Ronald Reagan scores one on Al Gore - chatting on ARPANET in 1975

Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS)
#1

It’s just a snippet of the entire conversation, but (at the time) former governor of California, Ronald Reagan is clicking away on a chat board with a couple of other people (an artist, and a cultural anthropologist) while waiting for Jane Fonda to join in on ARPANET in 1975. But you see the light bulb go off when he starts realizing that there’s more to it than an aggravating alternative to a telephone. The discussion then goes to the presciently addressing the idea of people communicating with one another around the world. President Reagan’s conversation trends towards the schmaltzy; but then, I remembered he was running for president at time. There is definitely tension in the air (What? Governor Reagan is talking smack about Fonda?). And just about the time Jane show’s up, the transcript ends…:smack: Not exactly the way I would end the conversation…:rolleyes:

Perhaps the rest of the conversation was censored because the word flame hadn’t been invented yet?

Still, you get the sense from everyone corresponding by keyboard, that this going to become big. Staggeringly so.

#2

That’s a pretty interesting chat. It had some sort of Waiting for Godot vibe. I guess Ronnie saw Barbarella. I wonder if they edited out the confrontation between Jane and Ronnie. I’m sure it would have been epic.

#3

Heh, that was charming, and reminds me of my first chats in the early `90s, first on Talk, then IRC.

I’m apolitical (or pretty liberal when cornered), and yet I’ve always liked Reagan, for reasons that show through here, as well as his diaries. I think his idealism and convictions were genuine, and he was legitimately motivated by his love of country. He was also willing to engage with those with whom he disagreed. As an avid viewer of the Daily Show, where politicians on both sides are regularly shown to be self-interested, hypocritical sociopaths, I fear that these qualities are universally absent in our current government.

End hijack. :slight_smile:

#4

Reagan sounds like a parody of himself. He gives a definition for Communism that’s absolutely appalling and designed to intentionally foster fear. I might as well define Capitalism as “when corporations are legally able to steal from people and your net worth determines your political rights.” I guess I don’t feel as outraged at the quality of political debate lately if this country elected someone with such rigid beliefs in the 80s. I can see why he’d be so incredibly popular and why he would become so hated.