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1979 Carter

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if he was going to have any chance of reelection in 1980, he needed to demonstrate that he had a viable plan for remedying the economic woes

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Carter didn't turn around the economy

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critics blamed him for events abroad

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November 1980 Reagan won

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what Carter tried to do in 1979

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Carter didn't believe that the oil crisis was the main problem

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but only a symptom of the problem

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the problem was a self-indulgence and consumption

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human identity is no longer determined by what one does but what one owns

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we've discovered that owning things and consuming things does not satisfy our longing for meaning

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piling up material goods cannot fill up lives that have no confidence or purpose

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he meant ordinary Americans

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Carter's answer

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we are at a turning point of our history

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the path that leads to fragmentation and self-interest

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down that road lies a mistaken idea of freedom

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the right to grasp for ourself some advantage over others

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the promises of our future point to another path

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the path of common purpose and the restoration of value

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we need a moral renewal

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energy will be our test to unite this nation

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on the battlefield of energy, we can win

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outlined an energy strategy which reduced dependence on foreign oil

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invest in the development of alternative energy

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conserve and learn to get by with less

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rekindle our sense of unity

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Americans would have to tighten their belts but they would become a better people

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but it didn't sell well

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Americans wanted more, not less

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sacrifice is something for others to do

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they don't like to be blamed for the country's ills

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the most effective response came from Reagan

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we must decide that less is not enough

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Americans will never settle for less

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having more was itself a virtue

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Americans have no need for tutoring in the definition of freedom

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in retrospect, Jimmy Carter's warnings had prophetic meaning on the next 35 years in our dealings with the Middle East