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Gore Administration Retrospective
The Gore Administration in Retrospect
The Gore Administration would be remembered for be a large turning point in American history and politics along with that of the world. Coming from the heels of a close election decided by a court case and from the scandal of Clinton, it seemed unknown what the post-Cold War world would look like. Yet the Gore Adminsitration would have more impact and influence than even the Clinton Administration before it.
The 9/11 Attacks, the subsequent campaign against Al-Queda and the Taliban, the new deal between US and Iran, the recognition of Palestine, the Exxon-Mobil scandal, Katrina and so many other events happened and influenced Gore and the nation along with their responses to those. The rise of religious extremism was a reminder that the world would not be at peace merely with just one superpower and was a bitter reminder of the imperial past of the Western world, something which President Gore acknowledgd. The Exxon-Mobil scandal, the economic scandals that preceded it and the events following it turned peoples' attention back to economics and corporations. After the closure brought about by the capture of Bin Laden and the defeats of Al-Queda and the Taliban, people still felt lost in the brave new world following the attacks. Yes the Twin Towers remained tall, but the fears of what-ifs still spread throughout the populace's subconscious. To that end, that nervous energy born from that anxiety began turning toward whatever. Fortunately, the Exxon-Mobil scandal provided a more than acceptable outlet for that. After all, a conspiracy of a major company suppressing information and spreading propaganda only to be foiled by the US president was something that captured the imagination. Additionally, as the months went by and it all unfurled, the further speculations came out regarding certain Congress members promoting war with Iraq and Iran for the purpose of the oil fields. That connection just further cemented the growing discontent toward fossil fuels.
It helped establish a new foundation on the public perception of "going green." What some saw as basically mild lifestyle changes began cementing as something more serious and with answers that would not come easily. Yet, Gore's own confidence and intelligence provided people with security and in turn, inspired them to do their part on making lifestyle changes, albeit in different ways. Some advocated for living off the grid and created more down-to-earth communities. Others went more into futurtistic venues such as green houses or geoengineering. It was not entirely organized, but it did get the ball rolling for many ideas and additionally, created more critical-thinking. People began confronting more problems they would've otherwise neglected. Issues such as the difficulties of certain biofuels over others (along with the lobbying entailed), the usage of some materials over others (such as plastic) and some even began debaingthe fact that the lifestyles and infrastructure surrounding them were based on consumption and thus, perhaps the true root of this.
Another foundation was on the Internet. Al Gore was a massive advocate and his inclusion of a "digital cabinet" along with inviting some of the new "wiz kids" that would appear with new websites and media to the White House helped accelerate the adoption of the Internet. People began going on it more to develop communities and the internet flourished in strange ways such as with flash animation or sprite comics. Others was through the promotion of products. One of the biggest movers and shakers was Project MAY, where Myspace, ArtistShare and Youtube collaborated to assist the other and beyond helping Youtube fourish and thus the competition began working to keep up. Veoh, under the advisement of Eisner, began collaborating with Facebook and began aiming more toward a younger audience, given the age restrictions put in place on Youtube and in trying to make Veoh a more "kid-friendly" counterpart. Meanwhile, more niche material and animation began growing in the underground when Newgrounds partnered up with Reddit. The idea of the audience directly donating money to content creators without having to rely on advertisements sounded like a dream come true. Youtube remained on top though, especially when influencing early Internet media culture. Fred Rogers was one of the early influences, reminding his children, both young and old, to be civil, mindful and be the person he knoews they can be, allowing to counter the "GIFT phenomena" that was present on some other hostile sites to a degree. Another was Hunter S Thompson, who stoked the fires of the public and influenced a series of young adults to spread the news over on the new platforms as he called out the BS he saw going on.
Despite this, life went on. The film industry began shifting from fantasy to superheroes. There was a desire to try and catch the growing YA market to replicate the success of Harry Potter. Television began shifting to focus on new forms of comedy, white collar crime shows began increasing, animated shows were showing a greater preference toward action shows as adult animation began declining (notably the end of the Simpsons and prior to that, Family Guy). Additionally, adult animation was undergoing a period of recession as the new age of young adults were shunning raunchy comedy and toliet humor for action shows and more serious animation, including the growing popularity of anime, in part because of blocs like Toonami. Video games began spreading more in popularity and capability as Microsoft went all-in with SEGA and produced a strong foothold in Japan along with working on other Sonic products such as the comic books, manga and even animated shows. They grew to the detriment of Sony, who's misfires had been putting the company in need some cash flow. Nothing dire though rumors have been circulating about what can and will be done. The comic book industry has been experiencing a brief revive as DC and Marvel have rebooted their universes to try and keep up with the new modern world and the expectations of steamlined management of the franchises.
At the same time, life has been getting better for people. Medicare for Kids secured universal healthcare for children up until 22 (due to how the program was put in) while the modest increases in minimum wage brought hope to the economy to keep it humming along. Court rulings have led to various decisions that led to the introduction of new gun laws and new legislation has been working to help people. There is a sense of bipartisanism in the air as the neocons' grip on the GOP has been slipping thanks to a mix of conservative Democrats switching to them along with the rise of the "greencons", conservatives with an emphasis on conservation and environmentalism.
Of course, not everything was perfect. Russian-American tensions have increased in part becasue of the former's reliance on exportation, especially fossil fuels and the Georgian-Russian War made matters worse. Iraq has been acting a mix of erratic and quiet in part with Iran allying with the Americans and the miltiary has been noting that Syria and Iraq are ticking timebombs. Saudi Arabian-American relations have been decreasing as more people become aware of Wahhabism, its connection to the House of Saud and its influence on Islam as a whole, making supporting them more difficult. Other groups like the European Union and other nations like China and India, have been forcing mroe to confront this, leading to increaed tension. On top of that, there have been concerns over a recession, namely due to economic cycles, but it cannot be that bad, right? Whatever happens, the people will make it through. The system still works... right?