the 1970s in the USA

[Stevicus]

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

My favorite show from the 1970s was The Rockford Files. I think it captures some of the essence of the decade.

I was alive during the 70s, started the decade off in kindergarten and ended it in 10th grade in high school. It wasn't an easy time for me personally. Broken home, dysfunctional family, abusive, alcoholic parents. Very chaotic and unstable home life. Though some of the road and airplane trips were kind of fun.

I watched a lot of TV, including a great many shows from the 50s and 60s in syndication. I listened to the radio quite a bit, too.

I recall the energy crisis of 1973-74, when there was rationing and long lines at the gas pumps. Nixon resigned, Ford pardoned him, then stumbled and fell. Ford seemed a somewhat weak President. He couldn't do anything to stop the fall of South Vietnam, nor could he do much about runaway inflation and the economic doldrums the US was falling into. Worse still, disco became a thing.

(I think Nixon invented disco as a parting shot to the hippies as he left office. "Take that you long-haired pinkos!" And there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth in the aftermath.)

I think at some point after Nixon, Watergate, and Vietnam, America turned more towards escapism - both the positive and the negative kinds. The decade started with songs like John Lennon's "Imagine," and ended with The Eagles' "Life in the Fast Lane," indicative of the cultural and moral degradation which took place during that decade.

Shows like Happy Days and American Graffiti were part of a 50s mini-nostalgia period where people seemed to want to reminisce about what things were like before all the political turmoil which characterized much of the 60s. And then there was the popularity of Star Wars, another escapist fantasy which came at just the right time for audiences to eat that stuff up. When I saw it for the first time in 1977, it was a rather rowdy audience, loudly booing Darth Vader on the screen like it was some 1920s silent movie villain.

Cocaine use also increased, which would contribute to even more smuggling and increases in crime which would go into the 1990s. Increased drug use and alcoholism were other forms of escapism which weren't quite so entertaining.

There may have been more of an openness during the 70s, both in the positive and the negative - at least when compared to what has been deemed unacceptable in later decades. There was nothing of what we would call "political correctness" in the 1970s.

Smoking in public places was also far more common. They had only recently set aside separate sections for non-smoking on airplanes, and a few restaurants had started setting aside non-smoking sections as well. But for the most part, people could smoke anywhere, but it's not like that today at all.

Music was pretty much all over the map. As I mentioned, disco was a thing, but so was heavy metal, acid rock, pop, soul, country and western and many other styles. The number of radio stations was increasing, although most radios still only had AM frequencies, while FM was less commonly seen.

I had a background a bit like yours, only in the 50s.

I really came into my own in the 70s. In 1965 the Children's Aid dumped me on the streets, and I was a mess for a few years. By the 70s, I'd found myself clerical work, and by the end of the decade I was Manager of Accounting and had bought my company its first computer -- and learned to program it.

In terms of "cultural and moral degredation," I found quite the opposite. I think people stopped worrying so much about what people were doing privately together, and spent more time focusing on how we treated each other across our many divides -- and I found that to be a good thing.

 

[Stevicus]

I had a background a bit like yours, only in the 50s.

I really came into my own in the 70s. In 1965 the Children's Aid dumped me on the streets, and I was a mess for a few years. By the 70s, I'd found myself clerical work, and by the end of the decade I was Manager of Accounting and had bought my company its first computer -- and learned to program it.

In terms of "cultural and moral degredation," I found quite the opposite. I think people stopped worrying so much about what people were doing privately together, and spent more time focusing on how we treated each other across our many divides -- and I found that to be a good thing.

I was mainly referring to how the high-minded ideals of the 60s had given way to more cynicism and more mercenary attitudes which would eventually morph into the hyper-consumerism of the Reagan era. So many people nowadays ask "where did America go wrong?" A look at the 1970s might give us some insight into that.

 

[Bthoth]

I am currently watching Mindhunter on Netflix

It is set in America during the 1970s

I love films and TV series that are set in 1970s America

I love the clothes, the cars, the hair, the general look of everything

I especially like 1970s type-writers, furniture, and lamps

If I could travel back in time for a holiday in the past I would go to 1970s California

But only for a couple of weeks

I don't much care for the 1970s UK, it seems a bit bleak to me

Who here was alive in the 1970s, in the USA?

What was it like?

Some of the best music that i know came from the 70's

Even Black Babbath is played at ball games each weekend.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I was mainly referring to how the high-minded ideals of the 60s had given way to more cynicism and more mercenary attitudes which would eventually morph into the hyper-consumerism of the Reagan era. So many people nowadays ask "where did America go wrong?" A look at the 1970s might give us some insight into that.

Well, yes, that's true. Neoliberalism did replace Keynsian economic theory with a much more free-market capitalism. That was a big factor in the rise of conservative and right-libertarian organizations, political parties, and think tanks, and predominantly advocated by them. The resulting policies of economic liberalization, privatization, deregulation, globalization, free trade, monetarism, austerity, and reductions in government spending in order to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society inevitably led to the eventual 2008-9 economic crisis that Obama had to cope with.

 

[metis]

I am currently watching Mindhunter on Netflix

It is set in America during the 1970s

I love films and TV series that are set in 1970s America

I love the clothes, the cars, the hair, the general look of everything

I especially like 1970s type-writers, furniture, and lamps
c

But only for a couple of weeks

I don't much care for the 1970s UK, it seems a bit bleak to me

Who here was alive in the 1970s, in the USA?

What was it like?

My wife and I were as we both were in our 20;s then.

It was dynamic as those were the hippie years, and my wife and I definitely bought into it. Our hair was longer, my wife only rarely wore a bra, and we firmly believed in having love for all, and we loved having sex outdoors when camping.

However, we did not buy into "free love" even when a couple living near us wanted us to do that with them. Nor were we into drugs, although I did try weed 3 times. I loved, and still love, the music, especially the Moody Blues.

It wasn't a perfect era by any means, but it certainly was exciting.

 

[Sand Dancer]

No truer statement was ever spoken.

People actually had talent and played instruments.

 

[Stevicus]

Well, yes, that's true. Neoliberalism did replace Keynsian economic theory with a much more free-market capitalism. That was a big factor in the rise of conservative and right-libertarian organizations, political parties, and think tanks, and predominantly advocated by them. The resulting policies of economic liberalization, privatization, deregulation, globalization, free trade, monetarism, austerity, and reductions in government spending in order to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society inevitably led to the eventual 2008-9 economic crisis that Obama had to cope with.

I look back on that time, and it all just seems kind of weird now. It was definitely getting more progressive from the more provincial and conservative attitudes which dominated previous eras, but with the energy crisis, high inflation, unemployment, and a growing crime rate - among other social ills, economic difficulties, and the strains of the Cold War, the public was growing weary from the perceived deterioration and decline. There was a noticeable nostalgia for the 1950s, as well as a shift towards escapist fantasy like Star Wars.

A lot of people may have been genuinely fearful of the future, so they may have been striving for the kind of "normalcy" that Reagan and his ilk offered. Carter also appeared weak in the face of the Iranian hostage crisis and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Moreover, notions of being a "peacenik" or otherwise anti-war came to be considered too impractical and/or naive by more and more people. Hardship and fear have a way of quashing idealism.

 

[anna.]

Also, every police show or movie had this music...

Well, that hit somewhere deep in my memory...