The Roaring 20's

In the 2020's we are recovering from Covid-19, with millions of casualties worldwide.

In the Roaring 20's they were recovering from the 1918-19 pandemic that caused millions of casualties worldwide.

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In the Roaring 20's, various U.S. presidential scandals came to light after the death in office of Warren G. Harding, including Teapot Dome -- the 20th century's biggest presidential scandal until Watergate.  Also in the spotlight, the president's long affair with Nan Britton.   A morally principled successor, New Englander Calvin Coolidge, came to power and restored a sense of order.

In the 2020's, the most corrupt administration in national history came to an end after four years of a twice-impeached, infamously womanizing insurrectionist.  A morally principled successor has come into power, restoring a sense of order.

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At the tail end of the Roaring 20's, stock markets crashed, ushering in the Great Depression.  It would take the New Deal to revive the economy in the subsequent decade.

In 2020, there were market swoons at the start of the pandemic, followed by an overall rise in the most-followed markets.  Unemployment was largely reduced due to covid- era legislation passed by Congress and signed by the president.

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In the Roaring 20's the most infamous criminals were bootleggers who carried Tommy guns during Prohibition and blasted their way to infamy.  Viz. TV's The Untouchables starring Robert Stack as Eliot Ness.

In the 2020's the most notorious actors are cyber-criminals who extort millions from pipeline disruption(s), hackers who attempt to influence foreign elections .. and cyber-chieftains who may act legally although with dubious ethics in a variety of online arenas.

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In the Roaring 20's the most infamous scammer was Charles Ponzi, who bilked investors in his pyramid scheme for years before a Boston newspaper and a skilled journalist revealed the truth about the eponymous 'Ponzi scheme'.

In early 1921, the greatest scammer of all -- Bernie Madoff -- died in prison.  His Ponzi scheme dwarfed the original one .. and made suckers out of charities, once-wealthy individuals and other clients of Madoff Securities.

See the Expat Café thread The Swindlers for more about the above 'gentlemen'.

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In the Roaring Twenties, Babe Ruth -- the Sultan of Swat, the Bambino, the most celebrated slugger of all time -- helped Major League Baseball recover from the shame of the Black Sox scandal.  The White Sox had lost the 1919 World Series to the Cincinnati Reds.  In 1921, baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis banned eight White Sox players permanently for alleged game-fixing although they had been acquitted at trial.  Ruth's 60 home runs in 1927 stood as a famous sports benchmark until another New York Yankee, Roger Maris, eclipsed it with 61 in '61.

In the 2020's Major League Baseball is recovering from revelations of using video-technology to steal signs, a scandal for which the Houston Astros have been roundly booed this season in MLB ballparks.  The Astros were fined $5-million, the maximum amount permitted under the MLB constitution .. and forced to forfeit their first- and second-round draft picks in baseball's 2020 and 2021 drafts.  However, the Astros keep their 2017 world championship (obtained when they defeated the L.A. Dodgers) despite a resolution passed by the L.A. city council asking MLB to strip the Astros of their title.

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