2000 is also the year the Supreme Court decided the presidential election and by 2002 we were invading Iraq and Afghanistan. That I see as a big turning point.
for me, the turning point was 1981 when the US conservative lying machine really got traction. (the power people were mostly bridging late greatest generation to early boomers, the rest of us were ignorant fucks) then came the neoliberal brainwashing. the rest, as they say, is history
I wouldn't argue your turning point at all. Reagan and deregulation is what I believe touched the current greed mentality. I think that it does lead to the conclusion that it has been one distorted view and effort since at least Nixon...
I can’t rant about Reagan without pointing out he created homelessness as it exists today. One of his programs emptied out many of the institutions that housed people that couldn’t function.
Reagan (and Thatcher) also amplified that attitude that “freedom” means I should be able to do whatever the fuck I want, and to hell with society! An attitude you can even find in the comments here today. This “toxic individualism” has gotten worse over the decades, noticeably worse during COVID and has culminated in our current political climate where some people’s entire political outlook can be summarized with the middle finger.
