Back to the Future: Time Warped Opinions

With a series of new fashion trends, music, styles, and technological advancements, the ‘80s was a time of decadence. Despite this era of self-indulgence, political efficacy was at an all time high.  Issues such as marijuana and abortion became trending topics and were hotly debated. Although it was more than two decades ago, these issues are still controversial today and some popular opinions have stayed constant. These are some of the few opinions taken from York’s student body back in the ‘80s compared to current opinions.

Abortion

“Personally, I would never consider whether or not a human being should have live or not. I could not take the responsibility for deciding the death of another potential human being. But politically, I don’t believe the government should have the right to dictate decisions that are morally up to the individual, as in the case of abortion .” – Mary Blossfeld, sophomore – 1980

“Resources should be available for those willing to take the choice– as long as we are sure there is not a developmental possibility of the fetus having achieved sentience. I’m willing to hard-line too far for then too far back-  Ergo, if given a binary between banning abortion earlier than that or later than that, I’d hardline to as late as the mother wants.” – David Flanagan, senior -2018

“I am against abortion because I feel too many people are abusing privileges and do not care what the result will be of their carelessness and are unwilling to face the consequences” – Gail Zelenka, junior -1980

“I am for abortion because the decision shouldn’t be made by old men that aren’t a part of the woman’s life. Some people believe that innocent lives are being take but the baby doesn’t even have a conscious until they are over a few months old.” -Denton Rohde, freshman -2018

Capital Punishment

“I’m against capital punishment because killing someone is no punishment for a crime, that’s first-degree murder. What happens if you put someone to death and find out that person was innocent?” – Virginia Costello, junior – 1980

“I think due to the inefficiency of the US justice system, statistically it cost more to hold someone on death row than to be in prison for life due to constant appeal; therefore, life in prisonment is the correct way to punish harsh offenders [eventhough] states do  have the right to kill who they want.” – Ryan Nelson, senior -2018

“Capital punishment is cruel and unusual punishment. I don’t think any government or state have the right to take a human life even if an individual commits murder. To exercise capital punishment is hypocritical.” -Mike McNally, senior – 1980

“I firmly believe that capital punishment is cruel and unusual punishment. The government should not have the right to take human lives, no matter the crime the individual commits.” -Elysia Woodward, junior – 2018

Marijuana

“People are getting pot anyway, so they might as well make it legal. America is a free country and people should be free to smoke pot. With so many people smoking pot, why not legalize it?” – Rolf Evers, junior – 1980

“Legalizing pot just seems kind of logical. And it seems just as bad as alcohol or tobacco. If we want our laws to have a logical continuity. We have to either legalize weed or ban alcohol and tobacco. And banning drugs is dumb, let the free market kill people.” – Marty Kelty, senior 2018

“I do not think that pot should be legalized. Legalizing pot will bring up too many problems including the problem of an age limit and how it will be sold. Looking at what alcohol has done to the world, one can see the problems that legalizing pot could bring” – Brian Wilson, senior 1980

“I think it should be legal because it’s a lot less awful than alcohol is– and alcohol is legal. States that have legalized it have had positive outcomes. Colorado has had a lot more revenues coming in since legalizing weed. Plus, there hasn’t been any repercussion.” – Chris Ziebert, senior 2018

Energy

“I think that the federal government is throwing away valuable time in implementing the use of breeder reactors for nuclear powers… we can virtually eliminate the use of foreign oil for uses other than cars. The reduction in oil consumption would result in practically no foreign oil being used in this country” – Elizabeth Smith, Senior 1980

“I think it’s useful to have alternative sources for energy [since] it’ll probably lower gas prices.  I think how we get our fuel is controversial, like crude oil fracking and oil wells. The cons outweigh the pros–especially with environmental concerns, I’m still kind of in between.” – Tessa Olson, freshman 2018

“In order for the USA to survive the rest of the century, alternate energy sources must be developed. Nuclear energy is a good source until other sources such as nuclear fusion and solar energy may be tapped. Nuclear fission isn’t quite as bad as Jane Fonda types would have us think. So clean up, cut down, hang on, and we might make it to the next century.” – Mike Fisher, junior 1980

“I think we have the responsibility to use alternative fuels to better our environment because of the fact that we have caused the pollution that is damaging the quality of life in our world.” -Jenny Yohannan, junior 2018