He did however, set the precedent that workers in some jobs simply wouldn’t be allowed to strike because they’re “too important”, when he forcibly broke an air traffic controller strike.

Unions and by extension workers, started to erode pretty quickly after that, in such a short time that they became relatively unheard of until recently.

He also un-funded state run mental hospitals. What to do with all those folks who mentally struggled to function in society? “Dunno! If they can’t make money. Put em’ on the street I guess!” was the Reagan solution. The following step is to “Endlessly ostracize and complain about the unhoused.”

He pushed the idea of the “wellfare queen”, a charicatured, often minority, character, who had a bunch of kids and used government money to do drugs all day instead of work. This nonsense was used quite effectively to discourage and shame the use of social safety nets, as his administration dismantled them altogether.

There’s innumerable social ills and societal failings that can be traced back to some policy Reagan and his ilk pushed. Very similar to Thatcher across the pond. He’s largely to thank for corporations having more rights than people, and “Maybe you should just individually work harder” being the answer to everyone who is constantly whipped about by “market forces.”

Thanks to people like him and Thatcher, people STILL believe that corporations making unlimited riches will somehow lead to higher wages and more days off, instead of going to a hoard in some offshore account, driving wages down, and normalizing mass-layoffs.

That guy labored endlessly to destroy the so-called “American dream.” But hey, he didn’t invade Iraq!