A Seminal Point In Time

When did everyone start believing that they could afford a life that could be featured on Robin Leach's show?
While only making $50k a year?
With both parents working?

When did it all start?
Some would say that we went through the same cycle of extravagance during the Roaring Twenties, or the Rockin' Fifties or the "Greed Is Good" 80's.

But our current economic downturn started in the 80's. (Reaganomics)
It was no longer acceptable to shop at J.C. Penny's Sears or Montgomery Wards.
"Designer" was the minimal expectation for even the poorest among us.

Crockett and Tubbs could afford a Ferrari or classic muscle car and to wear Yoji Yamamotto suits?
As cops?
And the woman who Eddie Murphy wanted so desperately to hook-up with in 48 Hours was cast as the "ugly" female cop?
The show even made Miami-Dade look glamorous.

Shows like Dallas and Dynasty brought the (fake) rich into most homes on a weekly basis.

MTV showed the world a lifestyle that many just imagined as occurring in some neighborhoods of Bel Aire.

Videos by groups like Duran Duran rolling on the Sri Lankan beaches with Black women now made international travel something to be desired by even those who were pirating their cable.

(Yeah... I liked Hungry Like The Wolf - but I really liked Late Bar (b/w of the Planet Earth 12")

Even Black people moved on up.

From Good Times to The Jeffersons - the next step was The Cosby Show.

It was no longer imagined that Blacks had to be aspirational -

Cosby even inspired a new generation of Blacks to imagine a life that included college (A Different World).