For those who were actually old enough to have experienced the 1970s and not for those who were born in the 70s. What were the pros and cons of that era?
12.06.2025 19:07
In the 1970s, Americans thought of their nation as the Greatest Nation on Earth.
The war in Vietnam cast an ugly shadow on everything political, even years after South Vietnam fell (1975).
Times have changed.
The 70s were a time for mild summers and cold winters for me. I lived in upstate New York and New England.
Sex outside of marriage was still controversial, along with any other sexual irregularity. I recall hearing about the Maine legislature trying to pass a reform that would legalize some of the things my wife and I did. And I remember a woman telling me about how unhappy her father was when he learned that she was living with her boyfriend. Unmarried women weren’t supposed to get pregnant. Gays could be jailed!
Conservatives were often polite. The group they expressed the most hatred toward were Russians. Former President Ford, a Republican, eventually became a friend of the liberal Jimmy Carter.
People had begun talking about feminism and the proposed Equal Rights amendment to the US Constitution.
Times have changed.
Politics was almost rational back then.
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Nowadays, it isn’t remarkable for my daughter to be an attorney or my wife to become a university professor. The Equal Rights amendment became less necessary after courts realized that the words persons and citizens in the US constitution must include women.
Now in 2025, MAGA people dislike a polyglot (multi-language) America and look back to the past as the era when America used to be Great. They want to be led by an elderly guy who misremembers that era.
I married at the age of 22. Early marriage was common back then. People also had more children.
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A few brave women were breaking barriers. Sandra Day O'Connor, broke barriers in the legal profession. This picture shows swearing-in ceremonies at the Arizona Supreme Court.
Times have changed.
Inflation was a problem throughout that era. Everyone was concerned about it but no one could control it. It was much worse than anything since.
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People from other nations disagreed but we were wealthy, powerful, and were advancing everything from science to entertainment. This quote, from the 1980s, applies equally to the 70s.
America stands unique in the world: the only country not founded on race but on a way, an ideal. Not in spite of but because of our polyglot background, we have had all the strength in the world. That is the American way.
The biggest differences between then and now concern sex, marriage, feminism.
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When people learned that President Richard Nixon had broken the law, he was forced to resign. Can you imagine that happening now in 2025?
Times haven’t changed. Anti-feminism is still alive today.
I remember voting for a moderate Republican representative when I lived in Western Massachusetts. Can’t do that now. President Nixon, a Republican, signed Civil Rights acts and established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Republicans are opposing the EPA now.
My wife stayed at home for years, taking care of the children. That was still common then. I can remember people asking what’s the point of spending money on a daughter's education, since they would just marry and quit work, like my wife did.
There was also anti-feminist backlash. I remember people making fun of bra-burners, though hardly any woman did that. Some people said things I can’t repeat here.