From Mo’ Meta Blues, Questlove’s memoir.
“something switched over in them” “in the early eighties”
This is the world inequality ratio, the closer to zero the better:
So many things went bad and were hidden back then after the start of that decade. I think Questlove’s parents turn to Ned and Maude Flanders’ ways was a reaction to the rise of inequality, which is mostly fueled by disgusting laws targeting some people. They lived through the 50s, 60s, 70s and saw progress back and forth but mostly forth considering the start of the century. As you can see on this graph, the eighties were a different beast.
His parents probably saw that being carefree and screaming like Prince at that time would not help their son. They were right in a way, but diving into religion and Christianity didn’t miraculously washed society off of “the devil”. There is no devil, only hate and greed.
Fear is powerful and makes us make the craziest turns.