymphocytes, causes AIDS by weakening the body's immune system, leaving it vulnerable to infection. In the early 1980s, the infection was consistently appearing in homosexuals or intravenous drug users. Many felt that the disease was in fact a "gay" disease, sparking misdirected moral attacks on the homosexual community. Sadly, President Reagan failed to respond to the epidemic, and the disease would take countless numbers of victims before AIDS activists raised public awareness almost a decade later.

The Berlin Wall

The Reagan Presidency signaled the end of the cold war. Some credit the collapse of the Soviet Union to President Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative program and his pressure tactics, while others attribute the nation's demise to financial strain. Many attribute Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika (economic reform) and glasnost (new openness), which changed the face of Eastern Europe, for eventually contributing to the dissolve of communism in East Germany. The biggest symbol of this dark time in history was the Berlin Wall, a barrier dividing East and West Berlin, the communist and the free world. The wall, once heavily guarded, was dismantled in 1989, as Gorbachev, President Reagan, and East German guards looked on.

Disaster At Chernobyl

The third largest city in the Soviet Union, Chernobyl, was home to a major nuclear power plant. On April 26, 1986, an experiment with the plant's nuclear reactor number 4 led to an unmanageable atomic chain reaction. The results were catastrophic. Tons of radioactive material were released causing an estimated twenty-five thousand premature deaths. The fallout was ten times that of Hiroshima and was predicted to cause eleven times the cancer deaths as those resulting from the 1945 bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. The disaster prompted concerns regarding the safe maintenance and operation of nuclear-power facilities.

Iran-Contra Scandal

In another grand military scheme, President Reagan made a secret arms deal with Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages being held in Lebanon. Portions of the proceeds from the deal secretly went to fund the Contras, people who were working to overthrow the Sandinista government. Congress publicly rejected such activity, making it not only illegal but unconstitutional. The scheme came under Congressional investigation, uncovering a trail that led to National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane, President Reagan, and Oliver North. In the end, President Reagan would walk away from the incident unscathed while Oliver North's initial convictions were eventually set aside. All were pardoned by President George Bush.

Strategic Defense Initiative

Characterized by some as President Reagan's most ambitious military spending plan, the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), or "Star Wars" as it was referred to by critics, proposed using orbiting weapons systems to attack incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles before they had a chance to strike. Much of the technology President Reagan suggested was not in development, yet President Reagan and Bush invested $30 billion in the program. Many objectors feared that, in addition to placing a huge financial strain on the nation, the program violated the Antiballistic Missile Treaty of 1972 and made the prospect of thermonuclear war more likely.

Reagan and Reaganomics

Known as the "Great Communicator," President Ronald Reagan based his 1980 bid for the Presidency on policies consistent with his performance as Governor of California; he would cut taxes and downsize big government to end stagflation (inflation without increase in demand or employment). President Reagan supported David Stockman's conservative economic policy called supply-side economics, a belief that government policy could stimulate production. Specifically, it was a belief that supply creates demand. Government would encourage production by reducing taxes and deregulation of industry. Out of this economic policy came the term "trickle down," a belief that by relieving the tax burdens of the wealthy money would trickle down to the American public, stimulating business investment, increasing employment opportunities, and improving the economy.

The resulting policies have been dubbed "Reaganomics." Ultimately, they did very little to stimulate the economy, neither increasing production nor consumption. Instead, President Reagan's policies provided a means for the rich to gain even more wealth. Companies chose to engage in corporate acquisitions and mergers, which meant huge profits for their investors.

Compare & Contrast

• 1980s: "Reaganomics," fiscal policies designed to stimulate the economy, result in a record number of corporate acquisitions, mergers, and liquidations, providing a means of greater wealth to the wealthy.

  Today: Despite record deficit levels, President Bush runs on a 2004 election platform of tax cuts in order to create jobs, boost spending, and lift the markets.

• 1980s: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS is discovered by physicians and identified as an exclusively homosexual disease or "gay cancer."

  Today: Researchers discover the source of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is a species of chimpanzee living in western Africa.

• 1980s: On April 26, 1986, engineering experiments at a nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Soviet Union, lead to a disastrous atomic chain reaction resulting in approximately twenty-five thousand premature deaths.

  Today: Proponents of nuclear power in the European Union fear that without reactors they will not reach their goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 8 percent (from 1990 levels) by 2012.

• 1980s: President Reagan embarks on an ambitious military program, the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), or "Star Wars," proposing the use of orbiting weapons systems to attack and destroy incoming intercontinental ballistic missiles.

  Today: The United States announces plans to abandon the Antiballistic Missile Treaty of 1972, a policy that bans certain defensive missile systems and symbolizes a major turning point in the cold war.

• 1980s: Members of the Reagan administration make a secret arms deal with Iran in exchange for the release of American hostages held in Lebanon.

  Today: President Bush is accused by the popular press of lying to the American public in his arguments for taking the country to war in Iraq in 2003.

• 1980s: The Berlin Wall, the symbolic barrier dividing East and West Berlin, the communist and the free world, is dismantled as Gorbachev, President Reagan, and East German guards look on.

  Today: The fall of Saddam Hussein's regime results in the looting of the Baghdad Museum and the loss of tens of thousands of objects.